The Alpha’s forbidden mate

Chapter 4

Seraphina Blackwood was not a woman to be trifled with. She had been Luna of the Nightshade Pack for forty years, and she carried herself with the regal bearing of a queen. Her hair was silver, her eyes a piercing blue, and her temper was legendary. When she swept into Kael’s study two weeks after Elara’s arrival, the air temperature seemed to drop by ten degrees.

“Tell me it isn’t true,” she said.

Kael set down his pen. “Hello to you too, Mother.”

“Don’t you dare be flippant with me, Kael. I’ve been hearing the most extraordinary rumors. That you’ve taken in some rogue and declared her your mate. And that this rogue is her—that woman—the one who nearly destroyed my marriage.”

“It’s true.”

Seraphina’s composure cracked. For a moment, the imperious Luna looked every one of her sixty-three years, and something raw and wounded flickered in her eyes.

“How could you?” she breathed. “After what she did to this family. After what your father did. I’ve spent ten years trying to forgive him, trying to rebuild, and now you bring her back into our home?”

“She’s not the one who wronged you, Mother. Father did that.”

“She was complicit. She lay in his bed—”

“She was eighteen years old and had just watched her entire pack be slaughtered. She had no one. Father offered her protection and then named his price. Do you really think she had a choice?”

Seraphina’s mouth tightened. “She could have left.”

“And gone where? A young omega with no pack, no skills, no resources? She would have been dead within a month.” Kael stood, moving around the desk to face his mother. “I know you’re hurt. I know this brings back terrible memories. But Elara is my mate. The Moon Goddess chose her for me, and I won’t reject that bond.”

Seraphina stared at him for a long moment. Then, without another word, she turned and walked out of the study, her heels clicking against the stone like gunshot.

Elara’s leg healed slowly, but after three weeks, she could walk with a cane. Mari encouraged her to get fresh air, and so Kael began taking her to the pack house gardens, a sprawling oasis of roses and lavender and ancient oaks.

It was there, beneath a canopy of autumn leaves, that she finally began to open up.

“I used to dream about gardens like this,” she said, trailing her fingers over a cluster of late-blooming roses. “When I was a rogue, I lived in caves and abandoned cabins. I forgot what it felt like to be somewhere beautiful.”

“You’re welcome to stay as long as you like,” Kael said.

She glanced at him, a small smile tugging at her lips. “Your pack doesn’t agree. I hear them whispering. There goes the Alpha’s father’s whore.”

Kael’s wolf snarled. “Who said that? Give me a name.”

“It doesn’t matter. It’s true, isn’t it? That’s what I was.”

“No.” He caught her chin gently, tilting her face up to meet his gaze. “You were a survivor. You did what you had to do. And you are my mate. Anyone who disrespects you will answer to me.”

Elara’s breath hitched. The mate bond hummed between them, a living, pulsing thing. She could feel his fury, his protectiveness, his... tenderness. It overwhelmed her.

“Why are you so good to me?” she whispered.

“Because you’re mine,” Kael said simply. “And I protect what’s mine.”

He leaned in, slowly, giving her every chance to pull away. She didn’t. When his lips met hers, it was soft, tentative—a question rather than a demand. She answered by pressing closer, her hand coming up to rest against his chest.

The kiss deepened. The bond sang.

And somewhere in the shadows of the garden, a pair of cold blue eyes watched them with barely concealed fury.