Alpha's Regret: Being His Redemption

The Glass Foundatio...

The silence that followed my confession was absolute. It wasn't just quiet; it was a vacuum, sucking the air out of the room.

Liam was kneeling in front of me, his hands still gripping mine. At my words, his entire body turned to stone. The warmth I usually felt radiating from him seemed to chill, replaced by a rigid, vibrating tension.

Behind him, the others were frozen statues of shock.

"Not Dimitri?" Jordan Shaw repeated, his voice sharp with disbelief. He stepped closer, his dark eyes scanning my face for any sign of deception. "You’re saying the Rogue... the dead one... he inflicted those wounds?"

Every eye in the room was fixed on me, heavy with expectation. I felt the weight of their scrutiny like a physical pressure on my skin.

"His name was Charlie," I whispered, fighting the lump in my throat. "And Zaya... she was the other one. They were assigned to watch me in the bunker. Usually, there was a third guard, but that morning, it was just them. I thought... I thought it was my only chance."

I took a shaky breath, the memory of the escape clawing at my mind.

"I ran. I made it to the upper cabin, and then into the woods. Charlie panicked. He shifted and chased me. He didn't mean to tear my back open... he just wanted to stop me. He threw me into a tree."

I looked down at my hands, encased in Liam’s larger ones. "When they saw how bad it was... they panicked. They knew Dimitri would kill them for damaging me. That's why they ran. That's why they came here. To trade information for protection."

Luca let out a low whistle, running a hand through his hair. "So they were defectors. Desperate ones."

"You don't need to defend him, Caroline," Luca added, his voice hardening. "Intentional or not, he hurt you. In our world, consequences aren't determined by intent. They are determined by blood."

"Luca is right," Liam said. His voice was a low, terrifying growl that vibrated through the floorboards. He squeezed my hands, careful not to crush them, but I could feel the lethal power coiling in his muscles. "If that wolf wasn't already dead... I would resurrect him just to tear him apart myself."

The violence in his tone was real. It wasn't a threat; it was a statement of fact.

"I know," I murmured, feeling a tear slip down my cheek. "But they tried to fix it. They told you where I was. They saved me, in a way."

"Luna," Jordan interrupted, stepping into my line of sight. "If Charlie hurt you... and Zaya tried to help you... then who killed Charlie? Who put Zaya in a coma?"

The question hung in the air, heavy and poisonous.

I looked at them. The Enforcers. The Beta. The Alpha. The most powerful wolves in the state, all standing in a room wondering who had breached their fortress.

"It wasn't an inside job," I said, my voice hollow. "It was an execution."

I looked at Liam. "It was Dimitri Stratovsky."

"That's impossible," Jack argued immediately, though he looked pale. "We would have smelled him. An Alpha—especially a foreign Alpha—cannot cross the perimeter without triggering the wards or alerting the patrols."

"He isn't just an Alpha," I said, looking at Jack. "He is like me. He is a Hybrid. Maybe he can mask his scent. Maybe he can walk through shadows."

I took a deep breath. "And I saw him. Today."

Liam went still. "What?"

"In town," I whispered. "On the way here. At the intersection near the school. He was standing in the crowd. He looked right at me, Liam. He smiled."

The reaction was explosive.

The room erupted into motion. Luca and Jordan were moving before I finished the sentence, pulling weapons from concealed holsters, their phones already to their ears as they barked orders to their teams.

"Sector 4! Lock it down!" Jordan shouted, sprinting for the door. "He was sighted in the downtown district three hours ago!"

"Jack," Liam barked, standing up and pulling me with him. "Mobilize the guard. Every able-bodied wolf is on patrol. Now. Sweep the perimeter. If he is in the city, I want him found."

"On it," Jack said, his face grim. He vanished into the hallway, leaving the door swinging on its hinges.

Within seconds, the study was empty, save for us.

Liam began to pace. He moved like a caged tiger, prowling the length of the room, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides. The air around him crackled with ozone and fury. His golden eyes were blazing, illuminating the dim room.

"I should be out there," he snarled, turning at the window to glare at the tree line. "I should be hunting him."

"Then go," I said, sitting back down on the sofa. I felt drained, my adrenaline crashing. "Don't stay here for me. I'm safe in the house."

"No," he said instantly. He stopped pacing and looked at me. "I made that mistake once. I left you alone, and he took you. I am not leaving this room."

"Liam, you're the Alpha. Your pack needs you out there."

"My mate needs me here," he countered. "If Dimitri is bold enough to enter the city... if he is bold enough to execute a rogue inside my house... then his target isn't the pack. It's you."

He walked over to me, crouching down so our eyes were level.

"I figured it out," he said, his voice dropping to a whisper. "I know why he took you. I know why he killed Charlie."

My heart skipped a beat. "You think... you still think it's because of Vincent? Because he thinks I'm his mate?"

