Alpha Xander's Undoing Chasing my Unknown Mate Back novel Chapter 111

Chapter 111

Chapter 111

*Rory*

The wind shifted first.

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It carried a scent I hadn’t realized I remembered–salt and rain, tangled with something colder. The moment it hit, I froze. My stomach twisted, and I turned toward the outer gates just as the sentries shouted for Vallin.

When the figure appeared through the fog, my throat closed.

Isaac.

He looked nothing like the boy who once slipped me water in a dungeon or whispered that I should keep fighting. His face was thinner, eyes sunken but sharp, and the old Venatorum scar that slashed across his jaw had deepened, darker than before. His coat was torn, one sleeve missing, and there was blood on his hands. that didn’t smell like his.

Dhara was the first to move, hand going to the dagger at her hip. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” she muttered. “Someone check if that’s actually him and not bait.”

“Dhara,” I said softly.

Her gaze flicked to me, irritation mixing with wariness. “You know what the Venatorum do. They send corpses walking sometimes.”

“He’s not one of them,” I said, already stepping forward.

Xander’s hand caught my wrist before I could move further. His grip was firm, quiet warning under the calmness of his expression. “You’re sure about that?”

I looked at Isaac again. He stumbled, catching himself on the gate post. The guards didn’t lower their weapons, but they didn’t move either. He raised both hands slowly, his voice hoarse.

“I’m not here to fight,” he rasped. “I just need-” His words caught in his throat before he finished, “I need to see her.”

Every pair of eyes turned to me.

I pulled away from Xander and walked to the gate. Each step felt heavier than the last. When I reached him, I stopped just out of reach.

“Isaac.”

He flinched at the sound of his name, almost as if he didn’t believe it was real. His lips parted, and for a second, he looked young again–like the boy who used to whisper apologies in the dark.

“You’re alive,” I said, voice unsteady.

He huffed a small laugh that cracked halfway. “Barely. But yeah… still breathing.”

15:40 Fri, Oct 10 M.

Chapter 111

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I nodded toward the blood on his sleeve. “Whose?”

“Not mine,” he said. “Mostly.”

Behind me, I could feel Xander’s stare–heavy, unyielding. The others hung back, waiting for my signal.

“Let him in,” I said finally.

The gate creaked open, and Isaac stumbled through. Vallin met him halfway, examining him with the detached caution of someone who’s seen too many traps.

“You were part of Durnham’s convoy,” Vallin said. “Explain.”

Isaac swallowed. “I was. Until the Venatorum attacked. They hit at night–five scouts, maybe more. It was chaos. I broke my chains on a wrecked transport and ran. Haven’t stopped since.” He looked past Vallin, straight at me. “Didn’t think I’d make it this far.”

Dhara crossed her arms. “So the Venatorum’s hunting Durnham now? What changed?”

Isaac’s expression twisted–guilt, pain, something else I couldn’t name. “They were never just hunting him. They wanted what he was carrying.”

Vallin’s brow furrowed. “Which was?”

Isaac’s gaze flicked to me again. “You.”

Silence pressed thick between us.

“They were transporting me,” I said quietly. “So they attacked to take me instead.”

He nodded once, the motion small but certain. “You were their objective. Always were.”

Dhara cursed under her breath. Mona muttered something about the Venatorum getting bolder. Xander said nothing, but the air around him felt sharper, like a storm bracing to break.

Vallin gestured to one of the medics. “Get him cleaned up and fed. I want a full report on every word he remembers.”

But Isaac didn’t move. His eyes stayed locked on me. “I didn’t know they’d come for you,” he said, voice low. “Durnham said-” He cut himself off, shaking his head. “Forget it. Doesn’t matter. I owed him. I thought I did,”

“You don’t owe him anything,” I said.

He gave a short, humorless laugh. “He saved my life. Pulled me out of a Venatorum pit when I was thirteen. I wouldn’t be standing here if it weren’t for him.”

“Saving you doesn’t make him good,” I said. “It just makes him patient. He kept you alive because he needed

someone to owe him.”

He looked down at his hands. “Maybe. But I believed him. I still do sometimes, in the quiet.”

Chapter 111

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That quiet–the same kind that used to choke me when I was trapped under chains and stone–hung between us again.

When Vallin left to brief the council, the others started dispersing. Only Xander stayed close, silent but clearly listening. His hand brushed mine once, grounding me, though I could feel the unease rolling off him like

heat.

Isaac’s shoulders sank. “You should have left me out there,” he said. “I’m not clean. I still feel him in my head sometimes. His voice.”

I stepped closer until our eyes met. “You’re here. That’s what matters.”

Dhara, standing a few feet away, muttered something about dangerous risks under her breath, but I ignored

1. it.

“He’s proof,” I said loud enough for all of them to hear. “Proof that chains don’t make loyalty.”

Isaac blinked at me, stunned. Mona’s gaze softened; Dhara looked away. Xander didn’t move, but I caught the faint flicker in his eyes–a mix of respect and something darker.

Isaac exhaled, shaky but real. “You shouldn’t defend me.”

“Too late,” I said simply.

He laughed once, the sound rough. “You haven’t changed.”

“Neither have you,” I said. “You’re still standing in front of a dozen people waiting for permission to forgive yourself.”

That shut him up.

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