MATED TO THE COLD ALPHA

Chapter 19

Alpha Zerk POV

“What!”

Roan’s voice cracked through the study, louder than I expected from him. His expression had gone rigid, shock written plain across his face.

He looked at Cael. Then back at me.

“You’re telling me that this woman from Ashbone, this trespasser, is your fated mate?”

“Seems that way,” I said.

Roan stared at me as if he had not heard me correctly. His face had gone through surprise and landed somewhere worse: calculation.

“Since when did this happen?” he asked.

“Since the first night I captured her.”

Silence.

It stretched between us, heavy and ugly.

Roan dragged a hand down his face. “Do you understand what you are saying? You still have the wedding ceremony to participate in.”

The words hit like a strike to the chest.

I said nothing. Roan's jaw tightened.

“Alpha,” he said quietly, “you cannot be mated to her. The arrangement with Bluestone Pack was already made. The contract says—”

“I know what the contract says,” I cut in. “I have read it; you don't have to remind me.”

“Then you know what breaking it means.”

I held his gaze.

“It means the Bluestone alliance collapses,” Roan went on. “It means the eastern water rights, the river access, the hunting grounds, the herbs, everything they traded goes back into dispute. The Supreme Elders will turn it into a compensation case.”

“I know.”

“And the heir?” Cael said from the corner.

We both turned to him.

“The Elders still require one. Without a confirmed Luna–”

“Enough, Cael.”

My hand slammed down on the desk hard enough to rattle the papers beneath it.

The room went dead quiet.

Cael lowered himself back into his chair and looked away; he suddenly looked very interested in the floor. Roan kept his eyes on me, unreadable now, his shock giving way to something more.

“Does she know about the engagement?”

“No.”

Roan absorbed that in silence. I could see the questions moving behind his eyes, the ones he was smart enough not to say aloud.

“Your wedding with Bluestone is next week,” he said at last. “Do you have feelings for this Sera?”

“No, I don't.”

The answer came out flat, immediate.

“She is a trespasser,” I said. “Nothing more. I'm just keeping her here because I think the rogues behind her case may be the same ones we've been looking for. The ones responsible for sealing this relic. The bond changes nothing about the treaty.”

Roan watched me for a long moment.

He did not argue. Did not challenge me. That was what made the silence whole.

At last, I leaned back and forced my voice steady. “Once your wound is healed up, I will need your help in this case. Cael has started cross-referencing the dining hall rotation. I want a second set of eyes on the list.”

Roan straightened at once, the Beta snapping back into place. “I should be recovered by the day after tomorrow.”

“Good. You are both dismissed.”

They nodded and left.

When the door shut, the room felt too large.

I sat alone at my desk, staring at the wood grain, feeling the bond pulse beneath my ribs like a wound that would not close.

I have no feelings for her.

The thought rang hollow in the empty study.

—

Sera POV

Kira’s hand closed around my arm before I had fully processed what was happening.

“Come on,” she said quietly.

Her tone was calm, but beneath it, something measured, alert. “Let’s get back to the guest room.”

I let her guide me because I was too tangled in my own thoughts to resist.

The corridor was cool and dim, washed in pale morning light that slipped through the high windows and broke across the floor in soft strips. My mind, though, was still wondering about the man who had stepped out of that black Range Rover and silenced an entire pack with nothing more than his arrival.

“Kira,” I said.

“Mm?”

“That man.” I kept my voice low, though there was no one near enough to hear. “The one who was with Zerk. They seem acquainted with each other.”

Kira glanced at me from the corner of her eye. “What gave it away?”

“The whole pack went quiet the second he appeared.” I looked at her. “It was almost the same as when Zerk was around.”

Something flickered across her face. Recognition, maybe. Or caution.

“His name is Roan,” she said.

I slowed. “Roan?”

“He’s Zerk’s Beta.”

The word settled in my chest with more force than I expected.

Beta.

So the man I had seen was not just some random warrior or visitor. He was Zerk’s second-in-command, his right-hand man.

Kira pushed open the guest room door and held it for me.