Liam shook his head slowly. The look in his eyes was devastating—a mixture of fear, rage, and a terrible, crushing guilt.

"No," he rasped. "He knows, Cara. He knows exactly who you are."

I swallowed hard. "What do you mean?"

"Bastien told me," Liam said. "About the archives. About what Dimitri was searching for sixteen years ago. He wasn't looking for a mate, Caroline. He was looking for a contract."

He took a breath, steeling himself.

"He was looking for Gabriella Gold."

The name hit me like a physical blow. The air rushed out of my lungs.

Gabriella Gold. My birth name. The name of the Lycan Princess.

"He knows," I whispered, the strength leaving my body. "He knows I'm the Pureblood."

"He knows," Liam confirmed, his eyes burning. "And he thinks you belong to him. Not because of revenge. But because of entitlement. He thinks you are his property."

I stared at him. "He told me... he told me about the betrothal. The contract between his father and mine."

Liam closed his eyes, a shudder running through him. "So it's true."

"He said Lycans don't have mates," I whispered.

Liam’s eyes snapped open.

The silence that followed was different. It wasn't the silence of fear or war. It was the silence of a truth that could destroy everything.

I watched him. I watched the way his pupils dilated, the way his breath hitched. I watched the guilt wash over his face, stripping away the Alpha mask to reveal the terrified boy beneath.

"You knew," I said. It wasn't a question.

Liam looked away. He looked at the floor, at the wall, anywhere but at me.

"Cara..."

"Did you know?" I demanded, my voice rising. "Did you know that Lycans don't have biological mates? Did you know that what we have... this bond... isn't supposed to exist?"

He looked back at me. His eyes were wet.

"Yes," he whispered.

The word shattered me.

I sat back, feeling numbness spread through my limbs. "So it's all a lie? The pull? The heat? It's just... what? The venom? The bite?"

"No!" Liam surged forward, grabbing my knees. "It is not a lie! What I feel for you... it is real. It is the most real thing in my life."

"But it's not the Bond," I said, tears blurring my vision. "It's not fate. It's not the Moon Goddess."

"Does that matter?" he asked desperately. "Does it matter where it comes from?"

"It matters if you lied to me!" I shouted. "You marked me, Liam! You bit me, over and over again! Dimitri said you have to keep marking me to keep the bond active. To keep me addicted to you. Is that true?"

Liam flinched. He looked horrified. "I didn't do it to manipulate you! I did it because I was terrified of losing you! The bond... it felt fragile. Like it was slipping. My wolf insisted on anchoring it. I thought... I thought if I marked you deep enough, the universe wouldn't be able to take you away."

"You drugged me," I whispered. "With your venom."

"I loved you," he corrected, his voice cracking. "I loved you before I knew what you were. I loved you when you were just Cara. When I found out you were a Lycan... when I found out the bond might be one-sided... it didn't change how I felt. It just made me more desperate to make you feel it too."

I looked at him. I saw the desperation. I saw the fear.

"And now?" I asked. "Now that I know?"

He released my knees. He sat back on his heels, looking defeated.

"Now you choose," he said softly. "The bond... the artificial bond... it will fade if I don't renew the mark. The venom will leave your system. And you will be free."

He looked at me, tears spilling down his cheeks.

"You can walk away, Luna. You can leave me. You can go to Dante, or run to Iceland, or do whatever you want. I won't stop you. I won't use the Alpha command. I won't use the bite."

I stared at him.

I looked at the man who had burned a forest for me. The man who had started a war for me. The man who was currently kneeling on the floor, offering me my freedom even though it was clearly killing him to do so.

I reached out.

I cupped his face in my hands. His stubble scratched my palms. He leaned into my touch, closing his eyes, a sob shaking his shoulders.

"You i***t," I whispered.

He opened his eyes.

"You think I stayed because of a bite?" I asked. "You think I ran into a burning forest because of venom?"

I leaned down, pressing my forehead against his.

"I love you, Alex," I said. "Not because the Moon told me to. Not because of biology. I love you. The boy who put stars on my ceiling. The man who holds me when I have nightmares."

He stared at me, hope warring with disbelief in his gaze.

"Even without the bond?" he asked.

"Especially without it," I said. "Because that means it's my choice. And I choose you."

He let out a sound—half-laugh, half-sob—and pulled me down into his arms. He kissed me, not with the possessive hunger of the Alpha, but with the tender, reverent gratitude of a man who had just been given a second chance at life.

"I love you," he murmured against my lips. "My feelings... they belong to me. Not the moon. Not the wolf. Just me. And they are all yours."

I smiled, though it was a sad, fragile thing.

We were together. We were in love.

But the foundation we stood on was made of glass. And outside the window, the monster with the mismatched eyes was waiting to shatter it.