Bad Love An Alpha’s Regret by Elise Sinclair Novel Full Episode

Chapter 11

LEAH

I’m not going to lie, I feel a little happy.

Please don’t judge. I get it. I’m THAT girl.

The dumb one. The oh-you-got-your-heart-broke-again one.

The one who sits home waiting for him to call.

But what most people don’t know is that Aaron was the one to

sit up with me when I had nightmares. He was the one to insist

I learn to trade and to obtain my Series 7 license so I’d have a

career. Aaron is the one to stare me in the eyes everytime he

joins his body to mine.

And, yeah, yeah, yeah, I know it’s just sex.

But it’s not.

It’s more than that.

I know it. I believe it.

And deep down, I love him.

As rough and cold as he can be, I know there’s more to him

than he lets the world see.

2/5

I head into the kitchen and grab an apple from the giant bowl

in the middle of the prep table. It’s ripe and red and sweet.

“What the hell are you smiling about?”

It’s Jessica.

Her long, blond hair is down today and it glows beautifully,

flowing behind her like some goddamn shampoo commercial. Ugh. This wolf.

She’ll probably dance on my grave.

The thought saddens me.

“You don’t have to be mean, Jessica. I didn’t ask to be Aaron’s wife. But I am. And I have been for a long time now. You don’t have to keep making things so hard for us.”

She snorts and then snatches the apple from my hand. She

tosses it into the compost bin.

“You’re trash. You’ll always be trash. And if I had my way, we wouldn’t just bleed you once a month, it’d be every day.

Because there is no world in which your pack can absolve its

sins.”

I try once more to reason with her. “I was a child when those

sins were committed, Jessica.”

“BOTH of my parents are dead. And my eldest brother.”

“My mother is dead. I’ve lost cousins and kin too. War is awful

that way.”

She huffs.

“What do you know of it? You’re a human. For the life of me, I

don’t know why he even bothers to keep you around. You’re of

no use to this pack. No use to Aaron.”

That hurts.

She isn’t ashamed or apologetic for her actions, trying to steal

my husband. If I’m being fair, he was hers to begin with. But

there needs to be some sanctity for our relationship. Even if

we aren’t mated. We are married.

That has to count for something.

“What you’re doing, Jessica… it isn’t good for either of us.”

She shakes her head at me. “I don’t care about you, Leah. I

never have. No one here does. And if you think that Aaron cares, then you’re even dumber than you look.”

I’m finished with being nice to her. “You’re jealous.”

Her eyes flash and it’s the only warning I get.

Her claws scratch down my arms as she grabs me and hurls

me across the kitchen.

I slam into the pantry door and stay there on the ground, wheezing.

“Weak, pathetic human.”

Blood drips from her fingertips.

“He’ll never love you,” she screams. “He’ll never mate you.”

“You don’t know that.”

“He’ll always belong to me! Just do us all a favor and die already!”

I’ve thought about dying. It’s all I’ve thought about. But I won’t give her the satisfaction.

I push to my feet and square off with her. I’m done feeling

sorry for myself. I’m done cowering.

Bad Love: An Alpha’s Regret

I’ve been hit with several revelations this week, and they all

leave me reeling.

This last one…

It just might be the secret that breaks me.

A baby.

It’s everything I wanted.

A child.

Family.

Home.

My hands shake and I shove them in my pockets to stop the shivering. Unable to bear my own thoughts anymore, I slip out of the kitchen and onto the back patio. From here, it’s a

quarter mile to the edge of the woods and then there are

miles and miles of packlands to explore. The perimeter guards.

on patrol don’t normally hassle me.

I see three of them, two males and a female at the edge of the

Chapter 12

perimeter. Everyone in this pack from the Alpha down to the lowest pack member must take a turn at patrolling

the property. We’re in an isolated area and his pack owns

hundreds of square miles of property with the whole western.

side flanking a state park, but we can never be too sure.

Humans are everywhere.

And so are enemy wolves.

I can’t shift and run the way the rest of the wolves here do, but I know the game trails well enough.

