The Alpha's Secret Mate

chapter 11

Silence stretched between us like a drawn blade.

The moment his eyes landed on me, I knew he could see straight through every wall I had built. There was nowhere to hide beneath that cold, piercing gaze. My breath turned shallow, my fingers tightening around the strap of my bag until they ached.

He took one slow step forward.

Instinct begged me to move back, to flee before he came any closer, but my feet refused to obey. I stood frozen, forcing myself to meet his stare even as my pulse thundered in my ears.

“I know I am nothing but a burden to you,” I said softly, though the words scraped my throat raw. “I won’t stand in the way of this marriage. If you want me gone, I’ll leave. I’ll disappear and stay far from your life.”

For a second, he said nothing.

Then something shifted in his expression—something dark and unreadable.

He moved closer, the distance between us shrinking until I could feel the warmth of his body and breathe in the sharp scent of cedar and rain that clung to him. My lungs forgot how to work.

“But what if I don’t want you far from me?” he murmured.

My heart stumbled.

I stared up at him, searching his face for mockery, for cruelty, for anything that would make sense of those words. Instead, all I found was a dangerous calm that unsettled me more than rage ever could.

“I... I don’t understand,” I whispered.

His hand rose slowly, giving me every chance to pull away.

I didn’t.

His fingers brushed a loose strand of hair from my face, tucking it behind my ear with a gentleness so unexpected it sent a spark through me. The touch was light, almost tender, and it made my skin burn.

For all I knew, this was a game to him.

Perhaps I was only another toy for a feared alpha who found amusement in breaking people piece by piece.

I wanted to hate him.

I wanted to shove him away and remind myself of every reason I should fear him.

But my body betrayed me.

My pulse raced wildly beneath my skin. Heat spread wherever his fingers had touched. My shoulders stiffened when his hand slid lower, grazing the line of my neck, and a shiver escaped me before I could stop it.

I despised how aware I was of him.

I despised the way my body reacted while my mind screamed for distance.

Then his dark eyes lifted to mine again, and every thought inside me scattered like ash in the wind.

The Alpha’s smirk faded the instant his eyes landed on my wrist.

Something dark flickered in his gaze before his brows knitted together. Without a word, he reached for my hand, his touch unexpectedly careful as his fingers wrapped around my wrist. He lifted it slightly, studying the angry bruise staining my skin.

Heat crawled up my neck.

His touch sent a traitorous shiver through me, but it was not that which unsettled me most—it was the bruise. It should have been gone by now.

Any normal wolf would have healed already.

But mine remained, glaring and ugly, exposing the truth I had fought so hard to hide.

I had no wolf.

Panic slithered through me.

What if he noticed? What if he understood why the wound still lingered? The moment he learned what I was—what I lacked—he would cast me aside without hesitation. I could already picture it: the car door thrown open, my body shoved onto the lonely roadside, the vehicle disappearing into the dark while I was left behind like something worthless.

Who would want a Luna who could not even shift?

My thoughts spiraled faster and faster until they became a storm I could no longer outrun. Pain throbbed behind my temples. The walls of the car felt too close, the air too thin.

Sometimes my own mind was the cruelest prison.

I wished I could step outside of it for just one breath of peace.

Then suddenly, fury struck me like a physical blow.

My eyes snapped up.

The rage flooding the car was not mine.

It was his.

The Alpha’s jaw had hardened, his gaze fixed on the bruises blooming across my skin. Something savage simmered beneath the surface, something barely restrained.

My blood ran cold.

Had he figured it out?

Was he disgusted by me?

Was he about to throw me out?

“Stop the car.”

His voice cracked through the silence like thunder.

The driver slammed on the brakes, and my heart lurched violently in my chest.

This was it.

I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for the humiliation, for harsh words, for the moment he would tell me to get out.

Instead, I felt the rough pad of his thumb brush softly across my wrist.

I froze.

“Find the nearest pharmacy,” he ordered his Beta from the front seat. “Bring me healing cream.”

My eyes flew open.

The Beta turned, confusion plain on his face, but one look at the Alpha’s expression silenced whatever questions he had. He nodded quickly and stepped out of the car.

Healing cream was rare and costly, made for nobles, warriors, those important enough to deserve fast recovery.

Not people like me.

When the Beta returned, the Alpha took the small tube from him and dismissed him with a glance. Then he turned back to me.

My breath caught as he held my hand in his larger one, warm and steady. He uncapped the cream and began to spread it over the bruised skin.

Pain made me wince.

At once, his touch gentled.

The harsh, feared Alpha—the man who could command armies with a word—handled my injured wrist as though it were something precious enough to break.

And somehow, that tenderness frightened me more than his anger ever could.

…………

A quiet warmth stirred in her chest as his fingers moved gently over her wrist, smoothing the cream into her skin. It felt strange—almost unsettling. He had only known her for a few hours, yet there was a softness in the way he handled her, a care I wasn’t used to. In the South, kindness like this was rare. Except for Maria, no one had ever bothered to tend to her wounds. Most believed I deserved them.

I didn’t know what to make of it. The feeling was unfamiliar, like stumbling upon a discovery I had no name for.

“It should work,” he said quietly, his voice steady, his grip lingering around her wrist. “If you feel any discomfort, let me know.”

glanced at him, confusion flickering in her eyes. Why was he so caring?

“Thank you… for your kindness, Alpha,” she murmured.

His expression shifted, growing more serious, his gaze searching her face. “How long have you been enduring this?”

The question tightened something inside her. Her back stiffened, and the words she might have said died before they could form.

She couldn’t tell him. Not the truth. Once he knew, he would see her the same way everyone else did. It was only a matter of time before her misfortune—and the absence of a wolf—would reveal itself. And when it did, he would turn away from her, just like the rest.

Silence fell between them as she lowered her gaze to her shoes, retreating into herself.

A soft click of his tongue broke the quiet. There was frustration in his eyes now, etched into the sharp lines of his face. “I should have come sooner.”

She shook her head quickly. “No… it’s my fault.” Her voice wavered, fragile. “My family doesn’t like me very much… because of certain reasons. I wish you hadn’t gone against them…”

Her words trailed off, heavy with things left unsaid.