Rebirth of the Alpha's Slave Mate (Samantha and Kade) novel Chapter 162

Chapter 162

Nothing had worked. The medicine stopped working years ago. The best healers couldn’t figure out what was wrong with her. No amount of therapy seemed to pierce the haze that had clouded her mind.

To Debbie, she was constantly being raped over and over again, constantly reliving that night of horror, and nothing could snap her out of it.

But then Kade had heard about the mysterious traveling healer… Silver One. Allegedly, she had special healing abilities that went beyond books and herbs. Some people said she had healed life-threatening illnesses with just a touch of her hand.

He tried to track her down, but she always eluded him. She was a traveling healer with no known contact information and no address, living in the wilds.

“Actually, I was going to tell you,” Ajax said, moving away from his spot by the window, “my sources say they saw the healer’s vehicle approaching Nightshade pack recently. It’s likely that she’s visiting for the upcoming Alpha Ceremony.”

Kade sat up straight at that. Nightshade pack… Where Elena lived.

The woman who he hadn’t seen in seven years.

Seven Years Ago: Kade’s Wedding Day

Ivy hadn’t stopped crying all morning.

The healers said she was growing sicker by the day-that her cries had only risen in volume and fervor since last night. Her fever was worsening, she wouldn’t sleep or eat, and she just… cried.

Kade went to check on her before the wedding. As he held the squirming little bundle in his arms, watching her face twist and her eyes scrunch up, a pang shot through his chest. He hated seeing his daughter like this.

“She’s crying for her mother,” Ghost said.

The ache in Kade’s chest deepened.

“She never even knew Samantha,” he replied.

“And yet, it seems like she’s crying for a mother who could come for her at any moment.”

Kade furrowed his brow as he thought back on Samantha’s life. If only she had been here still-then everything would be different. Ivy would be healthy and happy, Kade would have his first mate back, and as for Serena…

His arms tightened around the crying infant.

Serena.

Their wedding was today, and yet Kade couldn’t feel the joy that every groom should feel. He dreaded the ceremony more than anything-dreaded marrying the woman who looked so much like Samantha, and yet… She wasn’t.

Chapter 162

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Kade knew he shouldn’t care. Samantha had destroyed everything that once meant something to him, and the only thing she left behind was a sickly, crying child.

But Kade loved Ivy with all his heart. And by extension, perhaps he loved Samantha, too, in his own sort of way- perhaps he loved her for the last gift she left for him in the form of an heir.

As if on cue, Kade suddenly received a mindlink from Ajax.

“Alpha, are you there?”

Kade paused, inhaling deeply to steady his tumultuous thoughts, then replied, “What is it now?” He was expecting the Beta to say that Serena had thrown another fit about the wedding decorations, or perhaps that the cake was delayed.

He didn’t expect Ajax to say, “I just received word that a woman who looks like Elena was spotted leaving Crescent Hollow.”

Kade’s spine stiffened. “What? Where?”

“By the southern gate. She was allegedly wearing a wig, but some witnesses say she looked awfully familiar.”

“I’ll be right there.”

Kade handed the crying Ivy back to the healer and left. As he hurried toward the southern gate, a strange feeling settled in his chest. It wasn’t hope, or so he told himself, but it felt awfully like it.

However, by the time he reached the gate, there was no one there. No scent. No trail. Not even a single silver hair on the ground.

If Elena had come here today, then she was long gone by now. The guards said they hadn’t seen anyone matching her description, and by that point, the bells were ringing. The ceremony was supposed to begin soon.

Kade went to the chapel, and all that while, that strange feeling lingered behind his ribs. It was a feeling that any normal male would have had in excited anticipation of his marriage-but for Kade, it was for a woman who, for all intents and purposes, he should have hated.

A woman who didn’t belong here.

And yet Kade kept wishing that her face would appear in the crowd.

Finally, the doors opened, revealing Serena, resplendent in her new wedding gown. Her smile was radiant, and all eyes were on her as she began gliding down the aisle.

But Kade’s eyes?

Kade’s eyes were on the open door behind her, wishing he could run out into the sunlight.