Escaping the Alpha, Claimed in the End novel Chapter 31

Chapter 31

Ryder’s POX

Hold myself nothing had changed. Amelia was gone, but life went on. I was Alpha. I had responsibilities, duties, a pack depending on me. I told myself I could shoulder it the way I always had: silent, cold, unshaken

But every corner of the mansion proved me a liar.

The Luna suite was the worst. I avoided it during the day, yet I always found myself pausing outside at night, hand brushing the doorframe like maybe I’d hear her voice if I listened long enough. Her scent lingered there, faint but sharp–spring air, wildflowers, herbs–and it cut me deeper than a blade.

I worked harder to fill the silence. Morning drills stretched into midday patrols, patrols into evening strategy meetings. The warriors kept their eyes down when I pushed too far, ordering one more round, one more lap, one more shift. They didn’t argue, but I felt their unease prickling at my back.

I couldn’t stop.

Stopping meant letting my guard down. And if I did that, I’d remember–the way Amelia looked at me that night across the dinner table. Calm on the outside, breaking on the inside. The way her voice shook when she told me she didn’t love me.

Lies. I knew it. But they’d been said, and they echoed louder every day.

In the council room, I pretended focus. Reports blurred in front of me, words slipping through my mind like water. Lucas filled the silence I left, covering when I missed a detail, smoothing over my clipped responses. He didn’t call me out in front of the elders, but when the room emptied, I caught the weight of his stare.

“You’re burning yourself out,” Lucas said one night, the formality gone from his tone. His eyes searched mine.

“I can’t imagine what it feels like for an Alpha to be without his mate… but as your friend, Ryder, I think you need to rest. You’re running yourself ragged, and we need you whole. The pack needs you in your best state.”

“I’m fine.” The words came out clipped, too rough, even for me.

Lucas’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t argue. He only gave a small nod, though the weight in his eyes said everything he hadn’t voiced.

At night, it was harder to keep up the act.

The bed was empty. I kept it neat, untouched, like order could replace her warmth. But my body rentembered. The curve of her back against me. The way she curled into my chest, fingers tangled in my pajama top like she couldn’t bear being separated-

I reached for her more than once in the dark, half–asleep, desperate, only to find cold sheets. The hollow in my chest deepened each time.

Sleep never held me long. I paced the balcony, staring at the pack lands under the moonlight. I called it keeping watch fulfilling my role as Alpha–but the truth was simpler, and sadder. I was just standing there, hoping the Moon Goddess would take pity. Hoping I wasn’t the only one hurting. Hoping I’d look up and she’d be there, walking back to me like none of it ever happened.

Training helped, in its brutal way. I shifted until my muscles screamed, until my lungs burned. I drove Kieran against the limits, again and again, until even he growled in warning. But the rage didn’t fade.

The pack noticed. Whispers followed me, the same ones I’d lived with since sixteen. Too volatile. Too dangerous. Too close

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I kept insisting I was fine. That I had to be. But the longer the day’s stretched, the demo ye

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