Chapter 58 Bolder - Amelia’s POV
My blood turned to ice in my veins. 'Someone's been inside again,' Kaela growled, surging forward in our shared consciousness, her protective instincts flaring. 'They're getting bolder.'
My first instinct was to run—to Aleksandr, to the guards, to anywhere but here. But beneath the fear rose something else: anger. This was my space, the first safe haven I'd known in years. And someone kept violating it, trying to frighten me away with their intrusions.
'Careful,' Kaela cautioned as I pushed the door open wider. 'They might still be inside.'
I listened intently, but the suite was silent except for the gentle ticking of the ornate clock on the mantel. The sitting room appeared untouched, everything exactly as I'd left it. Slowly, cautiously, I made my way toward the bedroom, every nerve ending alert for danger.
The bedroom door stood partially open. Taking a deep breath, I pushed it wider, bracing myself for another grotesque arrangement of roses, another threatening note.
What I saw instead made my stomach clench. A plain white envelope lay in the centre of my perfectly made bed, stark against the deep blue of the comforter. No flowers this time. No elaborate basket. Just that envelope, its presence somehow more menacing in its simplicity.
'Don't touch it,' Kaela warned as I approached the bed. 'It could be dangerous.'
"If they wanted to hurt me physically, they've had plenty of opportunities," I reasoned, though I still approached with caution. "This is psychological. They want to scare me away."
The envelope wasn't sealed, its flap tucked inside rather than glued down. Using just my fingertips, I carefully lifted it, noting its weight, the slight thickness that suggested it contained more than just a note this time.
'Be careful,' Kaela repeated as I perched on the edge of the bed and slowly withdrew the contents.
Photographs. Several of them, glossy and professional-looking. For one brief, confusing moment, I couldn't make sense of what I was seeing. Dark shapes, harsh lighting, a gleam of metal. Then my brain processed the images, and I nearly dropped them in shock.
Aleksandr. It was Aleksandr in the photos, his powerful frame unmistakable even from behind. He stood in what appeared to be a dimly lit stone room, his arm raised, something glinting in his hand. And before him, strapped to some kind of upright frame, was a man whose back was a map of cuts and burns—fresh wounds carved into flesh with methodical precision.
I forced myself to look closer, to really see, even as my stomach churned. The man being tortured—because there was no other word for it—was turned just enough that his profile was visible in one of the photos.
Alpha Marcus Blackwater. My former alpha. My abuser.
My hands trembled as I flipped through the remaining photos. Each one showed a different angle of the same scene: Aleksandr with a silver knife, Marcus bleeding and bound. In the final image, Aleksandr's face was clearly visible, his expression cold and focused, utterly devoid of the warmth I'd come to associate with him.
"He's punishing Marcus," I whispered, the words falling into the silent room like stones. "For what they did to me."
'For what they did to all of us,' Kaela corrected grimly. 'Remember what we learned about Alpha justice? This isn't personal sadism. It's formal punishment.'
She was right. Aleksandr had explained some of the harsher aspects of Alpha King duties to me when I'd asked about his reputation for brutality. Alpha punishment was different from unsanctioned violence—it was codified, ritualistic, a necessary part of maintaining order in a world where wolves respected strength above all else.
And Marcus had committed crimes worthy of punishment. Not just against me, but against his entire pack—negligence, cruelty, abuse of power. I carried the scars of his regime on my back, silver knife wounds that mirrored the ones now marking his flesh.
Still, seeing the evidence of Aleksandr's capacity for violence—controlled, judicial violence, but violence nonetheless—sent a chill through me. This was a side of him I'd known existed but had never witnessed. The Alpha King. The executioner of justice.
"Whoever left these wanted to frighten me," I said, shuffling the photos back into a stack. "They wanted me to see him as a monster."
'Are you frightened?' Kaela asked, her mental voice unusually gentle.
I considered the question honestly. Was I disturbed? Yes. Unsettled? Certainly. But frightened of Aleksandr? The man who had shown me nothing but patience and kindness, who asked permission before even holding my hand, who woke from nightmares calling my name
"No," I said finally. "I'm not afraid of him. I'm afraid for him."
'Because someone is trying very hard to separate you,' Kaela concluded, her earlier irritation giving way to concern. 'First the bribe and threat. Now this attempt to poison you against him. It's escalating, Amelia.'
My fingers tightened on the photographs. "We have to tell him. Now. Today."
'Finally!' Kaela's relief flooded through our bond. 'No more secrets.'
I slipped the photos back into the envelope, then retrieved the original threatening note from its hiding place in my jewelry box. The two pieces of evidence felt heavy in my hands, weighted with implications I was only beginning to understand.
Someone powerful enough to access my private rooms was trying to drive me away from Aleksandr. Someone who knew about Marcus's punishment, who had access to photographs documenting it. Someone who believed I could be bribed or frightened into abandoning the man who might be my mate, the wolf who might help Kaela finally break free.
They had underestimated me badly.
I changed quickly, abandoning my plans for a bath. The blue dress I selected was one of my favourites—simple but elegant, a subtle armour against whatever lay ahead. As I fastened Nora's silver crescent necklace around my throat, I met my own mismatched gaze in the mirror.
"No more hiding," I told my reflection, echoing the promise Aleksandr had made to me days ago. "No more secrets."
'No more being the victim,' Kaela added fiercely. 'Whoever is doing this picked the wrong wolf to intimidate.'