(Grace's POV)
Three days after the sacred spring ritual, the pack gardens offered little peace. My omega powers hadn't settled since that morning in the springs, when Alexis's touch had awakened something both familiar and dangerous. Even the healing herbs seemed to respond to my unsettled energy, their growth patterns erratic and wild.
"The Luna seems distracted lately." Victoria's voice carried across the garden, deliberately loud enough to reach me. "Perhaps the pregnancy is too much strain. After all, not everyone is suited for bearing an Alpha King's heir."
I kept my focus on the moonflowers, maintaining the cold dignity I'd cultivated since the council meeting. Victoria's attempts to provoke me had grown more obvious since the sacred grove ritual, as if she sensed her hold on Alexis weakening.
"You know," she continued, moving closer to where Alexis stood near the wolfsbane section, "I've always wondered why you chose such a... common mate. Especially after what we shared that night in the grove years ago."
My control snapped.
The garden exploded into supernatural bloom around us, my pregnancy-enhanced powers responding to the fury I'd kept carefully leashed. Roses burst from buds to full flower in seconds, herbs shot up inches before our eyes, and even the ancient moon flowers unfurled their night-blooming petals in broad daylight.
Victoria's smirk faltered as a rose vine grew rapidly up her leg, its thorns pressing warning against her perfectly pressed skirt. "How dare you-"
"No." Power rippled through my voice - not an Alpha command, but something older, wilder. "How dare you come into my territory, put my unborn pup at risk with your wolfsbane games, and try to manipulate my mate with your pathetic victim act."
She cut off abruptly as Alexis emerged from the shadows of the ancient oak tree where he'd apparently been standing long enough to witness her entire performance. His expression held none of its usual concern for her - instead, his silver eyes were cold as he studied her with new awareness.
"Alexis!" Victoria's voice shifted to that practiced tremor of distress. "She's unstable-"
But Alexis's expression had changed, his silver eyes tracking the waves of fertility magic spreading from where I stood. Ancient pack magic recognized true mates, and my powers - tied to life and growth - were making their own statement about legitimacy.
"Leave." His command held Alpha power, directed at Victoria for the first time I could remember. "Now."
For a moment, fury cracked through her perfect mask. Then she smoothed her features and turned to go, but not before throwing one last barb: "Just remember who was there when you really needed someone, Lex."
The words hit him like physical blows - I felt each impact through our bond. But instead of rushing to comfort her as he usually did, Alexis stayed where he was, his eyes fixed on me.
"It's time you knew the truth," he said quietly once we were alone. "About that night, about Victoria... about everything."
"Why now?" I kept my voice cold, though my heart raced at the raw honesty in his expression.
"Because I watched you walk away from the sacred springs three days ago, strong enough to leave me, and I realized I'd rather risk everything with the truth than lose you to silence."
The garden settled around us, supernatural growth slowing as my powers responded to the genuine pain in his voice. Through our bond, I felt him gathering courage to face memories he'd rather forget.
"My stepmother tried to kill me when I was twelve." His words fell like stones into still water. "She was systematically eliminating any threat to Marcus becoming Alpha King."
"She had it planned perfectly." Alexis's voice roughened with old fear. "She knew that if I died before presenting as Alpha, Marcus would be the only viable heir. She started slowly - silver jewelry that would 'accidentally' touch me, wolfsbane mixed into my bathwater. Small doses, building my body's vulnerability while making it look like natural weakness."
A healer's understanding clicked into place. "She was systematically weakening your wolf bond."
"Yes." His hands shook slightly as he reached for a nearby moonflower, its petals still glowing with my earlier power surge. "The night of the winter solstice, when pack magic runs strongest, she used a forbidden potion. Silver nitrate mixed with blessed moonwater - designed to permanently bind my wolf, leaving me essentially human. I would have lost any claim to Alpha inheritance."
The clinical precision of her plan chilled me more than raw violence would have. "What happened?"
"I managed to drag myself to the sacred grove, hoping the ancient magic might save me." His eyes grew distant. "I was convulsing, my wolf screaming as silver burned through our bond. That's where Victoria found me."
Understanding dawned like ice in my veins. The sacred grove - the same place where he'd performed the blood oath with Victoria, where their secret ritual had taken place just days ago.
"She got me to her father's private healer," Alexis continued. "If the pack had learned how vulnerable I was, Marcus would have been named heir immediately. Victoria kept the secret, protected me while I recovered. I've owed her everything since that night."
The pieces clicked together with sickening clarity - Victoria's perfectly timed appearances whenever Alexis showed signs of independence, her strategic displays of vulnerability that echoed his childhood trauma, the way she'd positioned herself as his savior.
"And now?" I forced my voice to remain steady. "Does the mighty Alpha King still need her protection?"
Alexis crossed the space between us, his movement deliberate but non-threatening. "No. I need my mate. My true mate, who's strong enough to face me as an equal, not someone who keeps me bound by old debts."
You're right. Let me continue from that point:
"Pretty words." I stepped back, though every omega instinct screamed to close the distance. "But you still performed the sacred healing ritual with her in our grove three nights ago."
Pain and shame warred across his features. "Victoria appeared in my office that evening, covered in bruises. She claimed Marcus had discovered her helping me years ago, that he was punishing her using our stepmother's methods. She..." He swallowed hard. "She showed me silver burns on her wrists, identical to the ones I once bore."
My mind flashed to that night - how I'd discovered them in the grove, the ancient magic swirling with their combined power. "The healing ritual can only be performed between mates."
"Yes." His voice roughened. "I forced Marcus to participate. Used Alpha command to make him channel power through their mate bond, thinking I was protecting Victoria from the same torture I endured."
A surge of fertility magic made the moonflowers pulse around us, responding to the turmoil in my powers. The garden had become an extension of my emotions - wild, unpredictable, dangerous in its beauty. Just like the new strength I'd found since watching my mate perform sacred rites in our grove.
My walls might be higher now, my heart better guarded, but seeing Alexis struggle with his demons still called to something deep within me. The healer in me recognized his trauma, even as the mate he'd betrayed fought against forgiveness.