Chapter 103

Lauren

The mansion was quiet when I got home, but I knew Alexander was already here.

I could feel it.

The air carried his presence—that weight, that quiet storm just beneath the surface—long before I saw him.

I found him standing by the window, half-lit by the streetlights outside, his shoulders tense as he looked out over the city. His shirt was dark, but I could still smell the blood and steel and something distinctly feral clinging to him.

I dropped my bag onto the counter and exhaled, too tired to fight the weariness dragging at my limbs.

For once, I was thankful Miles was watching the kids in the yard. We needed a moment.

“Long day?” I asked, my voice coming out softer than I intended.

He didn’t answer right away.

Instead, he reached up, rolling the tension from his neck before finally turning to me. His eyes were sharp, unreadable—but there was something beneath it. A hesitation.

“I need to talk to you,” he said.

A cold knot twisted in my stomach.

That wasn’t a good start.

“Okay…” I stepped closer, studying his face, the barely restrained edge to him. “What happened?”

Alexander ran a hand through his dark hair, sighing. It wasn’t just exhaustion in his stance. It was frustration.

“The rogues aren’t just scavenging anymore,” he said. “They hit a medical warehouse tonight. Targeted supplies—adrenaline, healing injections, anything a wolf would need to survive after a fight. They weren’t just searching for Theo. It’s more.”

A chill ran through me.

Not just any supplies. Battle supplies.

I swallowed. “You’re sure?”

His gaze flickered, sharp, certain.

“I saw the claw marks myself,” he said. “This isn’t random. They’re preparing for something, and the council is still dragging their feet.”

I could hear the anger laced in his voice, the barely leashed violence of it. Alexander didn’t handle inaction well. He never had.

Plus, he was thinking what I was, if this involved our kids at all. The Lycan blood.

I crossed my arms, pressing my fingers against my sleeves as I processed the information.

“So… what do we do?” I asked.

Alexander exhaled, slow and measured, like he was preparing for an argument.

“You need to take the kids out of the city.”

I froze.

“…What?”

His jaw tensed. “Just for a little while. Until we figure out how bad this is.”

I shook my head. “Alexander, I—my lab is here, I can’t just—”

“I’m not saying forever,” he cut in, voice level but firm. “I just need them safe. I need you safe. SOmething is… coming. GrimMaw isn’t some idiot. I knew him. He’s… tactical, smarter then me. It’s worrying me more then I can say.”

Something in my chest twisted, but I ignored it, setting my hands on my hips. “Okay…” I could at least hear him out. “And where exactly do you think we should go?”

He hesitated.

Then he said the one name I never wanted to hear.

“Your mother.”

The room dropped ten degrees.

I went rigid, the breath in my lungs vanishing all at once.

“No,” I said immediately. “Absolutely not.”

“Lauren.”

I turned away, pacing toward the counter, shaking my head as a hundred emotions I didn’t want to deal with slammed into me at once.

“No. We are not doing this,” I said, gripping the edge of the countertop. “There are a million other places we could go. Why in the world would you think—”

“Because she might have answers.”

I stopped.

The words cut through my resistance just enough to make me hesitate.

Alexander saw it.

I heard him step closer, his voice steady. “You’ve been analyzing the kids’ blood for weeks. Before… whatever moon curse or something was on you and Abigail. Owen is different too, they have you’re blood. You know it’s different. Owen’s has always been odd, and Abigail’s is something else entirely. But you don’t know why. She might.”

My grip on the counter tightened.

I turned slowly, my throat dry. “You think she knows?”

Alexander studied me, his gaze unyielding.

“She’s your mother. She knows things about your bloodline that you don’t.”

I swallowed hard.

I hated how much sense that made.

But that didn’t mean I wanted to do it.

“I haven’t spoken to her in years,” I muttered.

He nodded. “I know.”

“She doesn’t even know I have kids,” I said, my voice quieter this time.

His expression softened just a fraction. “...I know.”

I shook my head again, because there was too much history here. Too much pain.

“You weren’t there,” I muttered. “You don’t know what she’s like.”

“I don’t,” Alexander admitted. “But I do know she’s still your best lead. I’m not asking you to reconnect with her, Lauren. You never even talked about her back then. What I am asking is for you to find out what you can, and hide out for a bit.”

I closed my eyes briefly, feeling the war inside me—logic battling years of resentment, pain colliding with necessity.

“She’s going to hate me,” I whispered. Not like she didn’t already, but I’m not sure I was ready to see that face that looked so much like my own.

I felt Alexander step closer, the warmth of him at my back. Not touching me. But close enough to ground me.

“She already hated you,” he said, voice quieter. “That’s not new.”

I huffed a bitter laugh. “Wow. Thanks.”

His lips twitched, just barely, and for a moment, we weren’t talking about my mother or the rogues or the bloodline.

For a moment, we were just us.

The space between us felt smaller than it had a second ago, like the weight of everything else had slipped through the cracks, leaving only the quiet tension thrumming between us.

His voice dropped slightly, softer now, threaded with something only I could recognize. Something steady. Something sure.

“You can handle her,” he murmured.

The words brushed against my skin, sinking in deeper than they should have.

I lifted my gaze to his, searching the sharp lines of his face, the way his eyes softened just enough to make my heart ache.

“And the kids?” I whispered.

His fingers twitched at his side, like he was fighting the urge to reach for me.

“They’ll be safe,” he said, low, certain. “You’ll keep them safe.”

I swallowed, but I didn’t look away.

Neither did he.

Alexander’s jaw flexed, his hesitation only lasting a second before he said, “They’ll be safer with you out there than here in the city.”

I wanted to fight it.

But deep down, I already knew he was right.

Things were changing—fast. The rogues were moving. The council was stalling. And my kids, my world, were caught in the middle of it.

I had to be smart.

Even if it meant facing the one person I never wanted to see again.

I let out a slow breath, my stomach twisting.

“Fine,” I said, the word tasting like defeat.

Alexander’s brows lifted slightly, like he hadn’t expected me to agree so fast.

But I wasn’t done.

“But when this blows up in my face,” I warned, “you owe me.”

Something flickered in his expression—not quite amusement, not quite regret.

“Deal.”

I sighed, dragging a hand through my hair.

“Well, this is going to suck.”

Alexander actually smirked at that.

“Probably.”

I groaned, tipping my head back toward the ceiling.

“Okay,” I muttered. “I’ll pack.”

And just like that, I was going back.

Back to the last place I ever wanted to go.

Back to her.