Mated To The Crippled Alpha

After leaving Jeffrey’s room, I followed Lewis back to ours. The moment the door clicked shut behind us, I turned to face him. "What’s really going on? Are you and Dad planning something?"

He cupped my face in both hands, his touch easy and warm. "There’s nothing for you to worry about. Dad just doesn’t want a pregnant woman staying up late. Go shower and rest."

"But "

He was already steering me gently toward the bathroom. I pulled back slightly. "Carl, I’m not helpless. I can manage a shower on my own."

"I know," he said, giving in just enough. "But tomorrow I’m having Theo add non-slip mats in the bathroom and a carpet in the bedroom. Better safe than sorry."

It was a little much, but his heart was in the right place, so I let it go. "Okay."

"Be careful getting up after," he added.

"I know, Honey." I rose onto my toes and kissed his cheek. "But if there’s any news from Whitney, you tell me immediately."

"I will," he promised.

He stepped out and pulled the door shut, and only then did I realize he’d never actually answered my question. What had Jeffrey meant earlier? Were they planning something something involving Sera? I’d spent most of my time recently at Sergio’s with Whitney. What had been happening back here while I was gone?

Lewis was probably keeping it from me so I wouldn’t stress. And honestly, what could I do right now? I’d only be in the way. I decided to listen to him and rest.

The shower left me feeling clean and clearheaded. A cool breeze moved through the open window, lifting the curtains in slow waves. I walked over and looked down into the yard below. Everything looked still. Quiet. Normal. I told myself I was overthinking and climbed into bed.

Sleep came easier than I expected deep and unbroken, the way it had been since the pregnancy. The doctor said it was normal, that symptoms were different for everyone. For me, it seemed carrying two lives had quietly cured the insomnia that used to chase me through every night.

In the middle of that sleep, a sound split the silence apart.

My eyes snapped open. Lewis’s voice was already there, low and steady. "Don’t be scared, Elena."

Rain hammered the windows. Through the glass I could just make out the trees in the yard bending under the weight of it, their shapes twisting strangely in the dim light. The rain fell like a sheer curtain pulled across the world.

Still half-asleep, my voice came out rough. "Carl... was that thunder?"

"Yes. It’s pouring. Go back to sleep."

Another flash of lightning turned the room white for a moment. I pressed closer to him without thinking. He was looking out the window, his expression distant and unreadable. When he felt my eyes on him, he turned back, gentle again. "It’s okay. I’m here. Rest."

He covered my ears with both hands, softening the storm to something muffled and far away, and pulled me back under.

Outside, the rain kept falling. Down in the dim yard below, something dark moved slowly through the water collecting on the ground thin red rivulets bleeding into the puddles, quiet and unseen.

..

Morning came bright and soft, the air carrying that clean, washed smell that only comes after a hard rain. I woke to an empty bed I’d gotten used to that and padded across the new carpet Lewis had already had installed. It was thick underfoot, like stepping on something that wanted to take care of you. Every sharp corner in the room had been padded. Non-slip mats lined the bathroom. The shower gel sat exactly where I could reach it without stretching.

We still had months before the babies came, and he’d already prepared for everything.

I touched my stomach lightly. "Your dad is incredibly thoughtful," I told them.

Theo was waiting outside when I opened the door. "Good morning, Mrs. Hale."

I looked at him the guilty tilt of his eyes, the way he wasn’t quite meeting my gaze. I thought about how I’d slapped him for letting Whitney go. I’d been furious in that moment. But looking back, he hadn’t defied me. He’d followed Lewis’s orders. My anger had just needed somewhere to land.

"I’m sorry, Theo. For hitting you yesterday." 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

His face went red and he started waving both hands immediately. "No, no I failed your instructions. I deserved it. You did nothing wrong, Mrs. Hale."

This foolish, honest boy. His reaction only made me feel worse. He was such a good person he deserved someone kind to love, someone who’d make sure he didn’t end up alone and overlooked the way Lewis once had been.

"Breakfast is ready," he said, filling the silence.

"Alright."

I headed toward the dining room, and then stopped.

Police officers were moving in and out of Sera’s room with the calm efficiency of people doing a job they’d already finished. The memory of last night’s sounds surfaced what I’d assumed was thunder cracking through my half-awake mind.

Those weren’t thunder. Those were gunshots.

"Where is Sera?"

Before Theo could answer, Captain Tucker stepped out of her room and gave me a measured nod. "Mrs. Hale."

"Captain Tucker. Are you here officially?"

He looked faintly surprised. "Mr. Hale didn’t tell you? We’ve apprehended the suspect in the dismemberment case."

I went still.

Lewis had solved a dismemberment case the one that had been sitting like a shadow over everything and hadn’t said a single word to me.

"The suspect," I asked carefully, "it isn’t Sera, is it?"

Even as I said it, it felt absurd. She was pregnant, barely holding herself together. When would she have had the means or the strength to do something like that? We’d considered her early on, but her condition had ruled her out. I’d even wondered briefly if it was Wisteria circling back somehow.

Captain Tucker confirmed it. "Yes. It’s Sera. Thanks to Mr. Hale’s cooperation, we were able to identify and move on the real culprit."

"What happened last night?"

"She was apprehended," he said simply.

He left shortly after, and I turned to Theo. He spoke before I could. "Mrs. Hale, please don’t blame Mr. Lewis. You’re pregnant and you haven’t been well. He didn’t want this weighing on you."

"Of course," I said quietly.

That was just who Lewis was. He calculated everything around me, arranged things so that I never had to carry what I didn’t need to. It should have frustrated me and part of it did but underneath that I knew exactly what it meant.

"But I still want to know," I said. "What exactly happened last night?"