FIGHTING FOR THE ALPHA'S MARK

Eight

Xavier's POV

I stood in my study, a glass of amber liquid in my hand, and stared out at the grounds of my estate. The sun was just beginning to cast shadows across the lawns.

Sasha was back. But there was something about her that didn’t sit right.

After a month of gut-wrenching silence, after chasing dead ends and hounding my security team, Sasha was home.

She looked the same. But the fire was gone.

The woman I had married was a hurricane. Sasha loved to argue. She was competitive to a fault, and our life together had always been a battle of wills.

That sharpness in her eyes, the one that constantly challenged and provoked me, had been replaced by something that looked like fear.

Dr. Johnson was on his way. He would run his tests and give a diagnosis. Amnesia. Trauma-induced psychosis. Something clinical to explain Sasha's strangeness.

But I felt it in my bones. It was more than that. It was as if her very essence had been altered.

Bitterness swelled in my chest. Our marriage had been in shambles for years. If not for the political pact that bound our families, and for the sake of our daughter, Adelaide, I would have ended it long ago.

She had cheated. I knew it. Deep in my gut.

In the months leading up to her disappearance, there was secrecy in the way she moved. She was meticulous. Her tracks were perfectly covered, so much so that even Gregory, my Beta and the most efficient investigator I knew, came up with nothing. No proof. Just my instincts screaming that I had been made a fool.

And now she was back. Soft, terrified, looking at me with the eyes of a doe caught in a rifle’s sight. The bond we had lost was back, roaring like fire, threatening to bring me to my knees. The universe had handed us a second chance, and despite the bitterness, I was hopelessly in love with her.

I checked the time. Seven thirty. I was torn between wanting to check on her and giving her space. I chose the latter, pulling a stack of pack-related parchments toward me, hoping they would distract me.

But my mind drifted back to five years ago, to a barely tolerable hotel in a struggling pack called Creek Keepers...

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Five Years Earlier

The whiskey was cheap, but the company of the other Alphas was a necessary evil. We had all gathered for the wedding of the pack’s Alpha, Ethan.

The man was a pompous fool, more concerned with appearances than with the suffering of his pack. I had no respect for him, but alliances required diplomacy.

After a few drinks, I was tipsy. I took my key card and headed back to my room. The hotel was the best they had, which wasn’t saying much. It simply sucked the least.

I stepped into the shower, letting the lukewarm water rinse off the day’s grime. That was when I heard the click of the door.

I wobbled but my senses went on alert. I shut off the water and wrapped a towel around my waist. But the sight in the bedroom stopped me cold.

A woman lay on my bed, her eyes half-lidded in a drunken haze, her legs parted. Written in ruby-red lipstick across her stomach were two words: f**k me.

I froze, struggling to process what I was seeing. I recognized her from the photos—Sasha, Alpha Henry’s granddaughter. The same woman I was set to meet in three days to finalize our arranged marriage.

It was a union I had dreaded, a political requirement meant to secure my title as Regional Alpha.

And then I caught her scent. Vanilla and lavender.

It was the most erotic, intoxicating scent I had ever encountered. My wolf stirred, jolting to life.

Mate.

The arrangement I had feared suddenly turned divine. She hadn’t been forced on me. She had come willingly. My fated mate.

I walked toward the bed, a slow smile spreading across my face. I traced the lipstick with a finger.

“Of course, I will,” I murmured before lowering my head and kissing the words away. She let out a breathy sound that lit a fire in my veins.

That night, we made love as if we had waited lifetimes. It was messy, drunken, and perfect.

Her sounds, her touch, the way her body arched against mine—it was flawless.

When I woke, sunlight streamed through the curtains. I reached for her, ready to make up for our clumsy night with a sober, focused morning.

But she was gone.

The bed was cold. Her scent lingered, a ghost of vanilla and lavender. I was disappointed but assumed she was just shy.

I didn’t care. She was beautiful. More beautiful than her pictures. And she was mine.

I skipped Ethan’s wedding. Let him whine about disrespect. I had found my mate. I waited all morning, but she never returned.

Weeks later, I heard whispers of a scandal. Ethan's bride had cheated, and he married her best friend instead. A disaster I was glad to have avoided.

That same day, I visited Alpha Henry’s pack to formally meet his granddaughter, Sasha. Henry was a cold, stingy man who had never liked me. His son was supposed to inherit the title of Regional Alpha, but he had only produced one female heir—Sasha’s mother. Marrying Sasha to me was his way of staying relevant.

Sasha opened the door herself. She wore a pale blue dress. She looked at me like I was a stranger. Like we hadn’t made love the night before.

The warmth, the scent, the bond—all gone.

There was no recognition in her eyes.

“Are you just going to stand there gawking?” she asked, her voice clipped.

I forced a smile and handed her the gift I had brought. She took it stiffly and led me to her grandfather.

The meeting was a disaster. Sasha was bored and dismissive. When her grandfather left us alone, she poured a drink and laid out the terms.

“Love is not part of this deal,” she said flatly. “Let’s just do what’s expected of us.”

Months after our wedding, I asked her about that night. She looked at me like I was insane.

“I’ve always suspected you had a few screws loose, Xavier. This confirms it.”

The years that followed were a cold war of silence in these halls. That bond I had felt never came back. Our marriage was a husk.

And then, on the day of my inauguration as Regional Alpha, she vanished.

Now she was back with a different softness and vulnerability. The bond had returned, blazing between us.

I was ready to forget the spoiled, sharp-tongued woman. I would erase those years. I would get her help. I would find whoever had taken her from me.

I stood and went to check on her.

I found her in her room. My heart clenched. Adelaide sat on her lap, playing with her hair. Sasha looked at her gently. The old Sasha never allowed such closeness. She used to shoo Adelaide away for the slightest mess or noise.

When she noticed me, she froze again, that same look of a deer caught in headlights.

Her body language disturbed me deeply.

“Good morning, honey,” I said, keeping my voice soft. “You both need to come eat. The doctor will be here soon.”

She nodded. I waited as she stood, gently placing Adelaide down. They walked past me, Adelaide chattering about school. I followed them to the dining room.

Sasha was silent as the staff served her.

“Do you remember anything?” I asked quietly. “Did someone help you? Rescue you? We’d like to thank them.”

She flinched. “I... I don’t remember,” she stuttered. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

I reached across the table, covering her hand with mine. She didn’t recoil. She trembled slightly but remained still.

“Your mother is returning today,” I said. “I called her last night. She wept when I told her you’d been found.”

Her gaze drifted. It was strange. Even without memories, one would expect a flicker of reaction. Sasha had always adored her family, especially her grandfather.

I squeezed her hand.

“I promise you that no one will ever hurt you again. I will protect you. You’re safe now.”

She wouldn’t meet my eyes. The urge to pull her close, to wrap her in everything I felt, was overwhelming.

But I waited.

The doctors would come. Then I would understand what was wrong. And only then could I begin to fix it.