Alpha Xander's Undoing Chasing my Unknown Mate Back novel Chapter 88

Chapter 88

Chapter 88

*Rory*

The door scraped again.

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I jerked, wrists yanking against the cuffs. They clanged together, and my ribs tightened with the same panic that always hit before Durnham appeared. But it wasn’t him.

Isaac slipped inside like a boy sneaking into someplace he didn’t belong. His shoulders hunched and his steps were too quick, like he wanted to be in and out before anyone caught him. A faint torchlight flickered from the corridor, and it showed the red welt across his jaw where Durnham had slapped him earlier. The scar that already cut across his face made it look worse.

He carried a tin of food and another dented cup of water. He didn’t look at me at first. He just set the plate down near the door, closer than yesterday but still out of reach, as if he wasn’t ready to step further into my

mess.

“You’re back,” I said, my voice rough. “What, come to look at me like I’m a dog in a cage again?”

He flinched like the words landed where the slap had. His blue eyes flicked up and then away again. “I came to apologize,” he said softly. “I should have-” He cut himself off and shook his head, blond hair falling into his eyes. “I couldn’t. I froze.”

Something about the guilt bleeding off him was almost worse than Durnham’s calm. I had been ready for cruelty. Pity was harder.

“It’s almost morning,” he went on, voice low. “Someone came already. They… prepared the chains for transfer. He wants to move you before dawn.”

My throat closed. Fear prickled sharp, but I pushed it down because I couldn’t afford to let him see me break. “Then unlock me now,” I said quickly. “Before he comes back. Just once. You can walk away, and no one will know.”

His hands twitched near his sides, and for one second I thought he might. But then he shook his head, slow and ashamed. “You don’t understand. I can’t.”

“Why?” I asked. My voice wasn’t sharp this time. It wasn’t a demand, just a plea. “Why can’t you, when you clearly hate it?”

“I don’t hate you,” he said, too fast, as if he needed me to know that. He took a breath. “I hate this. All of it. But I can’t fight him.” His hand brushed his scar, almost unconsciously, as if the skin still burned.

I followed the line with my eyes, and the words slipped out before I thought them through. “That scar isn’t his, is it?”

His jaw tightened. He looked down again. “Venatorum,” he admitted. “They gave it to me. I was supposed to die that night. My pack… they didn’t survive. I did. Because he found me.”

“Durnham,” I said. It wasn’t a question.

13:20 Wed, Sep 17

Chapter 88

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He nodded. “He pulled me out. He carried me until I could breathe again. No one survives a Venatorum assassination attack. No one. But I did, because of him. And he told me I owed him my life. That he’d keep me alive, but I’d have to live it on his terms.”

His voice shook on the last word, and the way he said it told me he’d repeated it to himself a hundred times.

I stared. “So you serve him because he told you you’re in his debt? That’s it?”

Isaac’s mouth twisted. “Because I believe it. Because when everyone else left me to die, he didn’t.” His hands clenched as if he could grip that moment and make it more than it was.

“And what has that life been since?” I asked, softer now. “Sneaking food into dungeons? Watching people suffer while you look away?”

He winced. His eyes finally met mine, and I hated that they were kind, because it made me want to trust him even though I knew better.

“You’re a wolf,” I pressed, not letting him look away. “I can smell it on you. What kind?”

He hesitated, then whispered, “Tidal.”

That stunned me. Tidal wolves were rare, their bloodlines scattered. They carried the ocean in their bones. “And you’re wasting that chained to him?”

“I’m not wasting it,” Isaac said quickly, almost defensive. “I use it when he asks me to. I keep us hidden when the Venatorum come close. I make sure they don’t find him. He trusts me.”

“He uses you,” I corrected, my voice sharper than I meant. “He saved you to own you. That’s not trust, Isaac. That’s a leash.”

He flinched again, but he didn’t deny it. His jaw worked like he wanted to argue but the words wouldn’t come.

The silence stretched. I leaned forward, the iron biting into my wrists, and I softened my voice. “Help me. Just a little. Please. You don’t want this life, and you don’t want to be him. I can see it.”

Isaac crouched finally, as if the weight in his shoulders had dragged him down. He slid a wrapped bundle from under his coat-bread, dried meat, a flask of water. He pushed it toward me until I could catch it between my chained hands.

“Eat,” he murmured. “You’ll need your strength.”

I swallowed hard. “Why are you doing this?”

He looked at me then, and for once he didn’t look away. His blue eyes were steady, though guilt swam in them. “Because you look at me like I’m not him,” he said quietly. “Everyone else sees his shadow when they see me. You don’t.”

I couldn’t think of anything to say. The words hung in the air between us, heavier than the chains.

“I don’t know if I can fight him,” Isaac went on, voice trembling. “I don’t know if I’ll ever have the courage. But I’ll look. I’ll look for a chance. And if I can take it, I will.”

13:21 Wed, Sep 17

Chapter 88

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