ALEXANDER
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The air in the training grounds was cold enough to sting my lungs, but that was exactly what I needed.
Every strike that landed against the wooden post sent a sharp jolt through my arms–the kind that forced my mind to focus on something other than the
chaos waiting outside these walls.
I was supposed to be preparing for a fight to the death.
I needed the world to shut up for a moment.
I inhaled deeply and reset my stance–then froze.
A familiar scent drifted in from behind me.
Steady and strong.
I turned, half expecting my mind to be playing tricks on me.
Cole stood there.
Not bandaged and leaning on a damn wall like he had been earlier.
He was standing tall, shoulders squared… breathing easy.
For a second, I just stared at him.
He lifted the hem of his shirt without a word.
Where the stab wound should have been–where the medics said healing
would take at least a few more days–there was nothing. Just a faint scar
that looked like he had healed weeks ago.
I let out a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding.
“You’re healed.”
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Cole nodded slowly. “Completely.”
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I stepped closer, scanning the spot again even though I already knew what I
was seeing.
“How?”
Cole let his shirt fall back into place, and something like quiet wonder moved
across his features.
小
“It’s one of the perks of having a Luna who’s gifted,” he said, a small smile tugging at his mouth.
A slow smirk pulled at mine in
response
Of course… Faye. I remembered she had mentioned going to see Cole earlier.
Even when she didn’t understand her power, couldn’t control it, and couldn’t
even feel her wolf… she was doing great
Cole shook his head, almost laughing under his breath. “You told me she had
gifts, but I didn’t think I’d witness it firsthand like this. She… Alexander, she
healed me just by being near me.”
I felt a warmth in my chest I hadn’t expected–pride, relief, maybe more.
“Welcome back, brother,” I said simply.
Then I turned away and resumed training. The smirk lingered on my face
longer than it should have.
Cole didn’t leave immediately. I could feel his eyes on my back, heavy with
thoughts he wasn’t saying.
It was only when I drove my fist into the post again that he finally spoke.
“Are you really serious about this Ring of Fire thing?”
I didn’t turn around. “Yes.”
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Silence stretched, thick with the things he wanted to argue but knew better than to push.
“I don’t like it,” Cole said quietly. “Not the terms. Not the rules–or the lack of them. Marcus is-”
“Desperate, manipulative, and unhinged” I finished for him. “I know.”
“And that’s exactly why this fight plays into his strengths,” Cole said.
“I know that too.”
I would never expect Cole to like the idea. Even Faye… she had given me her support earlier, but I could see it in her eyes. If she could stop me from doing this, she would.
I swallowed hard, the truth settling heavy in my chest.
“I know,” I murmured.
She would stop me if I let her… but I couldn’t.
I landed another blow, harder this time–splinters cracking beneath my knuckles.
“I would rather die fighting,” I said, voice steady, “than watch Marcus take what’s mine while I’m still breathing.”
Cole exhaled slowly, like he’d been holding that breath since last night.
“I figured,” he said. “I don’t like it. But I understand.”
He didn’t say anything else. He didn’t need to.
He supported me even if it terrified him
ALEXANDER
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Chapte 295
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I sat in my office, waiting. I had gone over the documents three times this morning already–not because I doubted them, but because the reality of what I was doing demanded precision.
Every sentence had to be deliberate. Every clause had to be airtight. There
could be no loopholes Marcus or anyone else could twist, no gaps to exploit
if things didn’t go the way I wanted.
My lawyer sat across from me, flipping through pages with the same detached concentration he always carried. It was comforting, in a strange way–his calm. His sense of routine. Today, the world felt anything but
routine.
There was a knock on the office door.
“Come in,” I said without looking up.
Cole stepped in. The moment his eyes landed on the table–the documents, the lawyer, the pen in my hand–he slowed down.
The expression on his face tightened. I knew that look.
Confusion first, then a slow, simmering understanding.
“Alpha,” he said carefully.
