Free Web NovelChapter 239: Chapter 239 Wishes and Wake-Up Calls
Elara
I didn’t wake up until two in the afternoon.
When I finally cracked my eyes open and saw the time on my phone, I wanted to kick Dominic. Hard. Twice.
Last night, right around midnight, I was barely conscious. Half-asleep, half-fucked into oblivion. But I still managed to make a wish in the back of my mind. That we’d have a healthy baby. Soon.
Now my calves were sore. My thighs ached. I stretched under the blankets and groaned.
That’s when I noticed the gift box on the nightstand.
Sleek. Dark gray wrapping paper. A silver ribbon. No tag. Just sitting there like it belonged.
Before I could reach for it, someone knocked on the door.
Bang bang bang.
"Auntie Elara! Stop sleeping! Come play with me!"
My face went hot. "Orion! Give me five minutes, okay?"
I held my breath, waiting for the door to swing open. But I heard muffled voices outside, then footsteps dragging away.
Thank God.
I threw on some sweatpants and a hoodie, twisted my hair into a messy bun, and padded downstairs.
Dominic was just walking through the front door when I hit the bottom step. Two coffees in his hands. He held one out to me.
"You’re awake." His mouth curved.
I gave him a flat look. "You think?"
He smirked. Didn’t apologize. Just handed me the coffee.
I took it. Didn’t say thank you. He knew why.
The living room smelled like bacon and leftover pancake batter. Someone had made a big brunch earlier. The remains were still on the kitchen counter—sticky plates, a half-empty jug of orange juice, a carton of eggs with two left inside.
Hunter was in his armchair, watching football highlights on the big screen. He looked up when I walked in.
"Afternoon, sleepyhead."
"Don’t start."
He laughed. That was it. He wasn’t the type to give lectures about sleeping in. As long as I showed up for pack dinners and didn’t set anything on fire, he was cool.
Elizabeth was on the couch with a mug of tea. The fire crackled in the fireplace. She patted the cushion next to her.
"Come here, sweetheart. Sit with me."
I dropped onto the couch next to her. She reached into her cardigan pocket and pulled out a small envelope. Cream-colored. Sealed with a gold sticker.
"Here. This is from me. I know Christmas already passed, but I saw this and thought of you."
"Grandma, you don’t have to—"
"Hush. I’m your grandmother. I get to spoil you." She pressed it into my hand. "Go on. Open it."
I peeled the sticker back. Inside was a handwritten card and a gift card to a spa in town. A nice one. The kind I would never pay for myself.
"Grandma, this is too much."
"You work hard. You deserve nice things." She patted my cheek. "And I wouldn’t say no to another great-grandbaby running around here. Just saying."
I felt my face heat. "Grandma."
"What? I’m old. I’m allowed to be honest."
Hunter muted the TV and reached into his jacket. He pulled out a smaller envelope and slid it across the coffee table toward me.
"This one’s from me and your mother-in-law. Late Christmas present. We already put Dominic’s share in yours."
I picked it up. Peeked inside. A check. A generous one.
My throat got tight. "Thank you, Dad. Thank you, Grandma."
I meant it. They didn’t have to do this. But they did anyway.
I was about to say something else when my phone buzzed in my pocket.
Unknown number. frёewebηovel.cѳm
I hit decline without thinking.
This was my private phone. The only people who had this number were family and close friends. If someone was calling from a blocked number, it was probably someone I didn’t want to talk to.
And I wasn’t about to ruin the first day of the new year by picking up a call from someone I couldn’t stand.
Author
Across town, Nadia sat alone in her small apartment and stared at her phone.
The call had ended. She didn’t bother calling back.
She sat on the edge of her old couch. The one with the stain on the armrest she could never get out.
The walls were plain beige. The furniture was all secondhand. A half empty bottle of cheap red wine sat on the coffee table next to a pile of unopened bills.
The radiator hissed. The windows rattled every time a car passed.
She had tried calling her son first. He picked up but the background noise was so loud she could barely hear him.
A bar. Loud music. People shouting. He hung up after a few seconds.
Then she called her daughter. That call was even shorter.
Nadia set her phone down on the table. She sat there in the quiet and let herself cry.
This was the loneliest New Year’s she had ever had.
No husband. No pups. Just her in this tiny apartment with a bottle of wine that wasn’t strong enough to help.
--
Alpha Zack was having a worse night.
Last night he crossed into Alpha King’s territory without permission. No notice. No request.
Just drove his truck past the marked tree line like he owned the place.
He stopped in a clearing near the eastern ridge. Opened the tailgate. His truck bed was loaded with fireworks. Not the cheap kind you grab at a gas station. These were military grade. The kind you only get through black market connections.
He set them up along the frozen ground. Lit the first fuse. Stepped back.
The first one shot up and exploded into gold and red. Then another. Then another. The whole sky lit up over land that did not belong to him.
He stood there in the cold with his hands in his pockets and watched.
He waited for Elara to come outside. He waited for her to see the show from across the border and know who did it for her.
She never came.
This morning two enforcers showed up at his door instead.
They stood on his front porch. Polite but serious. Wolf crest badges on their chests. Hands resting on their belts.
"Alpha Zack, did you set off fireworks last night?"
Alpha Zack leaned against the doorframe. "Maybe I did."
"On Alpha King’s land. Without permission."
Alpha Zack said nothing.
"Fireworks of that size are not allowed in this territory without approval. Neither is crossing another Alpha’s border uninvited. We need you to come to the council hall. Sign some papers. Pay a fine. Write a statement."
He grabbed his jacket and followed them out.
At the hall they sat him down at a wooden table. The room smelled like old tobacco. A clerk slid papers across to him.
"Sign here. Here. Initial here. Write a short apology at the bottom."
Alpha Zack signed everything fast. Hard strokes that almost tore the paper. For the apology he wrote three words. "I was wrong."
The fine was two thousand dollars.
He paid without blinking. Folded the receipt and put it in his pocket.
He knew who made this happen.
Dominic Wolfe.
