Barricade
1840 Words
Ethan, still vibrating with the powerful surge of protective rage, barely waited for Josh to drag Clara away before he moved. He wrapped an arm around Alicia's waist, though he looked one second away from sweeping her off her feet. He guided her out of the storage room as though she had been standing inside a collapsing building.
"Let's get out of this smoke," he growled, voice ragged at the edges, like a wolf that had barely been reined back.
Alicia repeatedly insisted she didn't get close to the fire. "Ethan, I'm fine, really. I didn't touch anything." She was bothered by the chaos than the smoke. She was even more baffled why Clara would go to such an extreme, attempt arson just to create problems for her.
Ethan didn't even listen to her or give anyone else a chance to voice their opinions or offer explanations. For him, a verdict has been met, one based entirely on his trust in Alicia and his knowledge of Clara's ambition. Clara could have burned the entire wing down and he still would have only cared about whether Alicia had inhaled a single breath of smoke.
Alicia knew this, and somehow, that warmed her from the inside out. Only her second day in the pack, and Ethan was acting like she was worth more than every omega, council member, and supply room put together.
The warmth was strange, disorienting, but soft. She wasn’t used to people caring if she coughed. She wasn’t used to people caring, period.
"I'm sorry," she murmured when they were seconds away from his office, the quiet corridors, a welcome contrast to the storage wing.
Ethan stopped, he turned slowly, opening the office door but not stepping inside. His eyes softened. "For what? You didn't do anything wrong," he said softly, his voice regaining its normal tone.
Alicia looked at the floor, shame creeping up her throat. “I just… I don’t think I’m worthy...”
“Shhhh.” Ethan cut her off, placing one finger lightly against her lips. His eyes silver and black mixed in an impossible storm, held hers. “Don’t you ever say that to me again.”
He guided her inside the office, closing the door with his free hand while the other never left her lower back. When he spoke, his voice had gentled, but it held something unshakeable beneath it.
"I know giving you responsibility on your first day here was fast," he admitted, his voice low as he guided her to his desk. "But I wasn’t doing it to burden you."
His gaze darkened as Cole surfaced, the wolf pushing forward until Ethan’s eyes were pure, fierce black. This was Cole’s raw declaration.
"I did it to show this pack who their Luna is," Ethan declared, his voice deepening to an authoritative rumble. "I wanted them to know that you are able to do it, and most importantly, I wanted you to believe in yourself that you can do it." He paused, the intensity shifting, his expression turning profoundly affectionate.
Alicia swallowed, her breath caught in her chest, overwhelmed by the sheer force of his belief.
"And you," he continued, brushing a strand of hair gently off her cheek, "you don't have to do anything if you don't want to. You could have said no, but you didn't, you didn't shy away from the responsibility. Instead, you happily stepped up, even though the original task was more than you could handle."
His hand came up, cupping her jaw with an unexpected tenderness for such a physically imposing man. "You were willing." He stressed the word. "That alone was more than enough."
Her throat tightened. No one had ever valued her willingness over her actual success.
"You don’t ever have to take on anything you don’t want," he added, his voice dipping lower, almost a protective growl. "Ever. Not in this pack. Not with me."
He then pulled her into a deep, tight hug, grounding himself in the scent of mountain roses that clung to her skin, sweet, soft, and unmistakably hers. Beneath it lingered the faint trace of the smoke, which only made his wolf surge protectively again. He didn’t loosen his grip until he felt her small, fragile body ease slightly, accepting the absolute safety of his embrace.
"I… I need to tell you something.” Alicia said hesitantly. He pull back from the embrace, far enough to catch her eyes. His hands remained firmly on her arms, steadying her, the physical connection a constant reassurance. Ethan nodded once, his expression open and patient.
“What is it, Luna?” he asked quietly. His voice softened the title, turning it into something intimate, asking her to trust him completely. “I’m listening,” he said, giving her a small, encouraging smile.
She swallowed, twisting her fingers anxiously where they rested on his chest. Taking a shaky breath, the residual fear of admitting weakness battling with the overwhelming trust he had shown her.
“I think something is blocking my wolf from reaching yours,” she said in a rush, as though the painful truth had been sitting behind her teeth. “Skylar can feel Cole near, she feels that he’s safe, and protective, but the mate bond?” She lifted her eyes helplessly. “We can’t feel it. Not the pull. Not the connection. Not the certainty.”
