Page 52 of The Alpha's Fated Destiny

She chuckles. “Mother? You never call me that. Where did you pick that up?”

I wrap my arms around her in a hug. She smells the same.

“You must’ve had a bad dream." She laughs, before kissing my cheeks and pulling away. "I'm here, aren't I? You have nothing to worry about. As long as I'm here, nothing bad will happen to you.”

I look at her, my heart breaking. “What about when you’re gone? What about when you leave me?”

Her hands push away the strands of hair off my face. "And where will I go? Don’t worry. I'm never going to leave you.”

She crouches back on the ground, and I stare at her, scared to move, scared to shatter this—whatever this is.

Maybe it was just a nightmare that seemed too real. Maybe…I crouch beside her, pulling out the weeds as I used to do as a child. "How are you and Dad?”

"Content." She looks at me with a smile. “We’re together, and that’s enough for us.”

I glance at her, my throat tight with emotion. She's not looking at me as a child. The meaning behind her words couldn't be clearer.

"Together,” I murmur. “Yes. You are together wherever you are.”

She doesn’t respond, and my heart sinks.

She knows it's a dream. And so do I.

We work together in silence for a few minutes, and then I say, "I met my fated mate, Mom."

She looks up at me in surprise. "Say that again?"

"My fated mate." My hands are full of weeds, and I stare down at the soil, wishing I knew what to feel. "You would love her. She’s been through a lot and she acts all tough, but she’s the kindest person you’ll ever meet. You could almost say that she's kind to a fault. She keeps getting into dangerous situations and…"

My mother drops her tools and takes my hand, pulling me to my feet. “You found your fated mate."

Her eyes are filled with a wild joy. "Come. Let's sit. Tell me all about her."

She guides me to a bench in the shade, next to the small pond I had once insisted on digging by hand. Studying the look in her eyes, I realize that only my mother could be this happy for me.

"I was." I try to smile, missing my mom desperately even though she's sitting before me. "When I found out about her, nobody wanted us together. I was supposed to mate the Silver Wolf to save the pack. If you had been there, you would have told me to be with her, wouldn't you?"

"That shouldn't be a question, my sweet boy." My mother takes my hands in hers and squeezes them, her smile warm. "Your happiness comes first to me."

"I've missed you," I whisper, hoarsely. "So much. I thought it would get better with time but it doesn't. It doesn't stop."

"It will." She tilts her head at me. "Soon. I promise you. Now, tell me about the girl who's the love of your life."

“Her name is Sophia. She’s lovely, mom. And I keep messing things up with her, but she always forgives me. She is the Silver Wolf, by the way. Strange how that ended up happening."

Mother’s expression shutters. “She's the Silver Wolf? And are you happy?"

“She’s healed wounds that no amount of time had been able to heal before." I look down at her hands before lifting my gaze.

My mother’s eyes sparkle with tears. “Then it doesn’t matter if she’s the Silver Wolf, or an ordinary shifter. As long as she can make you happy.”

"You would really like her if you could meet her."

“I don’t need to meet her, Alex." She touches my chest, placing her hand on my heart. “As long as she has your heart, she has my heart.”

My heart is heavy. “Things have been very hard, Mom. Sometimes I felt like I just couldn't go on. Sometimes I just wanted to close my eyes and never wake up. But I tried. I never gave up."

“I know.”

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