Page 51 of Fall of the Alpha

He said it like it was a good thing, like he admired her for it, so Bella allowed herself to relax. The differences were not bad. They were just differences. She did not want to be a replacement for Tatiana, after all. She wanted to be herself.

There was truth to it. Even though she’d been Paldon’s secret daughter, she’d been raised to lead. To think. To plan. All the things her father did. While she might disapprove of many of her father’s actions, she also understood them, and she saw how they’d led him to today.

She would not make the same mistakes.

“I will be a good one,” she said, reaching up and entwining her hands around his neck.

Malachi chuckled, a rumble spreading through his chest, and he lowered his mouth to hers again. Inside her, his slowly softening cock started to stiffen again, and his hips began to rock against hers. Moaning, she lifted hers to meet him.

Grigori

“Where the hell have you been?” Grigori snarled as he stalked into Paldon’s rooms. He came to a sudden halt as he realized Paldon was not alone.

Kenet and Liana’s parents were there as well, the males red-eyed, the females still weeping. All of them glared at him. Fear stopped his heart for just a moment before it started again. They couldn’t know. They’d realized their children were missing, but they couldn’t know he had anything to do with it.

So, why were they glaring at him?

He could hear the movement behind him as the door was closed. The sound had a finality to it that made him jump. He was never jumpy.

Lifting his chin, he pushed through the sudden disquiet churning in his gut. Before he could speak, before he could ask another question, Paldon was looking him square in the eye.

“Grigori, you stand accused and convicted of treason. You stand accused and convicted of the murder of two citizens of Zone One. We now have a treaty with Wolf Territory in which Malachi has asked for your head on a platter. Due to the nature of your crimes, I have accepted Malachi’s offer.” Paldon nodded.

The rising fury and fear in Grigori’s chest exploded, and he stepped forward, but it was too late.

The step forward ended his life a second sooner than it would have otherwise, as the guard behind him stepped beside him, swinging his blade. It cut through his throat, taking off his head in one clean sweep.

The pain was negligible as he fell to the ground because he couldn’t feel his body anymore, anyway.

And just like that, Zone One clinched its deal with the Wolf.

30

THE OMEGA’S GOODBYE

Alek

“I guess this is goodbye.” Alek looked down into Bella’s eyes. Not far away, Cora, Trace, and Malachi were saying their own farewells. He didn’t think he imagined that the Wolf was keeping one eye on Bella as she spoke to Alek.

The Alpha’s scent was all over her.

Much like Aria was covered in Alek’s, Trace’s, and Cora’s scents. He imagined the same was likely true for him. Aria was on the other side of the courtyard, saying goodbye to her Omega friends. Jordan and another Alpha hovered protectively behind them.

Bella smiled up at him.

“I’m sure we’ll see each other again.” She glanced over at Malachi and Cora. Trace was making his way across the space to Aria and her friends. “Though perhaps not for a while. It sounds like Cora and Trace thought they’d have a lot to do when they get back. And you’ll have a whole new territory to explore.”

“As do you.” Neither of them had left the compound since they’d arrived, as far as he knew.

Bella nodded slowly. “We both have a lot to learn.”

It was an admission of the fact the zones had lied to them about the territories, about Alphas and Omegas. That their parents had lied to them and everyone else, trying to cause fear and keep them away from the territories. Gave them the suppressors to keep them from being themselves.

“Is your mother staying here?” he asked.

“She is.” Something in Bella’s expression changed. “I think she’s an Omega.”

“I think she is, too.” What that would mean for her and Paldon, Alek didn’t know. Probably no one did. His chest tightened as he thought of his own mother, wondering what she would do. If she would join him the same way. He deliberately pushed his father out of his mind. There was grief at the thought of his father’s impending death and a touch of relief. Perhaps a bit of hope that his father might escape the ultimate punishment, but that in that escape, he would be put in a position where he could no longer do harm.

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