Chapter 44 Tessa’s Mate
The moment my feet touched solid ground again, the low hum of the jet fading behind us, I knew we were no longer in neutral territory.
Four black SUVs waited on the tarmac like sentinels, engines idling, windows tinted so dark they reflected the sky instead of revealing anything inside. Two of them bore a symbol I recognized instantly, etched subtly into the metal near the headlights like a warning meant only for those who knew how to look.
The Blood Guard.
My stomach tightened.
They weren’t just protection. They were enforcers. Executioners when it came to it. Wolves who answered directly to the Alpha King and no one else. Seeing their crest here meant whatever fragile illusion of privacy Darius and I had been living in was officially over.
We had landed.
And reality had found us again.
Darius stepped down first, his presence shifting immediately, no longer just the man who had held me close in the quiet of the jet, but the Alpha King in full. His shoulders squared, his spine straightened, and the air around him thickened with authority. I felt it press against my skin like a change in gravity.
I followed more slowly.
Two men stepped forward from the nearest SUV. I recognized them both before Darius even acknowledged them.
Thane was impossible to forget, how can I forget the man who darted me? He carried himself like a blade, sharp, controlled, deadly without effort. He was dressed in dark tactical gear, his expression unreadable as his eyes flicked over me briefly before returning to Darius. The other man stood just behind him, broader, heavier, with a big beard. My chest tightened.
He had walked with Darius and Thane the day I woke in a glass cell, drugged and restrained, watched like a specimen by the Council of Elders. The day Darius had stormed in and torn the world apart to get to me.
They both dipped their heads in greeting.
“Alpha,” Thane said simply.
The other man grinned, not friendly, not cruel, but amused in a way that made my skin itch. “Looks like you’re finally done with your impetuous honeymoon .”
Darius’s jaw tightened almost imperceptibly.
The man continued, clearly enjoying himself. “Mating all day must be exhausting. As your beta, I’d like to formally file a complaint on behalf of the pack. Council meetings, patrol schedules, someone’s been stuck dealing with all of it while you were… otherwise occupied.”
I froze.
Heat rushed up my neck before I could stop it.
Darius turned slowly, his eyes narrowing just enough to be dangerous. “Careful, Vincent.”
Vincent his beta, apparently, held up his hands in mock surrender, though the grin never left his face. “Relax. No offense meant. Just glad to have you back where you belong.”
There was no real bite in Darius’s response, but the warning was there all the same, wrapped in authority instead of anger. “You’ll be gladder if you remember your place.”
Vincent laughed under his breath and stepped back.
Only then did he turn toward Faruk and Amina, greeting them properly. Faruk clasped his arm in a familiar way, speaking quietly for a moment before stepping aside. Amina embraced Darius briefly, then turned to me with a soft smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes, sharp, observant, political.
She had that look.
The look of someone who saw everything and stored it away for later.
Then Vincent’s attention shifted to me.
“Well,” he said, stepping closer, head tilting as he studied me openly. “An official welcome to you Luna .”
I stiffened.
Darius’s hand came to rest at the small of my back, not possessive, not controlling, but grounding. A reminder that I wasn’t standing alone.
Vincent chuckled. “I’ve been dying to meet the woman who nearly took out one of our own with a vase.”
My breath caught.
The memory hit me all at once, panic, adrenaline, the sound of ceramic shattering, Tessa’s startled cry as she crumpled to the floor. I hadn’t meant to hurt her. I’d just been desperate to escape.
“Oh,” I said weakly. “That…I…is she okay?”
He nodded. “Tessa’s mate. She’s fine, by the way. Headache for a week, bruised pride for longer.”
Guilt twisted in my chest.
“I’m sorry,” I said quickly, the words tumbling out awkwardly. “I didn’t know who she was. I panicked. I never meant to—”
Vincent waved a hand dismissively. “You should see what some of the pack do during sparring matches. She’ll survive.”
Still, the weight didn’t lift completely. I made a mental note to apologize to Tessa properly when I saw her again, if she even wanted to see me.
Amina stepped forward then, saving me from further embarrassment. “It was good meeting you, Lyra,” she said warmly. “Take care of yourself.”
Faruk leaned in next, lowering his voice conspiratorially. “We’ll see each other again soon.”
Then he winked.
I blinked, unsure how to respond, and settled for an awkward nod.
As they moved toward their own vehicles, one of the Blood Guard opened the door of the nearest SUV for me. “Welcome home, Luna.”
My teeth clenched.
The word scraped against every nerve in my body.
I almost corrected him. Almost snapped that I wasn’t his Luna, that I hadn’t agreed to any of this, that titles didn’t erase trauma or bloodshed or the ache of unfinished grief.
Instead, I swallowed it.
Darius’s hand tightened slightly at my back, not forcing me forward, just guiding. A silent question.
I let him lead me into the SUV.
He held the door and after dismissing the guard that had opened it for me, another gesture that made Vincent snort quietly somewhere behind us. I rolled my eyes as I climbed in, deliberately dramatic.
“Don’t get used to it,” I muttered.
His lips twitched. “Noted.”
He slid into the driver’s seat while Thane and Vincent pulled ahead in the lead SUV, the Blood Guard vehicle taking position behind us. An escort.
Of course.
As the engines roared to life and we began moving, the city skyline rose in the distance, familiar and foreign all at once. My city. The place I’d run from. The place where everything had started unraveling.
I leaned my head against the window, watching the world blur past.
We were heading back to the estate.
Back to the place where he’d carried me in over his shoulder like a prisoner. Back to marble floors and locked doors and the room that smelled like him no matter how hard I tried to scrub it away.
My thoughts drifted to Tessa again, her startled eyes, the way she’d called me Luna without hesitation. I owed her more than an apology. I owed her honesty. Or at least… acknowledgment.
And then there was Fred.
The thought of him sent a sharp ache through my chest. I didn’t know where he was. I didn’t know if he was safe. I didn’t even know if he hated me for disappearing without explanation.
I couldn’t stay silent forever.
I would find him.
No matter what Darius thought.
As the gates to the estate came into view, iron and imposing, I made myself a promise.