“I told her not to go there and do that. I told her to leave the girl alone. It all seemed downright nonsensical to me. Can’t change the nature of a werewolf, any more than you can change the nature of a person. Killing her was only going to drag you monsters out to commit more destruction. Better to put you all down like the abominations you are.” He shook his head. “But Joe told us to raise her, to try to save her soul, and we did the best job we could considering the girl couldn’t keep her legs closed.”
Cyrus struck him across the face before he could think about it. No one insulted his mate, and even though Cyrus would never use the word slut to describe a woman’s sexuality, he knew that Betsy’s father had meant it as such.
Blood seeped out of the other man’s mouth, and he spit it on the floor. “Damn it. If you’re going to kill me, do it already.”
“I’m not going to. I’m going to let you suffer. Your wife is dead. She took her own life. Your compatriots are all dead too. Beaux had them all shot. I would have preferred to let them suffer in terror but I guess he’s kinder than me.” The house creaked as gust of wind hit it. “It’s going to be a long, cold winter. Maybe if you’re lucky, you’ll die from pneumonia. You humans are so weak, your bodies failing with every little ailment. And Betsy didn’t die. So your wife failed. You won’t have any satisfaction from her having succeeded in her mission.”
Cyrus turned on his heel and left the cabin. It didn’t surprise him to see Beaux leaning against a car, watching him when he walked out.
“Are you stalking me?”
“I’m feeling rather determined to keep you alive.” Beaux shrugged, but his usually benign scent surged for a second. The man was hiding something. Cyrus didn’t know if he had the energy to delve into exactly what that entailed.
“Anything from Lake?” He headed toward his car. If Beaux wanted to follow him around, he could chase him back to Betsy. Screw Lake’s concentration. His mate needed him, and if there was no one to kill, he wasn’t leaving her side until she opened her beautiful eyes.
And, when this was over, he was going to see to it that she never knew pain like this again. When he drove away, it burned his guts that he’d left the man inside the cabin alive. Even if he was only a temporary problem.
****
Cyrus slammed through the door in time to see his sister stumble from the room where he had left Betsy in her care.
“Lake?” His voice shook. His sister’s eyes were red, her hair wild, and her skin two shades paler than usual. “Is she gone?” Wouldn’t he know? Didn’t true mates always feel a death, or was it more bullshit about their werewolf lives that would prove to be nothing but nonsense?
The world suddenly lost all its color. Everything dulled.
Lake placed her hand on his arm. “Cyrus. She should be dead, but she’s not. Do you hear what I’m saying? She’s not.”
He took a deep breath, feeling the sunlight coming back into his soul and the colors of the universe returning. “She’s not dead?”
“Listen to me. I don’t know why she’s alive, but she is. I did everything I could, and I don’t know why it was enough. It shouldn’t have been. But it is, she’s healing. She’s going to be okay.”
He grabbed his sister and tugged her closer against him. “Lake, I don’t know what to say. You saved my mate. You did it. Anything you want, Lake. When we get home, work wherever you want. Do you hear what I’m saying? Anything.”
“Okay.” Lake laughed. “Why don’t we see if you feel that way after you’ve come down from shock?”
Cyrus ran into the room where Betsy lay. Her eyes were closed, but her color was good. She didn’t look gray, and although her clothes were still covered in blood, it didn’t bring on a sense of panic. Her body functioned normally. He could smell it, and he could see it with his eyes. It was okay for him to believe it.
“Betsy, princess.” He sat down next to her and took her hand. “Can you hear me?”
Her eyes fluttered open. Her gaze appeared glazed, but she smiled at him. “We could hear you. Loud and clear.”
“We?” She was really out of it. Did she even know what she said? “Who’s we?” He didn’t care what she said. Just the fact that she could say anything at all meant the world to him.
“Lucian, me, the entire group of wolves standing at the gate.” She closed her eyes and then opened them again. “You sounded so sad to me. Some of the others heard anger, but Lucian and I could hear the sadness. He says you won’t always feel this way, that they’ll be a time you’ll know the moon again in your soul and that the moon still knows you. You’re an Alpha wolf, chosen by the moon, given to me. She loves you.”
He took her small hands in his. “Sounds like you had quite the dream.”
“You would say that.” She squeezed his fingers. “I still don’t like what Lucian did, taking your choices away at such a young age, but he did love you. Told me you scarred him once during a training exercise. Left him a permanent mark across his chest from his shoulder to his belly button. On a full moon, before you could totally control yourself. He stood as a human, and you launched at him.”
“How the hell could you know that, princess?” He never talked about it. It was one of the humiliations of his training. Alpha werewolves didn’t go around attacking without thinking. The ability to remain human in his mind while looking like a wolf helped determine the power of the Alpha.
“Guess I must have had a hell of a dream.”
He kissed her knuckles, his heart in his throat. It was hard for him to believe, hard for him to choose a life where someone other than him had set everything in motion. The implications of all of the wolf myths being true were hard to take. .
It didn’t make sense. How could the moon have turned three wolves into werewolves? How could it all have started there? A wish and a moon and now they all had a destiny.
