Reclaimed By My Alpha (Natalia and Andrei) novel Chapter 190

I reached into my pocket and pulled out one of the salted caramel chocolates I’d bought for her earlier. The gold wrapper caught the light as I pressed it into her palm, closing her fingers around it.

“I’m on your side,” I said quietly. “I should have realized it sooner. I should have seen what Lilith was capable of, should have protected you and the twins better. I failed you, and I’m going to find a way to make it right.”

Natalia looked down at the chocolate in her hand, then back up at me. She still didn’t speak, but something in her expression had softened.

“I have to go deal with Lilith now,” I said. “But this isn’t over. We’re not over.”

The guilt became all–consuming as I walked to my car, where Lilith and the guard were waiting. Lilith. My first love. The woman to whom I had given too many chances.

How had I been so blind? How had I not seen what Lilith was doing right under my nose? She’d been manipulating and hurting the people I cared about for months, and I’d been too focused on myself to notice.

Suddenly, everything began to snap into place. The incident at the hunt, the tug–of–war, and now everything I had just learned…

Natalia had been trying to tell me all along that Lilith couldn’t be trusted, and I’d dismissed her. The twins, the two children who had only just come into my life for the first time, had nearly died because of Lilith’s actions, and I never would have suspected her if it weren’t for Natalia’s quick thinking.

I needed to make this right. Needed to find a way to earn back Natalia’s trust and prove to the twins that they

were safe.

And to do that, I had to deal with Lilith.

Natalia

I stared down at the chocolate in my hand, turning it over between my fingers. The gold wrapper was warm from Andrei’s pocket, and I could smell the faint scent of caramel through the foil.

He’d seemed strangely surprised about the custody documents. And when he’d said he never intended to take the twins from me, there had been something in his eyes that made me want to believe him.

Was I wrong about him? Had I been so focused on protecting myself and the children that I’d misread his intentions entirely?

What if it was Lilith all along who had tried to kill me all those years ago?

What if Andrei never had anything to do with it?

“Mommy?” Jane’s quivering voice pulled me out of my thoughts. “Are we going home now?”

“Yes, sweetheart. We’re going home.”

I slipped the chocolate into my purse and got into the car. As I started the engine, I could see photographers gathering near the venue entrance. News of tonight’s disaster was going to be everywhere by morning.

+25 Bonus

I didn’t care anymore.

When we got to the pack house, I found Damon in the kitchen making tea. He looked terrible–pale and sweaty, with dark circles under his eyes. But he wasn’t puking his brains out, which was an improvement from before.

“How are you feeling?” I asked.

“Like I got hit by a truck.” He looked up at me. “How did everything go? Did the charity raise enough money?”

With a humorless laugh, I sat down across from him and told him everything that had happened. The recording, Lilith’s accusations, the security footage, Andrei’s reaction. Damon listened in silence, his expression growing more and more grim with each word.

“So the twins actually did put something in my food,” he said when I was finished.

“Apparently. We need to talk to them about that.”

Damon nodded curtly, and I called Max and Jane into the kitchen. They came reluctantly and stopped in the doorway, wringing their hands.

“The security footage showed you putting something in Uncle Damon’s food,” I said firmly. “That was very dangerous. You could have made him seriously sick.”

“We’re sorry,” Jane whispered.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify