Todos los capítulos de A Second Chance For Alpha Ayden: Capítulo 31 - Capítulo 40

SAMANTHAWarriors searched every inch of the guest wing within minutes of hearing my shout, and the answer that comes back an hour later is somehow worse than finding the token itself would have been. No forced entry. No broken locks, no tampered windows, no trace of anyone crossing the perimeter Ayden tightened after the last breach. Whoever placed that token in Alisa's drawer did it with access no outsider could possibly have, in a room that was supposedly watched every single minute since the last incident. I stand in the doorway of my daughter's room long after the warriors finish their search, staring at that small drawer, trying to reconcile the ordinary, familiar space with the knowledge that someone stood exactly where I'm standing now, close enough to touch her belongings, close enough perhaps to touch her."That means someone with legitimate access did this," Ayden says grimly, turning the token over in his hands under the war room's lamplight. "We’ve known this but this pe

AYDENThe prisoner sits exactly where we left him, chained but unbothered, watching me enter his cell with the same cold composure he wore during his capture. I dismiss the guards to the corridor outside, close enough to respond instantly, far enough that whatever happens in this room stays between the two of us for now. The cell is cold, stone walls sweating faintly in the low light, and he doesn't so much as shiver, watching me with the patience of someone who has already accepted whatever consequences tonight might bring."You said Ronan Thrynn already knows everything he needs," I say, settling into the chair across from him. "Let's start there. What does he know?"Silence. I expected as much."You're young," I say, studying him carefully. "Trained well, but young. Ronan doesn't send his most valuable people on missions this exposed unless the stakes are personal to him not just strategic. So tell me…is this about the coalition? The bloodline claim on my daughter? Or something el

SAMANTHA'A structure fire,' Lucian's voice reports through the mindlink, tight with tension, reaching Ayden and me simultaneously in the war room. 'A grain storehouse, half a mile outside Hollow Pine's main gate. No casualties reported yet, but it's clearly deliberate. Whoever set it wanted to draw attention away from the main settlement.'"A distraction," Ayden says grimly, already relaying orders to reposition Darius's warriors accordingly. "Confirming exactly what you and I suspected. Stay alert, Lucian. This could be exactly the opening he's been waiting for."I stand there listening, every muscle in my body coiled tight with useless, helpless fear, watching Ayden coordinate a response I have no actual part in beyond standing nearby and hoping. My sister is somewhere on that darkened road, driving toward a fire someone set to distract from whatever real threat is unfolding, and there is absolutely nothing I can do about any of it except wait. I press my palm flat against the war

SAMANTHA"There are six names marked," I say, my voice barely steady, staring at the six names above mine on that list. "Ayden, I recognize two of them.” I let out a short gasp.“The Shadowhowl warrior who died protecting Bram’s border scouts last week. The Moonclaw prisoner who was murdered in his cell. We assumed those were separate tragedies." I conclude."They weren't." Ayden's jaw is tight, fury and horror warring across his face. "This is a kill list, disguised as a guest list. Six deaths we already knew about, treated as isolated incidents, when they were checkpoints in a single coordinated plan all along.""And I'm the seventh."He pulls me into his arms without a word, and I let him, needing the solid warmth of him after staring at my own name marked for death in someone else's careful handwriting. I press my face against his chest, breathing him in, letting myself feel afraid for exactly as long as I need to before I have to be strong again."I'm not losing you," he says qui

SAMANTHAThe silence stretches long enough that I can hear my own heartbeat, every warrior in the room tensing at once, hands drifting toward weapons they can't openly draw at a diplomatic gathering. Ayden reaches my side in seconds, positioning himself slightly in front of me without seeming to move at all, his gesture is so practiced it looks almost casual. Around the hall, I watch every Alpha we've worked so hard to recruit go rigid with the same instinctive alarm, calculating what this brazen arrival might mean for their own commitment to a cause that apparently doesn't even keep its enemies out of a formal gathering."Ronan Thrynn." Ayden's voice carries across the hall, steady despite the fury I can feel radiating off him. "You weren't invited.""No," Ronan agrees pleasantly, stepping further into the room as though he owns it, entirely unbothered by dozens of hostile eyes tracking his every movement. "But I find invitations are such a formality between neighbors, and I did want