Chapter 43 CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
ALORA
The next day crawls by in a haze of heat and desperation. Sarah brings meals I can't eat. The suppressants do nothing. And through the connecting door, I hear Alex pacing, his wolf as restless as mine.
By the time sunset approaches, I've made my decision.
Not because I want to risk him. But because I'm out of options.
The heat is consuming me from the inside out. My body is shutting down, just like Sarah warned. If we don't complete the bond tonight, I won't survive to see morning.
At least this way, we have a chance.
I take a cold shower, trying to clear my head. My hands shake as I dry off and pull on the silk robe Alex left for me, deep crimson, like my wolf's fur. Like he knew what tonight would bring.
When I emerge from the bathroom, he's standing by the window. He's changed too, wearing dark pants and a loose white shirt. His hair is damp, like he also tried to wash away the tension.
"You decided." It's not a question.
"I don't really have a choice anymore." I move closer, my legs unsteady. "The heat is killing me, Alex. I can feel it."
His jaw clenches. "I know. I can sense it through the bond."
"So we do this." I stop a few feet away. "We complete the bond and pray we're different than everyone else."
"We will be." He finally turns to face me, and the intensity in his silver eyes steals my breath. "Because I refuse to let history repeat itself."
"You can't control—"
"Watch me." He closes the distance between us, his hands framing my face. "I love you, Alora. That's stronger than any curse. Stronger than any madness."
The confession makes my chest tight. "You can't love me. You barely know me—"
"I know everything that matters." His thumb brushes my lower lip. "I know you're brave enough to hide what you are to protect others. Strong enough to endure this heat rather than risk me. Compassionate enough to heal wounded warriors even when it might expose you." His forehead rests against mine. "I know you're mine. That's all I need to know."
Tears stream down my face. "What if the bond breaks you? What if you become—"
"Then you heal me." His lips brush mine, feather-light. "That's what blood-wolves do, isn't it? Heal their mates?"
"Not from madness—"
"We'll figure it out." He kisses me properly this time, slow and deep and claiming. "Together."
The kiss ignites something inside me. Not just heat, but something deeper. The bond recognizes its mate, surging forward with a force that steals my breath.
I kiss him back desperately, my hands fisting in his shirt. He makes a rough sound, lifting me easily. My legs wrap around his waist as he carries me to the bed.
"Tell me you want this," he says against my lips. "Tell me you choose this."
"I want this." The words are truth and surrender. "I choose you."
"Thank the Goddess." He lays me on the bed, following me down. "Because I'm done holding back."
His kiss turns fierce, demanding. I arch against him, the heat finally having an outlet. His hands slide under my robe, pushing the silk aside.
"So beautiful," he murmurs against my throat. "My perfect blood-wolf."
The possessiveness in his voice makes my wolf purr. She's been waiting for this, aching for his claim.
His lips trail down my neck to my shoulder. Right where the mate mark will go.
"This will hurt," he warns, his fangs lengthening. "But then—"
"I know." I tilt my head, exposing my throat in complete submission. "Do it."
He doesn't hesitate. His fangs sink into my shoulder, and white-hot pain explodes through me. I cry out, my nails digging into his back.
But then something else floods through the pain. Power. Pure, overwhelming power that makes my skin glow crimson.
The healing ability I've always suppressed suddenly roars to life, responding to his bite. To the bond forming between us.
Alex gasps against my shoulder, his body going rigid. "What—"
I feel it too. My power flowing into him through the mate mark. Wrapping around his wolf, his mind, his very essence.
Healing him.
Not from wounds. From something deeper.
The texts said Alphas go mad from the intensity of the blood-wolf bond. That the connection becomes too strong, too consuming, driving them to violence and paranoia.
But as my healing power flows into him, I understand what really happened.
The Alphas weren't going mad from the bond's strength. They were going mad because the bond was breaking them, tearing at their minds, and wolves because their bodies couldn't handle that much power.
And their blood-wolf mates didn't know they could heal it.
"Alora." Alex pulls back, staring at me with wide eyes. "What are you doing to me?"
"Healing you." I place my palm over his racing heart. "The bond, it's too strong for most Alphas. It tears them apart from the inside. But I can fix it."
"How do you know—"
"I can feel it." And I can. Through the new bond, I sense every crack in his mind where the intensity was starting to fracture him. Every place where his wolf was being overwhelmed by the mate connection. "Let me help. Please."
He stares at me for a long moment, then nods. "Do it."
I close my eyes, focusing on the power humming beneath my skin. It's stronger than it's ever been, amplified by the completed bond.
I let it flow through my palm into his chest. Into his wolf. Into every fractured piece of his mind.
