Reclaimed By My Alpha (Natalia and Andrei) novel Chapter 546

I shifted when we reached the base of the mountain and turned to Max. He was staring up at the mountain with his mouth set in a hard line. Even though he hadn’t been here since he was six, I knew he remembered like it was yesterday.

“Are we going in?” he asked, looking at me.

“No,” I said. “The tunnels are still full of fumes. It’s not safe.”

That wasn’t entirely a lie. I didn’t actually know the current state of the tunnels. But I had no intention of taking my eleven–year -old son down into the place where his father had disappeared, and if the fumes gave me an easy excuse, then I was taking it.

Max looked like he wanted to argue, but the look on my face stopped him. He pressed his lips together and nodded.

We found the entrance to the tunnels without much trouble. A proper path.had been formed over the years, mostly thanks to Jane’s people, who carved a road into the side of the mountain. It was still an exhausting trek, but in wolf form, we made it quickly. 1

The mouth of the tunnel was still there, halfway up the mountain, partially obscured by years of new plant growth. Someone had placed a cairn of stones just outside it. Flowers, long dried and crumbling by now, had been laid at the base, mostly for Ellen.

Max stood in front of the cairn for a while. I stepped back and gave him some room, moving far enough away that I could give him privacy while still keeping him in my line of sight. He knelt and said something that I couldn’t make out, then placed a stone on top of the cairn and looked at it for a while.

Eventually, Max returned. His eyes were dry, but they were red around the edges. He looked straight ahead and didn’t say anything for a moment.

“I told him we were here,” he said after a long second.

“Good.”

“And that I’m going to find him.”

I looked at him.

“I know you think he’s dead,” Max said, before I could respond. “But I don’t.”

I was quiet for a moment before I murmured, “I don’t think he’s dead, either.”

He glanced at me sideways, like he wasn’t expecting me to say that. I wanted to tell him about Celeste’s letter, but I just… couldn’t. Because claiming to believe that Andrei was still alive and actually getting my son’s hopes up that he was were two different things.

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to get my own hopes up, either. I’d done that too many times to count and it hurt just the same every

time.

“Are we going up to the castle?” he finally asked, looking up at the summit. I followed his gaze; from here, with the sky so clear, we could just make out the castle above, dark rock reaching into the sky.

It had been a very long time since I’d set foot there. Not since the Winter King held me captive there.

But I wanted to go. We were too close to it now to not visit.

“Yeah,” I said. “Come on.”

When we arrived, there was a young male was sitting on top of the wall with his legs dangling over the edge, eating something. He spotted us coming up the path and whistled sharply over his shoulder.

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Chapter 546

+25 Bonus

By the time we reached the entrance, a small welcoming party had gathered.

The woman who stepped forward to greet us walked with two crutches specially made to wrap around her forearms supporting her. She was still heavily hunched over, and her head was covered by a veil that showed only her rheumy eyes, but she moved with confidence and purpose.

“Luna,” she said in a raspy voice, bowing her head. “We weren’t expecting you.”

“I should have sent word. I’m sorry.”

She waved it off. “You’re always welcome here. I’m Petra. I lead The Broken.”

“Natalia.” I shook her hand. It was gnarled and twisted, but warm. “This is my son, Max.”

“I remember you, Max.” She gestured with one of her crutches. “Please, come in.”

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