Chapter Seven: The Weight of an Alpha
I stood by the window, staring out into the night, my hands clenched into fists.
The moonlight reflected off the trees beyond the packhouse, making a silver shadow across the forest. It should have been calming.
But it wasn't.
Not tonight.
Not after him.
Dorian.
That bastard had walked into my home, stood in front of my mate, and acted like he had every right to look at her.
His eyes had lingered far too long.
His smirk had held something I couldn't quite name—something dangerous.
I should have ripped him apart.
I Should have ended his life right at the moment he walked in.
The only reason I hadn't was because Keal had spoken first. My twin had always been the calmer one, the logical one.
But I wasn't.
I wasn't keal, I wasn't calm or nice, I liked being in control.
I led with my instincts. With my wolf. And right now, my wolf was restless, filled with an unfamiliar emotion.
Anxiety.
I hated the feeling.
Behind me, Keal exhaled slowly. "We have to protect her."
I turned, narrowing my eyes. "You think I don't know that?"
Keal sat in one of the leather chairs near the fireplace, his hands resting on his knees. His expression was unreadable, but I knew him well enough to see the tension in his shoulders.
"If anything happens to her," he said, "we get weak. We lose control. And Dorian wins. No matter what we do we must make sure Dorian doesn't get his hands on her."
Most times I hated that keal was right.
I ran a hand through my hair, exhaling sharply. "She's stubborn. She hates us. She always want to leave and how can we save her if she keeps behaving this way"
Keal tilted his head slightly, studying me. "Then maybe you should stop giving her reasons to hate us."
I stiffened. "What the hell is that supposed to mean? Are you trying to say I'm giving her a reason to hate us"
"It means," Keal said evenly, "that we can't force her into this. You've been treating her like a prisoner since the moment she arrived. You think that's going to make her accept us? No Killian, she hates us enough that she even wants us to reject her."
I scoffed. "And what do you suggest? Flowers? Love letters? Text note? Go on my knees and beg?"
Keal didn't flinch. "No. But you could start by treating her with some kindness. Making her see we are not the bad person, we need her to trust us."
I let out a frustrated growl and turned back toward the window.
Kindness.
I didn't know how to be that way. I had spent my entire life leading with strength, dominance, and control.
I don't do soft things.
But Keal wasn't wrong.
If I kept treating Nora like a Slaves, she would always see us as the enemies.
My wolf snarled inside me. The thought of being gentle with her—of letting her in—felt like weakness.
But letting her keep pushing us away…
That felt worse.
I clenched my jaw and stormed out before Keal could say anything else.
---
I didn't know where I was going at first.
But my feet carried me down the hall, past the guards stationed outside her door, and into her room.
The moment I stepped inside, I stopped.
Nora was asleep.
The moonlight shone soft shadows across her face, making her look… peaceful while she sleeps.
It was the first time I had seen her without fire in her eyes, without anger in every line of her body, and at that moment I asked myself if I had been wrong all alone.
She was always fighting, always resisting.
But here, like this, she was just Nora.
I exhaled slowly.
She didn't want this bond. She fought against it at every turn. And I didn't know how to make her stop.
I didn't want to force her.
I wanted her to choose us.
The thought tightened something in my chest.
I stepped closer and hesitated before reaching for the blanket at the foot of the bed. Carefully, I pulled it up over her, tucking it around her small frame.
I should have left after that.
I should have just forget to ever coming in here
I planned to leave.
But my feet wouldn't move.
It was like the bond was pulling me closer.
Instead, I stood there, watching the slow rise and fall of her chest, listening to her steady breathing.
The words left my mouth before I could stop them.
"I'm sorry."
She didn't hear me.
She was deep in sleep, completely unaware of my presence.
But that made it easier.
Easier to say the things I couldn't say when she was awake.
"I don't know how to do this," I admitted quietly. My voice barely rose above a whisper. "I don't know how to make you stay. I don't know how to tell you I love you "
She shifted slightly, a small sigh escaping her lips.
I ran a hand through my hair.
"I don't want to lose you," I murmured.
The confession felt foreign on my tongue, but it was the truth.
If I lost her, I lost everything.
And the thought of that—of Dorian taking her from us—made something inside me snap.
I clenched my fists, forcing the anger down.
Right now, all that mattered was keeping her safe.
My body moved before I could think.
Carefully, I lowered myself onto the bed beside her.
I didn't touch her.
I didn't pull her close.
I just laid there, listening to the sound of her breathing, feeling the warmth of her body next to mine.
She would hate me for this in the morning.
But for now—for just a little while—I allowed myself this moment. To feel her breath close to my face.
And slowly, for the first time in a long time I could remember, I let myself sleep.