Knitting them back together. Strengthening the places where the bond would normally tear. Building bridges instead of cracks.
Alex gasps, his body shuddering. "Goddess, I can feel everything."
"Is it too much?" I open my eyes, worried. "Should I stop—"
"Don't stop." His hand covers mine, pressing it harder against his chest. "It's intense but not painful. It's like... like you're making room inside me for the bond instead of letting it tear me apart."
Relief floods through me. "That's exactly what I'm doing."
"Can you feel what I'm feeling?" His other hand tilts my face up. "Through the bond?"
I focus on the connection between us and gasp. His emotions hit me like a wave—love, possessiveness, fierce protectiveness. But underneath, something else.
Fear. Not of me. Fear that this won't work. That he'll still lose himself despite everything.
"I feel it," I whisper. "All of it."
"Then feel this too." He kisses me again, and through the bond, I sense his absolute certainty. His unwavering belief that we'll survive this. "We're going to be okay."
I want to believe him. As my healing power continues to flow, strengthening our bond instead of letting it destroy him, I start to think maybe he's right.
Maybe we can be different.
Another wave of heat crashes through me, stronger than before. Alex groans, feeling it through our connection.
"The heat," he says roughly. "It's still—"
"I know." My hands slide under his shirt, needing skin contact. "We need to finish this."
His eyes flash silver. "Are you sure?"
"I'm sure." I pull his shirt over his head, drinking in the sight of him. "I want you. All of you."
"Thank the Goddess." He strips off my robe with shaking hands. "Because I'm done being noble."
What follows is fire and need and completion. Every touch sends healing power flowing between us, strengthening the bond instead of breaking it. Every kiss brings us closer, minds and bodies and souls intertwining.
When he finally claims me completely, the bond snaps fully into place. Power explodes through both of us—his Alpha dominance meeting my blood-wolf healing in a perfect balance.
I cry out, my body glowing so bright the room fills with crimson light. Alex throws his head back and roars, his eyes blazing silver.
Through our connection, I feel everything. His wolf recognizes mine. His mind expands to accommodate the bond without shattering. His heart beating in perfect sync with mine.
We're one. Truly, completely one.
And he's not going mad.
The healing power continues to flow as we move together, each touch repairing any damage the bond's intensity might cause. Building him stronger instead of tearing him apart.
"I love you," he gasps against my throat. "My blood-wolf. My mate. My everything."
"I love you too." The confession tears out of me as another wave of power crests. "Always."
When we finally collapse together, both of us are glowing, he with silver light, me with crimson. The mate mark on my shoulder pulses with warmth, and through the bond, I feel his contentment. His peace.
No madness. No violence. No loss of control.
Just us. Together. Whole.
"That was..." Alex props himself up on one elbow, staring at me in wonder. "I've never felt anything like that."
"The healing." I trace the mate mark I left on his shoulder—my fangs had lengthened during our joining, claiming him as thoroughly as he'd claimed me. "I could feel where the bond would normally damage you. So I fixed it."
"You saved me." His voice is rough with emotion. "The texts were wrong. Blood-wolves don't cause madness. They prevent it."
"If they know how." I curl into his chest. "The other blood-wolves probably didn't realize they could heal that kind of damage. They just felt their mates breaking and couldn't stop it."
"But you figured it out." He kisses my forehead. "My brilliant, perfect mate."
I smile against his skin. "We should probably tell Marcus. And the elders. Prove that we're not going to end in tragedy."
"Later." His arms tighten around me. "Right now, I just want to hold you."
Through our bond, I feel his overwhelming love. His fierce protectiveness. His absolute certainty that nothing will ever separate us.
And underneath it all, his gratitude. That I saved him. That we found a way through the curse that destroyed so many others.
"What about the Northern Pack?" I ask quietly. "They're still out there."
"Let them come." His voice carries no fear. "Now that we're bonded, now that I know you can keep the madness at bay..." A dark smile crosses his face. "They have no idea what they're up against."
I lift my head to meet his eyes. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, you just made me the most powerful Alpha in five territories." His hand cups my face. "A blood-wolf mate who can heal, who can strengthen our bond instead of breaking it? That's not a weakness, Alora. That's a weapon."
The words should scare me. But through our bond, I feel his intention. He's not talking about using me. He's talking about us being stronger together.
A partnership. An equal bond.
Not property and owner. Not slave and master.
Mates. True mates. In every sense of the word.
"So what do we do now?" I ask.
"Now?" He rolls us so I'm on top, straddling him. "Now we show everyone that blood-wolves aren't curses to be hunted. We show them what we really are."
"And what's that?"
His eyes glow silver, and through the bond, I feel his conviction. His pride. His absolute faith in us.
"The future."