All Chapters of The Alphas Next Door: Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

KAIAThere are a thousand ways to fail at being a mother. Nobody writes them down, nobody warns you against it. They don’t come as big neon signs that scream wrong turn, go back.Instead, they’re quieter.Like realizing your baby doesn’t chatter as much anymore. Like spotting silence where giggles used to be. Like seeing her carry herself as if she’s already learning that the world takes more than it gives.Hailey’s six. Will be seven in a couple of months. She should still be babbling nonsense, inventing fairy kingdoms, begging me to play dolls. Instead, she’s stretched out here, watching the sky like someone much older, like she knows something I should’ve protected her from.And me? I’m not sure when we last really talked. Not the quick “eat your breakfast” or “brush your teeth.” Not the little quick kiss on the forehead before I slip out of the house to work before she wakes. I mean talked. When I wasn’t rushing out the door. When I wasn’t drowning in shifts. When I wasn’t knee-de

RONAN •Three days to claiming season.•The city feels like it’s burning. Wolves keep losing their minds left and right, assigned betas and patrollers scrambling to keep them down. The patrols are endless and tasking and even Caius is out there now. And he doesn’t do messy. The bastard doesn’t like blood on his hands unless it’s bottled up in a lab or if he's cutting it open with a knife — or whatever it is they use — directly from the source. But since yesterday, he’s been swinging claws just like the rest of us because if we don’t, the streets will drown in it.I’m tired. No—tired doesn’t even cut it. My head is heavy and my body is sore and every part of me feels like it’s ready to shut down. But the wolf doesn’t rest as it keeps me moving even when I shouldn’t. Even when I don't want to.And now, I get to leave.By the time I pull my bike to a stop in front of the house, I almost lose it. My hands won't stop shaking as I tug the gloves off and it feels like my skin is glued to t

RONANIf I let the wolf loose now—if I let him shove past the part of me that remembers lessons and control—I will break her. I’ve seen what I do when I stop filtering. I’ve felt the sharp pleasure of dominating until someone snaps. I’ve watched the edges of myself blur into something that doesn’t care, head only filled with the want to take and take and take.I don’t want that to be her. I think she senses it before I can speak as she slides back from below me so fast I almost fall with her. Then, she kneels on the bed and places her palms on my chest, her eyes fast and kind of wild, the way someone looks at a cliff edge and decides to jump anyway.Then, she leans forward and kisses me like she means it — slow at first, then harder, claiming my mouth with the same reckless force she’s used all night. She pulls at me to climb and turn and pushes me down, hands on my shoulders, and then she’s on top of me, knees braced on either side of my hips. My heart hammers so hard I can feel it

RONANThe silence stretches painstakingly slow.Her cheek is still pressed to my chest, her body limp and trembling. Maybe she thinks it’s over. Maybe she thinks she can just lie here, dripping down my cock while I suffer.I chuckle low in my throat, the sound rumbling against her ear. “Sweetheart…” My hips flex upward, shallow thrusts making her gasp weakly. “You came.” I bite her earlobe, savoring her whimper. “But I didn’t.”Her lashes flutter, her breath hitching. “Ronan… I can’t—”“You can,” I growl, tugging at the ropes with one last useless pull. “Untie me.”She shakes her head faintly, dazed and unsure.“Kaia,” I snarl, the sound ragged and dangerous. “Untie me. Now.”Her trembling hands fumble at the knot, clumsy and weak, but she manages to loosen it. The second I’m free, I rip the rope away, my hands shooting down to her hips like metal to magnet.Before she can even catch her breath, I slam her down onto me, burying myself to the root.She cries out, a soft, broken sound.

KAIAMy mouth parts, ready to keep screaming at them, but then—Caius’s eyes flash. Red, then pale blue, then red again, and pale blue, as they wander down my body.Down.And that’s when it hits me.I’m stark naked.Heat slams into my face so fast it almost knocks me over. Oh, gods. I glance behind me to see a shit eating grin on Maddox's face. Ronan’s jaw is tight, not just from choking. I’ve been standing here, hands on my hips, tits bouncing with every furious breath like some deranged goddess of wrath—completely bare.“Shit,” I whisper, dropping my arms like they might magically cover me. Spoiler: they don’t.“Fuck it!” I snap before grabbing the duvet and rolling it around me like a cocoon.Then, I walk to the edge of the bed as normal as I can wrapped in a thick duvet, and hop down, embarrassment flooding every cell in my body.What do I do? What do I fucking do?!My eyes dart to Ronan's neck and Caius’ who still has claws instead of fingers, and the embarrassment evaporates, le