The fresh air fills my lungs carrying the scent of spring and fresh rain and lilacs. Those were my mother’s favorites, and I

planted them all around the main house.

Before I cut onto the southern trail, I turn back to the mansion.

It sits like a behemoth on the hillside, and in the distance

are rows and rows of neat little houses and cabins. Some

two hundred families live and work in this area and the

surrounding countryside. I wasn’t born here, but it feels like

home.

Most of the time.

Maybe.

I glance at my cell phone. My dad hasn’t called. Not to say

thank you or to inquire after me. I turned over every dollar I’ve

made and saved in my lifetime.

And I just got a confirmation of receipt.

My stomach sinks.

I really need to stop feeling sorry for myself.

3/4

I enter the forest and the scents change. I can only imagine

how it must be to smell the pine and birch, the moist earth and

fallen leaves. I always wanted my own wolf so I could sense

things better. To see and smell and taste and feel with such a

deeper connection to the world around me.

I used to run these trails. I’d run as fast and as far as I could

until I was gasping for breath and my muscles shook.

I walk now.

Slowly.

Studying the smaller plants and wildflowers. Looking up at the breaks in the canopy where the sun shines through.

Every living thing around me is a circle of life that is both fleeting and so exquisitely perfect.

I’m maybe a mile from the mansion when I hear the rumble.

It’s a heavy, fast beat of something big, pounding the earth.

Bad Love: An Alpha’s Regret

The flash of gray is familiar.

Aaron is a huge wolf.

Gray from head to tail with darker tones along his chest and

flanks. He runs until he’s even with me.

There’s a bark and then an inquisitive twist of his head, his wolf’s expression of “what’s up?”

Part of me wants to rail about Jessica. To demand the truth.

Not that Aaron can answer. And I’m not about to give him an out when all he can do is bark or growl or yip.

His wolf is separate-a soul all its own, wrapped within Aaron.

I’m told it’s the other half of one’s self, or the primal spirit of a being. Not having a wolf myself, I can’t really speak to the

connection between.

We walk side by side for a while.

I’m lost in my thoughts.

My sickness.

Aaron’s betrayal.

Jessica’s treachery.

A baby…

2/4

I know she flirts with him something awful and he doesn’t stop her. But I don’t know that he’s ever fully crossed that line with

her.

If he has…

Aaron’s big wolf brushes along my side, making my hand

run along the length of his shoulder and back. If Aaron is

stubborn, his wolf is ten times as bad.

“Okay, you big brute,” I mumble, petting him for real this time and keeping my hand in his fur as we move.

I can’t blame the wolf for the man’s actions.

There may be a connection and you can’t separate the beast from the man, but if a line was crossed, it wasn’t by this four-legged creature, it was Aaron. Knowingly and willingly.

His head swings into my hip, a gentle nudge for more

attention.

Chapter 13

The wolf has always been nice to me.

3/4

There have been plenty of nights when Aaron will shift and it’s

this big, ferocious beast that nestles next to me, his head in my

lap to sleep.

“I always did like you better,” I tell him.

He barks happily.

Gradually the forest lightens, and I aim toward the break in

the trees that will bring us to the edge of the ravine.

I’m not sure why Aaron shifted or why he’s following me. Maybe he’s worried I’ll try to leave?

I’ve been thinking about it, for sure.

But that sort of thing takes a lot of planning and after my last doctor visit venture, the security is especially tight around the

main house.

The cliff drops off and below is a long stretch of river. If I stay on the path, several miles south of here, the ground evens off and it’s a great spot for swimming and fishing, when the water’s warm enough.

It’s spring now, and I count the months, wondering if I’ll still be

alive when summer’s here.

4/4

The wind blows at my back and all of a sudden, Aaron freezes.

The fur beneath my hand rises.

We are not alone.

He growls menacingly.

Write your comment

Gifts

Bad Love: An Alpha’s Regret

I hear the wolves before I see them.

