บททั้งหมดของ Rejected by the Alpha, Claimed by the Don: บทที่ 61 - บทที่ 70

They left the print-shop rooms while the sky was still a hard, pre-morning dark. Lucien went first down the rear stair, checked the alley in both directions, and only then motioned Aria forward. The air outside was cold enough to bite. Distant warehouse lights hummed. Somewhere a delivery truck reverse-beeped and then fell silent. No immediate sign of the black unmarked vehicles from the night before. That did not mean the net was gone. It only meant it had not closed on this particular street yet. They moved on foot through a lattice of service lanes and shuttered loading courts. Lucien kept them off the wider roads, using the kind of paths people used when they did not want their names attached to cameras. Aria matched his timing, breath steady, senses stretched for any break in the ordinary night noise. After twenty minutes he stopped under the overhang of a closed textile warehouse and spoke without looking at her. “The contact uses a marker system. If the old sign is still

The black vehicle completed its turn into the square as if it had all the time in the world. Lucien shifted half a step so his shoulder covered more of Aria’s angle. The figure near the clock did not look toward the car. Their attention stayed on Aria. “You can stay and explain yourselves to Vale’s people,” the figure said. “Or you can come with me through the service arch before the square finishes closing.” A pause. “Choose now.” Aria’s eyes adjusted to the thinning light. The speaker was a woman. Not young. Not old enough for the weight in her voice to be only age. Dark coat. Hair pulled back without ornament. The kind of face that did not ask to be remembered and therefore was. Something in Aria’s chest pulled tight. Not full recognition. Not yet. But the edge of it. A shape from before the Vale name. Before the gathering. Before the second life had fully hardened into strategy. Lucien’s voice was barely sound. “Aria.” The vehicle’s doors opened. Two men stepped out wi

The second set of lights did not belong to Dominic Vale. Aria knew it in the first sweep of the beams. The pattern was different. Wider spacing. Less interest in quiet containment. More interest in controlling the whole river section at once. Voices carried. Sharper. Less clipped than Vale unit discipline. Lucien’s hand closed once around her wrist in warning, then released. Above them, on the ferry stairs, the first unit reacted immediately. Radio traffic spiked. Positions shifted. Two groups that had not planned to share the same ground were suddenly aware of each other. “Hold the lower line,” someone from the Vale side ordered. A different voice answered from the waterline. “You’re outside your clean jurisdiction, Vale. The girl is not only your problem.” Aria’s stomach dropped. They were not speaking in generalities. They were speaking about her. Lucien’s mouth barely moved. “Nightshade colors in the second group. Not Kael himself. Close enough to matter.” The under-

The vehicle’s engine idled in the court below like a held breath. Lucien had the roof hatch open before the second door of the car even shut. The woman killed the last of the lamp glow with her hand and moved to the street-side wall, listening. Voices rose from the court. Not loud. Professional. “Two on the ladder line,” the woman murmured. “One holding the car. Pattern looks Vale-trained, but the timing is wrong for a clean sweep unit.” “Someone pointed them here specifically.” Aria’s fingers closed around the blade hilt. “Then we do not give them the room.” Lucien was already halfway onto the roof. Aria followed. The night air above the chandlery was sharper, carrying the mixed smells of the docks and distant kitchens. Behind them the woman came last and eased the hatch down until it sat flush. They crossed two rooftops in a low run, dropped to a lower terrace, and took a narrow iron stair that emptied into a service lane running parallel to the court. By the time a flashl

The lane held only the three of them and Kael. No visible unit at his back. No Serena at his shoulder. Just the Alpha in dark clothes that did not bother pretending to be ordinary, standing under the single working light as if the city had cleared the space for this exact meeting. Aria’s grip on the ledger box did not loosen. Lucien angled slightly forward without fully blocking her. The woman from the tunnels remained a half-step behind Aria’s left, weight balanced for flight or violence. Kael’s golden eyes moved from Aria’s face to the box, then back again. “You left Vale’s walls.” “That was either desperation or a decision. From the way you are holding that box, I am guessing the second.” Aria did not give him the comfort of an immediate answer. Kael took one slow step forward. Not close enough to trigger a clean attack line. Close enough to make the space feel smaller. “Serena believes you are a manufactured problem. A tool someone is using to destabilize my house and her