Alpha Xander's Undoing Chasing my Unknown Mate Back novel Chapter 51

Chapter 51

*Rory*

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The air in the archive felt thicker than it should have, like the walls themselves were trying to hold their breath. Dust motes floated in thin streams of light from the narrow windows high above us, turning the sealed room into a strange kind of tomb.

My palms still tingled from where the rune had burned itself into my skin, and my heart hadn’t settled since Eden’s voice had whispered through that memory, chilling me to the marrow.

Matt knelt beside me, one hand braced on the floor as he tried to help me up. His expression was pale, tense, eyes darting between me and the relic as though he wasn’t sure whether to comfort me or throw the pendant out the window. My breath was unsteady, the weight of Eden’s words still tangled around my ribs like barbed wire.

“She knew,” I murmured, voice barely a thread. “Eden knew about all of this. About me.”

Matt’s hand tightened on my arm, steady and grounding. “Rory…” he began, like he was about to say something reassuring. But the words died in his throat as the world suddenly snapped sharp and violent around us.

The door slammed open hard enough to rattle the shelves. Runes along the frame hissed, breaking apart as though sheer fury had torn the seal away. My head whipped toward the entrance just in time to see him.

Xander.

He filled the doorway like a storm, every line of his body taut with lethal purpose. His eyes burned, his jaw was carved granite, and his presence sucked the air out of the room. His dominance hit like a wave, an instinctive, primal force that made my wolf stir uneasily even under layers of suppressant.

Matt rose instantly, stepping in front of me on pure reflex.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Xander’s voice was low, dangerous, like a growl caged in human form. His gaze cut to me, sharp enough to flay, before flicking to Matt. “You brought her here? You thought this was smart?”

Matt straightened, refusing to back down. “She needed answers, Xander. No one else is giving them to her.”

“That’s because answers get you killed in this place,” Xander snarled, stepping forward, his sheer size and heat making the archive feel smaller. “Do you even understand what you’ve done? How exposed you’ve made her? This isn’t a fucking game!”

Matt shoved a hand against Xander’s chest when he tried to push past him. “And locking her away in some shack in the woods is better? She’s not your prisoner!”

Xander’s patience snapped. He shoved Matt back hard, sending him stumbling a step. “She’s my mate, and you’ve put a target on her back again.” His voice was rough, guttural, every syllable lined with something barely restrained. “You never stop to think, do you? Not once.”

Matt’s face flushed with anger, but he didn’t retreat. “Don’t act like you’re the only one who cares about her!”

13:08 Wed, Sep 17

Chapter 51

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“You don’t even know what she is!” Xander roared, the words echoing through the stone chamber like a crack

of thunder.

Silence slammed down.

I froze where I stood, my breath hitching. The weight of his words hung in the room, choking every bit of oxygen out of it. Matt’s expression shifted from anger to confusion, his mouth opening and closing once before he finally rasped, “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

Xander’s chest heaved once, twice, his eyes briefly closing like he was fighting himself. Then they locked on mine, sharp and unyielding. “She’s Chaos,” he bit out. “That’s what she is.”

The world tilted under my feet.

Matt’s head snapped toward me, eyes wide, disbelief bleeding into horror. “What?” he whispered. “Rory…?”

I couldn’t look at him. Couldn’t look at either of them. My stomach twisted, shame crawling up my throat like bile. I wrapped my arms around myself, suddenly too aware of my skin, my breath, my existence. Chaos. The word burned in my ears, seared into my bones.

Matt’s voice was quiet, broken. “You’re saying… she’s one of them? One of the wolves from the old stories? The ones they say destroyed everything?”

Xander’s eyes softened for a fraction of a second, but his voice was steel. “I’m saying the world already knows there’s a Chaos wolf out there. And if they find out it’s her, she won’t survive what comes next.”

Something inside me cracked.

“You don’t get to talk about me like I’m not standing here,” I snapped, my voice raw, tremoring with anger and something uglier underneath. I took a step forward, tearing away from the weight of their stares. “You don’t get to keep throwing words like that at me and then pretending you’re trying to protect me.”

Xander turned to me, his face strained, his hand reaching out-but I stepped back, ripping my wrist away when he tried to grab it.

“No,” I said, shaking my head hard. “No more dragging me around like I’m some dangerous thing you need to leash. No more secrets. No more warnings with no explanations.” My breath hitched, my voice rising. “You treat me like I’m something to fear, Xander. Like you’d rather lock me away than look at me.”

He flinched, his mouth opening like he wanted to deny it. But he didn’t. He couldn’t.

I felt my chest tighten, my heart thundering. “You say you’re scared of losing me,” I whispered, the words shaking. “But you’re terrified of me too, aren’t you?”

Xander’s jaw clenched. His fists curled at his sides. “I’m terrified of losing you,” he said roughly. “That’s it.”

I stared at him, forcing myself to meet his eyes even when my own burned. “Then why does it feel like you’re already gone?”

The silence that followed hollowed me out.

Chapter 51

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Matt shifted beside me, clearly overwhelmed, but I couldn’t look at him. Couldn’t handle the weight of his shock and Xander’s grief pressing on me from both sides.

Finally, I spoke, my voice quieter but no less sharp. “What happened at the meeting? The one with your father. Tell me the truth for once.”

Xander dragged a hand over his face, exhaling like the question gutted him. “The meeting wasn’t about finding you,” he said finally. “It was about covering for you.”

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