Mated To The Crippled Alpha-Chapter 187: Pay Back

Grant stood in the middle of the living room, staring at the blood on the floor.

His jaw tightened.

He never liked the Wilchers much. To him, they were like weak pack members who always needed protection but never contributed anything useful. Still, they had been under his name, under his roof, for years.

No matter how useless they were, they were still considered family.

"Fix my family?" Grant’s voice turned cold. "This is what you call fixing it?"

Lewis didn’t blink.

"You’ve never seen it done this way before," he said evenly. "Now you have."

Before anyone could react

The blade fell again.

Everyone had been watching Grant. No one expected Lewis to move so suddenly.

Harper’s scream tore through the room before his body gave out and he collapsed, unconscious.

The smell of blood thickened.

Grant exploded. "Lewis! This is the Gardner residence!"

"I know," Lewis replied calmly. "And since you failed to control these ungrateful relatives for years, I stepped in. They slapped my wife. They tried to strike a pregnant woman."

The word pregnant changed everything.

Grant’s eyes shifted sharply toward the others.

There was only one pregnant woman in this house.

"You laid hands on my wife?" he demanded.

Benjamin, face swollen and shaking, tried to salvage what little dignity he had left.

"Grant, don’t listen to him. How could I ever hit my own daughter?"

He still tried to act like a father.

Even now.

But Grant wasn’t blind.

He knew Lewis. Lewis did not act without reason. He did not lose control without cause.

"If you have something to say," Grant snapped, "say it. What did you do?"

"I’ll explain."

My voice echoed as I stepped down the stairs.

Lewis hadn’t realized I was watching.

The moment he saw me, something shifted in his eyes. The hand holding the knife stiffened.

Panic.

Not fear of Grant.

Fear of me.

He didn’t want me to see this side of him.

Theo reacted instantly, stepping forward and taking the blade from Lewis’s hand.

"Mr. Lewis," he said smoothly, "your health is too fragile for this. Let me handle it."

Fragile.

The word almost made me laugh.

Everyone in the room looked at Theo like he had lost his mind.

Fragile?

Lewis had just severed a man’s finger without hesitation.

Lewis’s gaze softened when it settled on me.

"Why did you come down?" he asked quietly. "Did the noise disturb you?"

There was guilt in his tone.

As if he regretted not silencing Harper sooner so I wouldn’t hear.

"No," I said softly. "I just wanted to check."

"There’s nothing to see," he said quickly. "Just a mess. Go back upstairs. I’ll call you when lunch is ready."

I walked straight toward him.

He tried to pull his hand behind his back.

Too late.

There was blood on the back of his hand.

I caught his wrist gently and wiped it clean with a tissue.

"Why did you do it yourself?" I asked.

His throat moved.

"Riley, I..."

I cut him off gently.

"Blood like this doesn’t deserve to stain your hands."

The entire room fell silent.

Grant’s patience snapped.

"Riley," he barked, "what is going on?"

I finished wiping Lewis’s hand and stood upright.

"In short," I said calmly, "Benjamin crossed the line. He always tries to hit my mom. When I stepped in to protect her, they all turned on me."

Grant’s gaze dropped to my cheek.

The swelling.

The faint shape of a handprint.

"What the hell did you do?" he roared at the Wilchers. "I invited you here to talk sense into Lena, and this is how you repay me?"

No one answered.

Grant’s anger filled the room like a storm about to break.

Vere immediately stepped forward, trying to calm things down.

"Grant, don’t listen to her," he said quickly. "We were only trying to persuade Lena to work things out with you. She suddenly brought up divorce. Dad just wanted to discipline her a little."

Discipline.

The word made my blood run cold.

Vere thought he was clever. He thought Grant would side with them.

Instead

Slap.

Grant’s palm struck Vere so hard his head snapped to the side.

"She is my wife!" Grant roared. "Since when is it your place to discipline her? You live off my money and still dare to raise your hand against her?"

Grant’s brows pressed together tightly. "Enough. This ends now. Where are the servants? Clean this up immediately."

"Grant, we’re just letting this go?"

"Grant, you can’t be serious!"

Voices rose from both sides.

Grant turned slowly to Lewis. "What more do you want?"

Lewis’s expression did not change.

"I said five fingers," he replied evenly. "And I meant it."

The room went quiet again.

Grant stared at him, stunned. "You..." 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

"Lewis," Grant said firmly, "we are not the same. But I will not allow anyone to touch my wife. No matter who they are."

Lewis didn’t respond to Grant.

He looked at Theo instead.

"Take him outside. Finish it there. I don’t want my wife to see any more."

Wife.

Theo nodded. "Understood."

He dragged Harper’s unconscious body out of the room like removing spoiled meat from a feast hall.

Benjamin panicked. "He’s your brother!"

Grant turned on him with burning eyes.

"Benjamin, I’ve done more than enough for the Wilchers. Don’t forget who built your status in this city. You disrespect my wife, and you expect my protection? Harper can stay for treatment. The rest of you leave. Immediately."

"Grant, please! I would never hurt my daughter! I was just "

"Enough."

Lewis’s voice cut through the room.

Benjamin shrank back instinctively, his shoulders lowering without him realizing it.

Outside, another scream tore through the snowy air.

Lewis did not react.

"Clean the room," he said calmly.

The bodyguards moved quickly. Broken glass, blood, water everything disappeared within minutes.

It was as if nothing had happened.

Except it had.

Lewis turned to me and gently applied medicine to my cheek.

His touch was so careful.

So different from the way he held that blade.

"I’m sorry," he said softly. "I came too late."

"You didn’t," I replied. "You came right on time."

We shared a small smile.

After saying goodbye to Lena, I left with Lewis.

Inside the car, silence wrapped around us.

He looked at me again.

"I’m sorry," he repeated.

I leaned into his chest, feeling the steady rhythm beneath his ribs. Strong. Grounded. Safe.

"You handled it perfectly," I said honestly. "I’m just... adjusting. I’ll grow stronger. Just give me time."

He hesitated.

"Do you think I’m cruel?"

The question was quiet. Vulnerable.

I lifted my head to look at him.

"When I know your cruelty is meant to protect, I don’t see it as cruelty. It just makes my heart ache for you."

He grew very still.

Lewis pulled me closer.

"Elena," he whispered, "thank you."

"I’m learning to love you," I said, my voice steady. "And loving you means accepting all of you. The calm one. The dangerous one. You’re my husband."

He swallowed.

"And I don’t think what you did was wrong."

I met his eyes directly.

"I love the way you stand up for me."

For a second, the fierce Alpha from earlier disappeared.

His ears turned red.

Red.

The same man who cut through bone without blinking was suddenly shy.

The contrast made my chest tighten in a completely different way.

I shifted closer and climbed onto his lap, wrapping my arms around his neck.

"Lewis..."

"Darling," he murmured, his voice rough now, "we’re still in the car."

I smiled against his lips.

"So?"

The storm outside raged on.

But inside that car, inside the space claimed by his arms and my choice