They stalk out of the woods. Four of them. Not quite as large as Aaron but still big. Their maws are open and snarling. Long

teeth showing. Dark fur rippling as they move.

Aaron’s wolf looks at me.

Then his huge form moves in front of me, physically blocking

me from this threat.

I suck a breath.

There is nowhere to go.

His body morphs until he’s part man, part wolf and far more

powerful than both.

Aaron doesn’t wait. He lunges at the lead wolf, his claws digging into the flesh of the animal before hurling the

creature over our heads and off the cliff.

It happens so fast I hardly believe my eyes.

The three other wolves surroundimahlakaroni Nicks and d

punchess slashes and biteses.

He’s strong and fast, but one of the admits litaisesadown on his etriege hampering his movements archichelyegi asosie.in.

there’s a cook near me and i grab banchuria dhehebat of

berwolfbiting him.

ssho his shoulder and he snarls but releases Actoronhthe

bsiters foarletskAaron kick out, and the wolf goes byflying.

ave it’s ainslagainst two.

Vee woesele nestle hirto the ground, and the three ofthenem

dimecrowoedsowards the edge of the diff leapt the

ofisdzeal frozen.

etteve bhiseisendpsis happening.

e howlsam the distthe distahese. A slew of them. It’s Aaron’s’s

they are respon desponding.

think they thoke litinent in time.

ces two adversaries, andeboardowother wolf that he’d ‘d I clos ring into the woods, wundsirdowohind wolf, a vicious looking g

alks mealks me.

Chapter 14

Then his huge form moves in front of me, physically blocking

me from this threat.

I suck a breath.

There is nowhere to go.

His body morphs until he’s part man, part wolf and far more

powerful than both.

Aaron doesn’t wait. He lunges at the lead wolf, his claws digging into the flesh of the animal before hurling the

creature over our heads and off the cliff.

It happens so fast I hardly believe my eyes.

The three other wolves surroundimahlakaroni Nicks and d

punchess slashes and biteses.

He’s strong and fast, but one of the admits litaisesadown on his etriege hampering his movements archichelyegi asosie.in.

there’s a cook near me and i grab banchuria dhehebat of

berwolfbiting him.

ssho his shoulder and he snarls but releases Actoronhthe

bsiters foarletskAaron kick out, and the wolf goes byflying.

ave it’s ainslagainst two.

Vee woesele nestle hirto the ground, and the three ofthenem

dimecrowoedsowards the edge of the diff leapt the

ofisdzeal frozen.

etteve bhiseisendpsis happening.

e howlsam the distthe distahese. A slew of them. It’s Aaron’s’s

they are respon desponding.

think they thoke litinent in time.

ces two adversaries, andeboardowother wolf that he’d ‘d I clos ring into the woods, wundsirdowohind wolf, a vicious looking g

alks mealks me.

I inch back until my heels are at the edge.

I wobble and the wolf lunges.

3/4

My arms windmill as I try to hurl myself sideways instead of backwards to what would be a fatal fall. The wolf spins at the last second, his jaws sinking into my ankle.

I scream.

His feeth sink in, scraping against the bone, and then I’m being dragged backwards.

I grab at the earth, my nails breaking as I dig my fingers into the ground for purchase. The wolf’s over the edge, its weight dragging me down.

“Aaron!” I scream.

His gold eyes meet mine only for an instant, then he roars.

But he’s busy mauling and killing the other wolves. They have him pinned. He can’t reach me no matter how he fights to be

free.

I close my eyes as I slip.

The earth is wet and the mud gets in my mouth and face as I

thrash and fight to hang on.

My ankle is on fire.

I slide another foot and the added weight of my own body hanging off the face of the cliff makes me sink further.

4/4

My last thoughts are, that for as willing as I’ve been to die, to refuse treatments and accept my fate… I don’t want to let go.

I don’t want to die. Not really.

Write your comment

Gifts

Bad Love: An Alpha’s Regret

Chapter 15

“Get her up!”

My wrists are snatched and I’m dangling in the air, my body suspended above the mountainside.

