HIS to CLAIM ALPHA ZEKE

ZEKE'S POv

The words hit me like physical blows while guilt crashed over me in waves. "Cecelia," I started, but she cut me off.

"I was pregnant, Zeke,"

she continued while I felt her pain through the bond. "I found out the day before you ended things. I was going to tell you that night at dinner, but then you said you'd made a mistake choosing me and that you wanted to dissolve our marriage, and I just couldn't tell you about the

baby after that."

My breath caught while my mind struggled to process what she'd just admitted. "You were pregnant when you faked your death?"

"Three months along," she confirmed while her voice broke. "I spent those three months falling in love with you and planning our future and imagining telling you about the baby,

then it all fell apart because you still loved someone else more than you could ever love me."

I moved without thinking while

pulling her against my chest and holding her tight while she shook with silent sobs. "I'm so sorry,"

I whispered into her hair while my own throat went tight. "I'm sorry for being too blind and too scared to see what I had until it was gone."

She stiffened initially but then slowly relaxed against me while her fingers clutched my shirt.

"I hate that I still care about you," she said while her tears soaked through the fabric. "I hate that being near you makes me hope for things I know will just hurt me again."

"Then let me prove I'm different

now," I said while pulling back just enough to see her face in the dim light from the window. "Let me prove that I learned from my mistakes and that I'll choose you every single time if you give me another chance."

Her eyes searched mine while the bond between us suddenly flared to life, stronger than it had been since before the rejection. The sensation made us both gasp while warmth spread through my chest that felt like coming home

after years lost in the cold.

"The bond," Cecelia breathed while

her hand pressed over her heart. "It's stronger."

"I feel it too," I confirmed while covering her hand with mine. "It's rebuilding itself because we're meant to be together. We always were meant to be together."

She stared at me for a long moment while emotions played across her face too fast to track. Then she leaned in,

pressing her lips to mine in a kiss that was gentle and searching and full of hope despite everything we'd been through.

I kissed her back while pouring three years of regret and longing into it because this woman had always been mine, even when I'd been too stupid to claim her. The bond sang between us while rebuilding itself piece by piece through the

physical connection.

When we broke apart we were both breathing hard while staring at each other with wonder.

"We should sleep," Cecelia whispered, though she made no move to pull away.

"We should," I agreed while still holding her close.

We settled back down, this time with no distance between us. Cecelia's head rested on my chest while my arm wrapped around her waist, keeping her close. The bond hummed contentedly while finally satisfied that we were

where we belonged.

I was just starting to drift off when I heard footsteps in the hallway outside, followed by a knock on the door.

"Alpha," Marcus's voice called urgently. "We have a situation."

I was out of bed immediately while

Cecelia sat up looking alarmed. "What kind of situation?" I called while pulling on pants.

"Package arrived for Cecelia," Marcus said through the door. "Security flagged it as suspicious, so we didn't deliver it to her quarters."

Cecelia and I exchanged looks while I opened the door to find Marcus holding a small box.

"What's in it?" I asked while my wolf was already on high alert.

"We haven't opened it yet because we wanted you here first," Marcus

said while his expression was grim. "But it's addressed specifically to Cecelia with no return address or postage, which means it was hand delivered."

We moved to the living area while Marcus set the box on the coffee table. It was small - maybe six inches square - wrapped in plain

"Wait," I said while grabbing gloves from a nearby drawer. "Let me open it in case there's evidence we need to preserve."

I carefully removed the paper, revealing a plain cardboard box. The lid lifted easily while inside was tissue paper wrapped around something small. My stomach dropped while I unwrapped the tissue because I already knew what I was going to find.

A small red shoe, worn and dirty, exactly Golden's size.

Cecelia made a sound like all the air had been punched from her lungs while she grabbed the shoe with shaking hands. "This is his," she whispered while tears streamed down her face. "This is

Golden's shoe - he was wearing these the day he was taken."

Tucked beneath the shoe was a note written in block letters. I picked it up with gloved hands while reading aloud:

"Stop looking, or he pays the price."

The message was clear, the threat unmistakable. Whoever had Golden was watching us, which meant they knew about our investigation and were warning us to back off or face consequences.

Cecelia clutched the shoe to her chest while her whole body shook

with sobs. "They have him," she cried while rocking back and forth. "They have my baby, and they're threatening to hurt him if we keep searching."

I knelt beside her while pulling her against me because there was nothing I could say that would make this better. The bond ached with her pain while my own fury built until my wolf demanded blood for whoever had done this.

"We're going to find him," I promised while knowing the words were hollow without action to back them up. "I don't care what threats they

make - we're going to bring Golden home."

But even as I said it, I knew the situation had just gotten infinitely more complicated, because now whoever had Golden was actively monitoring us, which meant our investigation had just become exponentially more dangerous.