Chapter 17: The Mark of a True Alpha
622 Words
The scent of blood lingered in the air.
Not mine.
Not the King’s.
His.
I pressed my hand harder against the True Alpha’s wound, feeling the torn muscle and raw heat of his skin beneath my palm. His silver eyes watched me—steady, unflinching, despite the pain.
“You shouldn’t have fought him,” I muttered, my voice barely above a whisper. “You knew you couldn’t win.”
His lips twitched, something dark flickering in his gaze. “That wasn’t the point.”
A slow, frustrated breath left my lips. “Then what was the point?”
His hand shot up, fingers wrapping around my wrist before I could pull away. His grip wasn’t tight. Just firm. Intentional.
“You,” he said.
My pulse stumbled.
He watched me like he was waiting for me to understand, to accept the weight of what he was saying. But I couldn’t. Not yet.
I ripped my wrist free. “You’re an idiot.”
He let out a breath of laughter. “Maybe.”
Silence stretched between us. I worked quickly, sealing his wounds with my power, my fingers tingling from the effort. Healing this much at once drained me, but I ignored the exhaustion creeping into my limbs.
I wasn’t letting him suffer because of me.
Because whether I liked it or not, this fight had been for me.
And that meant everything had changed.
His breath hitched as the last of the pain ebbed away, his body tensing beneath my touch. When I looked up, his silver gaze was still on me.
Like he was trying to see into me.
Like he had already decided something.
I swallowed hard, forcing myself to pull back. The weight of the night pressed in around us, thick with unspoken words.
Then, finally, he spoke.
“You’re more powerful than you realize.”
I exhaled sharply. “Don’t start—”
“It’s true.” He pushed himself up, rolling his shoulders as if testing his newly healed body. “The King sees it. He wouldn’t have spared you otherwise.”
My stomach twisted at the memory of the golden-eyed man, of the command in his voice, the way it had nearly crushed me. I had resisted him.
But barely.
And that terrified me.
“He spared me because I’m not a threat to him,” I said flatly.
The True Alpha’s expression darkened. “Not yet.”
Something in the way he said it made my breath catch.
“Not yet.”
Like it was a promise.
Like it was a warning.
My hands curled into fists. I wanted to deny it, to tell him he was wrong—but deep down, I knew.
I had felt it, hadn’t I? That burning inside me, that raw, untapped power clawing at the edges of my control. It wasn’t just my wolf.
It was something else.
Something more.
And whatever it was—
The King had recognized it.
A shiver crawled down my spine.
I didn’t want to think about what that meant. Not yet.
Instead, I focused on the man in front of me. The one who had risked his life for me.
The one whose presence felt like a battle I was already losing.
My voice was quieter when I spoke. “You should rest.”
His gaze softened. Just a fraction. “So should you.”
I ignored the way that made my chest feel too tight. “I’m fine.”
A knowing smirk tugged at his lips. “Liar.”
I scowled, but he only chuckled. And for the first time since this nightmare began, the air between us wasn’t so heavy.
For the first time—
I didn’t feel so alone.
- Writer
