The Alphas Sister (Complete)

Chapter Eleven: Runs, Risks, and Reluctant Roads

A couple of uneventful days crawled by after Electra's kiss, the pack house settling into a quiet hum that did nothing to still my restless mind. Those days blurred together, hours spent scrubbing pots in the kitchen until my hands pruned, losing myself in the rec room's PS4 until my eyes burned, dodging her at every turn. 

I'd catch myself stealing glances, her sipping coffee at breakfast with Lila, her shadow slipping past in the hall as I hauled laundry, but I'd wrench my eyes away, fighting the urge to linger.

 Shauna had been tied up with training drills since the party, leaving me alone to stew, and I needed her now more than ever to yank my thoughts off the spiral they kept tumbling into.

The truth gnawed at me like a splinter I couldn't pull free. I couldn't stop thinking about Electra. That shy look she'd given me after kissing me outside the pack house, her lips soft and quick against mine, her hair just a little mussed from sleep, it clung to me. 

It wasn't wild or heated like with Shauna, just a fleeting brush that sparked a craving I couldn't shake, a quiet pull that had me clenching my fists to keep from tracking her down. Every glimpse stoked it, her green eyes catching the morning light over a mug, her laugh weaving through the pack's chatter at lunch and I was sinking deeper, wrestling a tide I didn't know how to fight after days of pretending she was invisible.

I needed a distraction, anything to snap the loop. 

Shauna texted late that afternoon, she'd swing by my room in an hour, finally free from Cade's latest enforcer drills and with nothing else to fill the time, I decided to hole up there and wait.

The pack house felt still, afternoon sun slanting through the windows, casting long shadows across the hardwood as I trudged upstairs. My boots echoed in the quiet hall, the air thick with the faint tang of pine cleaner from someone's chore shift. 

Rounding the corner to my room, I stopped short, Cade leaned against my doorframe, broad shoulders relaxed but his hand rubbing the back of his neck like he was bracing for a fight.

He turned as I approached, hazel eyes meeting mine with a casual, "Hey, Kyan," but a weight hung in his voice, heavier than his usual alpha tone.

"Hey, what's up?" I asked, pausing a few feet away, arms crossing over my chest. He didn't drop by just to chat, something was brewing, and my gut tightened in anticipation.

He shifted, hand stilling on his neck, a flicker of unease crossing his face. "Listen, I need you to do something for me." He paused, waiting for my nod before continuing, his words measured. "I need you to represent our pack at the next aging ceremony in a couple of days from now."

I raised an eyebrow, sensing the hitch before he spelled it out. Aging ceremonies were pack rites for wolves hitting eighteen, a different pack would host every month and a high ranking representative had to attend.

"What's the catch?" I asked, voice flat, arms tightening as I studied him.

He sighed, a heavy sound laced with apology. "It's the Midnight Pack."

"No," I shot back, sharp and instant, jaw locking tight. My mind flashed to Natalie, tangled in some Midnight wolf's arms, me walking in on them a year ago, the gut-punch of it a secret I'd kept locked tight. 

I'd told a few people after, needing to vent, but she'd lied, spun it around, told everyone I'd cheated, her words sticking to me like mud while the truth stayed buried. That's why I couldn't go, not the pack itself, just her, and the whispers she'd left behind, the kind Dr. Ellis had poked at in therapy.

"Kyan, I need you to do this for me," Cade said, his tone dipping into something rare, vulnerability cutting through his alpha edge. His eyes searched mine, pressing the weight of his ask, leaning on his oldest friend.