“Betsy.” He needed to say what was in his heart. “I would have chosen you, so you know that. If it hadn’t been anything to do with a true mating, with scenting you in a Starbucks, I would have still picked you. If we were two humans on the street, I would have crossed it to talk to you.”
“That’s sweet, Cyrus. I would have picked you too, but I would have been part of a crowd, I think. Rich businessman in New York City? I don’t know that I would have gotten close enough to you for us to make a decision like that. Thank goodness for true mating.”
“No. I think you don’t understand how observant and determined I would have been as a human.” It mattered that she understood this. “I would have found you. I would have picked you because you’re smart, funny, loyal, and beautiful. Because you have freckles over your nose. Because—”
“Cyrus, you must have been scared to death I was going to die. I’m so sorry you went through that.” She paused. “I love you. I don’t care what brought us together, okay? Fate or the moon or good luck.” She yawned. “I think I need a nap. But you have to do something for me.”
“Anything.” He’d move the mountains away if she wanted it.
“I want you to give this,” she tugged at the necklace he’d given her with female werewolf on it, “to your sister. She’s going to need it now.”
“I tried to give it to her once. She wouldn’t take it. The necklace was meant for you.”
“It was.” Her voice sounded husky. “But now she’ll take it. She needs it now.”
He took it from her hand. “I’ll give it to her if that’s what you want.”
“I’m going to sleep now. I’m sorry. I really want to talk more.”
“That’s okay, baby.” He had tears in his eyes. Shit, was he actually crying? He wiped them away. “You sleep. I’m going to watch over you. Always.”
****
“I don’t control the full moon any more than you do.” Beaux shook his head. “I’m sorry you’re still stuck here, but you’re going to have to shift with us. If Lake says she can’t be moved yet, then she can’t be moved.”
“What is goin
g on with you and my sister?” It might have taken him longer than it should have to notice, but he had finally clued in. Every time his sister was in the same room with Beaux, one of the two ran away. That kind of uncomfortable didn’t happen out of nowhere.
“I think that is between me and your sister.”
Cyrus growled. Beaux better watch his damn mouth. Hours from the full moon, even he got twitchy. “In addition to her being my sister, she’s my Healer and a member of my pack.”
“Do you monitor the personal life of every member of your pack? Paid a lot of attention to Lake’s life in the past? Or is it bothering you because, this time, it might be me that she has something going on with?”
“Forget that I asked. I need to figure out the full-moon politics with you. If we’re all going to shift here together, there have to be rules.”
Beaux laughed. “You keep your rules back in Manhattan where they belong. Tonight we all get to be wolves. Understand what that means anymore? Even Betsy will shift, and when she does, she’ll heal completely. We’ll be the part of ourselves that we only get to be once a month.”
“Oh for the love of the moon.” Sometimes he really wanted to break Beaux’s stupid neck. “We’re not pack, Beaux. When rival packs get together on full moons, there is violence unless the Alphas speak up ahead of time. The time Travis’ pack came to New York, I told my people not to touch them. We need to do that for each other.”
“I don’t think that’s going to be necessary. You and me, we’re connected. Our pack isn’t going to hurt each other.”
“Bullshit. We’re not connected.” What the fuck was he talking about? “If you want to risk it, go ahead. We can kill each other and see who is still left in the morning.”
“We’re all children of the moon. We’ll all be fine in the morning.” Beaux sauntered away like a man who thought he knew what he was talking about.
They were leaving Montana in a few days. Cyrus had to put up with this for a few more days, and then he’d be back among the concrete jungle he’d missed more than he thought he would. Give him noise, 3 a.m. takeout, and honking horns.
Betsy walked behind him, placing her arms around his waist. “I’m sorry we can’t leave tonight.”
“It would be a big disaster. We’d all shift on the airplane. Or if we did make, we’d land in New York, and it would be too late to get to safety. One more night here and then we’re out.”
She nodded, and he leaned over to kiss the spot on her neck that met her shoulder blade. Alone time would be a great thing about returning home as well.
“When are you going to tell the pack?”
He turned his gaze to the sky. . Maybe another hour until her first shift. “Tell them what, princess?”
“That you’re going to let them all choose their own careers. That they don’t have to work for you anymore if they don’t want to.”
“When we get back.” He paused. “How did you know that?”
She smiled. “Still think I had a hell of a dream?”
Cyrus shook his head. He didn’t know what he thought anymore, but if the moon or Lucian or a bunch of giant two-headed rats had something to do with her returning to him, then he was grateful.
“I need to keep you safe tonight, and when we get back home, forever. And I’m not sure I can do that and be Alpha in this time of war. The longer we go without an Alpha Prime, the more I think it will come to that.” He kissed her forehead. “How would you feel about me stepping down?”
“I think that would be the stupidest thing you could ever do.”
Well, he hadn’t expected that reaction. “What?”
“You’re Alpha. Stop questioning it. I can keep myself safe. If I’d paid better attention to the fact that my hands kept shifting as an instinctual warning instead of a weird phenomena, then I wouldn’t have gotten shot. I’ll learn as time goes on. And you’ll keep the pack safe until someone worthy, someone you think you can follow, steps into the role. Until then, don’t waste time worrying about things you can’t change.”
