Page 39 of Alpha Unbound

I whip around so fast the hem of my flannel flares, fists clenched tight enough to make my knuckles pop. Blood thrums hot in my veins, my wolf pushing hard against the surface, ears sharp, teeth bared. Whoever’s coming through that door is either brave—or stupid.

"Whoa, killer. It’s just me."

Elena stands in the doorway, eyes wide and a little wild, like she’s seen a ghost—or nearly become one. Dust and what looks like ash smudge her gray sweater; her blonde braid, half unraveled, hangs over one shoulder in tangled defiance. There’s a minor cut on her cheekbone, nothing deep, but fresh enough to catch the light. She looks shaken, yes—but also furious. The kind of fury that comes when something sacred has been touched. Violated.

"You okay?" I ask.

She shakes her head. "They hit my store, too. Nothing missing. Just torn apart. Like they were looking for something."

"They were."

Her gaze sharpens. "You found something."

I nod, then close the door behind her and pull the shade, shutting out the morning light and any prying eyes with it. The soft click of the lock feels final in a way I didn’t expect. Elena turns slowly, her gaze pinning me with quiet intensity. The weight of her eyes is steady—not demanding, just ready. And for the first time, I let her see what I’m really feeling: the fear I’ve been swallowing down since the first sign something was wrong, the bone-deep conviction that this trail leads somewhere darker than either of us imagined, and the flicker of hope I didn’t dare name until I read my brother’s words.

"Luke left me a note."

"He’s alive?" I nod. "Sonofabitch," she murmurs softly.

She doesn’t look surprised. If anything, she looks pissed. Her jaw flexes, eyes narrowing with a sharp edge I recognize from childhood—the one that surfaced only when something hit too close to the bone. Like she’s known something was wrong all along and no one listened.

It stirs a memory I haven’t touched in years: the summer after graduation, just before Luke really started to pull away. Iwas out hiking the ridge trail early one morning and came across them—Elena and Luke—standing on the old bridge above the falls. They didn’t see me.

Luke had his hands braced on the rail, shoulders tense. Elena stood close, too close for casual. She touched his arm when she spoke, and something passed between them, quiet and sharp. I asked him about it later, tried to tease. He just rolled his eyes and said I’d imagined it. Scoffed like it was ridiculous. But now? Now I’m not so sure.

"Yeah. And now whoever’s after him? They know I’m looking."

We sit on the floor between two aisles—somewhere familiar, somewhere not visible from the windows. The scent of pine soap and cinnamon from the display near the register lingers in the air, grounding us.

A delivery truck rumbles distantly outside, a mundane sound that feels out of place against the charge in the room. It all makes the silence between us feel louder, like the walls themselves are waiting for what we’ll say next. The worn planks beneath us creak faintly with every change in movement, but it’s a comforting sound, like the store itself is keeping our secrets.

I pull the note from my pocket, the paper still warm from my body heat, and hand it to her. She reads it once. Then again. Her eyes narrow, lips pressed into a hard line as she studies the handwriting like she could summon Luke with the force of her focus.

Finally, she folds the note along the same creases, her fingers steady and sure, like this moment is one she’s been preparing for—even if she didn’t know it until now.

"Don’t trust what bleeds easy," she repeats.

"What the hell does that mean?"

She exhales. "Something old. Maybe pack politics. Maybe something... else."

"You think this goes beyond the packs?"

"I think whatever Luke was tracking, it’s not just moonshine and bad blood."

I nod, heart thudding. I already knew it. But hearing Elena say it makes it feel sharper.

We sit in silence for a beat, both of us bracing for something we can’t yet see.

"I have to tell Hudson," I say. “I should have called him earlier.”

She nods. "Do it soon. Because we need to figure out who’s behind whatever this is. Is it Luke or someone else, and regardless of who… why? It seems like things are ramping up. I worry that whatever is coming is moving faster than we think."

CHAPTER 15

HUDSON

After Kate called me, I learn from my deputy that the mercantile isn’t the only business that was broken into. What the hell is going on?

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