Alicia's Fate

The Drive

​"Skylar," Alicia said in a small voice, revealing her wolf’s name. "But she is still nursing her hurt after the rejection."

​"How long ago were you rejected?"

​"This morning."

​Ethan let out a low, surprised whistle. Just recently, I see. No wonder she's been so desperate to run and hide. "Has your wolf said anything about me? What is she saying?"

​"She has not said anything. She's been silent since the rejection."

​"Is that why you don't believe I was telling the truth when I said you are my mate? Because she hasn't confirmed it for you?"

​"Not entirely," she countered, her pragmatic nature surfacing again. "Both Skylar and I have minds of our own, and I have eyes." She paused, then delivered her assessment with a blunt, heartbreaking honesty. "I don't think you would want someone like me because of my appearance. It has nothing to do with whether Skylar speaks or not."

“So, you’re saying even if your wolf had confirmed me as your mate—”

She cut him off with a firm nod. “I’d still doubt it. You don’t exactly look like the type who’d go for flat-chested women.”

Ethan blinked, then burst out laughing. The sound was deep, full, and utterly unrestrained, rolling out of him until it echoed through the trees. It was so unexpected that even she blinked, half-amused, half-embarrassed.

A few meters away, Nate groaned. “Please tell me that’s a good laugh.”

“Should we send for backup?” Josh muttered.

Ethan finally caught his breath, his grin stretching wide as he looked back at her. “If you hadn’t brought it up, I wouldn’t have noticed,” he said, voice still rough with laughter. “But for the record, I like you exactly the way you are. Doesn’t matter if you’ve got none of the… uh, extra features.” His tone softened, sincerity cutting through the teasing. “The truth is, you’re mine. And I’m never letting you go.”

“Okay,” she said, tilting her head, eyes narrowing playfully. “But I should warn you, I’ve got scars, too.”

He didn’t even blink. “Doesn’t matter,” he said simply. “Those scars made you who you are.”

She stared at him for a moment, testing him, trying to find even a flicker of doubt in his face, but there was none. Just quiet certainty.

“Alright,” she said finally, lips twitching. “One last warning, though. I’m only telling you all this so that when you eventually see everything and realize what you’ve signed up for, you can’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Ethan’s expression softened, the teasing fading into quiet conviction.

“Sweetheart,” he said, voice low but steady, “I will never regret choosing you, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

She swallowed hard. “Well, I have never shifted,” she confessed, her voice barely above a whisper. “My wolf is too weak.”

That, she thought, would end it. No Alpha would accept a weak, unshifted wolf as his Luna. He’d finally see reason, maybe even pity her and let her go.

But Ethan didn’t even blink. Instead, he moved closer, inches away from her face, she could feel the heat radiating from him. She wanted to turn, and run but there was nowhere to go.

He tilted her chin up gently, his touch firm yet achingly tender, and pressed a slow, deliberate kiss against her lips once more. It wasn’t demanding; it was to reassure her. When he pulled back, he wore a small but sincere smile.

“No matter how much you try to downgrade yourself in front of me,” he murmured, “I will always choose you. So I suggest you stop doing that already.”

He let his thumb graze her cheek, eyes locked on hers.

“You are my Luna, Alicia. And that’s final.”

Ethan pressed a button, and the driver’s and passenger’s seats whirred softly, sliding forward to make more room in the back.

“Now, Luna,” he said with a grin, turning to her, “come. Let me take you to your new home.”

He reached for her hand, his touch firm but gentle, and guided her to the seat Josh had just vacated before taking the driver’s spot himself.

Alicia blinked, still half-expecting him to call the others back. “Wait, you’re not going to pick up those guys?” she asked hesitantly.

Ethan chuckled, starting the engine. “Oh, they’ll find their way back. They’re very resourceful.” He caught her hand again, intertwining their fingers as a smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Besides, that’ll teach them for eavesdropping on my mate and me.”

Alicia’s brows shot up, half-shocked, half-amused.

Inside his head, Cole was practically purring with satisfaction.

‘Come on now,’ Ethan grumbled silently, ‘there was no way they wouldn’t have heard us. They were right here in the van with us!’

‘Exactly,’ Cole replied smugly. ‘And since I couldn’t punish those idiots back at that pathetic pack, I’ll settle for these two. Consider it justice served.’

