Page 72 of The Alpha Under My Bed

A low whistle echoed through the line. “Fuck, man. You sound just like him.”

I froze. My grip on the phone tightened, my pulse quickening.

“Like who?”

A pause. Then, a dark chuckle. “Julian.”

The name hit me like a gut punch, a sharp, jagged thing that burrowed deep, scraping against something old—something I’d buried a long time ago. I exhaled slowly, forcing the tension out of my shoulders. “If you bring up my brother again, I’ll rip your tongue out and mail it back to you.”

A dry laugh filtered through the phone. “Yeah, yeah. Point taken.”

I rolled my shoulders, pushing the ghosts of my past back into the grave where they belonged. Ellie was all that mattered now. I’d cut everything else away—piece by piece—until there was nothing left but her.

“You’re really not coming back, huh?”

My fingers froze on the phone. “What?”

“I mean, you haven’t been home in years, Mal. Thought you’d have crawled back by now.”

“I have nothing to go back for.”

The silence that followed was thick, heavy. Then?—

“Well, they found her.”

The air in the room turned heavy, suffocating. My jaw tightened, a pulse of tension seizing my chest.

“Found who?” I asked, even though I already fucking knew.

“Your scent match.”

I laughed. Actually laughed.

The sound felt foreign, bitter.

Because it was so fucking ridiculous.

Like I gave a shit.

I could hear the hesitation, the uncertainty in their voice. “You don’t even want to know who she is?”

“No.”

A pause. “Mal?—”

“I said no.”

Silence.

I exhaled, forcing the conversation back on track, shoving the knot in my chest down where it belonged. “Just watch Claudia. Call me if you find anything.”

Before they could say another word, I ended the call.

Ellie was all that mattered now.

I’d cut away everything else, piece by piece, until there was nothing left but her.

The phone still felt warm in my hand as I dragged a palm down my face, forcing my breath to steady, to return to calm. My fingers brushed over my pocket instinctively, grazing the key I kept there—the key to the apartment next door.

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