Page 43 of Becoming the Alpha

“Where is Dean?”

“He and Amara fought the whole way back so he stormed off. I’m sure he’ll find his way over here soon. He’s pouting.”

I laughed, shaking my head. I ruffled Laura’s hair again. “Alright kid, well, I’m going to talk to Mom. Go hang out in the castle. We’ll be in as soon as I can. We have a lot to catch up on.”

Laura scowled, then kissed me on the cheek and wrapped her hands around my waist, squeezing me in a tight hug. “I’m glad you’re okay. I probably would have missed you if Dad had won.”

Her voice was muffled, but I could plainly hear the fear she was working hard to hide and her shoulders were shaking as tears soaked my shirt. I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her closer. “I would have missed you too, kid. I love you.”

“I love you too, Jason.”

“Alright,” I said, releasing her and nudging her toward the castle. “Get going. We can continue this little love fest later.” Laura scoffed. “As if.” She wiped her tears and skipped away. I shook my head, approaching my mom.

“My boy,” She sighed, throwing her arms open to wrap me up. I squeezed her as tightly as I did Laura, burying my face in her shoulder and breathing in the comforting smell that was my mother. I pulled away after a few seconds, determined not to break down in the middle of the castle grounds. My mom put a hand to my cheek and tilted her head, smiling up at me.

“I’m so proud of you, my boy. You are everything I hoped you would be and more. I am so sorry you had to go through all of this with your father. It isn’t right, but you handled it better than I thought you could have. I can’t wait to see what you do next.”

“Thank you, Mom. I love you and I am so grateful for everything you did for me.”

“Now, we have years to spend time together without that man ruining everything,” She smiled, patting my cheek and then turning to follow after Laura. I raised an eyebrow and cocked my head, lost in my thoughts as I watched her walk away.

A throat behind me cleared. I turned around to see Amara standing there, her eyes on the ground and an uncomfortable tension in her shoulders. I frowned, my body tensing in preparation of what was to come. “Amara? What happened?”

“Oh, nothing, Your Majesty,” Amara blinked up at me in confusion. She glanced behind her and looked up at me with slightly pink cheeks. “I was just sent to tell you that if you want to speak with Lily, you’ll need to catch her.”

I blinked, relief pouring over me as I realized there wasn’t another issue I had to deal with at the moment. I turned to follow where Amara’s hand was pointing and saw a beautiful, dark brown wolf at the edge of the forest, her gaze trained on where I was standing. I could spot the black tipped ears and the black spots on her muzzle from where I was standing. Her black tipped tail was calmly sweeping on the ground behind her. A feral grin spread across my face and I began making my way toward her, peeling off my shirt and kicking off my shoes. My mate watched me the entire time, her eyes tracking my movements.

“Run, pretty girl. I’m here to catch you,” My voice had grown deep as my wolf pushed forward. My mate stood, shook her fur before taking off into the forest. I allowed my wolf control, shifting quickly. We were sprinting through the trees as soon as I got my feet under me. I was going after my mate and there was nothing to stop me from claiming her the way two fated mates were meant to do. The rebels, the issues with the kingdom, and everything else we had to deal with could be handled later. Right now, the only thing that mattered was me and my wolf going after our mate - the love of our life.

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