Chapter 36 CHAPTER THIRTY
ALORA
The sun sets slowly, painting my prison in shades of orange and gold. I watch from my window as the pack prepares for the full moon—wolves gathering in the courtyard, excitement in the air. For them, it's a celebration. A night to run free under the moon's blessing.
For me, it's a countdown to exposure.
I press my palm against the cool glass, trying to calm my racing heart. In a few hours, he'll demand answers I can't give. Or won't give. I'm not even sure which anymore.
The connecting door opens without warning. I spin around to find him standing there, backlit by the lamps in his room. He's changed into dark pants and a loose white shirt, the top buttons undone. His hair is still damp from a recent shower, and the scent of pine and smoke hits me like a physical force.
"Come here," he says quietly.
It's not a command. Not quite. But my feet carry me toward him anyway, drawn by something I can't name. Don't want to name.
I stop a few feet away, keeping distance between us. "My Lord—"
"Alex." His jaw tightens. "When we're alone, you call me Alex."
"That's not proper—"
"Nothing about this is proper." He moves closer, closing the gap I tried to maintain. "Nothing about us has ever been proper."
My breath catches as he reaches out, his fingers grazing my cheek. The touch is gentle, almost tender, and so at odds with the intensity burning in his eyes.
"Your shoulder," I whisper, looking at where the wound was. "Does it still hurt?"
"No." His thumb traces my lower lip. "You made sure of that, didn't you?"
Shame floods through me. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have—"
"Don't apologize for helping me." His other hand slides into my hair, tilting my face up. "Don't apologize for being what you are."
"You don't know what I am."
"Don't I?" He leans closer, his breath hot against my lips. "I've spent weeks studying you, little wolf. Watching. Waiting. Trying to understand the mystery you've wrapped yourself in."
My heart hammers against my ribs. "Then you know I'm dangerous—"
"You're not dangerous to me." His forehead rests against mine. "You could never be dangerous to me."
The certainty in his voice makes my chest ache. If only he knew. If only he understood what I really am, what claiming me would do to him.
"Alex." His name tastes strange on my tongue. Intimate. "You need to let me go. Before—"
"Before what?" His grip tightens in my hair. "Before I discover all your secrets? Before I claim what's mine? Before we both stop pretending this isn't inevitable?"
"It's not inevitable." But my voice shakes, betraying the lie. "We can still—"
"Still what? Keep lying to each other? Keep fighting this bond between us?" His lips brush mine, barely a whisper of contact. "I'm done fighting, Alora. The only question is whether you are too."
My wolf howls, desperate for this. For him. But fear keeps me frozen.
"I can't." The words come out broken. "If you knew what I am, what completing this bond would do to you—"
"Then tell me." He pulls back just enough to meet my eyes. "Tell me what you are. Tell me what you're so afraid of."
I open my mouth, the confession right there. But the words stick in my throat, choked by decades of fear and conditioning.
His expression shifts, something darker crossing his features. "Fine. If you won't tell me, I'll show you what I already know."
Before I can process his words, he's moving. His hands grip my waist, lifting me easily. My back hits the wall beside the window, and suddenly he's pressing against me, caging me in with his body.
"What are you—"
"Showing you that your secrets don't scare me." His hand slides up my side, over the thin fabric of my dress. "Proving that whatever you're hiding, it doesn't change what we are."
"Stop." But the word comes out breathless, desperate. "You don't understand—"
"Then make me understand." His lips find my neck, pressing against my racing pulse. "Tell me why you're so terrified of this. Of us."
His teeth graze my skin, and my wolf surges forward with a need so strong it nearly breaks my control. I feel my eyes start to change, feel the crimson bleeding through.
"Alex, please—" My hands push against his chest, but it's weak. Unconvincing. "I can't—my eyes—"
He pulls back, and I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to force them back to amber. But it's too late. I feel his thumb brush my eyelid.
"Open them," he whispers. "Let me see."
"No—"
"Alora." My name is a command and a plea. "Open your eyes."
I do, and watch his face as he sees them. Really sees them. Crimson bleeding through amber, the true color trying to break free.
He doesn't flinch. Doesn't pull away. Instead, something like triumph flashes across his features.
"There you are," he murmurs. "Finally showing me the truth."
"You're not—" I can't finish the sentence. Not afraid? Not disgusted? Not planning to use me?
"What did you think I'd do?" His hand cups my face, thumb brushing my crimson-tinged eye. "Run screaming? Call the guards? Lock you away?"
"Yes." The admission tears out of me. "All of that and worse. Because that's what happens to wolves like me. We get hunted. Used. Destroyed."
"Not by me." His voice is fierce. "Never by me."
