Alpha Under The Mistletoe

Chapter 4

GABRIEL

I shouldn’t have apologized for something as small as brushing my fingers with her.

But the second her skin grazed mine; warm, soft, trembling. I forgot how to breathe.

“Sorry,” I’d muttered.

Her eyes had lifted, wide and unsure, as if she didn’t trust anything or anyone anymore, including herself. I hated that for her. I hated Damien Roche even more for being the reason.

I watched her disappear inside the cabin, the light from the little porch lantern catching on her chestnut hair as she slowly shut the door. For a moment I stood there in the snow, the cold cutting through my jacket, grounding me. If I stayed any longer, I was going to knock on her door just to check on her like some obsessed i***t.

So I forced myself to turn away.

The estate stretched out in front of me, a dark forest of pines dusted in frost, the massive lodge glowing with warm golden lights. Bikes lined the courtyard like a metallic army, their chrome catching the moonlight. Members, my family, laughed, drank, shouted greetings across the yard.

But the second they saw me heading toward the penthouse at the top of the main lodge, they straightened. Respect. Fear. Loyalty.

None of it mattered. My head was still back at that cabin, wondering if Emma Collins had locked the door, if she was crying again, if she felt safe.

You are getting distracted, my wolf growled low in my mind.

She is ours.

I clenched my jaw. “Yeah,” I muttered under my breath. “I know.”

The elevator doors slid open, taking me up to the penthouse floor—private, heavily guarded, soundproof. When I stepped out, I wasn’t surprised to find two familiar figures waiting.

Clara Moreau, my older sister, sat curled on my favorite couch, a blanket over her legs and a mug of hot wine in her hand. She looked up immediately, her smile sharp as a knife. She had the same pitch-black hair as me, but hers was wild and curling, her eyes warm hazel instead of predator green.

Beside her leaned my second-in-command, my Vice President, Lucien “Lux” Vidal. Tall, scarred, half-Corsican monster of a man with a habit of seeing straight into people’s motives. He raised a brow when I entered, arms crossed over his chest.

Clara’s grin widened.

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t the knight in leather armor who swooped in to rescue a damsel from the Roche family’s circus.”

Lux snorted. “More like he stormed in and tore them a new one. Heard about it already. Whole estate is buzzing.”

Of course they were. Nothing stays quiet around here.

I walked past them, shrugging out of my coat.

Clara tilted her head.

“So, how does it feel, baby brother? Saving your fated mate on Christmas Eve?”

I froze.

Lux’s eyebrows shot up as he turned toward her. “He told you?”

Clara smirked. “I’m his sister. I smelled it. The second he walked back onto the property.”

Lux let out a low whistle. “Damn. And here I thought Gabriel was just playing hero again.”

I glared at both of them. “I wasn’t rescuing her because she’s my mate.”

Clara raised her brows so high they nearly hit her hairline.

Lux laughed once, dark and amused.

I sighed, rubbing a hand over my face. “Fine. It wasn’t only because she’s my mate.”

Clara set her mug down with a dramatic clink. “Finally.”

Lux nodded. “Good. Now let’s talk about the real problem: how the hell you’re going to get a heartbroken human woman, who just flew halfway across the world and caught her boyfriend cheating, to even look at you without panicking.”

My wolf growled again. I didn’t bother hiding the irritation simmering under my skin.

“She’s hurting,” I muttered. “What do you want me to do? Kick her door open and announce I’m the Alpha destined by the moon to claim her?”

Clara choked on her wine. Lux barked a laugh.

“I mean,” Clara said, wiping her mouth, “it’d be memorable.”

Lux shook his head. “It’d also get you arrested.”

I paced across the room, boots thudding on the hardwood floor. “She needs time. She needs space. And I—”

I paused, forcing down the weight in my chest.

“I’m not used to… warming my way into someone’s heart.”

Clara softened a little. “Because with wolves, you never had to. The bond does half the work.”

“Exactly,” Lux added. “Humans? Different game entirely.”

I knew that. I’d always known that.

But hearing it now only made the pressure clamp tighter around my ribs.

“She barely trusts her own shadow right now,” I said quietly. “How the hell am I supposed to get close without frightening her?”

Clara stood, approached me, and placed her hands on my shoulders. Her voice dropped, gentle but firm.

“You use what you gave her tonight.”

I frowned. “Which is?”

“A choice, Gabriel. Freedom. Safety.”

She squeezed lightly. “You defended her without expecting anything. That’s rare. That’s worth something.”

Lux nodded from behind her. “And the holiday event? Perfect excuse. She can focus on the job, and you can focus on earning trust.”

I rubbed the back of my neck. “This would be easier if she wasn’t so… fragile.”

Clara shook her head hard. “She’s not fragile. She’s wounded. Big difference.”

Lux chimed in, voice booming, “Let the holiday getaway do the work. Women love Christmas crap—lights, music, good food, cozy cabins. By the time she finishes planning the party, half the club will love her.”

Clara gave him a look. “We are not turning her into the club mascot.”

Lux smirked. “I didn’t say that. But she’ll soften. They always do. She just needs to see that you’re not Damien.”

My teeth clenched instantly. “I’ll kill him if he comes near her.”

Clara’s eyes lit with amusement. “Alpha instincts showing again.”

I ignored her.

Lux stepped forward, resting a heavy hand on my shoulder. “The point is simple: use the holiday. Let her work. Let her breathe. Let her see you’re not some controlling asshole.”

Clara nodded. “And don’t forget—Christmas magic exists for a reason.”

I sighed, shaking my head. “I don’t believe in Christmas magic.”

Clara smirked. “You didn’t believe in fated mates either until she walked into your life.”

I didn’t have a good comeback for that.

“Thank you,” I muttered. It wasn’t just for the advice. It was for being the only people who knew how damn difficult this was for me.

Clara hugged me tightly. Lux slapped my back hard enough to jolt me forward.

“Don’t screw it up,” Lux said.

“Don’t pressure him,” Clara snapped.

They began bickering before the elevator doors even closed behind me.

—

When I reached my floor again, my private room on the opposite wing of the penthouse, I shut the door behind me and leaned against it.

For the first time in years, my room felt too big. Too quiet.

My wolf stirred, pacing impatiently inside my mind.

She is close. She smells sad. We should be with her.

“We can’t,” I muttered.

We should comfort her. Hold her. Make her ours.

“I said we can’t.”

My wolf snarled, then went still.

I tossed my coat aside and sank down on the edge of the bed, elbows braced on my knees. The moonlight from the skylight above spilled across the room, cold and silver, reminding me of exactly what I was… An Alpha.

A wolf cursed with a mate who didn’t even know he existed yesterday.

“How the hell,” I whispered to the empty room, “is a big, battle-scarred Alpha supposed to convince a human girl who is also heartbroken, hurt, terrified that she’s destined for him?”

Silence.

Only the quiet echo of her scent lingering faintly on my hands.

Chestnut and winter spice.

And for the first time in a long time, something in me trembled, not from fear, but from the terrifying possibility that winning her heart…might be the hardest battle I’ve ever faced.