The day I found out Gideon had gotten my mother’s adopted daughter pregnant, I petitioned the Gray Harbor Council of Elders to dissolve our marriage pact. Then I formally renounced my ties to the White Ash River pack and left for France.
At the gate, my phone buzzed without stopping. The screen was a wall of messages from Gideon.
“This isn’t what you think. Let me explain.”
“Don’t do anything rash. The elders haven’t dissolved our pact yet.”
“Pick up. I’m begging you.”
Ours was never a fated mate bond, but an arranged union witnessed by both our families. It had lasted four years. Four years in which Gideon had refused to so much as touch me, yet here he was, admitting Ophelia was carrying his pup.
I stared at the name on the screen, the man who always wore such a cold mask. It was the first time I had ever seen him use the word *beg*.
My fingertip hovered over the power button for a full forty seconds.
My wolf knew his cedar scent. It remembered his promise to protect me. But now, all it gave me was silence.
In the end, I shut down the phone, removed the SIM card, and snapped it cleanly in two.
It wasn’t until my mother fell critically ill, six years later, that I returned to Gray Harbor.
After Six Years The Alpha Begs For My Return Chapter 36 Reese’s father had died young. Reese ran the pack’s affairs now, but the one the elders of Gray Harbor still truly feared was this old man, who had held the eastern shore for twenty years. The old warning passed down among Gray Harbor’s older
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After Six Years The Alpha Begs For My Return Chapter 35 “All settled?” “All settled.” I fell asleep on the way back, leaning against the passenger-side window. In my dream, I was ten years old again, by the river in summer. The water was murky, wave after wave crashing over me. I’d swallowed so much
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After Six Years The Alpha Begs For My Return Chapter 34 He tucked the unlit cigarette back into his pocket and suddenly asked, “That young Alpha with you—what is he to you?” I glanced back at Reese. He was leaning back in his chair, looking relaxed, the glow of his phone screen lighting his face
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After Six Years The Alpha Begs For My Return Chapter 33 He held the kraft envelope out to me. “Inside are her photo, her current address, two deposit box keys, and the guardianship nomination papers from my will. The attorney’s card is at the bottom.” Corrigan looked me straight in the eye. “Avery, I saved
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After Six Years The Alpha Begs For My Return Chapter 32 “What are your conditions?” “Conditions?” he repeated. He rested the envelope on his knee, one hand on top of it, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled pack of cigarettes. He put one between his lips but didn’t light it. “I’m
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After Six Years The Alpha Begs For My Return Chapter 31 He laughed, a rough, barking sound that startled a flock of sparrows from the roof. “Sit.” He pointed to the wooden chair beside him. “And that young Alpha with you can sit, too. Don’t just stand there. I’m not used to craning my neck.”
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After Six Years The Alpha Begs For My Return Chapter 30 When the wind blew, the entire sea of reeds rippled in gray-green waves that stretched to the horizon. After we left Tidewatch’s main territory, Reese’s Beta confirmed the route once over the phone. Beyond this point lay White Ash River’s old boundary. The collective
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After Six Years The Alpha Begs For My Return Chapter 29 I sat at her bedside until dark. Only when the nurse came for rounds and urged me to get some rest did I finally stand and leave. When I stepped out of the inpatient building, the night wind hit me, carrying the smell of
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After Six Years The Alpha Begs For My Return Chapter 28 She only held my hand and, in fragments, told me stories from my childhood. How at five, I climbed the magnolia tree and broke my arm, and even a werewolf’s healing couldn’t spare me a month in a cast. How at seven, I insisted
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After Six Years The Alpha Begs For My Return Chapter 27 “After that, he came to our house for every winter solstice moon banquet. Grandfather didn’t like him. Said he’d defied a pack order once and didn’t want me getting too close to him. But every time, he’d bring me freshly roasted chestnuts in a
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