The Alpha's Unclaimed Mate (Jason and Laila) by Caroline Above Story novel Chapter 51

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Chapter 51

“Mama! How was work?

“Fine, baby. Just fine.”

After she drifted off to sleep, I sat alone in darkness. Thinking.

Jason’s room. That shelf. The treasures he’d preserved

Every small thing I’d ever given him sat there like museum pieces.

For one moment in that room, I’d let myself believe it meant something. That maybe he’d truly loved me after all.

But I couldn’t afford that fantasy anymore.

If he’d truly loved me while I was alive, he wouldn’t have chosen Brittany so easily. Wouldn’t have dismissed our relationship as mere curiosity. Wouldn’t have let me walk away pregnant and completely alone.

Even if those items meant something to him, it was proof of his guilt for Laila.

Dead Laila. The girl he’d lost.

A

Not Vanessa. Not who I’d become.

My phone buzzed. Text from William.

“How did it go?”

I typed back: “Survived. Barely.”

“Need me to come over?”

“No. I’m okay. Just tired.”

“Call if you need anything.”

“I will. Thanks.”

“Mommy,” Ava said, reclaiming my attention.

I put my phone away. “Yes, honey?”

“What were the werewolves like? You went there, right? To their big house?”

“I did. It was… fine.”

My lack of description only puzzled Ava.

“Do you think I could go? I want to see it!”

Jason had wanted me to bring Ava to his pack for that celebration banquet. but I wasn’t sure that was such a good idea. It might open too many doors. Jason was already suspicious. I couldn’t give him more ammunition against me.

And I couldn’t risk him discovering the truth.

Too much hung in the balance. Ava’s safety, my business, the life I’d fought brutally hard to build.

“I’m sorry, honey,” I said. “You can’t go. I wouldn’t go either if I didn’t have to.”

Ava pouted, but I stayed firm.

I’d keep lying, keep hiding, keep being Vanessa Harper.

I was going to make sure Ava stayed out of it.

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It took a while for me to realize that things always turned out to be very different from what I’d wanted after I met Jason again.

Jason’s POV

Something wasn’t right. The moment I pushed open my bedroom door, every nerve ending fired. I couldn’t explain it. Everything sat exactly where it should yet my Alpha instincts were screaming at me.

The air felt different. Disturbed. Like someone had breathed in my space and left traces I couldn’t quite identify.

There. That bookmark Laila crafted for me back in high school? Different angle. The photo frame–shifted. Fractions of an inch, maybe. But enough to be noticeable.

Someone had violated my space. My things had been touched. Examined. Moved. 1

By her. Vanessa Harper.

I circled the room slowly, checking everything with methodical precision. The scarf was slightly unfolded. The dried flower had been lifted from its careful position–I could tell by the dust pattern beneath it.

She’d handled each item. Studied them. Why?

Was I losing it? Was I just seeing what I wanted to see in shadows and coincidence? Except this didn’t feel like coincidence. Moving to my office, I pulled out everything Marcus had compiled on Vanessa Harper. Spread the documents across my desk like evidence at a crime scene.

Vanessa had appeared three years ago. Before that? Nothing much existed.

Then there was Ava. Six years old, born right when Laila supposedly died. With eyes that matched mine.

The hospital banquet photo glowed on my screen. Vanessa caught mid–laugh. I’d heard that laugh before. A million times.

My hands shook. I had to set my phone down before I dropped it.

Vanessa had moved through pack layout like it was muscle memory. Navigated corridors without asking for directions.

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