Mated To The Crippled Alpha-Chapter 327: Why Did You Come Back?

I knew Lewis was still out there somewhere, waiting for me to change my mind. He always would. To him, going back to the White Residence wasn’t brave. It was reckless. He would never willingly let me walk into danger again.

But Whitney was still waiting for me.

I gritted my teeth and shut the car door like I was sealing my own fate. I didn’t dare look into the rearview mirror. I was terrified I’d see the disappointment in Lewis’s eyes and crumble right there.

When the engine started, I clenched my fists in my lap and repeated the same words in my head like a prayer.

Don’t look back. I’m sorry, Carl.

Beside me, Yael watched my face like he could hear my thoughts. "Elena," he said softly, "are you unhappy?"

I swallowed and forced myself to sound steady. "Is Vito going to keep Whitney locked up forever?"

Yael’s fingers tapped the steering wheel. His calm felt too practiced. "Elena, Whitney doesn’t love Vito. If she were free, she’d run."

So they knew. They understood exactly what they were doing.

Before I could respond, Yael added, "If Vito didn’t care about her, she would already be dead. Freedom or life what do you think matters more?"

My chest tightened.

I was relieved Whitney was alive, yes. But the thought of her living like this for twenty years made my stomach turn. Death was one sharp moment. Living like that was a slow, daily bleeding.

Still... I believed it could end.

If we got her out, she wouldn’t just be a victim anymore. She’d be proof. A witness. And once the pack had proof, the Blackwell brothers and everyone hiding behind them would finally have to answer.

They couldn’t keep tearing people apart and calling it fate.

It had to stop.

As the White Residence came into view, Yael pulled out a pill and held it out to me. "Elena, take this. It’ll keep you from raising suspicion."

Earlier he’d given me something that let my voice come back for a few hours. Now he wanted to take it again.

I didn’t move. I stared at him, cold and tired. "Is it really to avoid suspicion... or are you afraid I’ll call for help?"

My throat felt raw just thinking about silence returning. "Yael, if I wanted to run, I could have screamed at the night market. That was the best chance, wasn’t it?"

His expression softened into concern, like he was the one protecting me from the world. "Elena, it’s not that I don’t care about you. There are cameras everywhere in the White Residence. If you speak, you’ll be exposed. You know what that means."

He leaned closer, voice low. "Just bear with it. Once we "

He stopped himself, like he almost said too much.

The truth was simple. He wouldn’t compromise.

So I exhaled, took the pill, and swallowed it.

Almost immediately, my throat tightened like an invisible hand had closed around it. The silence came back, heavy and humiliating.

Only then did Yael relax. "If that person shows up in the next few days," he warned, "avoid her at all costs. Don’t meet her eyes. She notices everything."

I gave him a stiff nod, because my voice was gone again.

We entered the White Residence carrying bags of trinkets, and the stupid candy apple rack Yael insisted on bringing like a trophy. It was late. The house should’ve been asleep.

But the moment we stepped into the courtyard, a figure walked out of the darkness.

"Where have you been?"

My whole body went cold.

Thankfully, Yael’s tall frame blocked me. I stayed behind him, head lowered, heartbeat thundering in my ears.

Vito.

Yael was dangerous in his own way quiet, smiling, unpredictable. But Vito was different. Vito felt like a blade you couldn’t see until it was already cutting.

He looked like he’d been waiting.

Yael lifted the rack a little, like a boy showing off a prize. "Bought this for Whitney. And some other little things. She’s been sulking, and you’re getting bonded soon. I brought Mute Girl along to help pick out gifts."

Yael’s face was innocent enough to make a stranger believe him.

Vito didn’t.

"When did you start caring so much about Whitney?" he asked, stepping closer.

I kept my gaze down.

He circled me slowly, and his voice brushed over my skin like ice. "And since when were you so close to Mute Girl?"

My instincts screamed at me to move, to run, to bare teeth.

I did none of that.

Yael scratched his head, playing dumb. "Close? I went out with her because I was bored. Is Whitney asleep? I’ll give her the stuff."

Vito’s eyes narrowed. "Let Mute Girl take it. You shouldn’t go in."

"Fair enough," Yael said easily.

His acting was flawless.

He shoved everything into my arms. "Take these to Whitney."

I nodded and walked inside with careful steps, my posture small, my face blank.

Behind me, Vito’s voice cut through the air.

"What’s wrong with you?"

My heart dropped.

Had he noticed something?

Yael’s warning echoed in my head. Your biggest threat isn’t Vito. It’s Amber.

If Vito could sense something... what would Amber see?

I pushed into Whitney’s room.

She was awake, like she’d been waiting.

The moment she saw me, her face stayed controlled, but her eyes betrayed her. A flicker of joy, quick and bright, like a match in the dark.

The ache of leaving Lewis softened into something warmer.

I was glad I came back.

Because I couldn’t stand the thought of Whitney looking for me and finding nothing. Her life had been dead quiet for so long. If I left her now, that tiny light in her would die again.

In front of the cameras, she couldn’t show too much. She masked everything with that cool, sharp tone. "What’s all this for?"

I placed the bags on the windowsill and handed her the candy apple.

The moment she saw it, her eyes turned red.

I didn’t realize memories could survive that long. But they did. They lived in her like scars.

She clutched the candy apple with shaking fingers, and tears started falling like she couldn’t stop them.

Then a voice boomed behind me.

"What did you do?"

Vito.

He stormed in, fast and angry, and lifted his foot like he was going to kick me.

Whitney moved instantly stepping in front of me.

"What are you doing to her?" she snapped.

Vito froze. Shock flickered across his face as he pulled his foot back. "She made you cry."

Whitney hugged the candy apple tighter. "I’m happy."

Her voice shook, but she stood her ground. "Do you even want to take away my right to feel joy?"

Vito looked... different. Flustered. Like he didn’t know what to do with her when she wasn’t afraid.

"No," he said, quieter. "If you like candy apples, why didn’t you tell me earlier?"

Whitney’s eyes were flat. "I like anything that’s not from you. You disgust me. Now get out."

Vito glanced at me. I lowered my head even more, body still, breath slow.

After a long moment, he finally left.

I released a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding.

Whitney couldn’t say much with the cameras watching, and I couldn’t say anything at all. But standing there beside her, watching her eat that candy apple like it was the first sweet thing she’d had in years...

It made my chest hurt in a good way.

When she finished, I showed her the little trinkets one by one things she used to love as a child. In my mind, she was still that small girl with sticky fingers and a stubborn mouth.

But twenty years had passed like a cruel blink.

Tears gathered in her eyes as she touched the keepsakes, her fingers careful, like she was scared they’d vanish.

I pointed to the time and gestured for her to wash up and sleep.

She set down a porcelain wind chime and followed me into the washroom.

For a second, it felt like we traveled backward. She used to love sweets and hate brushing her teeth. I used to coax her, threaten her, make her laugh through it.

Before I could watch her lose her baby teeth... she disappeared from my world.

The moment the washroom door closed, her control snapped.

Whitney threw herself into my arms, holding me so tightly it almost hurt. Her voice was low, trembling, breaking apart.

"Elena... why did you come back?" she whispered. "Why didn’t you leave?"