Mated To The Crippled Alpha

I must have looked terrible — pale, red-eyed, hair a mess. Pregnancy exhaustion had stripped away whatever was left. My voice cracked when I finally spoke. "I’m sorry. I couldn’t save her."

She stood quietly beside the bed, looking at me for a long moment before she spoke. "Mr. Hale told me everything. I know you tried your best. It doesn’t surprise me that Starling chose this path. When she came back to us, I could feel her heart wasn’t really there anymore. As her parents, we were powerless." She paused. "When I arrived, I overheard the doctor say you’re pregnant?"

"Yes," I said softly.

Her eyes, already swollen, filled again — but this time there was a faint smile beneath the tears. "That’s wonderful. Truly wonderful. You have something to look forward to now. I’m sorry for everything we failed to give you before. We didn’t know you were expecting. We left you alone after your confinement and made everything worse. Even in death, you couldn’t find peace. But seeing you start fresh now..." She steadied herself. "Whether you believe me or not, I mean it. I wish you nothing but good things."

I believed her. No mother genuinely wishes her child pain. And so much of what had gone wrong hadn’t been her doing alone — Wisteria had seen to that.

"Starling’s choice wasn’t your fault," I told her. "It was hers, and none of us could have stopped her. You’ve changed. Don’t keep looking backward. Build something good for yourself." I swallowed. "I used to think parents were always right. I know now that isn’t true — and I know how much pain came from that. If you can’t forgive me for the distance I kept, I understand. I can’t blame you for it either."

She hesitated, then continued in a voice that had gone very small. "I just wanted to see you. To congratulate you in person. Elena, we’ve been such a weight on you. From now on, we won’t be. Please, just live well. That’s all I want."

Her hand moved toward my face — instinctively, like she meant to wipe my tears — and then she stopped herself and pulled back. "It’s good to see you awake. I won’t keep you. Eat well, rest, and try not to grieve too much. Think of the baby."

She left without looking back, and I got out of bed without thinking, my feet bare on the cold floor. I went to the window and watched her figure grow smaller in the dark until she was gone. My fingers had found the curtain fabric without me realising, gripping it tight.

"Don’t cry." Lewis’s voice came from somewhere behind me.

"Carl," I whispered, "why does it feel like I’ve been losing things my whole life?" I let out a slow breath. "I was the one who wanted distance from them. But now that they’ve actually let go — completely — my heart feels so heavy. From now on, I’m not their child anymore."

I sank down slowly, wrapping my arms around my knees. "I can’t forgive them. And I can’t forgive myself for being this weak. I don’t know what to do with any of it."

"You’re too kind," he said gently. "If you called after her right now, she’d come back."

I gave a small, bitter smile. "No. Let her go. The farther they are from us, the safer everyone is. Setting boundaries isn’t cruel — it’s necessary. The Morrigans just want peace now. Send someone to see her home safely."

"Okay."

Lewis lifted me carefully and held me close, the way you hold something you were afraid of losing. "Whatever comes," he said quietly, "I’ll be here. Right until the end."

I looked up at him. "Our bond will last through all of it. Wherever we end up — even at the edges of everything — I’ll be right beside you."

He smiled softly, then after a moment, shifted. "I have some news. A lot of information was recovered on Rosbe Island — things the organisation never got to act on. Whitney had been with Luther and uncovered crucial evidence. Vito had been working with the authorities the whole time, helping rescue people and leading them to one of the main hideouts. They both made a difference."

It was something. A real something. But it didn’t bring her back.

Vito might have been trying to atone for old wrongs, but Whitney had never done anything that needed atoning for. She was innocent in all of it. She should never have been anywhere near any of this, and yet here we were.

I should have kept her at the residence that day. Locked the door. Refused to let her go.

"Elena, if you’re going to blame anyone, blame me." Lewis’s voice dropped. "I let Whitney go. I thought if she stayed close to Luther, we’d gather more information and you’d be safer. I was too calculated. I—"

His eyes were red. He hadn’t slept since I’d passed out, that much was clear.

One had been my family. The other was the person my soul recognised as its other half. Both of them had given everything trying to protect me.

How could I blame either of them? This was my fault. My weakness had pulled them both down.

"Carl." I made my voice as steady as I could. "This was Whitney’s choice. You can’t carry that. I’m okay. Just — give me a moment alone."

"Eat first. You haven’t had anything, and you need to think about the babies."

The word landed somewhere soft and guilty inside me. "You’re right. I need to eat."

"Let me feed you. You’re running on nothing right now." He said it without any edge to it — just quiet care, the kind that didn’t ask for anything back.

"Okay." I reached out and held onto his sleeve, keeping my voice low. "If they find Whitney — please tell me first. I want to be the one to send her off properly."

He went still for just a moment. Then he nodded. "Of course."