The Lost Beta 17 - Shadows of the Bond

Alexander and Emily were engulfed in tension despite the exiting silence, but it wasn't hostility; but something far more profound and risky. The type that holds back from bursting into flames, boiling just beneath the exterior. As the moonlight consumed the secluded area of the pack house, Emily rested on the wall. She had her jaw clenched trying to steady herself as Alexander stepped closer to her. The war waging inside him was revealed by the ferocity in his eyes.

"Do you really believe I can go now? after all that's happened?" He inquired in a husky and deep voice. As he approached, Emily's breath stuck in her throat and it made her speechless. Both attracted to and terrified of the guy who had both broken and restored her, her fingers quivered against her sides.

She was imprisoned as his hands settled on either side of her head. But he looked into her eyes, requesting her consent. His lips seized hers with a hunger that broke down every barrier she had ever constructed when she even nodded. It was necessary, risky, consuming, and fire. Years of unresolved love, loss, and longing collided with their bodies. This was no gentle reunion. This was survival.

She couldn't hold herself back anymore, she kissed his lips passionately as he effortlessly hoisted her up, her legs naturally encircling his waist. After weeks, neither of them was concerned with prophecies, foes, or prior errors. It was just them. Just the fire.

As they fell down on the bed, tangled in sheets and limbs, their fears were overcome. Only the bond that defied death, memory, and fate. They breathed each other in like lifelines. At that moment, they weren’t just Alpha and Mate. They were home.

The morning light came in like a plaque and cast its tender light over the tangle of bodies on the bed. Emily woke up with a smile on her face and rested her head on Alexander’s chest delicately, as she listened to his heartbeat with her eyes gazing at the wall. She didn't want to leave his side but it's an illusion of peace. But reality pressed in too soon. The secret she’d discovered the night before clawed at her insides.

The whispering memory of a voice, her mother’s voice echoed through her head: "You are not just her daughter, Emily. You are her weapon."

She padded to the window after slipping out from under Alexander's arm and gazing out at the training fields where soldiers walked in perfect formation. Everything they’d fought for is about to be destroyed by a truth buried in her blood. She hadn’t told him about the sealed letter she’d found, one that revealed her connection not only to the Alpha Queen, but also to the man currently waging war on rogue packs.

She needed to tell Alexander. But how could she? How could she explain that she might be tied to the enemy?

She turned when he stirred, seeing the bewilderment on his face change to love as his eyes locked with hers. He said, "Something’s not right," as he lifted himself up. Emily halted, holding onto the window sill with his fingers.

"I found something," she said. "About my bloodline. And... it changes everything."

Alexander listened without interrupting as Emily recited the contents of the letter about how her mother had once been allied to a faction that rebelled against the original werewolf council. How The sole surviving heir to both power and retribution was Emily. He sat on the edge of the bed with his fists clenched as her voice shook as she told the narrative.

With grief rather than accusation, he said, "So you’re saying the war we’re fighting... you might be the reason it started?" His remarks caused her to flinch. Isn't that what was worried about? that she had been a piece in a struggle she didn't know of. 

"I’m uncertain about what to believe now," she confessed. "I simply understand that I wish to conclude it."

He stood and crossed the room to her. "Emily, look at me. I don’t care about your bloodline. I care about you. But if we’re going to survive this, I need every truth you’re carrying. No more secrets."

Emotion hard in her throat, she nodded. "There's still another thing. The rogue leader attacking the outer villages... I think he might be my uncle."

Alexander froze, the air between them still. After that, he muttered, "Then we’ve been fighting your family all along."

Whispers of betrayal and blood ties started spreading through the corridors later that day. Emily felt the gaze of others on her and noticed their voices quieting as she passed. The news about a prophecy and a great battle or even the return of a queen long lost traveled even faster than the speed of light. 

As she approached the council chamber she felt cold down her spine. She had a follower.

As she swiftly rounded the corner, she was seized and pushed into the wall. Her mouth was pinched by a hand. "Stay quiet unless you want your secrets screamed across the halls," the voice said. She looked up into the eyes she recognized.

Hazel. One of the Omega servants. One who’d disappeared during the Alpha’s first purge and was presumed dead. But she wasn’t dead. And she wasn’t alone.

"You were never meant to return," Hazel spat. "Your blood will undo everything."

Emily's heart was racing. Hazel pulled out a dagger, its silver shimmering threateningly. "Give him a message from me, I won't fail next time." 

She vanished immediately into the shadows leaving Emily stunned and frightened.

Alexander and his commanders prepared their counteroffensive against the invading renegade forces back in the council room. Emily sat next to him in silence, her thoughts a war zone all by themselves.

In front of them was a map with red thread and pins on it. "We need to cut off their supply line near the river," said Marcus. "They’re getting stronger by the day."

Emily looked at the map. "What if we didn’t just cut them off? What if we lured them?"

Heads turned. "Explain," Alexander said.

"We let them take the outer village," she said, heart pounding. "Make it seem like we’re retreating. But we’ll be waiting at the gorge in numbers. Hit them where they least expect it."

Silence. Then a nod from the Alpha. "Make it happen."

But in her heart, Emily knew this wasn’t just a battle. It would be the first move in a war that might break her completely.

The plan moved quickly. Warriors were deployed, villages evacuated in secret. Emily and Alexander stood in the shadows at the rock watching the sunset Below the hills overlooking the gorge.

They had a lot on their mind, still he brushed a lock of hair away from her cheek and touched her cheek, "Do you think we're doing the right thing?" He asked gently, leaning into her body as she anchored herself in the warmth of her hands.

"No. But I need to do this," she said. "I need to know I can lead."

The first fires sparked on the horizon, smoke curling into the sky. The rogues had arrived.

Emily felt her wolf stir beneath her skin, ready to unleash. She moved ahead, lifting her hand. With a shout that reverberated through the ravine, she commanded the assault. 

It was chaos. Claws, blood, and fury. Despite everything, she acted like a queen, shrewd, merciless, and divine.

When it was finished, bodies were all over the ground. But the gorge was theirs.

Emily was confronted by a dying rogue while they evaluated the fallen. His eyes mirrored her mother's eerie green hue.

His lips were bleeding as he laughed. "He knows you’re alive now. And he’s coming."

"Who?" she asked, heart thudding.

"Your brother. The real heir."

Her world tipped sideways. "I don’t have a brother."

"Oh, but you do," the rogue whispered before death took him.

Alexander found her moments later, pale and shaking. "What is it?"

"There’s another heir," she said, voice cracking. "And he’s coming for me."

Back at the pack house, the healers worked through the wounded. Emily paced the war room, mind racing. Every victory felt like a curse, every truth another wound.

Alexander entered, holding a bloody pendant. "This was found on the rogue commander. It matches the seal on your mother’s letter."

Emily took it, her hands trembling. The pieces were falling into place.

"If he’s real, if this brother exists... then everything we’ve built could crumble," she whispered.

"Or it could be what finally brings peace," Alexander said.

Emily shook her head. "He won’t want peace. He'll want the crown. And I doubt I can prevent him.

A blood-soaked messenger reached the gate as thunder shattered the sky. Gasping, he staggered forward and said, "He's here. Your brother. And he’s brought an army.”