Alpha Xander's Undoing Chasing my Unknown Mate Back novel Chapter 46

Chapter 46

Chapter 46

*Rory*

(46)

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The summit was a masquerade–beautiful, elegant, and cold beneath all the glittering gowns and measured smiles.

All except mine.

I was going to kill her. That’s the feeling I felt as I watched Lillith with Xander, although I wanted nothing to do with him.

But he was still my mate. My husband. And she knew this.

I stood near the edge of the room, watching it all with my stomach tied in knots, the cool glass of untouched wine in my hand warming too quickly.

Lillith laughed softly at something one of the advisors said, but her body leaned just slightly toward Xander.

My mate.

Her hand brushed his sleeve. Her laugh lingered too long. And Xander… stiffened.

I could see it in the way his shoulders tightened. The way his jaw flexed.

But he didn’t stop her.

And my breath hissed between my teeth, Mona’s voice echoing in the back of my mind like a curse I’d forgotten until now. Something she said one night that I didn’t pay much heed to until now.

“She wants power, Rory. And if she can’t get it from you, she’ll take it from him. Lilith doesn’t love people. She uses them.”

Is that what she did with Eden? Was she connected to Eden’s death?

Xander turned slightly, his eyes scanning the room–and locked on mine.

He looked like he wanted to explain. To come to me. To push her off.

But Lilith leaned closer, saying something I couldn’t hear but didn’t need to. Her smile was sly. Her voice was

too sweet.

She touched his chest.

And I saw red.

I didn’t even realize I was moving until I was halfway across the room, the crowd parting slightly at the sharpness of my steps.

“Enjoying the company?” I asked, voice sharp.

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Chapter 46

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Lilith turned slowly, smiling like she’d just been handed dessert. “Oh, Rory. I didn’t see you there.”

Xander muttered my name low, warning in his tone.

But I was already past that.

“I’m surprised you can see anything with your head so far up his ass,” I said sweetly.

Gasps fluttered around us like startled birds. Lilith’s eyes sparkled.

“Well,” she said, tilting her head, “at least I don’t need to hide behind a sickness to get attention.”

That did it.

My hand twitched, every muscle in my arm ready to swing. But before I could do something I’d regret—or worse, enjoy–a voice cut through the tension like a knife.

“Rory.”

I turned, barely able to tear my eyes from Lilith’s smug face.

“Dhara?” I asked, surprised and confused. “What are you doing here?”

Dhara looked pale. Her usual nonchalance gone. She wasn’t dressed for the occasion, which meant she snuck in, and probably would get kicked out if Xander’s father caught her.

“Can we have a word?” she asked, eying Xander and Lillith. “Just the two of you.”

I nodded, and thankfully Xander followed. We stepped onto the hall’s balcony, and the cool air instantly calmed me down.

“Someone’s planning something,” Dhara said as soon as Xander closed the door. “It’s rare, because this type of privilege from the earth should be taken for granted. But I’m happy she told me.”

“The earth?” Xander asked, crossing his arms.

Dhara nodded. “I was meditating just on the border of the pack where there’s a river. It’s one of my favourite spots now.”

“Right but what’s the important part?”

I slapped Xander’s hand at his question.

“The earth told me that two guards were talking. They said she’ll fold fast if she’s really gifted. That they want to sedate you. Again.”

My heart stopped.

“What?” Xander barked, stepping forward.

“They think she’s one of them,” Dhara said, tugging my arm. “One of the gifted. They said tonight’s the best

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Chapter 46

chance.”

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“Best chance for what? These are aristocrats. What the hell do they have to do with gifted wolves?”

“I’m not gifted,” I gritted out, but I wasn’t fooling anyone here.

“If we were sent here for bait, then I’m having words with Varra,” Xander growled.

“I don’t think Varra knows.” Dhara sighed, shifting her weight. “Well, of course she knows. But I don’t think she’s the one who wants to bring harm to us.”

“Do you know something?”

She shook her head. “As I said, it’s a rare privilege when the earth tells me something. She doesn’t like innocent blood being spilled on her heart. But, be careful, okay? This thing is just for the weekend, right?”

“Yeah.” Xander ran a hand over his face that made him look hotter than I should’ve even noticed. “We’ll just be extra careful.”

“You don’t look too good,” Dhara said, finally looking at me. “Have they gotten to you already?”

“I haven’t drunk anything,” I whispered. “I’ve been holding this glass all night.”

But Dhara’s face told me the truth.

It was already too late.

My vision swam.

It started as a flicker–barely a shimmer at the edge of my sight–but then it grew. The light from the moon fractured, bending at strange angles until the space itself seemed to ripple. Shadows deepened in places they shouldn’t have, and everything began to tilt like I was standing on a ship caught in a storm.

Something was wrong.

Something was so wrong.

The floor pulsed beneath me.

“Rory.”

I barely registered Xander until his hands were on me, steadying me as my body swayed forward like my bones had turned to smoke. His grip was iron, his arm like a wall at my back, holding me together when everything else started falling apart.

“Someone drugged her,” he snarled, and I felt the words rumble through his chest more than I heard them. “Rory. Stay with me. Look at me–right here. Look at me.”

I tried.

Goddess, I tried,

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Chapter 46

But my body betrayed me.

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My legs gave out from under me, collapsing without warning. A gasp ripped from my throat as I dropped, but Xander caught me before I hit the floor. His arms locked around me, lifting me into him like I weighed nothing. My cheek pressed against his collarbone, and the steady thunder of his heartbeat barely masked the chaos erupting around us.

“I’m fine,” I whispered. The lie tasted like iron. “I’m fine.”

I wasn’t.

Everything inside me was untethered. My thoughts spun too fast and too slow all at once, blurring into one another like smoke caught in wind. I couldn’t feel the floor beneath us. Couldn’t tell if we were still standing or floating.

Whispers exploded around us–gasping, speculating, watching. A thousand eyes tracked every step he took. And that’s when I realised we were back inside, but moving.

“Get her out of here,” Dhara muttered from behind us, her voice sharp and protective. When I turned my head, I caught a flash of her expression–jaw clenched, brown eyes burning, her whole body braced like she was ready to throw someone through a wall.

Xander didn’t hesitate.

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