Page 41 of My Unhinged Alphas
He leans in just slightly, lowering his voice even though the hallway is empty. “You know what this means, Saint Vale.”
“I do.”
It means this isn’t random. It meansLenaisn’t random.
It means everything about the last twenty-four hours is far worse than we understood.
I force a breath into my lungs, pressing my thumb to the small cross tattooed over my heart. The familiar sting grounds me, reminding me of vows I’ve already fractured today.
I shouldn’t think of her now, but I do. Her body trembling around my fingers. Her lips parted, trusting me. A trust I never earned.
I swallow hard and slide the envelope into my jacket.
The Shepherd almost smirks. Almost. “Then I’ll consider the message delivered.”
He disappears back into the corridor’s shifting shadows, leaving me alone with the symbol burning against my ribs. The Veiled Order was there. And whatever game they’ve started, Lena is somehow at the center of it.
Control slips too easily when she’s near. But now? Now I have something far more dangerous in my hands than my own desire.
I have proof.
And proof demands action.
Chapter 6
Lena
My lips still tingle.That’s the first thing I notice when the room stops spinning. Not the cold air. Not the silence. Not the rough metal cross on the wall.
My lips. Still swollen. Still warm.
Still remembering him.
I press a hand over my mouth like I can scrub the feeling off, but all it does is make my pulse jump because I can still taste him there, faint and impossible to ignore.
God. What the hell am I doing?
He kissed me.
No, worse—I kissed him back. I wrapped my damn legs around him.
I refasten my jeans and then groan and bury my face in my hands for a moment, letting the humiliation crash over me. “Fantastic, Lena. Truly. Peak decision-making. Kissing the masked man who kidnapped you? Sure. Why not? That’ll look great in your obituary.”
I sit on the bed too fast and the room tilts slightly, my vision flickering at the edges. My head is still heavy—like I’m wading through the fog of whatever Ethan slipped into my drink. Every time I think of him, my stomach twists.
Ethan. His too-perfect smile, too-practiced charm. The way he watched me over dinner like he already owned me.
And now this.
“Oh God,” I whisper. “What if they’re working with him? What if he drugged me and passed me along like—like cargo?” My breath stutters. “Sex trafficking. Amazing. I’m living the dream.”
I stumble to my feet and rush to the window, hands shaking as I grip the metal frame. When I try to push it open, nothing happens. I try again, harder. Still nothing. The screws aren’t just tight—they’re sealed. Bolted shut like this place wasn’t made for leaving.
Great.
I press my forehead to the cold glass and look out. No buildings. No streetlights. Nothing that looks remotely like the city. Just empty land stretching out under a pale strip of sky.
“Perfect,” I mutter. “Kidnapped and relocated to the ass end of nowhere.”
