Page 55 of Alpha's Unclaimed Mate

I don’t know what time I finally fall asleep, but I wake up with a clarity I haven’t felt before.

Over the next few months, I spend every possible moment with my son. We do everything I thought we would have years to do. We go to ice cream parlors, movies, the carnival.We go away for weekend trips when we can. We even try horseback riding.

Days before his first birthday, I book two tickets to Mammoth Lakes and only one back to NYC.

CHAPTER 20

THERON

Asharp crack of thunder pulls my gaze to the window. As with every new moon night, it’s pitch black, and tonight rain is hammering down. There isn’t a single sign of life on the pack grounds. The storm raging outside is a fitting end to my reign as the alpha of Blackwood. A reign for which I sacrificed everything, even my mate.

Seren’s tear-stained face flashes through my head. Every horrible word I spouted is stuck in my mind. The memory of my cocky attitude refuses to wash away. If I had the strength, I would’ve taught my pack to cherish and protect their mates. But now…it’s too late. For everything.

I’ve given my last six months to the pack and none of the elders have even bothered to pick or train a new alpha. They refuse to even talk about a replacement.

But that won’t be my responsibility after tonight.

Listening to the storm, I crash out on my chair, my head resting on the table.

I don’t know what time it is, but a racket outside wakes me up. Every muscle in my body aches. The voices carry right to my room.

“What do we do?”

“Do we really not know who left it here?”

Whoever it is, is not even bothering to keep it down.

Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I’m just getting my bearings together when I hear urgent footsteps. There’s a loud rap against the door and before I can say “come in,” the night guard is in front of me, his chest heaving.

“You’ve got to see this, alpha.”

The cold wind flooding in through the door wakes me up instantly. My muscles relax.

In the background, I hear a faint, “Looks like a boy.”

I snap out of my daze.

Something inside me tells me I need to check. I need to see what’s happening.

A strange energy surges through me. The fog in my head slowly clears. My feet move on their own, carrying me toward the entrance with a growing urgency.

As I stumble outside, I can tell the rain has eased, but the sky is still a nasty mess of gray and black. And right in front of the packhouse gates is a large stroller.

My heart skips a beat. My pace picks up as I get closer to it, and when I reach the stroller, I drop to my knees.

My vision, my hearing, and my sense of smell get stronger with each passing second. My insides coil into knots. My heart drops to my stomach as I suck in a deep breath.

I don’t need to look inside to know what this is.

The scent is unmistakable—lilacs wrapped in lavender, sweet, familiar, strong.

With trembling hands, I reach out and peel back the blanket. A pair of big amber eyes stare back at me–confused, scared. A shock of dark, almost black hair stands out against his skin. His body trembles.

My son.

I want to cry. Scream. Tell the world. Break something. Celebrate.

A cry rips from my throat, shaking the earth around me. Then it happens. A change. A shift. A fucking roar. Blood rushes through my veins, a powerful force starting at my toes and surging to my head. My body stretches, my senses explode, and I throw my head back and howl. My canines elongate, my claws unsheathe, and my eyes shift to their wolfish hue.

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