Filed to story: Alpha’s Regret After His Pregnant Luna’s Death (Evelyn & Declan)
“I heard you’ve opened your own private law firm,” I finally said, my voice low and sharp like ice cracking across a frozen lake.
Peter blinked at me, startled.
Good. He damn well should be.
His expression stuttered with a mix of confusion, uncertainty and a flicker of fear. My wolf tasted every bit of it, prowling restlessly beneath my skin.
Was he really that clueless?
“Yes-” he began.
I cut him off before he could finish.”Then I’m not accusing you unfairly.”
I flicked a folder onto the table in front of him, the sound sharp in the quiet room. Peter reached for it with jittery fingers. I could hear the tiny hitch in his breath before his eyes even reached the final page.
Then the color drained from his face completely.
Good.
“Anything to say?” I asked, tapping my fingers against the table. Each tap echoed like a warning growl in the air.”Are you willing to settle with compensation, or do you need to call your lawyer?”
His pulse jumped, fast and anxious.
“Alpha Declan,” he said, his voice strained,”there has to be some kind of misunderstanding. Our firm would never mishandle a case involving the Crawford Group. There must be some-“
“This was a simple case,” I replied coolly.”And you still lost. I’m only asking for compensation to protect the company’s interests.”
The pressure in the room thickened, it was suffocating. My wolf was just behind my eyes, watching him, judging him.
The silence stretched long and heavy.
Finally, I pushed to my feet.”Figure out how you’re going to handle it.”
I started toward the door but paused beside him. My hand came down on his shoulder, firm, heavy and unmistakably dominant. I could feel his muscles tense beneath my palm.
“Maybe think carefully about what you’ve been doing lately.”
It was not a suggestion not an advice, but a threat.
A territorial warning.
I walked out, the click of my leather shoes echoing sharply down the hallway. I didn’t need to look back to know Peter was frozen in place.
I could smell the fear still rolling off him.
He should be afraid.
My wolf bristled at the memory of what I had witnessed last night. He was living with my luna and was the reason she wanted a divorce from me. A low growl vibrating through my chest as I walked.
The rage that surged up was primal and utterly territorial. I forced it back barely. I was at the moment a civilized man on the outside but a furious alpha wolf beneath.
Did he think I wouldn’t find out? Did he think I had signed those divorce papers without knowing?
I stepped into the elevator, my jaw clenched, my pulse steady, but my wolf was pacing violently inside me.
Evelyn’s POV
The moment Peter opened the front door, I froze.
His face was pale and even from a few steps away, my wolf stirred uneasily beneath my skin.
Something was wrong, something was seriously wrong.
“What happened?” I asked, stepping closer before I even realized I’d moved.”Did something go wrong at work?
Evelyn’s POV
Peter didn’t answer.
His eyes were unfocused, his scent muddled with stress, frustration, and a tint of fear.
My wolf bristled within me.
“Peter,” I said softly,”maybe I could take a look?”
The old part of me, the lawyer I used to be, still lived inside my bones. And Peter… he had been my student, my shadow, my silent supporter. After everything he’d done for me and Lana, helping him felt like instinct, something I should do without thinking.
But he forced a smile, one that didn’t reach his eyes.”It’s nothing.”
I didn’t believe him. Not even for a second.
I wanted to push, to demand answers, but he looked like one harsh word would crack him open, so I swallowed the worry clawing up my throat.
“Then go get some rest,” I told him gently.”I saw a few ingredients in the fridge. I’ll make dinner tonight and call you when it’s ready.”
He didn’t argue. That alone told me enough. Peter never turned down a chance to play responsible host.
His steps were unsteady as he walked away.
I turned toward the kitchen and got busy, pushing my thoughts aside and focusing on the rhythm of chopping vegetables, the calm of familiar motions.
But part of me kept hearing the irregular beat of Peter’s heart as he walked to his room.
–
When I finished cooking, I went to call him.
“Peter, dinner’s ready. I’m coming in, okay?” I knocked lightly.
There was no answer.
My wolf pricked her ears. I pushed open the door quietly.
The lights were still on. Peter was on the bed, completely knocked out.
But what caught my attention wasn’t him, it was the paper half-hanging off the mattress.
A document.
Something inside me tightened. My wolf leaned forward, her ears sharp, her instincts humming like a warning drum.
I stepped closer and picked it up.
And then I saw it.
The contents were familiar.
The structure, the phrasing, the legal traps hidden between the lines.
It was a flawed contract.
A complete setup.
My breath hitched, and I flipped to the final page-
Thirty million dollars.
My fingers trembled.
Thirty million? The Crawford Corporation was suing him for thirty million dollars?
Peter wasn’t even five years into his career. His firm wasn’t nearly that liquid. Even selling everything wouldn’t raise that kind of money.
I looked at him, asleep and oblivious. Even in sleep, his brow was furrowed, as if he was fighting something he couldn’t wake from.
My heart clenched.
And then-
A voice crashed through my mind, from my memory, from the past.
From him.
“I’ll make you behave.”
That was what Declan had said to me. Was this what he meant? Did he already somehow know that I was staying with Peter?
My wolf recoiled violently.
My vision blurred.