Then I’m back on flat land where I sink to my knees.

A dead wolf is tossed next to me. Then the other two.

They pile up and I stare at their lifeless bodies.

“Find the fourth carcass,” Aaron orders. “Burn them all.”

His gaze rakes over me.

James was the one to save me on the ledge and he grabs my leg now and lifts it in the air. He rips off my shoe to inspect my ankle from all sides. “This will need stitches. The wounds are

deep.”

Aaron grunts.

Every part of my body hurts. I start shivering and I hug my

2/7

arms around my waist, some lame attempt to hold myself together.

“She’s going into shock,” James says quietly.

Aaron’s brows draw down. He squats and sniffs the air. “The scent is strong.”

“We can track them.” James looks into the trees.

Aaron rises. He’s furious.

He arches a brow at his beta, and I know exactly what he’s

thinking.

You fucked up enough.

It’s broad daylight.

We’re deep into Aaron’s packlands. No enemy should’ve been

able to pass the perimeter.

Let alone to get so close as to attack the Alpha.

And his Luna.

Though they don’t honor me with the title, as Aaron’s wife, I

am still of value.

If we were properly mated, killing me could kill him.

3/7

“James,” Aaron says in a deadly calm voice. “Bring Leah back

to the house and make sure she gets the medical attention

she needs. Am I clear?”

The other wolves in the clearing abruptly freeze and look around nervously.

They know James is a dead man walking if something happens to me.

“Yes, Alpha.”

James lifts me up.

Aaron shifts fully into his wolf and races off without a backward glance. Five other wolves run off after him.

Leaving just me and James.

“You’re in the doghouse,” I tell him.

He nods. “Again.”

From his tone, he blames me for this time too.

“Do me a favor,” he says. “Don’t die on me.”

Then he slings his arm beneath my knees and another behind my back. He lifts me up and cradles me like a baby.

It’s a long way back to the main house.

I hold myself away from him, as stiff as I can.

“Relax,” he says gruffly.

He radiates heat like a furnace and I’m shivering with cold. I really am going into shock.

James mutters something then hefts me higher and tighter,

forcing my face into the curve of his neck and my body against his chest.

He’s warm and hard and his scent is pleasant.

Huh.

Maybe I wouldn’t resent this so much if he was less of a jerk.

But this isn’t some enemies-to-lovers relationship. We don’t

like each other. Not at all.

He walks about a quarter mile before setting me down on a cropping of rocks. The big granite boulder is smooth and cool.

“What are you doing?” I ask.

He drops to a knee in front of me and peels off his shirt.

His chest is ripped and tan and smooth.

Was not expecting that.

5/7

Then he uses the fabric to bind my ankle. He grimaces. “Your arms are bleeding too.”

Ah, yes. “Those are actually from your sister.” From when she

assaulted me in the kitchen.

He shakes his head and swears.

I’d laugh if I wasn’t in so much pain.

“Call Adam,” I tell him.

“Who?”

“Adam Riordans. He’s from my father’s pack. He’s a physician.”

“Our pack doctor can treat you.”

“I’m the key to peace between our packs, do you really want to chance me dying on your watch?”

He whips out his phone and dials the main house, barking orders for Dr. Sutherland to be ready for our arrival and for

“See,” I say. “That wasn’t so hard.”

One corner of his mouth tips up.

“What are you smirking about?”

“You,” he says. “If you’re well enough to break my balls, you must be okay.”

I glance at my ankle where I’m already bleeding through the tight shirt wrap. “Uh, I’m not so sure about that.”

He frowns.

“I’m losing a lot of blood, and I don’t feel so good.”

My teeth start chattering and my body convulses.

He picks me up, cradles me close, and starts running.

“N-not really your fault,” I say as my head lulls lifelessly against his throat. “The offering. They bled me twice this week.”

“Sonofabitch!”

Bad Love: An Alpha’s Regret

1/5

Chapter 16

I must pass out because when I wake up, I’m in the living room on the couch and I’m hooked up to an IV. There are machines beeping around me and it’s like the den has been turned into an infirmary.

