Page 69 of Her Cruel Alpha

I thought back to that day. I had been so hurt and angry that I hadn’t even thought of that. I just thought he didn't like me.

“But…why didn’t you just say that? Why would you act like I was the worst person possible, and you hated me?”

He shrugged. “Because I feared you would have been okay with that. That you would have said you could have stepped aside when you needed to, but I never wanted that. I never wanted you to be hurt. I don’t date people knowing there is no serious future with them.”

He pressed his forehead against mine. “So believe me when I say you are the only person that I want and the only person I will ever want. And I am so glad your computer spit our names out together.”

I couldn’t help but blush. “Well, you're welcome.”

He chuckled. “Now, let’s go to bed. It’s like two in the morning, and we have a meeting with the Council at eight.”

I wanted to groan at that, but I didn’t. I instead hopped off the counter and went with Henrik to his room. We curled up closely under the sheets like we had so many times before, but tonight my heart felt different. It felt whole.

Chapter 24 - Henrik

“How long are they going to make us wait?” Frank asked as he stood a few feet away from us, tapping his foot with his arms crossed.

“Maybe take a seat,” Jay said as he leaned back, wrapping his arm around Sam’s chair. Sam leaned into him, looking tired still.

“How can you be so patient? What happened to you? You would have been the first person to storm in there.” Frank asked, waving a hand at Jay.

“I got married and have a child,” Jay said. “And you are acting way more childish than our daughter is.”

Jones snorted in his chair, and Frank snapped his head at him. Aaron waved a hand. “Alright, let’s not argue. Frank, you’re crabby because you didn’t get enough sleep. Let’s not take it out on everyone.”

“I’m crabby because I have an entire pack to worry about and instead, I’m stuck here.”

“We all have packs to worry about,” Maddox said back. “You aren’t the only one.”

Frank crossed his arms. “Correction, I have the largest pack, and my drive is the farthest.”

“You have a beta that is watching over it.”

Frank snorted. “My beta is a dumbass.”

I was confused by this. Didn’t Frank trust his people the way that Jay and Henrik trusted his? “Wait, didn’t you pick him?”

Everyone froze for a moment before Frank shook his head and looked at me. “Not entirely.”

“It’s his brother,” Henrik said softly. “And they don’t agree on a lot.”

I glanced at Henrik. “I don’t understand.”

“Frank and his brother were both raised to be Alphas but they knew only one would get the position. Their father handed it down.”

Before I could say anything, the doors in front of us opened and we could see that the Council was waiting inside. Everyone started in and I looked at Henrik. He gave me a gentle squeeze, placing a kiss on my forehead. We had no idea what was coming, but at least I knew Henrik was on my side.

We each took a seat in a chair, as the Council waited. I could see they looked uncomfortable as we settled. Tensions were high, and everyone wanted answers. Some questions were going to remain unanswered.

“They looked unhappy,” I whispered to Henrik.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen them happy,” Henrik whispered back. He squeezed my hand, not letting go.

“Who would like to continue to conversation we had yesterday?” Jenissa asked, tapping her fingers on the table. Her eyes landed on me and I knew they wanted me to speak.

“I made my phone calls and hurried over to find Henrik surrounded by the darkness.”

“And yet he is unscathed. How is it he is fine, yet we have dead bodies from others it touched.”

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