Defy The Alpha(s)

Chapter 525: All Loose Ends

Violet folded her wings in and padded over to Roman. He barely had time to brace himself before she pressed her head against his chest, rubbing against him with stubborn insistence. She pushed her muzzle into him again and again, the way an animal would comfort its wounded packmate.

Roman swallowed hard, his hand coming up automatically to her neck as if he didn’t know what else to do with the flood of emotion in his throat. "This is all my fault," he muttered.

Griffin frowned. "What?"

With a long sigh, Roman broke away from her and dropped onto the edge of the bed. Violet followed him immediately, pressing her head into his lap this time, refusing to leave him. Roman’s fingers threaded into her fur, scratching along her neck and shoulders. Violet practically moaned at the contact, leaning harder into him, her tail swishing faintly with each stroke.

Griffin simply watched them without interrupting the moment.

Roman kept his gaze down, unable to look his mate-in-law in the eye. "Alexa... was well, being Alexa. And she said some pretty mean things." He swallowed hard, words catching in his throat. "She said she regrets ever giving birth to me."

"Shit." Griffin’s face went tight, the gravity of the words settling on him. He inhaled deeply. "That’s a fucked-up thing to say, man. If I was Violet, I’d have ripped out her throat on the spot."

Roman gave a weak chortle, as if pretending Griffin only said it to lighten the mood. But Griffin’s expression darkened, deadly serious.

"I mean it."

Roman blinked, realization dawning. "Oh."

Griffin scratched the side of his brow. "Listen, Roman, I don’t blame you for what happened. But we need to deal with your parents, and that means keeping our mate’s secret safe. How sure are you they’re not spilling everything even as we sit here?"

might not be the best, but he won’t let me get dragged under, especially not with Elijah. It’s Alexa we need to watch. She’s a selfish bitch." He didn’t even flinch, speaking about his own mother

anyone. If she leaks a word, it’ll be her

nodded once. "So we

"Although she needs to shift back. We can’t risk her staying

Alaric, Violet’s wolf dissolved as bones cracked back into place. In an instant, she stood before them

from the shift, but Roman was already up,

hands gripped his shirt as she looked up at him, demanding, "Where

stare, and Violet followed the look,

exhaled, rubbing the back of his neck. "Alaric is not

"What do you mean

was Alpha Caspian. He told me Zara took Alaric back to the North pack, and..." Griffin’s expression

would’ve headed, inevitably. Zara’s keeping him away from me." Her nails dug into her palms as she hissed,

furrowed. "When is he

Asher and Alaric might not be the best of friends, but even then, the least Alaric could’ve done is come to the West pack to pay his respect. No, this doesn’t feel like his choice. I can’t shake the feeling he was forced." His jaw clenched. "And why the hell did he even return to

"Then we have to get him

a brow. "After Alpha Henry’s

shook her head fiercely. "No. That’s too long. If Alaric didn’t have a say in going back, then he’s not safe right now. He might

at the idea, almost excited.

go to the North pack instead of the