“You flatlined,” Adam explains. “We didn’t have time to carry you up the twenty flights of stairs to your room.”

“It’s not that far,” I say automatically.

“It is when you’re not breathing.”

I sit up. I’m groggy and disoriented.

I hear voices coming from the kitchen. “Oh, come here, baby.

Let me clean you up.” It’s Jessica. She’s fawning over Aaron.

“You look terrible,” Adam tells me.

“It’s good to see you too.”

“We should move you to a hospital.”

I glance nervously at the kitchen then back at him. “Will they let me out if I get admitted?”

Adam bites his lip.

That’s what I thought.

2/5

I don’t want to spend what time I have left in a hospital bed, alone. Trapped from the world.

“I’ll make you a deal. I’ll start treatments, but I do it from here.

And we tell no one.”

His eyes widen.

I’m not sure it’s even possible to keep such a secret. I’m

relatively okay now, but as this progresses or if my hair falls

out…

“Leah, I’m not sure-”

“Can you do it or not?”

“You’re taking the pills?”

I nod. Not regularly yet. But I will.

He must sense that I won’t back down because he relents.

“Then yeah. Okay. We’ll find a way.”

“Thank you.” I pick at the sheet that’s draped over my legs. My

one foot is elevated and there are pillows propped around

1. On the table that normally has various remotes for the tv

and electronics, I see a vase of lilacs.

“Did you get those for me?” I point at the pretty purple and pink flowers.

“No. Your husband did.”

AARON

*

“Come upstairs,” Jessica says. “I’ll run you a bath and you can

clean up. I’ll bring dinner up to your bedroom.”

Yeah. She’d like that.

But I haven’t taken a bath since I was six and I’ve already

shifted to heal the worst of my wounds. The ones that remain

have been treated by our pack physician.

I’m not sure if Jessica is fluttering around me because she’s up to her usual routine or if it’s because Leah is awake and

maybe fifty feet away overhearing everything we say.

If another male made such an offer to her, I’d rip his head off.

So maybe her “I want a divorce” decree has been coming

for a while. Because I’ve never bothered to curtail Jessica’s

behavior or to try and force her to conduct herself more

appropriately.

4/5

Her parents had served mine and we grew up together. It had

been assumed from when we were kids that she would be my

bride. And when they were slaughtered, I felt responsible for

her. Then there was that time in the canyon and what she did

for me….

So I never fought the idea.

She’s beautiful and biddable and beloved by my pack.

She’d make a good mate.

But…I’m already married.

She follows my gaze to the living room. “Aaron,” she says quietly. “You can let her go. She’s more of a liability than she’s worth. The peace has held for a decade. Let her go and we

can move on with our lives.”

She isn’t wrong.

But… no.

And the attack today, it hadn’t just been me who was

targeted. The wolf that mauled Leah’s leg had been prepared to plummet to his own death. He’d tried to take her over the cliff with him. And that kind of focus spoke of a very targeted

assassination attempt.

“I know she wants a divorce,” Jessica says. She clasps my hand

and brings it to her face. She kisses my knuckles. “Aaron, we

can be together. We can be a family. You can be free.”

Write your comment

Chapter 17

I leave Jessica and try to dispel the things she’d said from my

mind. Jessica would slide into Leah’s shoes in a heartbeat.

She’d assume the role of Luna, dedicate herself to me and

our pack and I wouldn’t have to doubt her commitment or

integrity.

She’s been loyal for as long as I’ve known her and she’s been

patient.

I don’t think that either of us expected this situation with Leah to be permanent. Certainly not when she was a minor and

then even after I married her there was always this notion

that things would not be permanent.

But as the years have gone by, my thoughts on that have

changed.

My goals have changed.

James is standing outside of the mansion and he’s pensive.

He’s working hard to step up but I can’t overlook the missteps that have been made. He moves to the driver’s side of the

Range Rover. And I stop him.

“No. I’ll drive.”

2/4

He frowns but tosses me the keys.

