Page 48 of The Alpha's Arranged Bride

Rome’s handwriting was ridiculously neat and tidy and so at odds with the gore in the box.

Agnar,

I want you to know that your nightmare is finally over. I made sure he suffered accordingly for all his crimes. Crimes against you and your pack, but also against his own son. If you know the right people, you can find out just about anything on anyone, and when I had them do some digging, they found out that Alexander had been taking money for years. Funds from the contract killing he was forcing his son to do for the pack. I took the liberty of having him transfer this money to me because I knew you would all refuse it. I’ll make sure it’s put to good use. Alexander died penniless and empty. He died in great pain, and he wasn’t brave until the end. He died a coward’s death. Your lands, I’m afraid, are forfeit. He signed them over to the pack now occupying them. I know it’s hard to accept, but you’re where you belong. This is over for you and your pack. You’re part of the Nightfalls now, and it might not have been what you wanted or what anyone wanted, but I know my parents and my brother will build you a true home.

There was another note written on the other side of the piece of paper. Agnar knew he shouldn’t read it, but he wanted to know that the words wouldn’t hurt his mate.

Prairie Rose,

I know you’ll be angry and worried about me, but don’t be. We’ve all known since we were children than this is how I’d end up. I only fulfilled my destiny and stepped into the role I was always meant to play. Monster might not sound right to you, but it’s a title I’m more than happy to bear. I’m not built like anyone else in our pack. It’s for the best that I’ll never come home. You can hate me if you want, but I’d rather you didn’t. Even monsters have some feelings. That’s what makes us true monsters in the first place.

Agnar never asked me to do this. He did know, but he couldn’t stop me. I made that clear. He knew it was my right. Yes. My right. Aside from being a thorough bastard and overall piece of shit, Alexander was the father of the man who killed the only woman I will ever love. I didn’t expect to find myself capable of that, and now that I know what kind of destruction love causes, I’ll be sure it never happens again for me. This wasn’t my first act of violence, and it won’t be my last. Don’t let your heart feel heavy for me. I’ve made my peace with who and what I am and putting Alexander to ground has sealed something off in me that killing Pollux didn’t and couldn’t. My story is darkness and solitude. It’s not your place to keep me from embracing it. Let it have me, and in exchange, give you back your mate. I know life doesn’t work that way. You can’t bargain for a soul, but in this case, I insist. In this case, it’s already done. In this case, it’s all finished.

I might have damned my own soul and cut out my own heart, but yours is still intact. For all his bluster, Agnar is nothing like me. You both deserve a good life, and a good life deserves to be lived.

Rome.

Fuck. Agnar was in pain just reading. He was thinking about every member of his pack, not himself. He was thinking about Prairie Rose. Her brothers and sisters. Kieran and his family. The Phaethon Pack never would have opened its doors to outsiders, yet the Nightfalls hadn’t hesitated, and now this was their home. He’d need to talk to Kieran about making it official through a ceremony where they swore loyalty to him as their new alpha.

He folded the note and brought it to the door, where Prairie Rose waited, white as marble.

“What was in the box?”

He handed her the letter and let her read it for herself. He caught her before her legs gave out. She reached for him, throwing her arms around his neck. She clung to him so violently that it should have hurt, but he didn’t feel it. He absorbed her pain into himself. She turned her face into his shoulder and soaked his shirt with her tears. Even sobbing and with her shuddery breaths, she still breathed him in and went lax, like she found comfort in his scent and heat and nearness.

He awkwardly closed his arms around her. She seemed to be inconsolable, but after minutes of just holding her, the sobbing quieted. He didn’t expect her to put her hands on his chest and push him back into the wall. Her eyes were wet fires.

“You knew. You knew about this. That’s why we came home early.”

“Yes. That night. He pinned me to the wall and gave me a set of instructions. I didn’t follow them because he ordered me around. I followed because I realized just how much I wanted to go home with you and the boys. I saw myself heading to Arizona, alone. I saw my own death play out. For once, I realized how selfish it would be to throw myself away when I’d made other oaths. Becoming a father is an oath. I mated you and I gave you a promise. You all deserved so much more than that, and maybe I did too. I felt… I don’t know. Hope, maybe. Rome made it clear he wouldn’t be dissuaded. He wasn’t doing it out of the good of his heart. He wasn’t doing it to spare me. He probably would have torn me apart if I’d stepped in his way.”

“You could have, though. You could have at least told me. I was just here, thinking that everything would be okay. Bliss in fucking ignorance, and you made that possible. He’s my brother!”

“And he’s fine. He’s fine, Prairie Rose.”

“Does that look fine to you?” She thrust her finger towards the living room, to the horrible box on the table. “My brother killed someone for us!”

“No. He killed someone he was going to kill anyway because he wanted to. Do you think, truly, that there was anything you could have said to stop him?” He took the letter from her hands and waved it once in the air. “I know you’re upset, and he knew you’d be upset, which is why he wrote this.” He folded the white sheet of paper and tucked it in his pocket to give to Kieran. “He’s convinced that’s he’s filling in the lines of a story that was written a long time ago.”

She looked like she was going to hit him, but all she did was take his hand in hers. “There’s always been something that the world would see as wrong with my brother. That doesn’t make him a monster. He can’t call himself that.”

“He’ll use that term as he will, but whatever you say to him isn’t going to change his mind. All we can do is be here whenever he finds that he needs it.”

“He can never come back here.”

“I know. I meant be here in concept. Let him know that we in no way reject him and that we’re here should he ever need or want our help.”

“I thought he was doing better. Ever since Waverly, but I realize now he’s just good at putting on that face and playing a part. That’s what he’s had to do to fit in, even here. Sometimes he didn’t want to. Sometimes he acted horribly. I don’t think that’s the real him, but even if it is, he’s still my brother.”

“I think that’s what he needs to hear.”

She sniffed and swiped furiously at her eyes before she stepped back, drawing on her own strength, which never seemed to falter or fail her. He had tremendous respect for how quickly she recovered and for her unwavering faith and loyalty to those she loved.

“What was in the box, Agnar?”

He studied the crown of her head when she bent forward, hugging her arms around herself. He wouldn’t let her see it, but she’d find out soon enough. She deserved to know. He trusted her and he respected her. She wasn’t going to crumple again, and even if she did, he’d be there to catch her.

“Alexander’s hands.”

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