2/2
Chapter 227
Chapter 227
I realized–struck suddenly, sharply that I had never done this before.
Never just… laid with her.
Offered comfort without expectation.
+25 BONUS
When she had been with Silverclaw–back before everything shattered—I would fall asleep with her sometimes after long, heated nights. After I’d taken her to bed with all the reckless hunger of a wolf who didn’t know how to love properly.
But even then, it had been different.
Sex first. Sleep after.
This-
This was new.
This was choice.
Holding her for the sake of holding her.
Being here because she needed warmth, not possession.
Tbreathed her in again, letting my arms curl around her lightly, offering my strength, my steadiness.
Slowly, I felt the tension bleed out of her body.
She relaxed into me, her breathing slowing, deepening.
I stayed awake for a long time after she drifted off, listening to the soft sounds of her breath, feeling the fragile way she trusted me enough to sleep with me at her back.
And all the while, my mind raced.
Logan.
Gone rogue.
Conspiring against her. Against us.
Maggie.
Broken but maybe not evil.
And Cassandra-
Cassandra Laurent would learn what it meant to betray the pack that had always held her close.
To betray my mate.
Eventually, exhaustion pulled at me, too.
The steady rhythm of Elena’s breathing, the scent of her hair, the steady warmth of her body against mine- more potent than anything else.
is a lullaby
I let my eyes close.
And for the first time in what felt like a lifetime, I allowed myself to sleep beside her.
Not as a conqueror.
Not as a protector.
1/3
Chapter 227
Just as Derek.
+25 BONUS
A sharp knock at the door jolted me awake.
For a second, I didn’t know where I was.
I sat up too fast, heart pounding, disoriented by the dim light filtering through the heavy curtains and the scent of Elena still clinging to me.
Another knock.
I glanced down instinctively–Elena was still sleeping, her face pressed into the pillow, her hands curled under her chin like a child. The sight of her settled something wild in me.
Quietly, I slid off the bed, smoothing a hand over her blanket before I crossed the room.
When I cracked open the door, my Silverclaw driver stood there awkwardly, holding out a familiar object–my phone.
“You left it in the car, Alpha,” he said.
I took it with a nod, already thumbing the screen awake.
Three missed calls. One voicemail.
All from Joe.
Shit.
I stepped out into the hallway, pulling the door shut softly behind me so I wouldn’t wake her, and pressed the phone to my ear.
Joe answered on the first ring.
“Alpha,” he said, his voice clipped. Urgent. “We have a problem.”
My stomach dropped.
“What is it?” I barked.
“Logan,” Joe said. “He’s gone.”
The words were simple.
Plain.
But they detonated like a bomb in my brain.
Gone.
Not arrested. Not detained.
Gone.
“He disappeared from Blackwood territory sometime early this morning,” Joe said. “His enforcers claim taking a personal day to recover from the wedding festivities.”
“Convenient,” I growled.
Joe didn’t argue.
“We’ve got trackers on it now,” he said. “Last ping off his pack phone was near the southern borderlands.‘
The roguelands.
hought he was
2/3
Chapter 227
+25 BONUS
Of course.
Of course that coward would run for the one place the Council had no real authority.
A low, furious growl rumbled from my throat.
I dragged a hand through my hair, pacing a tight line down the hall and back.
“Get everyone moving,” I said. “Discreetly. I don’t want his people knowing how hard we’re looking yet. I want Logan found. And I want him alive.”
Joe hesitated.
“You sure you don’t want-
“Alive,” I snapped.
Because I needed Logan to face what he’d done.
I needed Elena to have the satisfaction of the truth being dragged into the light.
And selfishly–I wanted to look him in the eyes when his world burned.
“Understood, Alpha,” Joe said.
Hended the call and stood there for a second, letting the full weight of it settle over me.
Logan was gone. Running scared.
Good.
Because wherever he ran–whatever rocks he tried to hide under-
I would find him.
And I would end this.
