All Chapters of THE ALPHA'S SURROGATE MATE: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

CHAPTER 1 The letter sat on our kitchen table like a loaded gun.I dropped my bag by the door."Mom?"She didn't look up.Her hands were shaking so badly that the paper between them rattled.My stomach tightened."Mom, what happened?""They came again," she whispered.I crossed the room in three steps. "Who? The collectors?""Worse."She pushed the letter toward me.The envelope was thick, expensive, and sealed with black wax. Stamped into the wax was a crest I didn't recognize a wolf's head surrounded by a circle of thorns.I stared at the name printed beneath it.DRAVEN.Something inside my chest went cold."Draven?" I whispered.Mom's face was drained of color."That's what I said."I reached for the letter.The moment my fingers touched the paper, a strange tingling shot through my knuckles.I jerked slightly.It felt like static before a storm.I flexed my fingers and stared at them.Nothing.Just nerves.I forced myself to look back at the letter."Alpha Roman Draven," I read a

CHAPTER 3 The study door was already open when I got there.That bothered me more than it should have.It was as if someone had known exactly when I would arrive.I paused outside for a second, then stepped inside.Roman Draven didn't look up.He sat behind a desk the size of my old bedroom, a pen moving steadily across a stack of papers. His sleeves were rolled to his forearms, revealing strong hands and veins that stood out beneath his skin.He looked completely at ease.Like I hadn't spent the entire morning wondering what kind of man I was about to meet.Like he hadn't been the reason I barely slept."You wanted to see me.""Sit."He still didn't look up.I remained standing."I'd rather stand."That got his attention.His eyes lifted slowly.And I understood in half a second why grown men reportedly went quiet around him.It wasn't just his size, though he had plenty of that.It was the stillness.He didn't fidget.Didn't shift.Didn't look nervous.He simply watched me with the

CHAPTER 5 I was halfway through a plate of something I couldn't pronounce when Roman appeared in the doorway.The two staff members setting the table immediately went still.Roman didn't look at them."Leave us."They moved so quickly that one of them nearly knocked over the serving cart.The door closed behind them.I slowly lowered my fork."Should I be worried?"Roman walked toward the table."Why would you be?""Because the staff looked like they'd just been ordered to leave a battlefield."His expression didn't change."Eat."He pulled out the chair across from me and sat down.I stared at him."You're joining me.""That appears to be the case.""You didn't mention that.""Plans change."He glanced at my plate."You've barely touched the fish."I looked down.Then back at him."Are you monitoring what I eat now?""I notice things."He said it so casually that I wasn't sure whether to be irritated or impressed."It's fine.""Mira."I sighed."It tastes like the ocean got offended

Chapter 7 I wasn't trying to listen.That's what I told myself as I stood outside Roman's study with my hand hovering near the door.I wasn't knocking.I wasn't leaving either.“that's not possible.”Roman's voice was low and tight.“The readings say otherwise.”Sable.Careful as always, but there was an edge beneath her voice now.“I've run it three times.”“Run it again.”“Roman, I've already”“Again.”Silence.I leaned closer.Then I heard Roman speak again.“She can't know yet.”My stomach dropped.“Not until we understand what we're dealing with.”She.There was no one else in this house he could mean.I pressed closer to the door, straining to hear what came next.The door opened.I stumbled backward.Roman stood in the doorway.Behind him, Sable was already gathering her things.She looked at me once.Something passed through her eyes.Regret, maybe.Then she looked away.“Mira.”Roman's voice was even.His eyes weren't.“How long have you been standing there?”“I was just pas

CHAPTER 9 Elder Wren's stare could have frozen a lake.She looked at me as though something unwanted had been tracked into Blackthorn territory on the bottom of a boot."The Alpha's business is his own," she said, not directly to me, but loudly enough that I was clearly meant to hear. "But I question the wisdom of allowing an outsider this close to Blackthorn's future."Roman didn't flinch beside me."Mira is part of a formal arrangement, Wren. Not a passing guest.""An arrangement made without council review.""An arrangement that doesn't require it."The council chamber was full.A dozen elders sat around the long table, their expressions ranging from openly skeptical to carefully unreadable. I sat near Roman, but somehow it felt as though I'd been placed at the end of a trial rather than invited into a meeting.Wren folded her hands."Why her?"Roman's expression remained unreadable."There were other candidates. Registered candidates. Vetted candidates. Why choose an outsider fro