Inside, the air was softer. Familiar. The room still carried the sweet citrus perfume she had sprayed this morning, and the curtains remained half drawn, letting in a muted wash of daylight. It was the same room I had woken up in, the same room that still felt too quiet for the kind of life I had been dropped into.

I stepped farther inside. “So who is he exactly? Roan, I mean.”

Kira sat on the edge of the bed with easy grace, drawing one knee up. She looked completely at home, like the room belonged to her.

“He’s been Zerk’s Beta for years,” she said. “They’ve known each other since they were teenagers.”

I listened without speaking.

“He’s a strong fighter,” she went on. Then her mouth tilted faintly, as if she found the next part more telling than the first. “And he’s the only person who can keep Zerk in check whenever his wolf gets out of control.”

I thought back to the training grounds. The way Roan had stood beside Zerk. The way they had spoken without needing to raise their voices. I could barely hear their words, but they looked like they were discussing something serious.

I caught the word relic somewhere in what they were discussing, too far away to hear properly.

“Wow,” I said after a moment. “He must matter a lot if you're even saying so.”

Kira’s smile deepened. “Oh, he does.” She tipped her head. “And not just to the pack. Most of the women here have a thing for him.”

I blinked at her.

She laughed softly. “Almost the same way they do for my grizzly cousin.”

A beat passed.

Then her eyes sharpened with sudden mischief. “Why all the questions, though? Did he catch your eye?”

My stare snapped to hers. “No way. It is not like that.”

She looked at me with the kind of smile that made it clear she did not believe me for a second. “Really? Because I saw you gazing at him.”

“I was not gazing at him like that.”

“You definitely were.”

I exhaled sharply, frustration rising before I could stop it. “Kira, no. You are wrong. How could I even think about another man when I just found out I’m mated to—”

I stopped.

Kira sat up straight at once. “To who? What were you about to say?”

My heart kicked hard against my ribs.

I pressed my lips together and looked away, first at the wall, then at the floor, then back at her. The truth sat there, heavy and impossible.

“To your cousin,” I said.

Kira blinked.

Then, slowly, as if her brain needed a moment to catch up with what she had just heard, she asked, “What?”

“Alpha Zerk is my fated mate,” I said.

The room went still.

Whatever expression I had been expecting from her, shock barely covered it. Her knee dropped from the bed. Her hands went still, against the blanket. She looked at me as though I had just spoken in a language she could not decide whether to understand.

“Are you serious?” she asked at last.

I nodded.

Her eyes searched my face. “Zerk?”

“Yes.”

Her brows drew together. “Why didn’t you tell me about it?”

“I didn’t know how.”

That was not the whole truth, but it was close enough.

Kira stared at me, then looked away as if the answer had led her somewhere she did not want to go. “Does he know?”

“He does.”

I said it quietly. “I felt the bond the first night I arrived. He noticed it too. I’m sure he just pretended not to.”

“That sounds just like him.” Her voice changed on the last word, turning thoughtful. “He’s never been the type to say what he actually feels.”

There was something in her expression now. Not that of surprise. Something more complicated. Something guarded.

Then it vanished as quickly as it came.

She faced me again, serious now. “Sera, do you understand what this means to Zerk?”

“I don’t care what it means to him.”

My voice came out sharper than I meant it to, but I did not take it back.

“I came here for the Moonveil roots,” I said. “To save my brother. That is the only reason why I came to this pack. But now I’m trapped here, with no way of escaping.”

The words scraped out of me harder than I wanted them to. I took a breath, then another, trying to steady myself before the anger in my chest could turn into something messier.

When I spoke again, my voice was level.

“Kira, you've got to help me.”

She said nothing.

“I need the Moonveil roots,” I said. “I need to get back to my pack. I need to save my brother.”

I held her gaze. “And I think you’re the only person here who can help me do that.”

Kira was quiet for so long that I began to feel the silence pressing in on both sides of me.

Then she shifted forward on the bed, uncrossed her legs, and looked at me with an expression I could not read.

“I don't know if I should help,” she said slowly, “But–” she hesitated.

"But”