Page 27 of The Alpha's Arranged Bride

And no one and nothing could cut the love he knewhe felt for them out of the very core of his being.

Chapter 12

Agnar

The next morning, when he walked to the table after a shower, Blake and Levi shared a long look with each other. They had stacks of waffles in front of them that they were making a good effort at devouring.

Prairie Rose practically leapt from the table like a bird taking flight. She couldn’t hide her delight or the way her eyes absolutely sparkled as she set a plate with four fluffy waffles, whipped cream, and strawberry syrup in front of him.

It reminded him of the first time she’d done it, the morning after the challenge to his leadership and the attempt on his life. His mind wanted to go back to that day, if he could go back, would he have done things differently? Killed Alexander when he had the chance? He suspected he wouldn’t have. It had been a day of trials after a night of challenges and one near miss. He’d already granted Alexander a boon, banishing him and the others who had survived the challenge against him. He’d come home, virtually dead on his feet, aching all over, to find waffles waiting.

He’d had no idea what was coming.

No clue that the wolves who would raid their home would take everything from them. They hadn’t given chase, certain in their slaughter. Was Alexander living in his home this minute? Had he made himself alpha? Alpha of what? Or had the whole place been destroyed? Burned to the ground? The title was held in the name of a shell corporation, but Alexander had signing authority, as beta. Would he have transferred the title into his own name by now?

“They’re teaching us self-defense at school,” Blake spoke up, quiet and far more cautious than he used to be.

It spoke volumes as to how much he’d changed, that his own sons were wary around him in case they said something wrong. He hated that, hated what he’d become.

“They’re not very good at it,” Levi added, and giggled.

“No, they are,” Blake corrected. “They’re just… they don’t go much past the basics. We learned that when we were little kids. They don’t have a reason to go past that. They use axes to split wood here, not skulls.”

Prairie Rose choked and tried to cover it with a cough. She poured hot water into a teapot, threw in some leaves, and set it on the table.

Everyone halted, waiting for him.

He thought the first bite would be tasteless. He was wrong.

He’d eaten so little since arriving in Wyoming, surviving on snatches and handfuls of food he hauled out of the fridge or off the countertops like a thief in Prairie Rose’s small home. Food was just something to stave off starvation. That first night when the healer had come and sedated him with herbs so she could operate on his hands, she’d left in the morning when he woke up, instructing him on how to take care of the healing. He’d barely eaten enough for his wounds to heal.

But he wasn’t soldiering, he wasn’t a warrior. He didn’t do guard duty, patrols, or hold ceremonies. He did nothing other than walk the woods endlessly, and much of that involved sitting and starting up at the sky, wondering if anyone was up there at all, and if they fucking gave two shits about the suffering down below.

The first bite of the waffle, with the perfect dough, the rich cream, and the sweet strawberry exploded in his mouth. If his body was a wasteland, so was his tongue, but it came alive in a single heartbeat, saliva exploding at the back of his mouth as he chewed. He should have gone slowly, but since the stuff didn’t taste like ash and for once his stomach wasn’t threatening to eject what he’d just forced down, he took another bite and another. He couldn’t stop. Even in his old life, food was just something to provide nutrition, not a means of enjoyment. He was so unaccustomed to the taste of something as simple as a waffle, that it astounded him.

It probably wasn’t even more than a minute before he was staring down at the red smears of syrup on a blue and white porcelain plate, He was tempted to lift it and lick it clean.

“You should come show them how,” Levi said out of nowhere.

Prairie Rose stumbled on her way back to the table, nearly dropping the teapot. She turned her face away from him so he couldn’t see her expression. She went and got matching teacups, the floral pattern so dainty that they seemed purely ornamental and not something that you’d use every day.

“Yeah, Dad, you should.” Usually, Blake gently offered his older brother wisdom to Levi. Their personalities were so different. Where Blake was studious and reserved, quiet by nature, Levi was outgoing and often outlandish just to amuse himself with everyone else’s reactions to his wild ideas.

“That’s not a good idea,” he responded gruffly. “I’m not an alpha here.”

“You can still teach,” Levi said, sticking out his lower lip in a pout. It was evident how much he’d missed his father.

Blake nodded. “You could help instruct, at least. That wouldn’t be showing anyone up.” He paused and then he said a word that hardly ever came out of his mouth. “Please.” He didn’t even bother to try and hide the naked longing on his face.

Neither did Levi.

It didn’t matter if he taught or not. That wasn’t really what his boys were asking for. They were looking at him now, begging him to be there and stay there, even just for a few minutes. To be the dad they remembered, not the haunted ghost that frightened them. Not the man who wandered in and out of their lives without paying them the slightest attention, as if they weren’t even there. Not the man who didn’t eat and didn’t sleep and was slowly shrinking away to nothing.

What the hell was Alexander doing at that moment? Gloating in his victory? Celebrating his new lands? Moving a new bunch of wolves into their homes? Had he given the dead proper burial rites as their law insisted? Or had he tossed them aside like garbage.

“Dad?” Blake pressed.

The agony of what he’d lost would always be with him. Always, until the end of his days, whenever that came. But did his sons have to pay the price for his mistakes? The sins of the father…

---