Mine, All Mine!!!

 Alpha Kade’s POV

I could still smell her.

Even here, all alone in my quarters, with stone walls closing in and the fire dying low, I could feel the heat of her skin, her blood, clinging to my lungs. It lingered under my skin. Quiet, dangerous, and very unsettling. 

I dragged a hand through my hair and cursed under my breath.

"What the hell have I done?  I should’ve left her in that forest. I should have let the wild beasts in the forest claim what was left of her. She was a runaway wolf. A ghost from a fallen pack. Nothing… Weak…Broken... why?"

Goddess help me… when I saw her crumpled in the dirt, barely breathing, I didn’t see weakness. I saw a firestorm waiting to wake.

Something in me… something primal… came alive  the moment I touched her. I knew it wasn’t mercy, I did not have a single merciful bone in my body… No, it wasn’t mercy. It was instinct. It was...possession.

And I’d been restless ever since.

I paced the room like I was hunted. Something wasn’t right. I hadn’t slept a wink since I found her. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw her.

She was defiant, bloodied, half-dead, and yet I could not give myself a reasonable excuse to leave her there. She was obviously mated to someone else, I saw the dead, half eaten dead child beside her.

It made something twist inside me. Something I hadn’t felt in years.

I wasn’t used to feeling. Not like this. I had control. Over my pack, my people, my mind… I was used to control. I was used to command.

And yet here I was again, walking out the door, down the torch-lit corridor that led to the dungeons. Straight to her.

The guards standing by her cell door straightened the instant they saw me. 

One of them…Alek, started to speak.

 “She’s been quiet, Alpha. No movement, I went in to...” My glare cut him off.

 “Don’t talk to her. Don’t look at her. Don’t even breathe too close.”

He nodded quickly, and I didn’t move until I saw the fear settle in his shoulders. Good.

Then I opened the door.

She didn’t even bother to look up at me this time. Didn’t even bother sitting up. She just curled herself on the thin mattress. Her skin looked pale against the blanket. Her bandages were still clean.

“You’re healing,” I said.

She blinked once and then slowly opened her eyes. “You sound disappointed.”

I almost smiled at her response.  Almost.

“The rogue’s poison is nearly gone,” I murmured, stepping closer.

She arched a brow. “Oh my, isn’t that exciting?” Sarcasm coated every word she said. She definitely was a handful. It was definitely going to be a problem.

I walked the small space slowly, circling her like my prey. Her gaze followed me, but her body stayed still. But I could still feel her tension in the air. Everything around her felt electric. Like she was charging up the air just by existing.

“I don’t know what you are,” I said quietly. “But you’re not just a random wolf.”

She raised her chin. “So what am I?”

I stopped in front of her. Close enough to smell her. Close enough to feel her pulse shift when my eyes met hers.

“Mine.”

The word slipped out before I could stop it. Her eyes widened, then narrowed at me. But I turned before she could speak.

I left before the urge to claim her became something I couldn’t control.

I’d let my wolf break through… I let him speak for me. That wasn’t supposed to happen.

I went straight to the meeting I was supposed to have in the war room.

My Beta, Riven, lounged in his chair with a smirk. He always looks like he had no care in the world, but he was the closest thing I had to a friend in my entire council and my life in general.

The other members of the council were older werewolves,  they were deadly warriors too, but I could feel their fear as they rose when I entered.

“Let’s make this quick,” I said. “Speak.”

Councilor Dorian cleared his throat. “Alpha, it’s been brought to our attention that you took in… a slave.”

The silence that followed after he spoke was heavy.

Riven whistled slowly. “News travels fast.”

“She was wounded,” another man added. “Near death even... The proper course would’ve been to discard her. Burn her body, as is custom.”

“She’s not a stray dog,” I snapped.

“She’s a burden,” Council Dorian countered. “…and potentially dangerous. What is her purpose in this pack? Is she your spoil? A trophy?”

This men really had me straining to control my already shattering mind. I still had no explanation for why she was here, why I did not leave her in the forest like I always did to runaways… I had no answer for myself, I definitely had none for them, but she was here and she was mine.

I leaned forward,looking each of them in the eye. “No one touches her. No one goes near her. She’s under my protection. Do you understand me?"

That shut them up for a heartbeat, then one fool dared to speak. “Forgive me, Alpha… but have you claimed her?”

The words hit like a sharp blade through the already quiet room. Everyone broke into whispers, some of them casted uneasy stares in my direction.

My hand twitched, begging to snap a neck.

“No,” I said evenly. But my wolf stirred, restless beneath my skin. He was revolting my decision. The fucker… 

Council Dorian’s frown deepened. “Because if you have…”

“I said no.”

I met every pair of eyes in the room until they dropped their gaze.

Then Riven chuckled. “If she’s not your mate, maybe I’ll take her for a spin. I heard she’s feisty and…”

Before the words were finished, I had him by the throat, and slammed him against the stone wall. His boots scraped the floor. The others froze in terror.

Riven only laughed in my face, coughing between deep breaths. “I was joking,” he rasped. “Damn, Kade. You’re really losing it over this girl.”

I dropped him. He hit the floor with a thud, rubbing his neck, still smiling like he’d won something. I realised with a growl that he had gotten me to react protectively in front of everyone, but I could care less, and neither did my wolf.

The meeting ended in silence after that. No one mentioned her again, but I could feel it. I could feel the shift, the unease, and the suspicion that her presence in my pack caused. 

That night, I dreamed of her again… naked, wounded, eyes like molten gold. She reached for me through the dirt, screaming my name, but chains pulled tight across my chest, dragging me back.. In the dream, My wolf howled, begging to break free, begging to reach for her, to touch her…

I woke up breathless, drenched in sweat.

And before I could stop myself, I muttered the one word that had been clawing at me since I saw her at the forest.

Mate.

Was she?

No. She couldn’t be. She had a child. She had to be mated. Besides, I hadn’t felt the bond snap into place. I hadn’t gone mad the way others did. But still, I couldn’t stay away from her.

Even now, my body moved before my mind caught up. I was already on my feet. Already reaching for the door. I just needed to see her. To know she was still there. Still breathing.

Still mine.