When he moves to get into the passenger side, I lock the door.

“I’m going to take this meeting alone,” I tell him.

He opens his mouth but what can he say? He frowns. “Aaron,

I…”

I know he is gutted by that announcement because it conveys

that I’ve lost trust in him. But there is nothing to be done for it.

Trust is earned.

It is not something that can be assumed or demanded. And though James is my beta, I’m beginning to regret promoting him to the position.

While grounded in the hurts her pack caused ours, his actions.

toward Leah, speak of prejudices that he’s allowed to cloud

his judgment, and that is not acceptable.

“Where are you going?” he asks.

I don’t say. “Reinforce the patrols along the borders and ensure that the mansion has a contingent of guards.”

He nods.

3/4

I start the car and drive off. He’s still standing there when I

peel out of the long driveway.

It’s a good thirty minutes before I’m on the main highways for this region and I drive toward a small town for a meeting with our human CFO of the pack’s corporation. Normally, I’d take that meeting in our corporate headquarters, but what I want to say and do, I don’t need witnesses to.

It’s a plan that has been a long time coming.

Jeffrey Quinton is waiting at the coffee shop. His briefcase is on the table and he has stacks of documents in front of him.

“This isn’t our normal venue,” he says. “You could’ve come to

my office.”

I smile easily. “I like to change up the scenery.”

I sit across from him and offer to grab him a coffee. He rattles off some fancy mocha-chino thing and I’m grateful the

barista overhears. I hold up two fingers, not that I intend to drink that sugary shit, but because it’s easier.

I’m not here for caffeine.

I’m here to secretly buy stocks and property.

Bad Love: An Alpha’s Regret

I don’t see Aaron again until the Council Meeting several days.

later.

He comes and goes, and I hear him, but he makes it a point to

avoid me.

Since he isn’t home to force me to stay in his bed, I go back to my own room. It’s easier not to think of him when I’m not

sleeping in his space.

Sometimes at night I think I hear him, but even when I rush and open the door there is no one in the hallway.

I’ve started the medications that Adam left me. It’s not so bad, at least not yet, but as the drugs build up in my body, I’m told I’ll feel worse and probably be bedridden at least a few days.

I try not to think about that.

A progression of wolves are piling out of the mansion and into the waiting vehicles. They’ll run security and escort Aaron to

Chapter 18

the meeting and back.

1 file out behind them.

When I get into his idling SUV and buckle my seatbelt Aaron

looks at me oddly. “You should stay home tonight,” he tells me.

It’s the first time he’s spoken to me since the attack. “I haven’t

missed a meeting since I came here.”

“You’re injured.”

The implication being that I’m ‘human’. That I’m weak.

True, but … “It’s because I was attacked that I should be present. There are threats that the Council needs to be aware

of.”

“Do you plan to petition them for a divorce?”

So that’s why he wants me to stay. To silence me. He has the nerve to look earnest and upset that I want to leave him when he is the one who broke his vows and impregnated another

woman.

He is the one who hasn’t slept beside me in a week.

“Yes. I still want a divorce, Aaron.”

His eyes flash gold for a moment before he banks the emotion. Then he shrugs. “Suit yourself.”

He nods to the driver, a wolf named William. “Let’s go.”

3/5

I sink back into the seat. I’m painfully aware of this man and

all the tumultuous emotions he stirs in me.

I’m sitting close to Aaron but when he shifts his leg so it presses against mine, I wonder if I can endure his nearness for

the next two hours.

When we reach the Regional grounds, already cars are arriving and prominent alphas from across this part of the country are exiting limousines and SUVs.

Some wear expensive suits and gowns. Others are in jeans

and shirts. There is no formal uniform or etiquette and the

look of each ruling family is almost a calling card for their

particular brand of influence.

Aaron has on a v-neck shirt and linen pants. The light colors

set off his bronzed skin and his huge stature. The watch on his wrist is worth more than this car and though he doesn’t flaunt it, he projects power and wealth.

