Page 121 of Alpha's Redemption

I stare at the darkness outside before a low, deep growl vibrates throughout the cabin as an enormous wolf I recognize, not only by scent but by his fur, to be John. His paws make the floorboards creak as he steps inside.

My legs give out from under me, realizing I won't have to die alone. More footsteps on the stairs outside reach my ears when John spots me.

“He's dead,” I whisper. His body relaxes, and Kalen steps in behind him, pushing the door open more as John shifts back. I turn my gaze away, knowing he’s naked. John moves toward the bed and I hear the blanket get yanked back.

“That he is,” John states. I look at Kalen, who nods at John's words.

“Good. Now, what are you doing on the floor?” Kalen asks, and I blink at him.

“Dying!” I laugh, rolling my eyes at him. Great, now I’m numb—I can joke about my own death.

“Nonsense,that'swhat death looks like,” Kalen says as he points to Carter.

“Is that an antler?” John asks curiously, holding up the bloody piece of bone. Kalen shakes his head at John before turning his attention back to me.

“Well, time to clean this mess up,” he says, moving toward me, and I snort. He crouches in front of me.

“I killed my mate,” I tell him.

“So did I,” Kalen whispers, but I shake my head.

“Maybe not the same way, but I killed my Val. You know it, and I know it. What you did was brave. What I did was cowardly,” Kalen tells me, gripping my face in his hands. “Now get up. You have a little girl to get home to, and I got grandbabies to meet.”

“I can't go back like this. I won't force Taylor to watch me die. She will not remember me this way,” I tell him.

“No. Taylor won't have to remember you, Macey because you are not dying. Now get up!” John says, and I look over at him to see he’s stolen a pair of Carter's shorts from the bag and slipped them on.

“What about him? Even if I miraculously survive, I killed someone in cold blood. He was no threat to me,” I tell them.

“Sadly, Carter won't be missed,” Kalen says, and to me, that trulyissad, because despite everything, I know he was just broken and twisted. He wasn’t a complete monster—I saw parts of him that proved that.

“Yeah, but the courts and council won't see it that way,” I tell them before coughing.

“If that's the case, you never killed him. Just like you didn't kill Preston—I did,” Kalen states, and I look at him before I heave.

Blood splatters the floor and covers Kalen's already drenched shirt. John steps forward as I choke on my blood. When I finally stop coughing, my throat feels extremely itchy. I know it’s pointless to worry, because I’ll be dead long before I get home.

“Suppose it doesn't matter,” I tell them, holding up my hand, drenched in my blood. Kalen looks at John, who nods. Kalen’s eyes turn glassy and he clears his throat before shaking his head and John stalks toward me almost angrily as he hauls me to my feet.

“You are not dying on us! So choose. Me or Kalen? Choose. Because I am not going home without you!” John growls.

I look between them as Kalen grabs a makeshift chair and John shoves me down in it.

“You will choose, Macey. Neither one of us wants the job of telling your daughter their mother is dead when we could have saved you,” Kalen says.

I swallow, glancing between them and saying nothing. If I choose one, either way, I would be Valen's new stepmother or Everly's. That thought disgusts me. I love these two old fossils, but not in that sense, and after feeling the bond with Carter, I know what marking one of them would make me feel towards them. It was inevitable and so gross!

Yet, I also have no choice. This is my chance to go home to my baby.

“Fine, rock, paper, scissors?” Kalen says, turning to John.

“You won't choose, we'll choose for you,” John adds.

I look at my dead mate on the bed, his body cold, and the two men who are old enough to be my damn father. I know Valen or Everly would forgive me for marking one of their dads, yet it feels wrong. The one person Iwantas a mate, I can't have, and my true mate is dead because I killed him.

Panic courses through me as I watch them repeatedly tie, both of them becoming frustrated as they shake their fists and both go scissors.

“This is ridiculous,” I mutter at the stupid situation I’m stuck in. Of course, not only did the Moon Goddess give me a shitty mate, she had to make two old guys be the ones to find me and is now forcing me to choose between them to save my life.

---