The Alpha’s Forbidden Valkyrie

Chapter 6

Jax’s POV

The silence in the bar was so thick and suffocating, you could almost cut it with a knife. The neon light painted the shocked faces of my warriors red. No one in the room even dared to breathe after I said the words that changed the pack's fate forever.

Then, suddenly, a voice broke the silence. It was Kane. He laughed in pain and disbelief.

"Good joke, Alpha," he shook his head, looking around nervously, waiting for the others to join in. "I really almost fell for it. That a leech, our ancient enemy, would be the Alpha's mate... This is some sick test, right? You want to see how loyal we are to the laws?"

My gaze slowly locked onto him. My inner wolf, whom I had kept on a leash until now, broke to the surface in a rage. My eyes flashed golden-yellow in the dim light, and a deep, chest-rattling growl tore from my throat that made the bikers standing closest involuntarily take a step back.

I released my aura. The raw, dominant Alpha power that instantly brings the weak to their knees. Kane's laugh froze on his lips, his face turned gray, and he obediently bowed his head, exposing his throat.

"Do I look like I'm joking, Kane?" I thundered. My voice filled every corner. "Do you think I denied my pack's laws for fun?"

Silas slowly stepped out from behind the counter. His face was as tense as if it had been carved from stone. He was the Beta, the only one who dared to look me straight in the eye, but even in his gaze, utter chaos was hiding.

"Jax..." he started quietly, his voice hoarse. "This is impossible. There is no bond between vampires and wolves. The Moon Goddess wouldn't do this."

"Well, she did!" I snapped, and in my anger, an empty beer bottle slammed into the counter, shattering into a thousand pieces. "I felt it from the very first moment. When that mud-covered, trembling girl crossed the threshold of the pub, and I pinned her to the wall to tear her head off... my wolf fell to his knees before her. He recognized her."

I looked over my brothers. My men, with whom I had made a blood pact. I saw the feeling of betrayal in their eyes. They thought I had turned my back on them.

"Do you think I wanted this?" I continued, my voice quieter now, but razor-sharp. "Do you think I'm happy? I hate her for it! I hate her damn pointed fangs, I hate that the blood of the species that slaughtered my parents on the kitchen floor flows in her veins! Every ounce of my being is screaming to slit her throat, and yet... the bond makes me crazy for her. The Moon Goddess is playing a very cruel, sick joke on me. But if She decided this... then I have to accept it. And you have to accept it, too."

They looked at each other. In the pack, a fated mate was a sacred and untouchable thing. A wolf's life was tied to their mate. If the girl died, the Alpha's soul would be broken too, and the pack would be left without a leader. They knew this as well.

With a deep sigh, Silas rubbed his face, then nodded.

"If she is your mate, Alpha, then she is ours too. No one will raise a hand against her," he said firmly, shooting a murderous glare at Kane, who was silently staring at the floor. "But you said she's different. You claim she has never killed a human. What is our guarantee? What if she's just lying to save her own life?"

"She didn't lie," I replied darkly. "She had no strength left. I starved her for three days, chained in the dark, and when I shoved a bag of human blood in her face today, instead of pouncing on it, she almost threw up on my shoes. Her body is physically repulsed by human blood. She eats regular food, and if she really has to, she drinks animal blood. Her own clan wanted to execute her because she is unable to kill."

"Then what is she?" asked another biker from the back. "A vampire, but also not? What are those weird ears?"

I clenched my jaw. This was the question that was eating me up inside, too.

"She calls herself a mutt," I answered slowly. "A mix of two bloodlines. But what the other half is... even I don't know yet. There is something ancient in her. Something that makes the air spark when I touch her. And we are going to find out what it is."

I straightened up, and my gaze became commanding once again.

"Listen to me. We are locking down the territory. Double guards on the borders. If her vampire clan comes looking for her, we must be ready. We need to find out what the girl really is. I will interrogate her as soon as she gets her strength back. If it turns out she really is who she says she is... an innocent who doesn't hunt humans, then she stays under the pack's protection and no harm will come to her. But if it's proven she lied, and killer instincts are hiding inside her... I will finish her myself, mate bond or not. Am I clear?"

"Clear, Alpha!" the pack boomed in unison, though mistrust and tension still trembled in their voices.

I left them in the bar and slowly, with heavy steps, started walking up the wooden stairs.

When I opened the door to my bedroom, darkness and silence greeted me. Freya was still lying in the exact same position on my massive black bed as when I left her. I walked over to her. Under the heavy feather duvet, her breathing was more steady now, and her skin was slowly starting to regain its normal, pale color, losing that terrifying, ice-cold tone.

I sat on the edge of the bed and just watched her silently. A vampire. A mutant. My mate.

My hand took on a life of its own. Slowly, carefully, I reached out and traced my index finger along her unique, pointed earlobe. My skin immediately started to tingle from the dark, hot magic of the bond.

What the hell are you, Freya? I asked myself as my gaze lingered on her closed eyelids. And more importantly... what is going to happen to us when you wake up?