My father and brother are at the front of the line. They wear

expensive bespoke suits and polished shoes. New money. The flashy kind.

An older couple surrounded by several wolves wear jeans and

cotton t’s. They’re from the far north, and while they look dirt poor, they’re sitting on more land than some small countries.

William opens my door and extends his hand to help me out.

I have a walking cast on. My foot is mostly healed. It didn’t

get infected which is good. Aside from aches and pains and

cancer I look the same.

My dark hair is drawn back into a simple ponytail.

I chose dark slacks and a light white shirt. I have the ring

Aaron gave me when we married, a simple band, and a sapphire necklace that was my mom’s. I didn’t bother to bring

a purse.

Aaron steps out next and he holds his arm out to me.

There are images to project. And while I intend to gracefully dissolve our marriage, I can be civil about it. So I loop my arm through his and we walk into the estate.

The building resembles a library or a museum. It has columns in front and is a monstrosity of stone and glass. Inside, the foyer is marbled in a beautiful design and giant crystal

We check in, clear security and follow the procession into the

main room.

It resembles a stage or auditorium.

We take our appointed seats.

“There are a lot of packs present tonight,” I say.

Each group is spaced out and given their own section in the

theatre seats. “Yes.” His dark eyes cut to me. “Don’t do this,

Leah…”

“I have to, Aaron.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he replies cryptically.”

Write your comment

Gifts

Bad Love: An Alpha’s Regret

Chapter 19

The first few minutes consist of a welcome address and a

summary of recent laws that have been passed and put into

effect.

After that, comes the new agenda.

The Regional Collective requires dues paid for the tech protocols and contributions to help obtain files from the military-which keep packs updated on technologies and emerging tech that can be a threat to our way of life.

Then come more announcements, blah, blah, blah.

I glance nervously at Aaron.

There are a lot of wolves present tonight. Nearly twice as many as the last Council meeting. Asking for a divorce…it’s going to embarrass him.

“You can do it,” I whisper. “You can say that you want to leave

me.”

I don’t think the who or why really matters, not now. “I just

want to be free.”

2/4

His eyes narrow. He clasps my hand and threads our fingers together. “No.”

His palm is warm and his grip is firm.

It’s like a lifeline, tethering me.

I look at our joined hands. “This is all I ever wanted, you know.”

His hand tightens around mine.

“I wanted you to see me. To care about me.”

I sit here, waiting for the words. For him to give me a sign,

something, anything so I have a reason to stay.

“Leah, I-”

“Alpha Roberts. Rise and approach the main floor.”

Hearing my father’s name called by the Council Leader captures my attention. It breaks the moment between us and I lean forward for a better view of the proceedings.

The main Council members range in age and ethnicity and gender. They are among the most studied and influential beings within our world.

The Elder, Karolina, speaks first. “Evidence has been obtained

from our financial institutions that monies, in the total amount

of seven and a half million dollars, have been siphoned from a Regional Council account to yours. How do you plead?”

My father sputters. He glances around nervously.

That amount. It’s the exact amount that I switched from my

savings to my dad’s.

Oh god.

No.

I turn to Aaron. “You didn’t!?!”

“Additionally,” Karolina says. “We have it on reliable authority

that the district attorney is preparing to levy charges against you for securities fraud. You recently offloaded ten-thousand

shares of stocks, resulting in charges of insider trading. How do you plead to this?”

My stomach rises into my throat. “Aaron. No!”

He stares at me, perfectly calm, while all around us, wolves gossip and whisper and my father is sputtering.

“You bastard!” I shrink away from him. “How could you do

this!?”

Bad Love: An Alpha’s Regret

“I don’t know what the Council is referring to, ma’am,” my

father insists. “The money in my account came from my daughter. The stock advice was hers too.”

Karolina arches a brow. “So you are incriminating yourself and your daughter in these crimes?”

Her reddish brown hair is drawn back in a bun and her

features look severe. She stares down her nose at my father.

And I know she doesn’t like what she sees.

This particular Council member is all about discretion and avoiding human notice. And this mess will be very, very public.

