Page 27 of The Alpha's Bounty
“What the hell were you thinking?”he growls, his voice low and rough, every syllable vibrating through me.
Tears sting my eyes.I try to look away, but his gaze pins me, fierce and relentless.“I didn’t want to be a burden to you.”My voice cracks, small and thin in the heavy silence.“I thought if I went back and faced it, maybe you wouldn’t waste everything on me.I committed the crime.I should do the time.”
His growl deepens, and his hand slams against the steering wheel hard enough to make me flinch.“No, Mina.You didn’t do a damn thing wrong.They were stealing from you.For years.You only ever tried to take back what was yours.”His eyes burn into mine, sharp and unwavering.“If anything, they oweyou.”
My lips part, confusion rushing in with the tears.“But?—”
“I’ve already been working it out with them.The charges are gone.It’s over.”His hand finds mine, gripping it tight, grounding me.“You’re free.You never have to run again.”
Relief hits me so hard that it steals my breath.My chest caves, tears spilling hot and fast down my cheeks.Embarrassed, I try to wipe them away, but Cyrus curses softly and slams on the brakes, pulling us to the side of the road.
Before I can ask what he’s doing, he unbuckles me, drags me into his lap, and holds me like I’m breaking.His arms are iron bands around me, his chest solid and steady beneath my cheek, his lips pressed to my hair as he murmurs, “Shh.I’ve got you.I’ve always got you.”
I sob against him, clinging, my fingers curling in his shirt like he’s the only thing keeping me tethered.Because he is.Has been from the moment we met.
“I’m sorry,” I choke out.“I just—I didn’t want you to regret me.”
His hands frame my face, forcing me to look at him.His eyes are fierce, wet with tears of emotion.“Regret you?Mina, I’d die for you.I love you.”
The words slam into me, breaking me wide open.My tears blur everything, but I see him, see the truth in his eyes.The words rip out of me before I can stop them.“I love you, too.”
His mouth is on mine before the last syllable leaves my lips, desperate and claiming.I kiss him back with everything I have.Every ounce of fear, every scrap of longing, every piece of love I’ve been holding back pours out.
When he finally pulls away, he rests his forehead against mine, his voice rough.“Never leave me again.”
“Never,” I whisper, because now I know I couldn’t even if I tried.
We drive back to Night Grove Falls in silence, but it isn’t heavy.It’s full.His hand never leaves mine on the console, his thumb stroking my skin in slow, steady circles that keep me anchored.My heart feels lighter than it has in years.
By the time we reach the cabin, the exhaustion of the day catches up with me.But when he lifts me into his arms and carries me inside, the world narrows to the heat of his body, the strength of his hold, the love burning in his eyes when he sets me down on the bed.
I pull him down with me, our mouths meeting again, softer now but no less desperate.His weight settles over me, his arms cage me in, and for the first time, I don’t feel trapped.I feel safe.
The rest is a blur of heat and whispers, of love and relief and promises sealed with every touch.And when the world finally fades around me, it isn’t with fear, or guilt, or regret.
It’s with Cyrus.
Always with Cyrus.
ELEVEN
Cyrus
Five Years Later…
Sawdust clingsto me as I step out of the truck, stretching the ache from my shoulders.The pack had me at the mill all day, helping reinforce the new storage building, and my muscles are letting me know they didn’t appreciate the extra hours.But it’s a good kind of sore.The kind that comes from honest work, from building something that will last.
It’s been five years since Mina came into my life, and every day since has felt a little like this, like creating something solid and enduring, one careful beam at a time.
The house glows warmly through the trees.Our home.Not just my cabin anymore.Ours.Mina made sure of that by adding curtains, plants, photographs, and shelves filled with books.She bakes bread on Sundays when the weather turns cold, and the smell carries all the way to the edge of the property.She insists on tending the little garden, even when I tell her she doesn’t have to.And every wolf, every bear, every soul in this pack knows they can find her there with dirt under her nails and a smile on her lips.
I head inside, shaking off the cool evening air.
“Mina?”I call, my voice bouncing off walls that don’t feel empty anymore.
“In the kitchen!”
Her voice still does things to me.Always will.
