Chapter 62 - His Backup Plan

~~~ Allaya ~~~

I cannot believe it’s over.

The ones that witnessed that devil’s confession will spread the word throughout the magical world, and every supernatural will be aware that mating outside the species is not a sin, but a wonderful union ordained by the deities.

Everyone left for their homes, only my mate and I remained behind.

“Let’s renovate!” I find myself saying after taking a look at the terrifying decorated room.

I want to put everything behind. I want to rebuild not only the relationship between the Council and the magical beings, but also the foundation, the castle.

Everything.

It might be symbolic, but I want to make this place a friendly one.

Hayden quirks a brow at me as if I grew another head all of a sudden. “This is what your mind is wrapped on now?”

I chuckle. “Look around! It’s hideous! Does this look like a Council created for peace?”

His eyes study the room with interest. “You do have a point, my lovely mate!”

“I know, right?” I wink playfully. “In my mother’s memories, this was a beautiful place while she grew up! I can recreate it!”

“Whatever makes you happy, my love!”

Out of nowhere, his demeanor changes, the new one screams man in pursuit. His eyes are shining with desire, the sexual kind, as he takes small steps in my direction, like a predator ready to launch on its prey.

“You know what will make me happy?” His husky voice inflamed the fire in my core, I clench my legs together to undermine the pressure building up on my sensitive parts.

“What?” I act all innocent.

His hands are reaching for my ass, grabbing it before lifting my body like I weighed nothing. Against my will, my legs wrap around him.

“Getting you out of those clothes might make us both really happy!” He smirks.

“Hayden!!!” I put on my serious mask.

‘I like our mate, he always wants to devour us.’ Pandora murmurs.

‘To tell you a little secret, I sort of like him too.’ I joke.

‘That’s one way to put the deep love and lust and the urge to throw yourself at him each time you see him or even think about him.’

‘Sssshhhhh. Don’t tell him that!’

‘Playing hard to get?’ Her last comment made me smile while I tried to keep my face void of emotions.

I snap out of it. “Really? Can’t you just focus for a moment? We have things to discuss. Like the Alpha Ceremony.”

He puts me down, sighing. I know I hit a spot, and it was necessary, but my body cannot help but feel disappointed.

“The only ceremony I want to talk about is the Marking Ceremony. As for the role of the King, I have already decided that Landon should be the one bearing the crown. Or you, as you are the first born and it’s your birthright.”

It never really crossed my mind that it should be me, because it shouldn’t. And I have enough on my plate.

I shake my head. “I already have to rule the Council. And I’m a hybrid. The werewolves need an Alpha King.”

A hint of hurt crosses his handsome features before speaking his mind. “Then Landon should be that king.”

~~~ Hayden ~~~

I’ve been preparing my entire life for the role of the Alpha King, I cannot avoid feeling like I am being stripped of part of my identity.

I didn’t ask for that role, it was the path that was laid before my eyes ever since I learned how to walk and talk.

The responsibility had been imprinted on my mind from the start, so I’ve trained twice as hard as everyone else, the training camp was my playground and my home.

My mind was coached in strategy, I’ve read every tactical book from Sun Tzu to Machiavelli and everything else I’ve encountered about the art of war. It wasn’t because I coveted war, but the opposite. It was because I had to learn everything to be able to keep peace in the future.

And now… I can’t help feeling that I missed out on other things while trying to become something that apparently is not for me.

‘You made the right decision.’ Maddox declares and we finally agree on something.

‘I know, but it’s still sad. I hate to feel like this, it’s pathetic!’

Allaya senses my distress; you cannot lie or pretend in front of your mate, the bond will give you away.

“You’ll always be my king. I love you, Hayden! Always and forever.”

And those were the exact words I needed to hear to realize what was important. Not a title, not a role, but the love of my mate, my better half.

~~~ Alita ~~~

Landon Morgan. The future Alpha King. My destined one.

I am older than him, though witches don’t age like regular humans, so I would be lying if I said that this is the reason why I’m being reluctant to accept him as a mate.

It’s not. I am unworthy of the pair of almond shaped eyes that stare right into my heart and soul, of the warmth that his body emits in waves, or of the emotions I feel through the mating bond.

He is not planning to reject me. He looks happy that he found me.

Why?

I did terrible things in the last couple of decades, so why would a great man such as Landon be happy to have been mated with the likes of me?

There is so much innocent blood on my hands, no matter how much water and soap I used to wash it away, I couldn’t. It stuck with me, clouding my mind and tainting my soul.

I hated myself. I still do. And it’s a feeling I don’t wish upon anyone. What is more important is that I don’t have the heart to pass it on to my mate.

Broken is what I am. A mate should not be forced to cope with my fragmented pieces.

“Your mind is racing with too many dire thoughts. The eyes are the mirror of the soul, I can see the burdens you carry. And I can feel everything through the mating bond. Snap out of your doubts, I am not judging you.”

He is amazing, his heart seems to be in the right place, but he is wrong. It’s fair to judge me, I am a sinner, I deserve worse than that.

I close my eyes, feeling the tears wetting my cheeks. “You don’t know what I did.”

“And I don’t even care about the past. What I’m seeing when I look at you is a beautiful woman that sacrificed her soul in order to keep my sister safe, to keep the peace in the supernatural world. You are more than I expected from a mate. Much more!”

“Landon, I…” My mind refuses to cooperate in forming words, I’m rendered speechless.

How was it that with all my sins I get to be so lucky to be paired with such a wonderful man?

His thumb finger trails my mouth, as if begging me not to say anything else. Then he leans over and presses his lips on my forehead, lingering there for a few good seconds.

“Don’t talk, don’t think! Just feel!” He wraps his arms around me, and our heartbeats sync.

Am I really allowed to have him, to love him as my destined mate? I’m afraid that if I am greedy enough to want him, he’d disappear into thin air.

I should reject him. He should have a mate worthy of his greatness. Not me, but a mate that is innocent, pure and kind hearted.

“You are doing it again, Alita! Let those horrible thoughts go! They have no place between us!”

I melt in his arms. I don’t deserve to feel so safe after everything that I did.

My past will forever haunt me, but I’ll think about accepting him if I complete my life mission, to keep Allaya and her wolf, Pandora, safe.

The hybrid is in danger. There is one thing Morrigan prepared for killing her, in case he failed to submit her to him.

His backup plan.

He was a sick twisted being that never trusted anyone fully. I only found out about it by following him a few times, praying that he would not discover me. If he would have sensed me, everything I went through, every suffering, every sin, all would have been in vain.

I bet that is where Elena went. To retrieve the poison that would kill Landon’s sister instantly.