Page 43 of Fated Alpha Protector

“I’m afraid it is,” I whisper. He opens his eyes and stares at me with sadness lurking in the green depths. Like pools of nature, they swirl with the despondency of letting me go.

“Don’t leave me,” he whines babyishly.

Giggling, I plant a kiss on his pouty lips. “I have to. I need to find out the truth.”

He sighs discontentedly. “What if he hurts you?”

“You’ve trained me well enough to fight if I need to,” I smirk with self-satisfaction.

Theo shakes his head as he pulls me closer and starts to tickle my ribcage. A flurry of laughter and giggles fills the air, lightening the mood and causing my breath to escape me.

Panting, I throw my head back on the pillow when Theo hovers above me. His lips are so close, I can scent the sweetness of his breath. It’s heady and intoxicating, fuzzing my brain.

All I want is to feel his kisses. Even if it’s for the last time.

“I can’t believe you’re leaving!” Anastasia cries as she pulls me in for a hug. She holds me tightly as she whimpers, and I give in to feeling her warmth.

In the short time I’ve spent here, I’ve grown very close to her. Like the sister I never had, Anastasia is my closest friend.

A part of me contemplates if I’m making the right choice. But the safety of the Nightwalker Pack hangs in the balance. And I’m not going to forsake their safety for my own happiness.

It’s come at a good time, too. With the dreams of the burning village haunting my every move, it’s best I leave to figure out why I’ve been having those dreams.

I do believe that I’ll find my answers back in Rocheport.

“I’m sorry, Ana,” I apologize as I step back and take her hands in mine. “I have to go back. The Alpha of Blackclaw has called me there.”

“I just don’t understand why you have to go after you've been kicked out.” Anastasia frowns, her eyes glossed over with tears she’s so adamantly trying to hold back.

Sighing, I pull her toward the balcony. Stepping out as the sun begins to set, the orange hue is warm and welcoming on the horizon.

I take a deep breath before I begin to explain, “I wasn’t kicked out, per se.”

“What do you mean, Mia?”

I glimpse the way Anastasia frowns at me. I start at the beginning – baking a cake for myself on my birthday.

“... It was a strange occurrence,” I continue. “I’d gone outside, to the fire they’d left behind. And as soon as the heat of those flickering flames touched my skin, my wolf had been ignited.”

“Do you think it has something to do with the fire?” she presses gently as compassion has her sliding her arm over my shoulders.

“I believe it does,” I concede, going on to explain the dreams I’ve been having lately.

“You don’t think…” her voice skitters off as she stares at me with wide eyes. “... You don’t think that your parents died in a fire?”

“That’s exactly what I want to find out, Ana,” I murmur. “I have no idea why my pack would lie to me all this time. But that’s why I need to go back.”

Anastasia nods slowly, huffing an exasperated breath. “What about my brother?”

“What about him?” I contend with a frown.

Anastasia rolls her eyes, leaning over the balcony rails while keeping skeptical eyes on me. “You think I don’t know?”

I shrug as I turn away. “Don’t know what?”

“Pfft!” Anastasia breathes a scornful breath out. “There’s clearly something going on between you and Theo.”

“There isn’t,” I defend, avidly avoiding her questioning eyes. He and I agreed not to tell anyone about our mate bond.

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