The Alpha's and Their Assassin Mate

Chapter 8

Dean's POV

I glanced at my pups as the sound of running water filled the silence. Asher and Kelly curled together, their tiny chests rising in perfect sync.

I thought I’d already hit the ceiling of what a heart could hold when Max chose us. But looking at them… goddess, it’s like something inside me cracked open. I didn’t know love could expand like this, didn’t know two tiny lives could become the center of everything I am. My universe.

“They are ours,” Titan said softly — a rare softness.

I swallowed hard, emotion tightening my throat.

“We protect them,” Titan added. “Always.”

When Max reappeared, she was wearing a sleeveless white dress with yellow sunflowers. Her hair was damp and her skin flushed from scrubbing. She looked more alive than she had in days — but the exhaustion still clung to her, etched in the slope of her spine, the way her hands trembled as she tucked a loose strand behind her ear.

“She’s beautiful,” Titan said in awe, and I couldn’t agree more.

“Feeling better?” I asked, catching her hand and pressing a kiss to her palm.

She exhaled, her lips twitching. “A little.”

“Good.” I entwined our fingers, tugging her toward the door. “Because we’re going somewhere special.”

Her brow furrowed. “Special? Dean, I thought we were just taking a walk to the garden.”

“Nope.” I brushed my thumb over her knuckles, smirking at her wary expression. “Trust me, you’re going to love it.”

She hesitated, casting one last glance at the twins. I squeezed her hand and reassured her, “the nurses have our number. Plus, Amelia agreed to watch over them. She’ll call if anything changes.”

Max gave me a small smile. “You mean she jumped for joy at being asked?”

We chuckled.

“Pretty much,” I said.

It was a much‑needed moment of lightness and laughter.

“She probably nearly tripped running here,” Titan added, teased.

Max gave the pups one final kiss on their perfectly plump cheeks. Then she let me lead her out the doorway and into the hall towards the nurse’s station.

“Nurse,” I said to Camilla, who had a look of surprise to see Max with me. “We are going for a walk. Amelia is on her way to watch over them. She should be here shortly.”

“We will let her enter when she arrives. Have a good walk, Luna. Alpha,” she said with a head bow, a sign of respect.

I turned to Max and held out my arm. She tucked her hand in my elbow and let me lead her outside.

Sunlight hit Max’s skin, and she gasped like she’d forgotten the feeling. The breeze carried the crisp scent of pine and distant wildflowers. The rustle of leaves overhead was a quiet lullaby after days of beeping monitors and hushed voices.

Max tilted her face up, eyes closed, breathing deep. “Oh, my goddess,” she muttered. “So, ts this what fresh air smells like?” She teased.

I grinned, leaning against a nearby tree, arms crossed. “Shocking, right? Turns out, grass is still grass. Sky’s still blue and the world didn’t end while we were in there.”

She cracked an eye open. “You sure? Because I could’ve sworn I saw a velociraptor in the parking lot.”

“That was just Mrs. Henderson’s Pomeranian.” I teased back.

Max snorted. Then, as if her body remembered how to function without adrenaline, her shoulders slumped — an unspoken surrender.

“See?” I said, walking over to her, then nudged her with my elbow. “You’re looking better already.”

She hummed, noncommittal, but I didn’t miss the way her fingers brushed mine. A silent thank you.

“I feel her relief,” Jason said, “I take it everything is going okay.”

“Yep, I’ll let you know when we’re back,” I said, then closed the link. I wanted some alone time with my mate.

Instead of the gardens, I steered her toward the mountain path at the edge of our territory — a hidden trail I’d discovered weeks ago while fleeing a vengeful squirrel. Long story.

“Dean,” she said, as the trees thickened around us, their branches weaving a canopy overhead. “Where are we going?”

I smirked. “Patience, Little Star.”

She groaned. “Ugh. Pet names. That’s how cults start, you know.”

“Too late. You already signed the blood oath,” I said jokingly.

“That was a marriage license,” she said as she rolled her eyes.

“Tomato, tomahto.”