"You don't understand what I am—"
"I know exactly what you are." His eyes bore into mine. "I've known for weeks. The red fur. The healing abilities. The way unmated males lose control around you." His lips curve into a dark smile. "You're a blood-wolf, Alora. The rarest, most powerful type of wolf in existence. And you're mine."
The confirmation makes my knees weak. He knows. He's known.
"How long?" I whisper.
"Since the night I saw your red fur in the moonlight." His thumb traces my lower lip. "Did you really think you could hide from me?"
"I had to try." Tears burn my eyes. "Because blood-wolves don't survive. Our mates go mad from the bond. Everyone who's ever tried to claim us has ended up destroyed."
"I'm not everyone else."
"That's what they all thought." I try to pull away, but he holds firm. "Every Alpha who tried to bond with a blood-wolf believed they'd be different. They all failed. They all went insane from the intensity of the bond."
"Then we'll be the first to succeed." His conviction is absolute. Terrifying. "Because I'm not losing you to fear, Alora. Not to yours, and not to mine."
"You should be afraid." My voice breaks. "The bond will consume you. Turn you into something violent and possessive. You'll lose yourself trying to protect me."
"I'm already violent and possessive." His hand slides down to my throat, resting there gently. "Already half-mad from wanting you. Already willing to destroy anyone who threatens what's mine." His eyes flash silver. "The bond isn't making me into something I'm not. It's just bringing out what I've always been."
The words should terrify me. Instead, they make something in my chest loosen. Warm.
"You're insane," I whisper.
"Probably." His lips find mine again, harder this time. Demanding. "But I'd rather be insane with you than sane without you."
The kiss steals my breath. My resistance. My carefully constructed walls. I kiss him back, my hands fisting in his shirt, pulling him closer even as my mind screams that this is wrong. Dangerous.
He breaks away, his breathing ragged. "Tell me. I need to hear you say it."
"Say what?"
"What you are. The truth. All of it." His hand tightens on my throat. Not painful, but possessive. "No more hiding."
I meet his burning gaze, and something in me breaks. Or maybe it finally heals.
"I'm a blood-wolf," I whisper. The confession feels like freedom and chains all at once. "Born with crimson fur and healing abilities. Hidden by my parents because blood-wolves are hunted. Cursed because our mate bonds destroy our Alphas." Tears stream down my face. "And I'm terrified that bonding with you will be the death of us both."
His expression shifts, something fierce and protective crossing his features. "There she is. My brave little blood-wolf." He wipes away my tears with surprising gentleness. "Finally trusting me with the truth."
"Now what?" My voice is small. "Now that you know everything?"
"Now?" He pulls me against his chest, his arms wrapping around me like he'll never let go. "Now I keep you safe. From the Northern Pack. From anyone who would hunt you. From your own fear."
"And the bond?" I press my face against his chest, feeling his heart pound. "What about the madness?"
"We'll figure it out." His hand strokes my hair. "Together. Because you're not doing this alone anymore, Alora. You're not carrying this burden by yourself."
I want to believe him. Want to trust that somehow we'll be different. That our bond won't end in tragedy.
But centuries of blood-wolf history say otherwise.
"The moon is rising," he says quietly. "Your birthday is here. Do you feel any different?"
I do. The power humming beneath my skin is stronger, harder to contain. My wolf is restless, eager. And the pull toward him—the mate bond—is nearly impossible to resist now.
"Yes," I admit. "Everything is stronger. Harder to control."
"Then let's not control it." He pulls back to look at me, his eyes glowing silver in the moonlight streaming through the window. "Let your wolf out, Alora. Let me see her. All of her."
Terror and longing war inside me. "If I shift—"
"I'll shift with you." His hand cups my face. "We'll run together. Under the full moon. As we were meant to."
"The pack will see—"
"Let them see." His voice is fierce. "Let the whole territory know what you are. What we are to each other." His thumb brushes my lips. "You're done hiding, little wolf. Starting tonight."
I stare at him, searching for any sign of doubt or fear. But all I see is determination. Possession. And something that might be love, if I'm brave enough to believe it.
"This is a terrible idea," I whisper.
"Probably." He grins, wild and beautiful. "But I've never been very good at good ideas."
He takes my hand, leading me toward the window. Below, wolves gather for the moon run. They haven't noticed us yet, haven't seen what's about to happen.
"Ready?" he asks.
No. I'm not ready. Will never be ready for this.
But I nod anyway.
Because he's right. I'm done hiding.
Even if revealing myself destroys everything.
Even if the bond between us leads to madness.
At least I'll face it honestly. With him beside me.
"Together," I whisper.
"Together," he confirms.
And as the full moon rises overhead, two wolves prepare to show the world a truth that should have died centuries ago.
A blood-wolf and her Alpha.
Fated. Bonded. Inevitable.
Whether either of us survives it remains to be seen.