Page 78 of Crescent Warrior

Alex faltered. He knew that, comparatively, Jason was much weaker than Damen, but that didn’t mean anything anymore. Jason explained that their evolution changed them for the better. Things were different from what they used to be.

Yet, watching Knox, he wondered. Knox was bigger and stronger than all the others in this new pack that he met so far, and yet, he was still smaller than Damen. That male was a beast. When he almost went feral, Alex was ashamed to say that he felt the strong, instinctual need to turn and run.

He could have killed us all.

Deep inside, he knew it was true, and it was obvious that Knox knew it too. He didn’t even know where Jason was. Probably somewhere waiting for the strong to fall before he could try to take the throne.

Alex didn’t respect that. He respected Damen, who took the brunt of the attack for his pack, protecting them. He hated the bastard who had stolen his mate but he knew that, at least, he was honorable enough to protect the ones he loved.

That was something that Jason never did. In all of their attempts to take ‘his’ pack back, Alex and Michael were at the front. He was nowhere near it, preferring to hide in the background and face none of the consequences. At first, Alex thought it was strategic, but he was seeing it for what it was now. Cowardly.

“I don’t know if this story of him stealing the rights to be king is true,” Alex said quietly. He saw Michael’s head snap in his direction, shock evident on his face. “But I will say that Selene is mine. We grew up together. I know her inside and out. The way she’s acting is out of character.”

Knox nodded, crossing his arms over his chest as he surveyed them. “I’ll take that into consideration but I need you to understand what almost happened out there.”

Alex watched him step closer, his face expressionless, but his spine stiff as he pointed at Alex’s chest.

“You’re a member of my pack now and you led me into battle with bad intelligence. He is the alpha and he would have massacred my pack if his mate hadn’t stopped him.”

“Not his mate,” Alex gritted, but Knox didn’t respond. He stared at him, not blinking until Alex dropped his gaze, his jaw clenched tightly. “I understand and I’m sorry. I gave you all the information I had, but it clearly wasn’t from a reliable source. It won’t happen again.”

He watched Knox turn to Michael and felt himself stiffen.

If he hurts my brother—

He cut his thoughts off, struck by the fact that he called Michael his brother. Startled, he turned to see Knox reach out to pat Michael’s cheek gently.

“One day, I want you to share your true thoughts with me. On this leader of yours who you follow with so much loyalty. You’ll explain to me what he has done to earn it.”

Michael’s eyes were narrowed on the floor, his expression mutinous.

“I respect that you’re loyal to him. I admire it. But that loyalty’s blinding you to what’s right in front of you. Your brother sees it now. It’s time for you as well. I’ll try to protect you as much as I can, but there’s only so much I can do if you aren’t telling me everything.”

Alex was shocked by his words, his anger crumbling under the kind words this cold man was whispering to Michael. He watched Knox pat his cheek again before turning to walk away.

He gave them one more unreadable look before leaving. When Alex looked up again, in the silence he left behind, he saw Elisa hurrying toward them. The relief on her face when she saw they were safe squeezed his heart.

“My boys,” she whispered as she grabbed them both into a hug. “Are you alright?”

He nodded as Michael lifted his arm to gingerly hug her. He did the same and they felt her sigh, her body softening against theirs. A sniffle sounded and she pulled away, stroking their hair.

“I’m sorry that I failed you both. I didn’t keep you safe when you were babies, and now, I couldn’t even help when you needed me to fight against this monster. I failed you again.”

“Hey,” Alex protested, squeezing her and meeting Michael’s confused gaze over her head. “None of this is your fault, alright?”

“Of course it is,” she sniffled, her face crumpling as she smiled sadly at them. “If I kept a closer eye on you—”

“You are not to blame,” Michael’s voice was firm. “What she did had nothing to do with you.”

She smiled tremulously, a tear leaking down her cheek as she watched them. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to make it up to you both.”

“Listen,” Alex sighed, scrubbing his hand across his face. “This was so much. What just happened. Both you and Vincenzo had our backs in a way that I will be forever grateful for. You helped convince Knox to support us. I know it didn’t work out, but I want to say thank you.”

Her brow was furrowed as she murmured, “Why do I suspect you’re building up to a ‘but’?”

He gave her a small smile, shaking his head. “I’m not. I’m not doing that, I swear. I just wanted to say thank you and that there’s nothing for us to forgive because you didn’t do anything wrong.” He looked over at Michael, sighing. “There’s a lot we have to think about, and I want us to stay in touch.”

“In touch?” Elisa was searching both their faces, her beautiful eyes filled with sadness. “You won’t come home with us?”

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