Ethan rolled his eyes inwardly but couldn’t suppress the grin tugging at his lips. At least his wolf was happy, and his mate was finally coming home.

​From where they stood on the deserted roadside, Josh and Nate watched the van disappear into the distance, dust swirling in its wake.

For a long moment, neither spoke. Then Josh sighed. “You know, I don’t even know why I’m surprised anymore.”

Nate gave a resigned grunt, shoving his hands into his pockets. “We should’ve seen this coming the moment he told us to get out of the car.”

Josh groaned, tilting his head back toward the sky. “Great. Just great. Abandoned by our Alpha. Again.”

The two exchanged a look of mutual misery. Their only option now? Start running.

With another synchronized sigh, they shifted and took off down the empty road toward home, already planning how many creative ways they could guilt-trip Ethan later.

***

​The van sped down the highway, the silence broken only by the engine's purr and the occasional shifting of Ethan's hand on Alicia's.

​"You really didn't have to leave your men behind," Alicia said after a few minutes, glancing back nervously at the empty road. "They're going to have a very long walk."

​Ethan chuckled, a low, attractive sound. "They'll live. It's good for them to sweat out their anxiety." He squeezed her hand gently. "Besides, I wanted you all to myself. No distractions."

​An awkward silence settled. Alicia had dreamed of this moment her entire life, where her mate would arrive and whisk her away from her old life, and as she sat beside this man, her heart swelled with immense, dizzying happiness. Maybe the Moon goddess isn't that heartless afterall.

“I’ve been meaning to ask,” Ethan said at last, breaking the comfortable silence. It was a question that had sat heavy on his mind since the first moment he saw her. No matter how he looked at her, she seemed far too small, too delicate, to be grown. “How old are you?”

“Eighteen,” she answered softly. “Today’s my birthday.”

Ethan let out a low whistle, surprise flickering across his face. Eighteen.

James had waited until her eighteenth birthday to reject her officially, just when the bond would’ve solidified. Fate, it seemed, had cut that tie only to lead her straight into his path.

“Happy birthday, my dearest Luna,” he said, raising their joined hands and pressing a slow, reverent kiss to the back of hers. The gesture made her cheeks flush a gentle pink.

“Thanks,” she murmured shyly. No one had ever wished her a happy birthday before. Not since her parents died. No one even remembered, and even if they did, no one ever cared enough to say it aloud. The simple words from him felt heavier than he could possibly know.

After a quiet pause, she lifted her gaze to him. “You said… You smelled me?” Alicia ventured, hesitating before asking the question that still didn’t make sense to her. “What do I smell like?”

Ethan’s lips curved faintly as he leaned closer, his voice dropping into a tone that felt like velvet against her nerves. “Like coffee, rain, and wild mountain roses,” he murmured, turning his head slightly to breathe her in. “And a little bit of fear.” He smiled. “But mostly the roses.”

Her breath caught. No one had ever said such nice words to her before, it made her feel special, like she was something worth noticing.

“I don’t smell anything special on you,” she admitted shyly after a moment. “Just… woodsmoke and leather.”

​"That's just Cole," Ethan explained, referring to his wolf's scent. "And that's why you can't feel the bond yet. That rejection from James, and the trauma they inflicted, is blocking Skylar completely. She's in shock. The bond is there, Alicia, but it's locked-down." He glanced at her, his expression serious. "We'll wait until Skylar heals. I will not push you."

​Alicia remained silent, absorbing the revelation. The idea of a locked bond made terrifying sense. She wasn't free, but she was bound to someone who seemed to care about the state of her wolf.

​"And... why did you call yourself a 'petty little alpha' back there?" she asked quietly.

​Ethan’s jaw tightened, and his easy humor vanished. "Because that is what I am," he stated flatly. "I did something... something I am not proud of in the past. I pretty much ruined the lives of the people I cared about. For that, I am prone to extreme rage. Richard Delorean was right to fear me. I am not a good man, Alicia." He paused, his gaze burning into her. "You need to know that I am bringing you into darkness, not light."

​Alicia looked at his profile, at the sharp, commanding lines of his face, and thought of James, who had never shown her any form of kindness. Ethan, by contrast, was offering her a truth drenched in warning.

​"I have spent the last thirteen years in the dark, Alpha," she said simply. "I am not afraid of the dark anymore."

​He didn't reply, just squeezed her hand with immense, appreciative pressure.