All Chapters of After the Storm: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

Alpha DoyleSean had saved my family.He had stood between the people I loved and a man who had threatened them, and when the violence began, he had done what was necessary to protect them.Archie was dead.And now I had to look Alpha Carter in the eyes and tell him his only son wasn’t coming home.The thought sat like a stone in my chest.I glanced at Sean. He was still standing near Archie’s body, his breathing heavy, his face drawn with exhaustion. Blood marked his skin, and his eyes seemed fixed on something far beyond the room.There was no triumph in him.No satisfaction.Only the hollow, haunted expression of a man who had survived another terrible fight but had paid for it with a piece of himself.He had already lost Siobhan and Liam. Now he had taken another life, even if it had been in defence of ours.I knew that kind of grief could bury a man alive.“Sean,” I said quietly.He lifted his head.“Would you mind staying with my family while I tell Alpha Carter about his son?”

MikeI slammed the bedroom door behind me.The sound cracked through the room, making Leah jump.She spun around, her eyes widening when she saw me.“Mike?”I crossed the room in three strides.Before she could move, my hand closed around her throat, and I shoved her back against the wall.Her breath caught.“What the hell is going on?” I demanded.Her hands flew to my wrist.“What?”“Why did Sean kill Alpha Carter’s son?”Confusion flickered across her face.“I—I don’t know.”I tightened my grip.“Don’t lie to me.”“I’m not!”Her voice cracked, and fear flooded her eyes.“I swear, Mike. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”I stared at her, searching for the deception I was certain had to be there.I didn’t believe her.Not for a second.Leah and her sisters were always talking. Storm was practically at the centre of everything that happened in this house. They shared secrets, whispered about pack business and knew things long before the rest of us heard a word.There were no secr

CainThe fire crackled in front of me, casting long, restless shadows across the walls as I studied the map spread across the table.Pack after pack.Territory after territory.Alpha after Alpha.So many wolves clinging to the illusion that their borders meant something. That the laws they had created would protect them. That the strength of their warriors and the loyalty of their followers would keep the darkness beyond their gates.Fools.Borders meant nothing when you had wolves willing to cross them under the cover of night. Laws meant nothing when those enforcing them were lying dead in the dirt. And loyalty? Loyalty was a fragile thing. All it took was the right threat, the right temptation, or the right betrayal to make even the most devoted wolf turn against their own.My rogues had already begun their work.One pack at a time.One Alpha at a time.We weren’t simply attacking them. That would have been too easy. Too crude. No, we were dismantling them from the inside, stripping

LeahI waited.I didn’t move.I barely dared to breathe.I stood frozen in the bathroom, listening to every sound beyond the door, terrified that the slightest movement might bring Mike back. My heart hammered so violently I could feel it in my throat, and my hands trembled uncontrollably at my sides.His footsteps finally faded.I heard the bedroom door open.Then close.A few seconds later, the door to our suite followed.And then…Silence.But I didn’t move.Not yet.I had learned the hard way that silence didn’t always mean safety. Sometimes it was only the pause before the next explosion. Sometimes it was the quiet that came before the footsteps returned, before the shouting began, before the hands I once believed would protect me became something I feared.So I waited.One minute.Then another.I listened until I could no longer distinguish the sound of Mike’s departure from the ordinary noises of the house.Only then did I release the breath I had been holding.It came out as a

Leah“You have nothing to apologise for. Nothing.”But the guilt was still there.It had lived inside me for so long that I didn’t know how to separate it from myself. I felt guilty for staying, guilty for lying, guilty for not being stronger. Guilty for the fear I could see in their faces because of what had happened to me.And most of all, I felt guilty that I had allowed myself to believe I deserved so little.Storm came to my side and took my hand.“You don’t have to be afraid anymore.”I nodded, though I wasn’t sure I believed it yet.Fear didn’t disappear simply because someone promised you protection.It settled into your bones. It followed you into quiet rooms. It made you question kindness and distrust peace.But I wanted to believe her.Desperately.I wanted to believe that the worst was finally behind me.Then I remembered.There was something else.Something that could change everything.I took a shaky breath.“There’s something else.”Dad pulled back.“What?”My hand move