I didn’t respond immediately. I finished signing the last page of the current document, slid it forward, and waited for my lawyer to stamp it. Only then did I gesture toward the empty space beside me.
“Cole, sit. I need a witness.”
Cole sat, stiff–backed, eyes flicking to the bold letters at the top of the page:
LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT ALEXANDER BLACKWELL
–
His breath caught. He tried to hide it, but he failed.
I pretended not to notice.
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The lawyer handed him a pen. “Sign here. And here.”
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Cole swallowed hard but did as instructed after reading through briefly. He didn’t speak. He looked like if he opened his mouth too soon, all the words would come out at once.
We continued–page after page. Disclaimers, transfers, conditions, stipulations. My properties outside the pack, my shares in the human world’s businesses, everything I had built outside Blood Crescent and Crescent Dynamics–all of it formally moved into a trust under Faye’s guardianship.
A trust that would eventually belong to our child.
Finally, the lawyer closed his folder.
“That should be all for today,” he said, standing. “If anything else comes up, I’ll return tomorrow.”
“Thank you,” I replied.
He nodded at me, then at Cole, and left the office with quiet steps.
The door clicked shut.
And Cole exhaled all at once.
“What was that?” he asked, voice low, almost hushed–as if the walls were
listening.
I leaned back in my chair, rubbing a hand over my jaw. “Just taking
precaution.”
“Feels like you’re planning to die,” he said.
I didn’t respond.
His eyes narrowed slightly. Something clicked in his head. He stared at the
copies of documents still in front of me
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Then he looked at me again.
“Wait!… Is Faye…?” he asked softly.
I couldn’t help the smirk that pulled at my mouth. “Yes.”
Cole’s jaw dropped. “She’s-? You’re-? You mean-?”
I laughed. “Yes, Cole.”
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The moment the confirmation left my mouth, he lit up like a child who had
been handed an entire festival. “I’m going to be an uncle! I–wait, wait–oh my
God–Faye’s pregnant? Alexander, that’s this is-”
He was smiling so hard his face barely knew what to do with itself.
But then something else hit him, and the smile vanished.
He stared down at the table, then back at me.
His voice broke slightly. “You can’t do this, Alexander.”
I met his eyes.
“You can’t leave her to raise your child alone,” he continued, firmer this time.”
You can’t go into this fight planning for death. I know the Ring of Fire is
tradition, and honor, and Alpha pride–but you’re going to be a father. You
have to protect yourself too.”
“Cole-”
“No.” He shook his head, breathing hard. “I’m not going to sit here and
pretend I’m okay with you preparing to die.”
“I’m not preparing to die.” My tone sharpened–not at him, but at the
implication. “I’m preparing so my child isn’t dragged into Marcus’s chaos if
something happens. That’s different.”
Cole’s mouth opened… then closed.
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Slowly, understanding washed over his expression.
“So you’re not ready to change your mind.”
“Listen, Cole, I refuse to bring my child into a world where Marcus has a
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foothold. I refuse to raise a family under the threat of him breathing down our
necks,” I said.
Cole stared at me for a long moment.
Then he nodded.
“In that case,” he said, “losing to that son of a b***h is not an option.”
My lips twitched.
Cole pointed a finger at me. “I’m dead serious. I am not–absolutely not-
going to sit down one day and explain to little Baby Cole that his great uncle
watched his stubborn father get killed by a bastard outsider.”
I blinked.
“…Baby Cole?”
He shrugged with absolutely no shame. “Someone has to take responsibility
for naming the child. And no offense, Alpha, but I don’t trust you in that
department.”
A short laugh escaped me despite myself.
Of all the things I expected today, that was not on the list.
“We don’t even know if it’s a boy or a girl yet,” I said.
“That’s not the point,” he said.
“And I’m not naming my child Cole.”
“We’ll see about that,” he replied confidently.
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I shook my head, but the warmth in my chest wouldn’t leave.
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