Chapter 185: Protecting What's Mine
Alessandro’s POV
“I won’t show mercy.”
The words echoed in the cold stone chamber like a vow carved in iron.
Gabriel and Rafael exchanged a glance no one questioned it.
Not this time.
Rafael exhaled and crossed his arms tighter. “If you’re serious about this, we need eyes everywhere. People we trust.”
“Not many of those left,” Gabriel muttered, glancing back toward the slumped rogue in the cell.
“I’ll talk to Elijah,” Rafael offered. “He’s loyal to you, not the council. He can start a quiet investigation on Lena.”
I nodded. “Do it. And see if she’s been leaving the territory lately. I want records. Every meeting. Every trip. I don’t care if she went to get herbs check it.”
“And Leonardo?” Gabriel asked.
I hesitated.
My own brother.
The one who showed me that there was more to life than just becoming Alpha when we were kids.
He would wake me up in the middle of the night whispering like it was a secret mission and we’d sneak into Alpha John’s study. Just to look at his weapons.
I still remember how Leonardo’s eyes would light up as he picked up the old silver-hilted dagger, waving it dramatically like he was a warrior in some ancient tale.
“Someday,” he’d say with that stupid grin, “this will be ours. But tonight? We’re rebels, not rulers.”
And we’d laugh. God, we’d laugh so hard we had to bite our fists to stay quiet.
Back then… it felt like we were invincible.
Not brothers bound by blood and duty but by dreams.
He was my best friend.
My brother.
And now, I don’t know who he is anymore.
I rubbed my chest, trying to ease the pressure building inside. Like betrayal had a weight to it an invisible hand pressing down on my ribs.
I didn’t want to believe he could be part of this. I didn’t want to believe that Lena’s twisted ambitions might have found their way into him too.
But things had changed.
He had changed.
And if he stood between me and Aurora’s safety…
I exhaled through gritted teeth.
Then I would face him.
Even if it shattered whatever pieces of the past I still held onto.
“I’ll handle him myself.”
Rafael looked like he wanted to argue, but he didn’t.
“Alright,” he said. “But if you’re wrong—”
“Then I’ll be the first to apologize,” I interrupted. “But if I’m right…”
The silence said enough.
I turned back toward the dungeon door, needing air. Needing Aurora.
Needing something that didn’t reek of betrayal and blood.
Gabriel’s voice stopped me just before I left.
“You know he loved her once. Still might.”
I didn’t look back.
“I know.”
****
I stepped out into the cold night. The wind had picked up. Snow flurried like whispers from a storm not yet born.
The pack house loomed ahead, lit warmly, peacefully like the chaos beneath its foundations didn’t exist.
I went straight to her room.
But as I reached her door, I paused.
There were voices inside two of them, soft and overlapping.
Annie.
Of course, she’d still be here. Her best friend.
I hesitated, my hand half-raised to knock.
She must be having fun. I didn’t want to interrupt that didn’t want to intrude after everything that had happened.
But still…
I needed to see her face.
I needed to know if she was alright.
Just one look.
I took a breath and raised my fist to knock.
But before my knuckles touched the wood, the door swung open.
And there she was.
Aurora.
Only… not how I’d imagined.
She wasn’t laughing.
She wasn’t smiling.
Her face was pale, eyes wide and alert like she’d just seen something terrible. She didn’t look surprised to see me but startled. Like the world inside her head had just crashed into the world outside.
“Aurora?” I stepped forward instinctively, the door forgotten.
“Hey… are you okay?”
She didn’t speak right away.
Her lips parted slightly, then pressed together again as if she couldn’t decide whether to cry or hold it all in.
“Aurora,” I said gently, lowering my voice.
“Talk to me. What happened?”
Annie appeared behind her, looking unusually serious, her usual energy dimmed.
She gave me a quick nod, a silent signal that something had definitely gone wrong.
“I—” Aurora started, then blinked, trying to steady herself.
“I didn’t expect to see you here.”
I frowned. “I needed to check on you. I couldn’t sleep until I knew you were okay. But... you don’t look okay.”
She finally met my eyes.
“Something’s wrong, Alessandro,” she whispered.
“Really wrong.”
Then, slowly, she looked over her shoulder like checking if someone was still there before turning back to me.
Wordlessly, she brought out a folded piece of paper. Her hand trembled slightly as she held it out to me.
My brows furrowed. “What’s this?”
“Just read it,” she whispered.
I took the paper and unfolded it. The handwriting was tight and messy, like someone had scrawled it in a hurry or in rage.
As my eyes moved across the words, my grip on the paper tightened.
The message was short. Cryptic. But there was no mistaking the intent.
No name. No signature.
Just a threat.
I read it twice, then looked up at her.
“This was in front of your door?” My voice was tight.
She nodded. “Annie and I heard a knock. We thought it was you at first, but when I opened the door… that was all I found.”
I folded the letter back up, my jaw clenched.
“You should’ve told me the second you got this.”
“I was going to,” she said softly.
“I just… I didn’t want to ruin everything. After the date. After what happened.”
My throat burned. “Aurora, I don’t care about a date. I care about you. And someone left a threat at your door. That’s not something I take lightly.”
I looked down at the paper again, then slipped it into my jacket pocket.
“This wasn’t random,” I muttered. “They know about us. They know it bothers you. Which means this is someone close.”
Her eyes flickered with fear, and that alone made my blood boil.
I took a breath to steady myself and reached for her hand.
“We’ll find out who did this.”
Because whoever sent this letter?
They just made the biggest mistake of their life.
****
Before I left her room, I turned to face her one more time. Her eyes still carried that quiet fear, and it twisted something deep in my chest.
“I’m going to send two of my men to stand guard outside this door tonight,” I said firmly.
“You and Annie stay inside. Don’t open this door for anyone except me.”
Aurora nodded, her voice barely a whisper. “Okay…”
I touched her cheek gently, then turned and stepped out.
But by the time I made it down the hallway, that burning fury had already begun to rise inside me like a storm. Whoever left that letter… they crossed a line. And I had a damn good idea who might be connected to it.
Leonardo.
He had motive, even if he was stuck in the infirmary all this time. And I wasn’t going to take any more chances. Not with Aurora.
I stormed toward his quarters, only to find out from a passing warrior that he had just been discharged from the pack’s infirmary.
Perfect.
Without a second thought, I reached his room and didn’t bother knocking.
I slammed the door open with enough force to make it crash into the wall behind it.
Leonardo, shirtless and still looking like he’d barely recovered, turned with a smirk.
“Oh, it’s my dear brother,” he said with mock warmth.
“Coming to check up on me? How sweet—”
I didn’t let him finish.
I crossed the room in two strides and grabbed him by the neck, slamming him against the wall.
“Who the hell was behind it?”
Leonardo’s brows furrowed in confusion.
“Behind what?”
“The damn letter!” I growled. “The one slipped under Aurora’s door. A threat, Leo. Somebody threatened her and you expect me to believe you don’t know anything?”
Leonardo blinked, clearly caught off guard, then shoved my hands off his neck.
“What letter are you even talking about? I’ve been out of it for days, Alessandro. I don’t know anything about a damn letter.”
I didn’t let up. “Don’t lie to me.”
“I’m not!” he snapped. “Why the hell would I need to send threats when I already lost everything, huh? You think I’m that pathetic?”
I stared at him, heart pounding. His eyes still tired, still full of resentment but not the kind that screamed guilt.
He held my gaze, chest rising and falling.
“I swear on our mother’s grave,” he said quietly, “I didn’t send that letter. But I think… I know who did."
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