Alpha Xander's Undoing Chasing my Unknown Mate Back novel Chapter 38

*Rory*

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The note sat folded in the pocket of my jacket, but it might as well have been carved into my bones. I didn’t need to read it again. Every time I closed my eyes, the words hovered in the dark.

You’re not as hidden as you think. Be careful.

That note had a weight to it. Not just paper and ink–but threat and warning. It clung to my thoughts like smoke I couldn’t blow away.

I slipped behind the greenhouse under the cover of late dusk, the sun a fading smear of orange and grey behind the academy’s towers. Matt was already there, leaning against the stone wall like he had something to prove. His eyes scanned me as soon as I approached, as if checking for a tail.

“You sure no one saw you?” he asked, voice low, sharp with worry.

“I’m sure,” I replied, though I wasn’t. How could I be anymore? The academy felt like it had eyes hidden in every stone and vine.

He reached for my hand and tugged me beneath the crumbling arch where the ivy grew thick. We used to hang out here sometimes before the whole feelings thing with Xander. It felt like another lifetime.

“Show me,” he said.

I handed him the note, watching his face as he read. His expression darkened with every line, his jaw ticking, lips pressing tight as he re–read it.

“This isn’t just someone trying to scare you,” he finally said, folding the paper. “This is someone saying they’re watching. Someone who knows.”

“Knows what?” I whispered, even though I already had my fears.

Matt looked at me for a long moment, eyes unreadable. “About you. About Zerina.”

I pulled my arms around myself as the chill of the night wrapped tighter around my spine. “You think it’s the Venatorum?”

“They don’t usually send warnings,” he muttered. “They just eliminate, This… this feels personal. Someone here. But even so, they only target gifted ones. I don’t think it’s them.”

I felt a weight being lifted off me. It still made my stomach churn with dread as I started to put the pieces together little by little. My wolf was suppressed because she would ‘kill me,‘ yet no one but my dad knows what this condition really is, only that it killed my mom. My sister is also dead mysteriously and now maybe someone was trying to kill me too.

Was it something about us that was a threat? That made people take us out? I couldn’t help but wonder if…

If it had something to do with the gifts.

13:40 Tue, Sep 16 N

Chapter 38

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But I had no water, fire, earth or sky power. I would know, right?

“So what do we do?” I asked Matt. He was the only one apart from Mona and Dhara that i could trust.

I knew I could trust Xander too, but I was too pissed at him to even try.

“We stay quiet. Careful. And we look into it ourselves. No one can be trusted right now, Rory. Not even the ones who are supposed to protect you.”

He meant the instructors.

He meant Varra.

He meant… Xander? But why? I knew he knew I was his mate now and also his wife. Why wouldn’t I trust Xander?

I nodded, even though it made my chest ache. “Okay.”

But before we could go any further, the shadows behind us shifted, and the sound of footsteps stopped us cold.

Xander.

He stepped out like a ghost, his eyes narrowing, his jaw tight. “I should’ve known.”

“Xander-” I started, but he was already advancing.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” he snapped, his voice a low growl. “Haven’t I made myself clear, Matt?”

Matt stepped forward, but I held a hand out. “No. I’ll handle this.”

I stepped between them, meeting Xander’s eyes without flinching. “You don’t get to order me around, Xander. Not about this.”

“He’s only giving you your medicine. He shouldn’t be meeting with you in secret places discussing only goddess knows what,” he barked, glaring past me at Matt.

I laughed. Cold and bitter. “At least he tells me things.”

That seemed to land like a slap. Xander’s eyes flickered, then darkened further. But instead of lashing out, he turned sharply and stormed off into the shadows.

“Unless you’re finally ready to tell me everything,” I added and he looked away.

Thought so.

Matt, being the ever–loyal beta, took a step away from me and nodded at Xander. “I’m just trying to keep her

safe.”

“That’s my job,” Xander countered. “I don’t need any fucking help.”

13:40 Tue, Sep 16 N

Chapter 38

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Matt glanced at me one more time, sad and longing. “Remember what I said.”

I nodded, tucking the note away discreetly.

“What was that about?” he asked and I scoffed.

“I was showing it something.”

“Rory-”

But before I could storm off, his hand shot out, grabbing my wrist.

“You’re not staying in that dorm tonight,” he said, voice low and full of steel.

I yanked away. “Excuse me?”

“You’re coming to my room. And you’ll stay there. Every night. Until I say otherwise.”

I laughed, stunned. “Are you out of your mind?”

“It’s not a request.”

I shoved at his chest. “So I’m your prisoner now?”

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