Chapter 71

Chapter 71
Claude

I woke up with someone’s arm around my chest.

For a second, I didn’t move. I just lay there, staring at the ceiling, trying to place where I was and how I got here. The room smelled familiar. It was my quarters and my bed. The morning light crept in through the curtains, dull and slow.

Then it came back to me.

Alicia.

Last night.

I closed my eyes briefly and let out a quiet breath.

She was curled against my side, her head resting on my shoulder like it belonged there. Her breathing was calm and even, like she’d slept well. I hadn’t. Not really.

It wasn’t strange that we’d ended up in bed together. She was my fiancée. Everyone expected it. She expected it. Maybe I was supposed to expect it too. It was what she wanted.

So why did it feel so out of place?

I remembered last night in pieces. Her hands. Her voice. The way she’d smiled at me when she had finally gotten what she wanted. And I remembered something else too.

Jesse.

I remembered him more clearly than anything else.

While Alicia was beneath me, while she was whispering my name as I went full thrust inside her, all I could see was Jesse. All I could feel was him. His reactions, his moans and the way he whispers my name. Even the bond pulling tight between us, like it always did when I tried to pretend it didn’t exist.

That was selfish. I knew that. Alicia didn’t deserve that. She didn’t deserve to be sharing space with a ghost she didn’t even know about. But I couldn’t stop it. The bond didn’t care about what was right or fair.

I was bonded to Jesse. Whether I liked it or not.

I shifted slightly, careful not to wake her. My body felt heavy, tired in a way sleep didn’t fix. I stared at the wall and wondered, not for the first time, what kind of Alpha I was turning into.

Alicia started waking up and her arm tightened around me, and she lifted her head a little, blinking sleep from her eyes. 

“Morning.” she whispered.

“Morning,” I replied.

She smiled, slow and pleased. “How was last night?”

There it was. The question I couldn’t really answer honestly.

“It was… good,” I said after a second.

Enjoyed it, I told myself. That was the right word. That was what I was supposed to say.

“I thought so.” She said

She leaned in and pressed a kiss to my neck, light at first, then lingering. My breath caught before I could stop it.

And damn it, there it was again.

Jesse.

The way Jesse used to kiss my neck without trying to take something from me. The way it made my head go quiet instead of loud. The way my body reacted without me needing to think.

My fingers curled into the sheets.

Alicia kissed my neck again, clearly trying to get a reaction. 

“You’re tense,” she murmured. “Still thinking about pack work?”

“Yeah,” I said quickly. “Just… a lot going on.”

She hummed like she believed me, or maybe like she didn’t care. Her lips brushed my skin again and I had to bite down on the inside of my cheek.

I almost said his name.

The thought scared me enough to make my heart race. If I’d said it out loud, there would’ve been no taking it back so pulled back slightly. 

“Alicia.”

She paused and studied my face. For a moment, I thought she might ask. 

Instead, she smiled again. 

“We don’t have to rush." she said lightly. “We’ve got time.”

I wasn’t so sure that was true.

She settled back against me on content, and closed her eyes again. I stared at the ceiling once more, my mind nowhere near the room I was in.

Keeping the bond a secret felt wrong.

But losing it felt impossible.

So I stayed quiet, lying beside my fiancée, thinking about the mate I’d already lost and the mess I’d made of everything.

I had kept my bond with Jesse a secret for years.

Sometimes I forgot just how much effort that took. Other times, like this morning, it felt like the weight of it was sitting right on my chest making it hard to breathe. After last night, after waking up beside Alicia while my mind was somewhere else entirely, I knew something had shifted. I just didn’t know what to do with it.

Back then, when everything first happened with Jesse, I’d panicked.

I hadn’t thought. I reacted.

I didn’t know how my father would take it. I didn’t know how the elders would react. Hell, I didn’t even know how the pack would look at me if they found out their Alpha was mated to another man. It felt dangerous and wrong in their eyes. 

An abomination, some of them would probably call it.

I couldn’t risk that so I had rejected him pn the spot. Like fear was a good enough excuse to tear someone apart.

I swung my legs off the bed and stood up slowly, running a hand down my face. Alicia was now asleep again.

