Reclaimed By My Alpha (Natalia and Andrei) novel Chapter 12

Chapter 12

NATALIA

This was it, I thought. I was caught.

Andrei’s gaze locked onto my back like a brand. Sharp. Searching. His wolf pushed forward, scenting the air,

测

brushing the edges of recognition. My pulse screamed. I couldn’t move, couldn’t speak, couldn’t even breathe.

He took a step toward me.

My legs refused to work.

He opened his mouth-

And the door burst open.

“Alpha.”

A soldier–one of Andrei’s men–stood framed in the hallway, his shirt damp with sweat, boots still dusted from the road. I recognized him by scent alone–he’d been part of Andrei’s personal protective detail for years.

“What?” Andrei barked, his eyes still fixed on me.

The man didn’t seem to notice the tension in the room. “We found a lead. North of the ravine outside Redpine. A healer said she treated a lone wolf last week–female, injured, matching Natalia’s description. Said the woman had a scar on her left hand.”

I flinched.

My left hand–injured during the ambush. The scar had never healed clean.

Andrei inhaled sharply. His expression changed in an instant.

“Get the truck ready,” he ordered. “I want every scout team moving. If she’s there”

He didn’t finish the sentence.

He didn’t even glance back at me as he stormed out, snapping instructions as he went.

The air he left behind was hot with energy. My body sagged with relief.

Behind me, Lilith let out a long, audible exhale–a sound far too measured to be calming. It was the kind of breath someone took to hold back something sharp. Something dangerous. The hair on the back of my neck prickled.

“He’s never going to let this go,” she muttered.

I bent lower over the desk, clutching the feather duster like it was a weapon instead of a prop. My fingers trembled. I moved it across the surface with unnecessary care, tracing the same spot again and again.

Lilith didn’t seem to care that I was still in the room. Or maybe she did. Maybe that was the point.

“Always chasing her,” she scoffed. “Like some tragic little legend. ‘I feel her,“” she mimicked in a high, breathy

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Chapter 12.

falsetto. “She’s close.“” Her voice dropped, poisoned with scorn. “Of course you do, darling. That’s not fate. That’s fixation.”

She paced.

Not graceful, not elegant. Not the cool, poised version of herself she showed the world.

She stalked across the rug, then turned on her heel and crossed the room again, muttering, “He was supposed to be over this. He chose me.‘

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A photo frame clattered to the ground behind me–glass striking wood with a hollow, snapping sound. I didn’t turn. Didn’t even flinch.

“I have been patient enough!” she snapped.

Her footsteps grew louder, more erratic. She kicked something else—maybe a stool or waste bin. It struck the wall with a metallic clang.

Then a sharp, brittle crack–the unmistakable sound of glass shattering. I turned slightly, just enough to see a crystal tumbler smashed against the hearthstone, whiskey dripping down the carved stone like blood.

“I gave him everything!” Lilith roared, her composure fracturing. “And he still clings to the idea of her! She’s nothing but a shadow–an accident! And yet he walks around like he’s haunted!”

She grabbed another object–something heavy and hurled it across the room. It struck the far wall with a deep, shuddering thud.

I dropped my eyes to the desk, breathing carefully through my nose.

Then, amid the rubble and fury, a shift.

1

The sudden silence was louder than the crashing. I heard the slick drag of her fingertip across her phone screen. Then the soft, deliberate chime of her lock screen disengaging.

“Get me Marcus,” she snapped.

There was a pause as the call connected. I remained quiet, dusting the bookshelf, heart hammering in my ribs.

“I don’t care what you told me last time,” she said. “If you told me she was dead, then why is he still chasing her?”

Another pause.

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