Ethan thought for a minute, the confession confirming the deep, cold worry that had been nagging him since they met. Every second with Alicia felt like being fulfilled; Cole roared with possessive joy every time she was near. Yet, she felt none of it.
A flash of something akin to annoyance and deep, cold worry passed quickly through his eyes before he masked it completely. Could the old witch be right? Inside him, Cole snarled in raw distress.
'She can’t feel us. She can’t feel me.'
"Maybe it's the rejection," Ethan offered, his words sounding hollow even to himself. A standard rejection wouldn't completely shut down the new bond; it would only delay the initial flare. This felt like a complete barricade. All through the previous night, he was bothered that she couldn't feel the maddening intensity of the mate bond. Now that she had confirmed his worst fear, it only meant that something else was at play.
Alicia’s shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I wish I could feel what you feel…”
Ethan didn’t let her finish. He pulled her straight into his arms again, this time crushing her to his chest with a fierceness that bordered on desperation.
“You shouldn’t apologize for that,” he murmured roughly, pressing his cheek against her hair. “It's not your fault.”
"It doesn't matter," he whispered fiercely into her hair after a short pause. "I feel enough for both of us. Whether you feel it or not, the bond exists. It's tied to our souls, not just our emotions. We will figure out what the blockade is, and we will break it."
Alicia’s breath caught, his words, resonating deep within her. She nodded against his shoulder, a silent affirmation. Tears pricked the back of her eyes, not from sorrow, but from a profound, overwhelming relief.
For the first time since she was a child, nobody was blaming her for something she didn't do. No one was punishing her for things beyond her control. For the very first time, someone, this powerful, volatile, fiercely loyal Alpha, was willing to accept her just the way she was, without condition, without demanding anything in return. He wasn't asking for her love, her loyalty, or her competence; he was simply offering his own, freely given.
She pulled back slightly, looking up at him with a gaze shimmering with gratitude and nascent trust. "Thank you, Ethan," she whispered, the name now flowing naturally.
He pulled back just enough to cup her face in his hands. His thumb brushed her cheek in a motion painfully tender for a man built like a weapon.
“There is nothing to thank me for, Luna. You and your wolf are mine,” he whispered, voice cracking with emotion he would never admit aloud. “And nothing will keep you from me. Not magic, not fear and certainly not the past.”
Alicia blinked rapidly, overwhelmed, her heart stumbling into a rhythm she didn’t recognize. Ethan pressed a soft kiss against her forehead.
“We’ll fix this,” he breathed. “I promise you, Luna. We’ll fix it together."
His vow was terrifyingly sincere. Alicia felt something in her chest loosen, like a knot that had lived there her entire life finally releasing. Her fingers curled into the fabric of his shirt, holding on without realizing she was holding at all.
And in the back of her mind, Skylar stirred.
'He means it, Alicia.' The wolf’s voice was soft, reverent. 'He would burn a kingdom for us.'
Alicia’s heart stuttered. She opened her mouth, maybe to thank him, maybe to apologize again, maybe to say something, anything, but Ethan brushed her cheek with his thumb.
“You’re shaking,” he said quietly.
“I...I’m not...”
His gaze sharpened. “Alicia.”
She deflated. “Maybe a little.”
He exhaled, the sound thick with emotion he wasn’t used to sharing. “Sit,” he ordered, but gently. “I’ll get you water.”
She moved toward the nearest chair instinctively, and then realized it was his chair. The huge black leather Alpha’s seat behind the polished desk.
Her eyes widened. “I can’t sit there.”
He raised a brow, setting a glass of water in front of her. “You’re the Luna.”
“Yes, but...”
“There is no ‘but.’” His tone was calm, and final. “Sit.”
She sat, slowly, and hesitantly. Like sitting on a throne that didn’t belong to her.
But as she settled into the chair… something in the air shifted.
Skylar inhaled deeply in her mind.
'This… feels right.'
Ethan watched her, his expression unreadable, but his wolf’s presence pressed forward again, dark and approving.
“You fit there,” he said quietly. “Better than anyone ever has.”
Alicia looked down at her hands, suddenly overwhelmed.
“I don’t know how to be a Luna,” she whispered.
Ethan walked around the desk, knelt in front of her, and took her hands in his.
“No one is born knowing,” he murmured. “But the moon goddess chose you for me.” He squeezed her fingers gently.
“And that is all the proof you need.”
She felt her eyes blur with heat, and before she could say a word, Ethan raised her hand to his lips and pressed a slow, reverent kiss to her knuckles.
“Let me teach you,” he said softly.
- Writer
