Chapter 63
Astor’s Pov
I was trembling, and it had nothing to do with the cold air seeping through the old windows of the packhouse office. I was shaking because of the crushing weight of shock.
Faith.
Six years. Six long, empty, agonizing years I had spent tearing her memory out of my mind, piece by bloody piece. It was impossible to fully cancel her out of my heart, but I had done everything I
could do to forget she ever existed.
Everything.
Only for her to show up, not just back in our territory but standing there, glowing like a luna
goddess, in the form of a magnificent, massive white wolf.
I didn’t even want to allow my brain to process the fact that she was truly my fated mate. None of
the magic or the fate could take away the sharp, searing ache that felt like a permanent hole
ripped right through my chest.
I felt like I was drowning. Drowning in the sudden rush of her scent, in the flooding memories of our past, in the bitter contrast between what could have easily been ours and the messy disaster
that my life actually was now.
I am the Alpha of this pack. The strongest person in this pack right now, tasked with protecting every single soul within these borders. Yet, I was paralyzed, slumped in my worn leather chair, having a silent panic attack because of one woman. A woman who had walked away and
destroyed me.
But the most frustrating part? My wolf was back.
I could feel him stronger and more alive than he had been since the day she left and utterly shattered his spirit. And funny enough, the only thing my damn beast wanted was to be close to her, to lick her wounds, despite the unforgivable damage she had inflicted on both of us.
I had spent the night right here, alone in my office, using the flimsy excuse of paperwork. The truth was, I couldn’t stand the thought of going home and leaving her here, unconscious in the dungeon. I guess they are right when they say love is foolish, because my heart, even now, was aching for the person who broke it.
A sound on the door pulled me from the dark spiral.
“I knew I would find you like this,” a smooth, annoyingly self–satisfied voice said.
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It was only a matter of time before Alice came running, eager to rub salt into my painful wounds or whatever twisted reason she had for being here.
“I guess kudos to you,” I mumbled, dropping the papers I was pretending to read onto the desk. I honestly didn’t know what else to say to dismiss her faster.
“Can you talk to me?” she asked, walking into the room and immediately making herself comfortable in the seat opposite me.
I pulled my chair back slightly, leaning away from her, and looked her dead in the eyes. I was exhausted, and my patience was thinner than a sheet of ice.
“Alice, I think I’ve made it more than clear that I don’t explain myself to you or anybody else,” I stated, my voice low and flat. “If you want to talk about your adopted sister coming back, then you can go take it up with her. I don’t have anything to tell you about that situation.”
I paused, letting the silence hang heavy.
“But if you want to talk about my feelings and my relationship with Faith, then unfortunately, I am not going to help you, because it is none of your business.”
That was likely the most I had talked about Faith since the day she left six years ago. Just saying her name out loud was like ripping a stitch out of an old, barely healed wound.
Alice raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow, her expression hardening. “So, you still want to be with
her?”
The audacity of her question, like I owed her some sort of explanation, made my jaw clench.
“Listen,” I said, rubbing the heel of my hand against my eyes. “I’m really tired. I had one hell of a
night, and I don’t want to get into whatever this is today. I need you to leave my office, now.”
She didn’t move. Instead, she leaned forward, her voice dropping to a dangerous, manipulative
whisper that she probably thought sounded caring.
“I don’t know what you’re planning to do, Astor, but if you bring that girl back into our lives, if you try to replace me, I’m sorry, but it will be the last time you see our daughter.” Her eyes were cold, calculated. “It will completely break Isabella’s heart to see you choose someone else, and I won’t
stand by and let that happen. For her sake, you need to send Faith away.”
Manipulative. b***h.
She could threaten me, she could belittle me, but she would never use my child as a weapon.
I stood up slowly, the scraping noise of my chair echoing in the sudden quiet room. I walked around the desk, stopping right in front of the door, and opened it wide. The message was clear:
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leave.
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Alice stood up to leave, gathering her false composure, but I wasn’t finished. There was something I needed to say, something I wanted to etch into her memory forever.
I slammed the door shut again, not enough to scare her, but enough to make her freeze. I turned, letting my Alpha aura flood the small space.
“I don’t know who you think you are, but you better take that back,” I snarled, looking deep into her eyes. My pupils were thinning to slits, my inner beast pressing against the surface. “You are never going to take my daughter from me. And I dare you to try it, Alice. I absolutely dare you.”
The pure power of my activated wolf, the dominance of my Alpha wolf hit her hard. Her perfect posture collapsed slightly, her head tilting just enough. She had no choice but to bow, a tiny, involuntary submission to my command, even though her ego hated it.
She glared at me one last time, an attitude seething beneath the surface, before she opened the
door and walked out.
As the scent of Alice’s footsteps faded. I collapsed back into my chair, suddenly breathless again.
My heart was pounding like a drum.
‘Mine‘ a deep, resonant voice echoed in my head.
‘No, not yours. Don’t start this‘ I silently snapped back at my wolf.
Rage, my wolf insisted, his presence flooding my mind with warmth and desperate joy. ‘She is
here. She is our mate. She is home.‘
The happiness radiating from my wolf was so strong it driving me crazy. I could feel his tail wagging, figuratively speaking. It was maddening.
‘She almost destroyed us. We spent six years broken because of her choice! Do you think I can just forget that because of the mate bond?‘
‘You have spent six years trying to bury the love you feel, Stop lying to yourself. We will not lose
her again.‘
I couldn’t dispute him. That was the worst part. Six years had done absolutely nothing to remove the love I felt for Faith from my heart. It was still there, a massive, vibrant anchor I couldn’t cut free.
And then the mate bond, which had snapped back to life the moment she crossed our borders, hit
me with a wave of emotion that wasn’t mine.
Pain. Confusion. Fear.
I could feel a lot of what she was feeling right now, lying up there in the dungeon, somewhere
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below this floor. She was hurting, and feeling her agony in my own chest made me feel physically
ill.
How was I supposed to navigate this? My mind was screaming for self–preservation, demanding that I keep her at arm’s length to avoid being broken again. My wolf was demanding that I run to her, claim her, and repair the damage we both carried.
And then there was Isabella, my daughter, stuck in the middle of something she doesn’t even
know.
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