Chapter 62: Claimed By The Alpha

Chapter 62: Claimed By The Alpha
I turned off the car engine. I rested my forehead on the steering wheel and closed my eyes tight. I remembered the people locked in the cells. They bowed as if honoring me.

One of them mentioned my father. Did they know him? What kind of man was he? My family, the Zedler, what were they like? Many questions filled my mind. Were those people my people?

I calmed myself before getting out of the car. I entered the mansion quietly. I was about to go up to my room when I stopped walking.

“If the situation gets worse, the Council may step in,” I heard Miss Farrah say.

She was talking with Aunt Neela on the balcony of the mansion.

“For now, they are watching Aslan and the town. They are waiting for this moment.”

“What do you mean?” Aunt Neela asked.

“They are waiting to prove that the remaining Crimson has no ability to rule the town. Aslan is the last heir of this town. No one will take the position if he is removed. Elwood is a hybrid town. It is one of the towns with the largest hybrid population. They have long been waiting for a change of ruler here.”

The surroundings fell silent. Even Aunt Neela could not speak.

“One more mistake and we will lose the town. Aslan is too young to face all the results of my family’s mistakes that piled up during his rule. Things are already hard and destructive, and the chaos is only starting. But even so, Aslan loves Cosette too much to let her go.”

“Can the town handle it? Can you handle it?”

As I stood by the balcony door, my tears suddenly fell.

“I am still hoping there is another way. I don’t want to think about what will happen in the future but I have never seen Aslan fight for something or someone like this before. There is only one thing I am sure of. He is the only family I have. His fights are my fights.”

That night, I stared at the town below from my room terrace. I was wearing a pale night dress, lightly moved by the wind. The night was cold and quiet.

It was already past midnight, but I still could not sleep. I heard a sound below. The front door of the mansion opening and closing. Aslan was home.

A few minutes later, I heard my bedroom door open. He always did this, kissing me goodnight. Sometimes I would half wake and feel him arrive.

“Why are you still awake?”

I felt him come closer. He stepped onto the terrace. I turned to him.

“I can’t sleep.”

He stood beside me. We both looked at the town below. I watched him from the corner of my eye. He was quiet. We were thinking about the same thing from different sides. Is it hard, Aslan? Are you tired?

“The guards told me you went into the quarters.”

I froze.

“Cosette, no matter what you heard or saw, and what you will hear or see in the coming days, I want you to know that I will never let you go. We have come this far. I can’t see myself without you beside me, or touching or kissing anyone other than you."

He looked at me.

“I want this. To see your face before I sleep, and to wake up beside you and see your smile. I want to see your face and know I made it home. We may be young, but I will wait for that day. I will work for that day, when I can finally see you in a white dress and tell the world freely that you are mine.”

Aslan…

“So please, hold on to me. We will make it.”

I held his face in my hands and looked at him. In that moment, I realized something. I am selfish. I am selfish for wanting him to choose me, for hearing those words while knowing the cost behind them.

“I love you.” I pressed my forehead to his and closed my eyes as tears blurred my sight. “I love you, Aslan.”

Then I kissed him. I held him and kissed him. The taste of his lips, his clean outdoor scent, the light roughness on his face, and the way he breathed deeply, his chest rising with mine. I took him in and forgot the world below. Under the silver moonlight, all that mattered was him and me.

He kissed me back with the same longing, warmth, and strength.

“Cosette,” he whispered. “The bond is nothing compared to what I feel for you. No one can break us.”

He held the back of my head as his kiss deepened. I felt breathless, dizzy, and weak from everything he made me feel. I moaned. Aslan cursed. My bare feet lifted from the floor as he carried me into my room.

“Aslan.”

“Sshh.”

I felt the soft bed behind me as he laid me down. His deep breathing, his warm skin, his thick hair between my fingers, his hand on my waist. He was above me, and all I could think of was him. I felt small beside him.

“God knows how long I waited to hear those words from you.”

I lifted myself when I felt his kiss on my jaw. I couldn’t look into his eyes. I was too busy feeling his lips on my skin. His lips moved to my neck, leaving hot marks on my sore skin.

“You are mine, Cosette Zedler. I will not let anyone take you from me.”

I looked at him. Aslan stared at me deeply. I nodded. No matter what happens, no matter what the future brings, I want Aslan to know that I am his, now and always.

One by one, our clothes left our skin. Aslan kissed every part of me slowly and gently, like he was admiring art. I placed my hand on his chest and felt his heartbeat, as loud as mine. His lips met mine until I felt sharp pain. I gasped and gripped his hair.

“Aslan…”

His name was all I could think of. My nails dug into his skin. He whispered words to ease the pain. My body moved with the bed, back and forth, in a slow rhythm.

“Sshh.”

A tear slipped from my eye. Aslan wiped it with his thumb.

“I love you, Cosette. All of you. Your joys, your fears, your doubts. I want you.”

The pain slowly faded and turned into a strong feeling. My breathing grew fast as Aslan moved faster too. It felt like we were both reaching for something. I closed my eyes from the strong feeling and clawed the sheets.

When we reached the peak, another pain came. A different sharp pain. Two sharp, burning fangs sank into my skin.

I screamed from the pain. I arched my body, scratched Aslan's skin, and gasped for air. The two feelings took over my body and pushed me to the edge. I cried his name as we both reached the end.

Aslan kissed my forehead. “I love you. You and me. We will get through this together.”