My Alpha Cheated and Wants Me Dead

Chapter 4 He Blocked My Call to the Police

[Lana's POV]

Leo's crying tore him out of the room without warning.

High-pitched. Trembling. Sharp enough to scrape my nerves raw.

Margaret's head snapped toward the hallway. Diana's voice drifted out, broken and useless, trying and failing to calm him. Leo only screamed louder.

Connor stood there gripping his phone, that cold light from the photo still washing over his face, carving his expression into something dark and hard.

His eyes stayed locked on me, fury bleeding out layer by layer. Even the pressure of his wolf came pushing through, heavy on my shoulders, testing me, accusing me.

"Explain." His voice came out low.

My palms had gone ice-cold. My fingertips had already gone numb.

I forced myself to stand straight anyway.

"Kane Vicente." I kept my voice steady, refusing to let it shake. "He'd been waiting outside my office building for days. Every time I leave work, he's there. He says it's just a ride home. It's not. He won't let go."

Connor's brow pulled tighter.

"Last night I wanted you to come pick me up." I held his gaze. "I wanted to lay it all out in front of you, so he'd finally get the message and stop coming near me."

He said nothing.

I stepped closer. "You can ask anyone in my department. Pull the outside cameras at Silvermoon Tower. I turned him down every single time. Not once did I give him anything to hold onto."

My hand had gone stiff with a cold.

"I admit I didn't tell you right away." I sucked in a breath, my chest tightening. "I thought if I kept refusing, he'd back off eventually. I never thought he'd go this far—twisting a photo to blow everything up like this."

Rage surged up from my stomach. Not at Connor. At Kane. At this whole rotten mess.

Margaret cut in immediately.

Her voice came sharp and shrill, her finger nearly jabbing my face. "The problem is you—"

"Mom," Connor cut her off, impatient. "Go check on Leo. Diana can't handle him alone."

Margaret shot me one last glare, lips parting like she wanted to say more, then turned and stalked down the hallway.

The living room went quiet, just the two of us left.

Connor rarely smoked in front of me.

He knew the smell made me sick, made my throat close up. He'd always known.

Tonight, he didn't seem to care.

Smoke curled up from between his fingers, gray-white, hanging in the space between us like a wall.

I stood frozen, watching it.

Then his phone buzzed on the coffee table.

The screen lit up.

I was standing close enough to catch it in my peripheral vision, and the second I did, my whole body locked up.

Even my fingertips went cold straight through.

The message was from Kane.

I only got through two lines before my stomach turned over.

He'd written that we had feelings for each other. Implied we'd already slept together. Told Connor to divorce me, fast.

Every word reeked, crawling over my skin like something filthy, my throat closing on the disgust of it.

Connor read it. Then he slammed the phone face-down on the table.

The c***k of it echoed, the whole table shuddering.

He looked up at me, and whatever control he'd had was gone. His eyes had gone bloodshot, red threading through the whites.

"What else do you want to explain?"

My throat tightened.

But the fear lasted only a second.

Then something cold slid down over my mind and froze the panic solid.

"Explaining won't fix this now," I said. "Call the police. Let them take Kane in. Let them sort out every last piece of this."

I turned and reached for my phone.

I'd pressed the first number when Connor's hand closed around my wrist.

The next second, he ripped the phone out of my other hand.

"No police." His voice dropped, harder than I'd ever heard.

"If this gets out, it won't just wreck our marriage—it'll spread through the whole pack. I'll handle it myself. Go to bed."

I stared at him.

His grip hadn't loosened at all.

I pulled my wrist free, slowly, said nothing, and walked back into the bedroom.

*****

I lay in bed with my eyes shut.

Sleep never came.

Kane's message kept replaying, word by word, stomach churning every time.

I couldn't figure out how he'd gotten Connor's number.

I'd never given it out anywhere. It wasn't in any company directory. That wasn't a number just anyone could get their hands on.

The longer I thought about it, the colder I got.

'Even if he really does tear my marriage apart,' I thought, 'I will never accept him. Never.'

My wolf growled low in my chest—not fear, disgust, a warning.

I gritted my teeth in the dark.

'The next time I see him, I call the police immediately. No mercy for anyone.'

*****

The night dragged on.

Connor still hadn't come in.

I tossed under the blankets until I couldn't stand it, finally got up, and walked out barefoot.

The living room sat in near-darkness.

The balcony door hung half-open, night air seeping through the gap, carrying the damp smell of grass, chilling my back.

I saw him.

Connor stood with his back to me, the phone pressed into his ear, his voice pitched low like he was trying to keep it from carrying.

I slowed my steps and moved closer.

I caught one sentence: "... I'll wire the money to that card."

My feet stopped dead.