“My wife had nothing to do with the actions taken on behalf

of Pack Roberts,” Aaron says loudly. He stands and stares hard at my dad. “I cannot imagine that Alpha Roberts would

suggest otherwise.”

“I didn’t do it!” my father screams.

His tone does nothing to exonerate me.

Chapter 20

I start to stand up and Aaron’s hand comes down on my

shoulder. “Don’t fucking move.”

But the pieces come together like a puzzle and I recognize

that I played right into Aaron’s trap.

Seeing what he wanted me to see.

Doing what he plotted for me to do.

2/6

“The account that I thought was mine,” I whisper. “You always

had it flagged for the Regional Collective.”

He nods.

So my father isn’t wrong. I did do this.

Even if my father is spared by the Council, he’ll still be

convicted by human courts. Shit, even Martha Stewart with all her billions, couldn’t beat an insider trading rap. She went to

jail.

“Why? Damn it, Aaron. Why would you do this?”

“I already told you. Because of you.”

His eyes are cold and empty. “I’ve had this plan in place for a long time. But you forced my hand, Leah, when you

threatened to divorce me.”

Her face is pale and her eyes are glassy with tears.

I don’t feel bad about that.

She’s lied. She’s refused to confide in me. She’s plotting to

leave me-and to hell with the aftermath for my pack or our

community.

She forced my hand.

I warned her. Multiple times.

“This will ruin them,” she whispers, her eyes dancing around nervously. “They’ll execute my father.”

There is a chance of that. Yes. “That is a possibility.”

“At the very least, he’ll be stripped of his title. And a pack

without an alpha is easy pickings.” She pitches her voice lower

Chapter 20

4/6

still. “Was that your goal all along? To take what he has and to

hell with who you crush to do it?”

was not my primary objective. No. But as the situation has evolved, so have I. “It’s not my fault your father ran his pack into the ground.”

Alpha Roberts gambles and drinks. He’s wasteful. Focused on

flashy cars and exotic vacations and fast women. He’s also

violent. Capable of unspeakable crimes and known for not caring about collateral damage.

“Leah… your father lost his way.”

“You bastard! How could you do this!?”

I believe we’ve already covered the how and the why. I’m not

going to argue with her. At least not here. Not in front of our

peers. We’re getting odd looks now and I know plenty of these wolves’ tongues will be wagging.

I’m not concerned with the gossip.

I’m focused on the outcome that my machinations will

achieve.

“Drop this whole stupid idea of a divorce, and I’ll lend my

support for the Council to be lenient.”

re you insane?” She’s in necedolousy Yodidid this and now you u

ant to what blackokairhe?!!?”

ower Your Voice,e

e’s seething. Her chest risesearch to fallswitcetchchairshh

eath and she’s shaking, she’s sosopseselt hengightens the cator

her cheeks and changes serescenent.

ecalways prefereed her angryry

rsstrong willcolls to the dominant Alphahin imene.

Qucarcemyywife/kam offering to support youunthyoyoufa faitly thisttimeoffmeed.” I shrug. “Or follow throughgwiththoyoy

pisshpptoms…cond add me to your list of enemieses.”

dhadragscal fod through her hair. Her eyes are surt drahd essweatthingcashier father’s hands and anklessrededunchd

swarrantdress escorted out of this room to awaita forotaial

contibel this is happening, shermutters. s.

shurriessautod foamcowcand cums after her father Datid!

But thewodwassascicorting him don’t pause.

spausessimffamtioffthepparapet. Esteemed Councilcil

mbers, Elderss pidesse.Thisiscollkone big

misunderstanding.”

6/6

Karolina leans forward. “Would you like to explain what your

mean by that?”

Leah glances back at me.

My muscles flex and adrenaline pumps inside me.

My wife knows what I am capable of. And she has to know

that if she says or does something to hurt my pack that there will be repercussions.

I walk down the rows of empty seats until I’m in the central

area and I move to stand beside her.

Then she shocks all of us in this room by dropping to her

knees…