Page 23 of Alpha's Promise

The air around them seemed to thicken with every word, charged with an electric current that pulsed in rhythm withthe beating of their hearts. Dakota listened, rapt, her breath catching at the cadence of his voice. There was a hunger in her eyes, a thirst for knowledge that went beyond mere fascination.

Landon felt the pull of the bond between them intensify, a visceral connection that threatened to overwhelm his senses. The wolf within stirred, recognizing the significance of this moment—the precipice upon which they stood, where truth and myth blurred into one.

As he spoke the final words of the passage, a profound silence enveloped them—a hush filled with anticipation and the tacit understanding of the inevitable revelation that loomed ever closer. Dakota's hand reached out, fingers grazing the ancient pages as if to touch the history etched upon them.

"What does it mean? Is this your story? My story?" she whispered, her voice a blend of wonder and apprehension.

Landon met her gaze, knowing that the time had come to peel back the veil of secrecy, to bare his soul to the woman who held his fate in her hands. The next words he spoke would change everything.

Amid the soft whisper of early morning winds and the distant call of a lone coyote, Landon's voice wove the ancient tale into the fabric of the present. The words of the book, indecipherable to Dakota but as familiar to him as his own heartbeat, spilled forth with reverence. "At the dawn of time," he murmured, "there existed three distinct species that began to evolve: one wolf, pure and untamed; one human, intelligent and adaptive; and one a hybrid between the two, a bridge binding their worlds."

Dakota repeated a single word, her voice soft as if tasting it for the first time. "Wolf." Her eyes, reflecting the early light, narrowed with the dawn of understanding. The corners of her mouth quivered not quite forming a smile nor a frown.

The pages turned beneath Landon's fingers as if they were leaves caught in a gentle breeze. His senses, heightened by the presence of his mate, picked up the subtle shift in her scent—a mixture of curiosity and a hint of fear. It was a fragrance that tugged at the most primitive part of him, urging him to close the distance, to comfort, to calm, to claim.

He finished reading, his voice trailing off into the silence that wrapped around them like a cloak. "My grandfather," Dakota began, her words slicing through the tension, "he used to tell me stories. Legends of creatures that walk the line between man and beast." Her lips parted slightly as she pieced together memories with the narrative laid bare before her. "Do you think... do you think he meant for me to find these wolf-shifters? Do you think they’re real, Landon? Or just another fairytale?"

Landon’s heart thundered against his ribs. He could almost feel the pull of the earth beneath them, the age-old call of his kind—wild and free. Yet there he sat, bound by an unyielding force far stronger than any instinctual drive. Dakota's question hung between them, a key waiting to unlock a door to a world she had yet to see in its full, raw form.

"Everything has a seed of truth," he said, his voice low. "Even the tales we dismiss as children’s bedtime stories." He reached across the table, his fingertips grazing hers, a spark of connection igniting in the small touch. There was no going back now. The story had been set in motion, and he, a character within it, could only play his part.

"Your grandfather," he continued, his throat tightening around the words, "he may have known more than he felt he could tell you." Landon paused, watching the play of emotions over Dakota's striking features, knowing that their lives were entwined in ways she was only beginning to comprehend.

Landon's pulse quickened as he met Dakota's questioning gaze, her eyes searching his for the truth that lingered justbeneath the surface. The air between them was thick with unvoiced understanding, an electric current of anticipation that wrapped around every fiber of his being and tugged insistently.

"Come," he said softly, standing up from the table. His voice held the rasp of untamed nature, a whisper of the wind that often howled through the canyon. He extended his hand to her, fingers trembling slightly—not from fear but from the sheer force of what he was about to reveal.

Dakota hesitated only for a fraction of a second before placing her hand in his, the trust in her eyes anchoring him. He led her inside, away from the burgeoning light of dawn that kissed the horizon with hues of fiery orange and deep purple. The shadows of the room welcomed them back, offering a semblance of privacy for the truth he was about to reveal.

He released her hand and began to undress, each movement deliberate and unhurried. His clothes fell to the floor in a silent confession, baring his skin to her curious gaze. Muscles honed by hard work and moonlit runs flexed under the scrutiny, a testament to the fierce beast that was a part of him.

The room seemed to hold its breath, time suspended in the space where humanity and legend intertwined. Dakota's breath hitched audibly, the sound striking a chord within Landon that reverberated down to his very soul. This was more than exposure; it was an unveiling of his truest self.

"Watch," he murmured, stepping out of the last piece of clothing. The air caressed his bare skin, cool and expectant. He closed his eyes, surrendering to the ancient rhythm that thrummed in his blood, the call of his lineage that could no longer be denied.

He called forth his wolf, felt his entire being tingle as the swirling mist of thunder, color and lightning rose from the floor to encapsulate him. Transformation claimed him, a melding of man and beast that was not at all painful, but ratherexultant. Bones shifted, sinews twisted and reformed, and his consciousness stretched to accommodate the dual essence of his being. Fur covered his skin like a living shadow, dark and lustrous, while his senses sharpened to a razor's edge.

When he opened his eyes again, the mist had dissipated, and they gleamed with lupine intensity. Landon, now fully shifted, stood before Dakota as a towering wolf, his coat a blend of sable and silver that reflected the room's scant light. He waited, every fiber of his being attuned to her reaction. Fear, wonder, rejection—all possibilities that hung in the charged silence.

Dakota's gaze never wavered, and as she stepped forward, her hand outstretched with a courage that made his chest swell with pride, he knew. In her acceptance lay the beginning of their entwined destinies, a connection that transcended the divide between worlds. She reached out and touched the coarse fur of his neck, a tentative gesture that spoke volumes. Her touch was warm, alive with the same electricity that had sparked between them since their paths first crossed.

In the stillness of the room, under the unyielding gaze of fate, Landon Savage stood exposed—not just in form, but in the raw truth of who he was. As Dakota met his dark eyes, something deeper sparked between them—a shared reckoning, a silent promise. He didn’t find just an answer—he found the promise of their beginning, a bond that could either save them or destroy everything they’d ever known.

CHAPTER 12

DAKOTA

The last words of the ancient lore faded into silence as Landon closed the book with a soft thud. Dakota's room, dimly lit by the morning sun, seemed to shrink in the wake of the story's end—a tale that had moved dangerously between myth and reality, leaving her skin tingling with promise.

Dakota's breath hitched as she watched, entranced by Landon’s almost ritualistic undressing. He unhooked his belt buckle, sliding it through the loops, and let it fall to the floor. Unbuttoning his jeans, he shucked out of them, leaving him standing before her, a figure carved from the very essence of granite and desire.

A battle waged within her, curiosity dueling with a hunger that gnawed at the edges of her restraint. She wanted to reach out, to trace the lines of muscle that wound their way under his bronzed skin—a map of his soul laid bare.

"Is this...?" Her voice trailed off, unable to articulate what she was about to see.

"Part of who I am," Landon's voice rumbled through the tempest that seemed to be swirling around him. It grounded her in a way to time and place in the midst of the supernaturaldisplay. His presence was a solid fact in a reality that had suddenly expanded beyond her wildest dreams.

"Show me everything," Dakota said, her voice a whisper of velvet darkness.

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