Mated To The Crippled Alpha

Sergio offered his hand. "Mr. Hale, it’s a pleasure."

Both men stood tall, but Lewis carried the kind of quiet authority that didn’t need to announce itself the natural ease of an Alpha who had never had to fight for his place. Sergio was something else entirely. His energy was tightly controlled, every muscle held just a fraction too still, like a current running beneath still water. Their handshake lasted only a second, but it crackled two dominant forces measuring each other without a single word. When they pulled apart, Sergio’s interest in Lewis evaporated completely, like a door swinging shut.

"I have matters to attend to. Mr. Hale, please make yourself at home."

That was it. No offer of food, no drink, nothing. With me, Sergio always made a point of it fruit on the table, something warm to hold small gestures that landed heavier than they looked because they came from him. With Lewis, there was only cold air and distance.

I tried to smooth it over. "Carl, don’t take it personally. Dr. Zimmer’s just... he’s not the most open person."

Lewis didn’t answer. His eyes did.

After Whitney’s session ended, I stopped by Sergio’s office to say goodbye. He was wiping his hands with a wet wipe slow, deliberate strokes, like he was cleaning off something invisible. "Um... I’ll head out now," I said, not quite knowing what else to do with the silence. He dropped the wipe in the trash without looking up. "Alright."

I walked away telling myself it was just his habit, his need for order. Nothing personal toward Lewis. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

The drive home was quiet until Whitney broke it. "The academy’s hosting an event soon, Elena."

"What kind of event?"

"A student exchange. For top performers."

Lewis and I looked at each other. We both knew exactly what that event was. It got dressed up in the right language networking, opportunity, advancement but every time it came around, a handful of students left for it and simply never came back. Lewis had looked into it before. Some of those students had vanished into a web of black-market dealings and fraud, swallowed up by something with no clean edges.

This was Vito’s opening. If we could get someone inside and pull solid evidence, we could bring the whole operation down at once.

"You’d need senior membership to get in," I said carefully. "You’re still a junior. You probably won’t even be able to go "

"Luther said he could get me in."

My heart dropped. "No. You’re not going."

It had trap written all over it. I didn’t know exactly what Luther wanted, but Whitney had barely made it out the last time. I took a breath and kept my voice level. "Whitney, we think Luther’s been using you to figure out whether the Blackwells are really gone. If you walk into that event, you could blow Vito’s only clean shot. We’d be making everything worse."

Whitney kept her head down, fingers twisting in her lap. When she finally spoke, her voice was barely above a whisper. "I know you’re trying to protect me. But I can’t just sit here while he puts everything on the line alone. I’m not being reckless. I have a plan."

"What plan?"

She looked up, and beneath the nerves there was something steady. "Luther likes me." She let that sit for a moment. "I’m a woman. Sometimes all it takes is one look. He’s part of the same pack I used to belong to. We should’ve known each other I just lost that part of myself. He hasn’t forgotten. He’s been trying to pull those memories back up in me."

Her words hit somewhere quiet and familiar. It reminded me of how I’d read Sergio’s behavior early on, how I’d felt that pull and drawn my lines before anything could get complicated. I had to do the same for her now.

"Even if that’s true," I said, "I can’t let you go. He invited you, but what he actually wants is to pull you away from us. The moment you step out there, we lose you."

I took her hands and held them. "We’ve been apart for twenty years, Whitney. I just found you again. Call me selfish I don’t care. Vito’s mission does not come before your life." My grip tightened. "It doesn’t."

She blinked. "Elena..."

"You don’t have to say anything. Stay with the Hales. I’m not letting you walk out that door, and I know Vito wouldn’t want me sending you into Luther’s arms either."

For the first time, I was the overprotective older sister. It felt strange and completely right. Whitney was the only family I had left.

She turned to Lewis, her eyes searching his face. "Lewis. You understand, right?"

Lewis held her gaze without flinching. "Listen to your sister."

Once we were home, I pulled Theo aside and told him to tighten security. Whitney was not to leave. His expression didn’t waver. "Yes, ma’am."

I went to Whitney’s room and locked it from the outside. It hurt. "Don’t hate me," I said through the door. "I can’t let you take that chance. Trust Vito. He’ll handle it."

Her voice came back thick with feeling. "What if "

"Then it’s his bad luck," I said, and hated the coldness in my own voice.

"I’ll be fine. Luther won’t be on guard around me. I’ll make it back safely."

I shook my head even though she couldn’t see me. "Whitney. Accidents don’t ask for permission. Nobody can predict what’s coming. This is a gamble, and most gamblers lose even the careful ones. One loss could mean everything." I pressed my palm flat against the door. "When we were little, you always listened to me. Just this once, please trust me."

A long silence. Then, quietly: "Okay, Elena."

But the promise didn’t reach my chest. The anxiety stayed, coiled and stubborn. I arranged for extra eyes on her anyway, because trust and caution aren’t the same thing.

I was still standing in the hall when Alisa appeared, one hand resting on her rounded belly. "Aunt Elena, what’s going on?"

"I can’t risk her making a choice she can’t come back from," I said simply. Then I looked at her more carefully. "How was your last prenatal checkup? Everything okay?"

"Yes, Aunt Elena. The baby’s healthy."

"Good." I studied the pale cast to her skin, the tiredness she was carrying behind her eyes. "You’ve been looking worn out. You need to take care of yourself, especially now. Your dad is going to be over the moon when this baby arrives."

She moved her hand in slow circles across her belly, and something sad passed over her face.

When her gaze dropped to my stomach, a cold shiver ran straight up my spine.

I excused myself and went upstairs. The moment the door closed, I grabbed Lewis’s hand. "I think Alisa’s about to make a move. Stay close to me. She might try something."

He pulled me into his arms without hesitation, his hold steady and sure, the kind of warmth that cut through instinct and fear alike. "Nothing is going to happen to you. I swear it."

Things weren’t as out of control as they’d been before. But my chest wouldn’t stop pulling tight. "Carl, Whitney won’t let this go. We need to keep watching her. She can’t take any more risks."

"Stop worrying tonight. You’ve got your checkup tomorrow. Rest."

"Okay."

Sleep didn’t come. I lay in the dark turning over everything the appointment, the scan, what they’d be looking for. The memory of my last loss sat heavy and quiet inside me, making me afraid in ways I couldn’t quite put into words.

Morning came, and I found Whitney already at the kitchen table, working through her breakfast. She looked up the moment she heard me. "I’ll come with you."

"No. Lewis’s coming. You stay home and rest."

Her hand caught mine before I could step away. "Are you sure? I know you’ll be fine, but I’m still worried especially now. Let me be there. I want to share every moment of this."

I sighed. I couldn’t fight her on everything. "Fine. But don’t wander off."

I made sure Theo stayed close to her while Lewis and I went into the ultrasound room, just to keep her mind from running somewhere it shouldn’t.

Inside, I lay back and tried to breathe as the doctor moved the probe across my stomach. Tension built quietly in my chest, and my fingers curled around the armrest. No heartbeat at this stage could mean something had gone wrong a complication, the kind of news delivered in careful, measured tones.

"Doctor," my voice came out smaller than I meant it to, "how’s the baby doing?"

"Mrs. Hale, the baby is "

A noise from outside cut through everything.

My heart slammed.

What was happening?