She elbowed me in the ribs, but there was no heat behind it.

I continued to lead her deeper into the woods, where we found her favorite running path. She is a magnificent tiger-dragon dual shifter. When she is on all fours, she loves this path, especially in the spring. She says it has the most beautiful wildflowers. I wouldn’t know. I’m too busy watching my enchanting mate. When in dragon form, she loves to soar above pack lands. She and Zane have a special place in the mountains somewhere. I guess now we will have our special place.

I had to stop and look around. At first, I thought we might have gone too far until I spotted the weeping willow up ahead. The entrance is just past that.

“We’re almost there, just past that tree,” I told her and continued to lead her to the cave.

The entrance wasn’t something you’d stumble upon by accident. Tucked behind a curtain of thick vines and half‑hidden by a craggy overhang, it looked more like vines were crawling up the rock than anything worth looking at twice. If you weren’t looking for it — or, in my case, being aggressively chased by something — you’d walk right past it.

In all the years we’ve been here, I have walked past it multiple times. Right until the day a vengeful squirrel decided he was tired of being hunted and wanted to do the hunting. He attacked and bit Titan like he was the enemy of the lands.

“He ambushed me,” Titan grumbled. “Tiny little demon.”

As Titan went to jump up the rocks, he fell through the vines. Tendrils of cool, damp air curled out to greet us. The scent was earthy — like wet stone and old moss — with something wilder underneath, something green and alive.

When Max and I arrived at the entrance, I pulled the vines aside so she could see inside. Max hesitated for a heartbeat and stood still. Composing herself, she smirked. “Okay, if this turns into a horror movie, I’m pushing you in and running the opposite way.”

“You’re the dragon, I should be the one saying that,” I chuckled. “Relax. If anything jumps out, I’ll throw myself in front of you dramatically and be very heroic.”

She rolled her eyes but followed, her fingers curling into the back of my shirt like a kid scared of the dark.

“I never thought mate would be scared of a cave,” Titan murmured. “At least she trusts you to protect her.”

“Why wouldn’t she trust me?” I scoffed. “You’re the one who ran in here like a scared pup.”

Titan answered with a low growl.

Max wrinkled her nose. “It smells like a gym bag in here.”

“A magical gym bag,” I corrected, flicking a droplet of water from the cave’s ceiling at her.

She dodged, swatted at me, and giggled. “How the hell did you even find this place?”

I grinned as I led her further inside and turned to face her. “Okay, so picture this: Titan, mid‑run, minding our own business—”

“Liar.” She interjected with an eye roll.

“—when suddenly, BAM. Squirrel warfare.”

Max blinked. “A squirrel… hunted you… into a cave.”

“Hey! We strategically retreated into a cave,” I corrected. “And before you mock me, just know — that squirrel had plans, Max. Dark, unholy plans.”

“He drew blood,” Titan muttered darkly. “Stupid tiny little demon.”

Max burst out laughing, clutching her stomach as tears ran down her cheeks. At first, I was irritated but her laugh was infectious, and I soon the irritation melted away as I joined in. Her laughter echoed off the stone, bright and alive. For the first time in days, she sounded like herself.

“There she is,” Titan whispered, almost reverent.

We got our laughter under control, and she followed me deeper inside, her fingers brushing the damp walls. The stone was smooth in places, worn down by centuries of water, and in others, jagged as teeth. The deeper we went, the more the air changed — less damp earth, more something crisp and mineral, like the breath of the mountain itself.

We rounded a corner, and there was a light up ahead.

“How did you find this?” Max asked.

“We had no clue this place led and our curiosity got the better of us and we started exploring,” I replied.

“Did you switch bodies with Jason?” she asked. I let her see my confusion at her question. “It sounds like something Jason would do, not you,” she clarified.

I chuckled. “Actually, I used to be very adventurous as a kid,” I told her. “When I was about five or six years old, we switched packs, so there were new areas to explore which drove my mom crazy when I didn’t come home on time.”

Max parted her lips to ask something, but the words never made it out.