I dressed quickly and quietly. By the time I stepped out of my quarters, the morning air felt colder than it should’ve.

Alpha duties. That was the excuse. That was always the excuse, wasn't it?

“Alpha.” 

"Morning, Alpha.” my wolves greeted me as I nodded back, answered where I had to, played the role I’d been playing for years now.

Today wasn’t just any day.

The Stalemoon Pack was coming.

We had been at odds with them for as long as I could remember. Border fights. Resource disputes. Old grudges no one even remembered the start of anymore. But things had changed. Hunters like REIN had been pushing deeper into wolf land. 

So today, the Alpha of Stalemoon would step into Revelle territory to sign a peace treaty. Something that would’ve been unthinkable a few years ago. Everyone was talking about it. Everyone was hopeful, elders especially.

I should’ve been focused on that.

I should’ve been reviewing terms, thinking about patrol routes, planning shared defenses. Instead, my thoughts kept slipping.

Jesse.

Where was he right now? Was he hurt? Did he hate me?

Probably all of the above.

I walked into the main hall where preparations were already underway. Long tables were being set. Guards were being posted at every entrance. One of the elders spotted me and came over right away.

“Alpha,” he said, nodding. “Everything is on schedule. Stalemoon should arrive before noon tomorrow”

“Good,” I replied. My voice sounded steady, even if I wasn’t. “Make sure the border guards stay alert. Peace or not, we don’t lower our guard.”

“Of course.”

There was something else on my mind, something I hadn’t said out loud to anyone.

Rumors.

I hated rumors. They spread faster than truth and stuck longer too. Still, even I had heard them.

They said the Stalemoon Alpha was cursed.

I had heard it more than once now. Different versions, same core. Some said he was cursed to never have a mate. Others claimed the moon goddess herself had turned her back on him for some terrible deed. A punishment. Fate. Balance. All of it. People always had names for things they didn’t understand.

I didn’t believe it.

How could I? There had never been an Alpha without a mate. Not once in all the stories, all the records, all the lessons drilled into us since childhood. Alphas were born with bonds that awakned at a certain age. That was how it worked. That was how it had always worked.

So what, suddenly the rules changed?

It didn’t sit right with me. I told myself it was nonsense. People trying to make sense of something rare by dressing it up as a curse. Still, the thought stayed with me longer than I wanted it to.

Tomorrow, I’d see the truth for myself.

That night, I couldn’t sleep.

I ended up walking through the courtyard instead, hands clasped behind my back, boots crunching softly against the gravel paths. The moon hung above us, full and quiet, watching like it always did.

That was when I heard voices.

Soft ones.

I slowed down and realized it was Ellis and Ellie. They were standing near the old stone basin, heads bowed, hands clasped together. At first, I thought they were just talking, but then I caught the words.

A prayer.

No, it sounded more than that. A rite?

“For safe passage,” Ellie whispered.
“For protection,” Ellis added. “For strength.”

Them they said Jesse’s name.

I stepped closer before I could stop myself. 
“What are you doing?” I asked.

They both jumped. Ellie spun around first, eyes wide. 

"Alpha—! We didn’t mean—”

“It’s fine,” I said quickly. “Just… tell me. Why are you saying rites for Jesse?”

"We don’t know if he’s alive,” Ellis said quietly. “Or… or if he isn’t.”

Ellie nodded, her eyes shining. “Either way, we just wanted the moon goddess to watch over him. If he’s alive, keep him safe. If he’s not…” Her voice broke. “Then guide him.”

“He’s alive,” I said before thinking about it.

They both stared at me.

“You’re sure?” Ellie asked. “You can't really know?”

“I know.”

Because I did. I could feel him, it was weak sometimes but it was there. The bond hadn’t broken. It tugged at me even now aside was speaking.

Ellis let out a shaky breath. “Then we’ll keep praying anyway.”

“That’s… good.”

I left them there after that. The morning came too fast.

The courtyard was filled with guards, elders, and advisors. Everyone stood in place as the gates slowly opened. My heart was beating harder than it should have been.

This was it.

The Stalemoon Alpha walked in with steady steps, head held high. He looked every bit an Alpha.

I shifted ny gaze to acknowledge his Luna but... there was no Luna at his side.

Instead, there was a man.

What?