The Alpha Who Claimed Me on Christmas

CHAPTER FOUR

They threw me into Kade's quarters like I was contaminated.

Not the concrete room. This was different. A bedroom in the Alpha's wing. Large. Well-appointed. Massive bed. Windows overlooking pack lands.

Beautiful prison.

The door locked behind me. I heard the bolt slide into place. Heard footsteps walking away.

I stood in the center of the room, still wearing the torn white dress. Blood had dried on my shoulder, crusty and dark. Kade's mark throbbed on my neck.

My hands were shaking. I couldn't make them stop.

Hybrid. Abomination. The words echoed in my head.

I moved to the bathroom. Large mirror. Polished stone. I saw myself for the first time since the ceremony.

The mark on my neck was vicious. Deep puncture wounds that would scar. He'd made sure of that. Made sure everyone would see his claim every time they looked at me.

But my eyes were what held my attention. They flickered as I watched. Amber to gold. Gold to amber. My wolf was too close to the surface now. The claiming had broken something inside me. The careful control I'd maintained for three years was crumbling.

I heard the door open behind me.

Kade.

I didn't turn around. I kept staring at my reflection, watching my eyes flicker between colors.

"We need to talk." His voice was carefully neutral.

"Do we?" I finally turned to face him. "Your abomination mate. Your breeding experiment gone wrong. What else is there to discuss?"

He'd changed out of the ceremonial clothes. Simple black pants and shirt now. His neck was unmarked. I'd been too busy trying not to transform to mark him back.

The mate bond was incomplete. Lopsided. He had more control.

Of course.

"You're a hybrid," he said. Not a question. A statement.

"Yes."

"How long?"

"Three years."

He moved closer, studying me like I was a puzzle. "The rogue Alpha. Zander. He bit you."

"He was going to die." The words came out sharp. "I was working late at the clinic. He came in, half-dead from silver poisoning. Human hospitals would have killed him. So I helped. And when I was stitching him up, he lost control. Bit me. Should have killed me."

"But it didn't."

"No. It changed me." I wrapped my arms around myself. "Turned me into something that shouldn't exist. Half Omega, half Alpha. The first of my kind, as far as I know."

Kade was quiet for a long moment. "You kept it hidden."

"Of course I kept it hidden. Hybrids are abominations, remember? Your brother made that very clear. The pack wants me dead."

"The pack is afraid."

"They should be." The words came out before I could stop them. "I'm stronger than most of your wolves now. Stronger than you, probably. But I still have an Omega's heat cycles. Still have the instincts to submit. It's a nightmare, Kade. Every day is a war between what I am and what I became."

He moved closer. Too close. I could smell him now. Pine and smoke and blood. My blood.

"Why didn't you tell me?" His voice was low. "When Pike brought you here. Why not tell me what you were?"

"And what? Give you more reason to use me?" I laughed, but it sounded broken. "You wanted my bloodline for breeding. Imagine how excited you'd be to know you could breed super-wolves. Hybrid children. Stronger than anything that's ever existed."

His jaw tightened. "That's not why I chose you."

"Isn't it? You said it yourself. My bloodline. Strong children. That's all I am to you. A womb with the right genetics."

"You're my mate."

"I'm your prisoner." I moved away from him, putting space between us. "You kidn*pped me. Threatened my mother. Forced me into a mate bond I didn't want. And now I'm trapped here while your pack decides whether to execute me."

"There's a tribunal tomorrow morning," he said quietly. "The pack council will decide your fate."

"My fate." The words felt surreal. "You mean they'll decide whether to kill me."

"Yes."

At least he was honest.

I sat on the edge of the bed, suddenly exhausted. Everything hurt. The mark on my neck. The bond pulling at me. The wolf inside me pushing to get out.

"My mother," I said. "You used her to force me here. Will you keep your word? Will she be taken care of?"

"Yes."

"Even if they execute me tomorrow?"

He was quiet for a long moment. "Yes. Whatever happens, your mother will be protected. I promise."

I looked up at him, searching his face for lies. The mate bond let me feel his emotions now. He was telling the truth.

It was something. Maybe the only thing I'd managed to save.

"Why did you defend me?" The question came out quieter than I meant. "After the ceremony. When Asher called me an abomination. You could have stayed silent. Let the pack's fear do the work for you. Instead, you stood beside me."

Kade moved to the window, staring out at the mountains. His back was to me.

"Five years ago, I rejected you because I thought you were weak," he said finally. "I thought the pack needed a strong Luna. Someone who could fight beside me. Command respect. I thought love was a liability. Choosing with my head instead of my heart made me a good Alpha."

"And now?"

"Now I realize I was an arrogant fool." His hands clenched into fists. "You survived a rogue Alpha attack that should have killed you. Survived a transformation that's never been documented. Built a life among humans and thrived. Came back here knowing I'd use you, and you did it anyway to save your mother." He turned to look at me. "You're the strongest wolf I've ever met, Mira. I was just too blind to see it."

The words hung in the air between us.

I wanted to believe him. The mate bond wanted me to believe him. But trust wasn't something I could just give.

"Pretty words don't change what you did," I said. "You still kidn*pped me. Still forced this bond. Still plan to breed me like livestock."

"I know." He moved toward me. Stopped a few feet away. "I know I'm a monster. I know I've hurt you. But I'm trying to keep this pack alive. That means making impossible choices."

"Like claiming an abomination?"

"Like claiming my mate." His eyes held mine. "Hybrid or not, you're mine now. The bond is sealed. And tomorrow, when they try to execute you, I'll defend you. Even if it costs me everything."

"Why?" My voice cracked. "Why would you risk your pack for someone you rejected?"

"Because I was wrong." The admission seemed to cost him. "Five years ago, I was wrong. And I've regretted it every day since."

The mate bond flared between us. I felt his sincerity. His regret. His determination.

But I also felt something else. Something darker.

Possession. Not love. Not affection. Possession.

He didn't love me. He wanted to own me. There was a difference.

"I need time," I said. "I need space to think."

"We don't have time. The tribunal is at dawn."

"Then I'll think fast." I stood, moving toward the bathroom. "Just go. Please."

He studied me for a long moment. Then he nodded and walked to the door.

"For what it's worth," he said quietly, "I am sorry. For rejecting you. For hurting you."

He left before I could respond.

I went into the bathroom and shut the door. Leaned against it. Slid down until I was sitting on the cold tile.

Tomorrow they might execute me. Tomorrow I might die for being something I never asked to become.

But tonight, I was alive. Mated. And trapped with a man who saw me as property.

The mark on my neck throbbed. Through the bond, I could feel Kade in his office. Feel his worry. His determination. His possession.

I touched the wounds. They were already starting to heal, but they'd scar. Everyone would see his mark. Everyone would know I belonged to him.

My wolf stirred. And this time, I let her. She pushed forward gently, filling me with her strength.

We were one now. The hybrid nature I'd feared for three years finally felt right.

Tomorrow, they'd try to kill me.

But I wasn't the weak Omega they remembered.

And it was time they learned what happened when you tried to cage a hybrid.