Page 9 of Alpha Unchained
“I didn’t plan any of this,” I say, the words punching out of me. “Marking her—I knew what that meant. I knew she’d change. But getting her pregnant? That wasn’t intentional. I just… I never wanted any of this to hurt her.”
Shame claws at my gut. My wolf surges, furious that I left \Elena to face the fallout alone. I told myself it was for the best, that I was keeping her safe—her, and the child I didn’t know we’d made—but it doesn’t change the fact that I walked away.
Hudson cuts in, voice calm but cold. “And yet, you left. Just like the last time. You didn’t think. You didn't give a damn who you hurt. You didn’t even stick around to find out.”
“If I hadn’t left the Hollow, no one I cared about would have been safe. No one. I told myself I was doing the right thing. That if I cut ties clean, they wouldn’t find her. But the truth is, I didn’t want to see her look at me like I was the threat. I left because I was afraid—of them, of me, of what it meant to love her like that.” I drag a hand over my face, nails scraping my stubble, then ball it into a fist in my lap, knuckles white from the force I’m using to keep it there, anchored by sheer will.
Taking a deep breath, I continue. "The Sable Rock Syndicate... They don’t just kill you. They unravel you—piece by piece.First they find out who and what you love. Then they take it. They bribe your friends, torch your business, make you a ghost in your own life. They’ve disappeared entire families without leaving a trace. Made people think they’d never existed at all."
I shake my head. I need to make them understand. "And when they’re done? They send ashes in an envelope. I watched it happen to another person who tried to oppose them. One day he was training with me, the next his house was gone, and nobodywould speak his name again. I couldn’t risk that happening to Elena. Not her. Not our child."
“Don’t give me any syndicate bullshit,” Kate snaps. “You don’t get to blame anyone other than yourself. You left, Luke. You left her with nothing.”
The silence stretches too long, and I glance down. My hands are shaking. Not from fear, but from restraint. I want to punch something. Yell. Beg. But she deserves more than another man who can’t hold his own damn consequences.
Hudson’s voice softens. “You really think you can keep her safe now? With everything coming down the mountain?”
“I have to.” The words come out rough. “She’s mine. The baby she’s carrying is mine.”
Kate goes still. No question in her eyes, just the weight of everything we’re not saying. But I catch it anyway—the flicker of concern, the way her mouth softens like she’s not just my sister, but someone who remembers who I used to be. Maybe even a flash of relief that at least one thing in this mess is finally certain. She nods, short and sharp, but the crack in her armor is there. And I hold on to it.
Hudson looks between us, then says, “If you need a place, you can stay at the compound.”
Kate cuts in. “You don’t have to stay with the pack. My old place above the mercantile is sitting empty. It’s secure; nobody’ll bother you, and it’s closer to Elena.”
Hudson shrugs. “That's not a bad idea. Just try not to burn the place down.”
I nod. “Thanks. Both of you.” My voice comes out rougher than I want it to, and I don’t quite meet Kate’s eyes. Gratitude scrapes against the regret lodged in my chest. I move my weight slightly, like I need to ground myself, like I don’t trust my voice to hold steady a second time.
Kate finally relaxes, just a little. She rubs her temple like the weight of all this is catching up with her. And for a breath, I almost believe things might be turning. But that flicker of hope? It lands like guilt. I don’t deserve it. Not after what I left her—and Elena—to carry alone.
“Don’t screw this up," she says. "It’s not just Waylon. I’ve heard rumors—about new money backing his push. The kind that doesn’t blink at collateral damage.”
Hudson’s phone buzzes. He checks it, glances at Kate, then me. “Waylon’s sniffing around Elena’s place again. Asking questions.”
A dangerous heat settles in my chest, spreading like fire through my ribs. My pulse thunders in my ears, vision narrowing until all I can see is red. “If he touches her...”
“He won’t,” Hudson says. “Not as long as I’m here.”
Kate turns to me. “Let us handle it. Let Hudson handle Waylon, and I’ll try to advocate for you with Elena.”
It takes everything I have not to throw the door open and stalk down Main Street, not to find Waylon and settle this the old way, in teeth and blood. But I don’t. Not because I’m calm. Not because I’m in control. But because this is Hudson’s SUV—Wild Hollow's official vehicle. The doors lock automatically from the front, and I’d have to break the glass partition and shove past them both to make it happen.
So I stay. Not for peace. For Elena.
I hold still. Every part of me demands I get out and track Waylon down, rip the threat out by its roots. But I clamp it down hard, forcing my body to stay still. but I won’t. Not for Elena, not for the baby, but for the sliver of a second chance I haven’t yet destroyed.
Kate’s voice is soft but steel-edged. “Don’t make me regret letting you stay. I told Waylon the same thing I’m telling younow—that baby belongs to Elena and Elena alone. She’s the only one who gets to decide who’s part of her child’s life.”
I give her a look that promises I won’t—at least, not on purpose.
They climb out of the SUV and I’m left alone in the backseat, the silence wrapping around me like judgment.
I catch a trace of Elena's scent still clinging to my skin—lavender and something wilder, edged with heat and memory. The echo of her laugh lingers like the morning fog in the back of my mind, and I swear I feel the ghost of her fingertips dragging across my chest, and something wilder, It hits me like it did that first night. Elena. Everything I’ve done, everything I’ve lost, comes down to her. Watching the sunlight slant through the windshield, my chest tightens.
No one touches Elena. Not the pack. Not the syndicate. Not Waylon. Not even blood.
She’s mine to protect—and so is the life she carries.
