All Chapters of After the Storm: Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

LeahDad stared at the piece of paper in his hand.His fingers tightened around it until the edges crumpled slightly beneath his grip.“What does it say?” Sean asked again.Dad didn’t answer.His eyes lifted slowly from the note to the warrior standing in front of him.“Where did you find this?”“Under the driver’s seat, Alpha. At the eastern boundary.”Dad unfolded the paper completely.For a moment, nothing happened.Then his eyes began moving across the writing.I watched his face.Something changed.The hardness that had settled over his features moments ago deepened into something colder. More dangerous.“Dad?”He didn’t look at me.Sean stepped closer.“Doyle.”Dad finally lifted his gaze.“It’s a meeting place.”My stomach twisted.“A meeting place?”He nodded once.“There’s a location written here.”“Where?”“The old mill.”Sean’s expression immediately darkened.“The abandoned mill?”Dad nodded.“When?”Dad glanced toward the bottom of the note.“Tonight.”A chill travelled d

MikeThe drive back to Celtic Moon had never felt so good.I couldn’t stop smiling.For months, I’d been forced to play the obedient warrior, standing in Doyle’s shadow and pretending I was content with a life that offered me nothing. I’d smiled when he spoke, nodded when he gave orders, and swallowed every ounce of resentment while watching him command the respect I deserved.But not anymore.Tonight, for the first time, I could see my future with absolute clarity.Not as some pathetic fantasy I entertained when I was alone. Not as a distant possibility I might spend the rest of my life chasing.I could see it.The Alpha’s seat.My seat.My fingers tightened around the steering wheel as a dark, satisfied chuckle escaped me.Doyle had absolutely no idea what was coming.Neither did his precious family.They were all too busy looking in the wrong direction, scrambling to defend themselves against the rogues while worrying about the next attack. They were so consumed by the threat outsi

StormI closed the bedroom door behind us and rested my hand against it for a moment.I needed a second to breathe.Not because I was frightened for myself.Because I was frightened for Leah.She stood in the middle of the room, staring at the bed as though she’d forgotten why we’d come in here. Her face was pale, her shoulders tense, and her hands hung limply at her sides.She looked so small.The beautiful girl, who had once run through this house laughing, who had trusted the world to be kinder than it sometimes was, now stood before me carrying a secret that had clearly been eating away at her for far too long.I wanted to gather her into my arms and promise her that everything would be all right.But I couldn’t make that promise.Not honestly.Not with Mike missing, money hidden in their home, and a note threatening the lives of everyone we loved.All I could do was make certain she knew she wasn’t alone anymore.“Come on, sweetheart,” I said gently. “You need to sit down.”She l

StormI knew that voice.I knew the smooth, familiar tone, the confidence threaded through every syllable, the way he could make even the simplest question sound like an expectation of obedience.Mike.For one terrible second, I couldn’t move.He should not have been here.Doyle was securing the pack. Warriors were searching for him. His vehicle had been found near the eastern boundary, and the evidence we’d uncovered pointed toward a betrayal far more dangerous than any of us had anticipated.Yet here he was.Standing outside my bedroom door.As though nothing had happened.As though he had every right to be here.As though Leah’s fear meant nothing.I slowly withdrew my hand from the handle.“Mike.”Behind me, I heard Leah’s breath catch.He was here.The man she’d been afraid might kill her was standing only a few feet away.And I was the only thing between them.“Storm, open the door.”His voice was calm.Almost pleasant.That frightened me more than shouting would have.I said no

MikeSo…They knew.I stood there staring at Doyle, and for a moment I couldn’t believe it.The little bitch Leah had run to mummy and daddy.My loyal mate.Huh.What a joke.After everything I’d done for her.After everything I’d provided.She’d betrayed me the second things got difficult.Typical.But I wasn’t worried.Not really.Because there was one thing they didn’t know.Cain.They had absolutely no idea what I’d been doing behind their backs.All those meetings.All those conversations.All the information I’d handed over.Doyle’s patrol schedules.His security changes.His movements.The weak points around Celtic Moon.It was all in Cain’s hands now.Doyle was exposed.And he didn’t even know it.I almost smiled.Let them think they’d caught me.Let them believe they had uncovered everything.They hadn’t.They’d uncovered nothing.I still had the upper hand.I looked at Doyle.“You think this changes anything?”His eyes narrowed.“You’re finished, Mike.”I laughed.“You have