Todos os capítulos de FAKING IT WITH THE ALPHA CAPTAIN RIVAL : Capítulo 51 - Capítulo 60

AidenI didn't sit down, some stubborn part of me refused to give him the satisfaction of watching me brace myself for whatever came next, even though every instinct in my body was already bracing regardless."Say it," I said. "Whatever it is, I would rather hear it standing."My father studied me for a moment, something almost like respect flickering behind his controlled expression, before he continued."The Hart-Knight alliance," he said, "has strangled this pack's territorial growth for twenty years. You know this. I've told you this since you were old enough to understand what territory actually means to a family's survival. What I haven't told you, until now, is exactly how far I've been willing to go to correct that imbalance.""Go on.""When word first reached me about the switch — about a genuine Hart heir living outside the alliance, completely unaware of her own bloodline, I understood immediately what kind of opportunity that represented." His voice stayed level, businessl

I didn't sleep that night. Naomi's message sat open on my phone until the battery finally died sometime past three in the morning, her words looping alongside my father's the same way they had in the driveway — he's the one who gave the order — until I couldn't separate one voice from the other anymore, couldn't tell which threat scared me more.By morning, I'd made a decision I hadn't fully thought through yet, only understood with a certainty I couldn't shake.I needed to see for myself.The Cross Pack's business records were kept in a locked office adjacent to my father's study, technically off-limits to anyone below Council rank, though I'd learned the code to that lock when I was fourteen, sneaking in to steal cigars I never actually smoked, mostly just to prove to myself I could get past whatever barrier my father put up.I used it again that morning, my father already gone to some early meeting across the territory, the house quiet enough that my own footsteps sounded too loud

ElenaAiden showed up at my shift two nights after the records room, sliding onto his usual stool at the counter with a tired kind of quiet I hadn't seen from him before, not brooding exactly, just distracted, like part of him was still somewhere else entirely."You want the usual?" I asked, already reaching for the coffee pot."Sure." He didn't look up from the counter.I poured his coffee and set it down in front of him, studying his face for a moment before I let it go. "Rough day?""It's fine.""You keep saying that word like it means something."A faint, tired smile crossed his face, not quite the real one I'd learned to recognize over the past few weeks. "Guilty as charged."I wiped down the counter beside him, giving us both something to look at besides each other. "How's your dad?"Something shifted across his face at the question, small but unmistakable, a flicker of tension in his jaw that hadn't been there a second ago."He's fine," Aiden said. Then, quieter, almost to hims

I read Naomi's message three times before the meaning of it fully settled, cold and sick, somewhere low in my stomach.Aiden, I need to tell you something about your father's real target for tomorrow night, and I don't think it's actually Elena at all.Then who, I typed back, my hands unsteady against the screen.The response came fast this time, like she'd been waiting, dreading, ready the second I asked.Me. Elena's just the bait. Your father knows I've been in contact with her. He's betting that if he corners her somewhere quiet, isolated, without protection, I'll break cover to protect her myself. He doesn't need Elena's cooperation for anything anymore, Aiden. He just needs me to walk into the open.I stared at the screen, my chest tightening with a fear that had nothing to do with strategy and everything to do with how close I'd already come to handing him exactly what he wanted.If I hadn't lied about the shift time, I typed, he'd have had her there tomorrow night. Alone. As ba

Elena"A second mass," Dr. Alvarado said, and I felt Aiden's grip on my hand tighten to the point of pain, my whole world narrowing down to those three words and nothing else."Where?" My voice barely worked. "Where did you find it?""Her left kidney." He held up a hand quickly, seeing my face collapse further. "Elena, please, let me finish before you assume the worst. I know how that sounds.""How is it supposed to sound any other way?""Because it's benign," he said. "Completely benign. A cyst, not a tumor, nothing malignant about it at all. We ran additional imaging the second we spotted it, specifically because we didn't want to alarm you with an incomplete picture, and I can tell you with full confidence it poses no danger to her whatsoever."The relief hit so hard and so fast that my knees actually buckled slightly, Aiden's arm coming around my waist automatically, steadying me before I fully registered, I needed steadying at all."And the original mass?" I managed. "The one you