Connor turned and saw me.

He jumped like he'd been caught red-handed. His shoulders locked, his face drained white, his eyes flickered—then he shoved the phone into his pocket in one motion.

"When did you get out here?" He spoke first, voice hard, almost snapping.

Something dropped in my chest.

I stared at the fine sweat along his hairline and asked, deliberately. "Who was that? Why are you so on edge?"

He didn't answer right away.

The silence stretched long.

"Some low-ranking Wolf Ward Group cut loose a few days back," he finally said, forcing his voice steady, though his eyes still drifted. "Kicking up a fuss about his final pay, threatening to report it to the human labor department."

He paused, then added, "He used to work under me. I didn't want it blowing up into something bigger, so I'm quietly paying him off to make it go away."

I looked at him and said nothing.

But the doubt hadn't cleared.

It sat there like a splinter I couldn't reach, aching every time I brushed against it.

Still, I didn't push further.

Maybe I'd been pushed too far tonight. Maybe I was reading too much into everything.

I turned and went back to the bedroom.

*****

Connor came in a while later.

The mattress dipped under his weight, his warmth bleeding through the blanket.

I rolled over and reached for him, pressing my face into his chest.

"I never betrayed you." My voice came out hoarse, my nose stinging, the humiliation pressing up my throat like it would spill out any second. "You're the only one I've ever loved."

I tilted my head up to kiss him.

My lips barely brushed his jaw before he turned away.

The movement was clear. Deliberate.

It landed like a slap.

My hand froze against his chest for two seconds before I pulled it back.

I rolled over, turning my back to him.

Deep in my chest, my wolf let out one thin whimper, then went silent too.

*****

I didn't know when I finally fell asleep.

When I opened my eyes again, the clock read 8:40.

I bolted upright.

Nine o'clock. Work started at nine.

Ward Group didn't tolerate lateness under any circumstance, and finance was the strictest department of all—one late mark, and it went straight into your file.

I flew into the bathroom, brushing and washing in a rush so frantic that toothpaste foam smeared onto my chin before I could catch it.

My whole skincare routine got abandoned on the counter.

I threw on my clothes and ran into the living room. Margaret and Diana sat at the table eating breakfast, Leo strapped into his high chair, a cracker clutched in his small fist.

They'd been laughing about something a second ago. The moment they saw me, both their faces dropped in unison.

Margaret tossed out, cold as ice, "The sight of you turns my stomach."

I didn't even glance her way—not worth the breath to answer. I shoved my feet into my shoes and bolted out the door.

*****

I drove the whole way like I was racing the clock, running every yellow, pushing every limit, my knuckles white on the wheel.

At Silvermoon Tower, I wedged the car crooked into a spot, yanked the key out, and ran.

I slammed my finger onto the fingerprint scanner, heart hammering so hard it made my head buzz.

The screen blinked. Nine o'clock. Exactly.

I let out a long breath and wiped the sweat from my forehead.

The receptionist grinned at me. "Lana! Cutting it close today, huh? Made it in with a second to spare."

I gave a breathless mumble in response and started toward my desk.

Two steps in, I felt it—my heel raw where the shoe had chewed through the skin, my ankle throbbing from running too hard, aching with every step.

At least I spent most of my time at a desk. Field trips to outside departments were rare. I wouldn't be on my feet all day.

I'd barely sat down when the intercom rang.

The executive secretary's voice came through, all business. "Lana, the boss wants you on a matter—some imported energy components got flagged and held. Gather in ten minutes."

I looked down at my throbbing foot.

A wave of exhaustion crashed over me, sudden and total.

I closed my eyes, then pushed myself up anyway, sliding the chair back into place.

Time to go.

I limped back to my desk, bent down and pulled off my heels. The skin on both heels was torn raw, red and seeping with traces of blood.

Ella happened to walk past my desk. One glance and her brow furrowed.

"What happened to your feet?" Her voice dropped low. "The boss is waiting for you to head out. You can't walk in those."

She turned back to her own desk, dug through the bottom of her drawer, and shoved a pair of flats into my hands.

"Wear mine for now. We're about the same size."

I looked up at her. "Thanks!"

She waved me off and left.

I fished out a band-aid from my drawer, stuck it on the raw spot on my heel, then wrapped another layer around my ankle.

The skin burned. Blood seeped into the fabric the moment it touched.

But that pain was nothing.

What really made my stomach clench was the thought of sitting in the same car as Ethan in ten minutes.

I stood outside the CEO's office door clutching my laptop, took a deep breath.

The door swung open from inside.

Ethan walked out in a dark gray suit, those amber eyes landing on me for half a second.

He said nothing.

Turned and headed for the elevator.

I hugged the laptop tight and hurried after him.