Page 35 of Fall of the Alpha

The Alpha male was practically a rock when it came to his expression, but Alek was learning how to read him.

“What’s it like being an Omega there?” Bella asked.

“Very similar to being an Omega here,” Aria responded with an encouraging smile. “Lots of pampering and pleasure. I’m not saying there aren’t bad Alphas, but the rot starts at the top and works its way down, just like in the zones. Cora, Trace, Malachi… they’re all good Alphas.”

As Aria kept talking, Alek couldn’t help thinking about what she had just said.

The rot starts at the top.

The top was where Bella’s parents were. Where his parents were. Especially their fathers.

And in some ways, she was right. They were rotten to their core, even though it made his chest tight to think of his father in such a way. But how could they really know that the Alphas here were any better?

Malachi

“No.”

Cora sighed.

He knew he was being unreasonable, but his answer was still the same.

The other Alpha’s expression was full of sympathy, echoing their shared grief.

“She’s not Tatiana,” Cora said gently.

For the first time in years, hearing Tatiana’s name didn’t strike him through the heart with an unbearable lance of pain. It hurt. His chest ached. But he no longer wanted to howl in rage at the skies—the doing so of which had broken his voice and given him the nickname he was now known by. His rasping voice was a lifelong reminder of the day Grigori had murdered her… when she’d saved Malachi’s life at the cost of her own.

He’d mourned her every day since.

“I know,” he said harshly. He did. “The resemblance is only superficial, you know.”

Tatiana had been far more outspoken than Bella. She’d been sassy, pushy. Then again, Bella was still scared around him, but he was sure she was also naturally quiet. Reticent, even. She was a careful thinker, assessing everything, watching everyone, and only then making a decision. Tatiana had made her decisions with her heart more than her head, and from what he could tell, Bella was the opposite.

No, they were not the same, and he was not looking for a female to take Tatiana’s place. Not in the way that Cora meant.

Though the physical resemblance between Bella and Tatiana was there and might be what had drawn him to the little Omega in the first place, that would have been easily pushed aside once the initial bout of lust was over. Instead, he found himself admiring her for herself, and not only that, but it fit in perfectly with the plan he and Cora had devised.

He gave the other Alpha a look.

“This was your idea, remember?”

She huffed.

“I know, but we didn’t know what she looked like when I conceived of it.” Cora sighed, rubbing her hand over her forehead before tossing her long braids back over her shoulder. “I’m worried about you. I’m worried about what will happen if things don’t go the way we want.”

“I won’t risk her.” It didn’t matter that she was not Tatiana. He would not put her in harm’s way. He wouldn’t put any Omega in harm’s way, but especially not her. This time, no one was going to die for him. “I sent the message to her father, instructing him to leave Grigori behind. If he does not, that’s our answer. He’s more faithful to a treacherous, power-hungry leech than he cares about his own daughter.”

He didn’t know which way it would go. The only reason he cared was that if Paldon accepted his offer, it would make things much easier. Already, the agreement he and Cora had come to with Paldon years ago had changed things in their world.

Hostilities between the zones and the territories were at an all-time low. There were far fewer opportunities for Alpha warlords, such as Jeffos, to rise. The Alphas in the zones remained dangerous, but they had plenty of places to exercise their violent urges that didn’t involve actual battles.

And the Betas in the zones were becoming more and more enamored of the ‘glamour’ of the territories. They were slowly losing their fear of the zones of Alphas and Omegas. The gates had opened, and so had a multitude of doors. Paldon had lost control of the situation, lost control of the flow of information the second he’d allowed the gates to be opened and his Betas to start coming into the territories. Alphas and Omegas still weren’t allowed in the zones, but it hardly mattered.

The more Betas who entered the territories and returned unharmed, the more of them visited the fight nights and came away exhilarated and awed by the Alphas, and the more they became used to the Alphas and Omegas, the less power Paldon had. He did not even seem to realize it. He’d been so eager to consolidate his power in the wake of the old warlord’s demise, he’d agreed to the treaty Cora and Malachi had put forth.

That or he’d never understood how exposure to those who were different could expose his lies about them.

The lies that would be entirely revealed when he agreed to mate his own daughter to the Wolf.

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