Chapter 44 CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
ALEX
I wake to the feeling of her breathing against my chest, steady and peaceful. My mate. My blood-wolf. The one who saved me from a fate every Alpha before me couldn't escape.
Through our bond, I feel her contentment. Her satisfaction. But underneath, there's still fear. Still doubt that this can last.
I tighten my arms around her, breathing in her scent. Vanilla and jasmine and something uniquely hers. Mine now. Completely mine.
The mate mark on my shoulder pulses with warmth. I can still feel the echo of her power flowing through me during our bonding. Healing the fractures the bond's intensity was creating. Knitting my mind back together instead of letting it shatter.
She saved me. Not just from the madness, but from myself.
"You're thinking too loud," she mumbles against my chest. "I can feel it through the bond."
I smile, pressing a kiss to her hair. "Get used to it. You're stuck with my thoughts now."
"Mmm." She stretches like a cat, and I feel every movement through our connection. "What time is it?"
"Early. Dawn's still an hour away." I run my hand down her spine, enjoying how she shivers. "We should probably sleep more. We have a long day ahead."
"The elders," she says quietly.
"Among other things." I pull her closer. "But that's a problem for later. Right now, I just want to hold you."
Through the bond, I feel her relax against me. Her trust warming something in my chest I didn't know was cold.
"Alex?" Her voice is soft in the darkness.
"Yeah?"
"Why did you become Alpha so young?"
The question makes me go still. It's not something I talk about. Not something anyone asks anymore.
"You don't have to tell me," she says quickly, sensing my tension through the bond. "I just... I want to know you. Really know you."
I'm quiet for a long moment, debating. But she's my mate now. She deserves the truth.
"I was twenty," I say finally. "My father was still Alpha. Strong, respected, everything an Alpha should be." I stare at the ceiling, the memories sharp despite the years. "Then the Northern Pack came."
She goes very still in my arms.
"They wanted our territory. The silver mines on the eastern border. My father refused to negotiate." I feel my jaw clench. "So they killed him. And my mother. And my younger sister."
Through the bond, I feel her horror. Her grief for losses she never knew about.
"I was at university," I continue, the words coming easier now that I've started. "Two hundred miles away. By the time I got back, they were already dead. The pack was in chaos. The Northern Alpha was demanding surrender."
"What did you do?"
"I challenged him." My voice goes flat, remembering. "Right there, in front of both packs. He laughed. Said I was just a boy playing at being Alpha."
"But you won."
"I killed him." The memory still tastes like blood. "Tore his throat out with my bare hands. Then I killed his Beta. And his second. And anyone else who thought they could take our territory." I feel my hands clench into fists. "By the time I was done, fifteen of them were dead. The rest ran."
"That's why they call you the Beast."
"That's why." I force myself to relax, to let go of the old rage. "I became Alpha that day. Covered in blood. Twenty years old and suddenly responsible for hundreds of lives."
She's quiet for a moment, processing. Then her hand finds mine, threading our fingers together.
"I'm sorry," she whispers. "For your family. For everything you lost."
"It was eight years ago." But my voice is rough. "The pack needed me to be strong. Ruthless. So that's what I became."
"Is that why you're so..." She trails off, searching for words.
"Violent? Possessive? Unable to trust anyone?" I supply. "Yeah. Probably."
Through the bond, I feel her understanding. Her compassion. It makes something in my chest ache.
"The Northern Pack that's camped at our borders now," she says slowly. "Is it the same one?"
"Different Alpha. Same pack." My jaw tightens. "The one I killed had a younger brother. He took over after. Smart enough not to attack us directly again, but he's been watching. Waiting for an opening."
"And now he thinks I'm that opening."
"He's wrong." I roll over, pinning her beneath me. "Because I'm not that scared twenty-year-old anymore. And this time, I have something worth fighting for." I kiss her fiercely. "You."
She kisses me back, and through the bond, I feel her love. Her acceptance of everything I am, even the dark parts.
"Thank you," she whispers when we break apart. "For telling me."
"You're my mate. You deserve to know why I am the way I am." I brush a strand of hair from her face. "Why I'm so protective. Why I react so violently to threats."
"It makes sense now." She traces the scar on my eyebrow. "You've been protecting your pack alone for so long."
"Not anymore." I catch her hand, pressing a kiss to her palm. "Now I have you."
The words are simple, but through the bond, she feels what they mean. That she's not just my mate. She's my partner. My equal. The one person I trust completely.
"Get some sleep," I murmur, settling her back against my chest. "We have to face the elders in the morning. Prove to them that the bond didn't break me."
"It didn't," she says with certainty. "If anything, it made you stronger."
I smile in the darkness. "We made each other stronger."
As she drifts off to sleep, I stay awake, my mind turning. The Northern Pack is out there. Waiting. Planning. And eventually, they'll make their move.
But unlike eight years ago, I'm not alone anymore.
I have my mate. My blood-wolf. The one who healed me instead of breaking me.
And together, we're going to rewrite every rule about what blood-wolves and Alphas can be.
The Northern Pack wants a war?
They'll get one.
But this time, they're facing a Beast who has something to lose.
And that makes me infinitely more dangerous.