He grinned. No one but Betsy would ever speak to him like that. “Yes, my mate. Whatever you say.”
“That’s right, my Alpha. It’s whatever I say. Don’t forget that.”
He kissed her soft lips. Cyrus was Betsy’s. And thank the moon for that.
Epilogue
His sister fiddled with the totem around her neck. She stared out the window and bit her nails. Had she suddenly gotten horribly afraid of flying? They were still on the tarmac. What was the problem? He sniffed the air. Sure enough, the pungent aroma of fear crept through his nostrils. Lake was terrified.
Cyrus stroked Betsy’s leg, not caring if anyone noticed. Another day of being so completely desperate to make love to her and he might decide to take her in public. Screw anyone who wanted to watch. He’d make sure they got a good show.
“Is something wrong with my sister?” He asked Betsy, who stared back at him with hooded eyes. Between her injuries, the lack of privacy, and her first full-moon shift, she was as needy as he to fuck. Maybe even more so. Hours left. That was all they both had to endure.
“Um…” She turned to regard Lake. “I imagine her anxiety has to do with Beaux.”
“With Beaux?” He raised his voice and then lowered it. They were leaving Montana. He didn’t have to be so worked up about the asshole anymore. “Why would she be scared of Beaux?”
The plane jerked forward as it started to travel down the runway. Movement outside caught his eye, and he glanced to see what occurred. Three cars pulled up next to the plane, and as though he’d appeared because Betsy spoke his name, Beaux dashed out of one of the cars. He waved his hands as if he wanted them to stop.
“Brother, my Alpha, don’t let them stop this plane. Please.”
He had no intention of doing so. If Beaux wanted something, he could call or email. Hell, he could text. Cyrus would ignore him the way he did the rest of the world.
“What did he do to you?” He shifted in his seat and leaned forward. “You guys were weird the entire time.”
The plane lifted off, and Lake exhaled loudly. “He didn’t do anything to me. I mean, really, Cyrus, he’s not that bad. Nice even. He told his wolves not to engage with yours. What more do you want from the man?”
“He told me he wasn’t going to do that, that it wasn’t necessary.” What has changed?
“I asked him to. He did it for me.” She turned away.
Cyrus didn’t like this conversation, not one damn bit. “Why would he do that for you, Lake? Why would the Alpha of Montana change his decision because you asked him to?”
His sister pursed her lips. He knew that look, had seen it far too often in childhood. Unless he ordered her to tell him, she wouldn’t.
“Cyrus, don’t be dense.” Betsy kissed his cheek. “They’re true mates. I think everyone has caught on to that but you. I get that relationships aren’t really your thing, but this one is pretty transparent.”
“Oh. Hell no.” Cyrus moved to unbuckle his seatbelt. He didn’t care if they were taking off. News like this made him want to move before he exploded. “Lake, are you telling me that you, my sister and this pack’s Healer, mated the Alpha of another pack—true mated—and didn’t think you should tell me about it?”
“Did you stop to discuss your mating with me? Besides, I don’t accept it. I’m not giving up my life to live in Montana with him. I like New York. End of story.”
He moved to take off his seatbelt and Betsy placed her hand on his to stop him “Stay seated. Nothing is going to get solved while we’re airborne.”
“He let you leave?” Cyrus took some deep breaths. It didn’t seem to help. “What kind of a mate does that?”
“No.” She bit her lip. “He told me not to leave. Ordered it, in fact. And I drugged him. I guess I didn’t give him enough.”
Cyrus cracked up. His sister had drugged her true mate to get away from him. “You do realize he will chase you.”
She nodd
ed. “That’s what he told me.”
Cyrus squeezed Betsy’s hand. He could keep Beaux out of Manhattan for a while. There were protocols, and as Beaux himself had pointed out, one Alpha couldn’t go traipsing around in another’s territory without permission.
Still, eventually, he’d have to let him in. Or there would be war.
Betsy smiled. It’s okay. There’s a plan for this. It’ll all work out. The moon will see to it. What has fallen will be set right”
Maybe Betsy was right, maybe it would. Or maybe they really were in the midst of chaos that would have to explode into war because there was no other choice. He kissed Betsy’s hair, loving the feeling of closeness that came from being so sure of her. Whatever happened, he had his mate. Everything else would have to work itself out without him. He planned to spend the next few days in his apartment with his mate. With the doors locked and the phones off. Their destinies would have to wait patiently for a while. He had his own plans to take care of.”
The End
A Thank you from Fated Desires
Thank you so much for reading Alpha’s Strength! We’re so happy that you had a chance to look into the paranormal world of the Fallen Alphas. We do hope if you liked this, that you would please leave a review from where you purchased this or on another platform. Not only does a review spread the word to other readers, they let us know if you’d like to see more stories like this from us. Rebecca loves to hear from readers and talks to them when she can. You can reach her through her website and through her Facebook and Twitter accounts. You guys are the reason we get to do what we do and we thank you.
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