The Wanted Alpha

Chapter 28 - Love

Ethan 

I had never felt this complete, as though the missing part of myself had been larger than I could have imagined and now that piece was in place, I was whole. April had passed out completely, the first mating was always intense for a wolf and I had marked her too. I gently pulled out of her, trying to make my movements as soft as possible so as to not wake her. My body felt heavy and sluggish, also expended from the mate bond forming and achingly in need of sleep with physical contact with my Luna. But I needed to get my mate cleaned up first, her sleep needed to be as comfortable as possible. I dampened a cloth with warm water and wiped her delicately, wincing at seeing a tiny amount of blood but I suppose it was unavoidable given her first time. I quickly cleaned myself and climbed into bed, wrapping my arms around April, every instinct in me now wanting her as close as possible. She barely stirred, completely limp in my arms and away in the deepest sleep. I hoped she wouldn't be too sore as I had a couple of surprises for her tomorrow, both would be quite emotional for her, particularly the one I had scheduled for 9am providing she was awake for then. When I had made the arrangements, I hadn't thought she would have been ready for any of what we had just done. Now she wore my mark, the tingles where our skin was in contact were almost dizzying in their strength; with us both being Alphas, the bond would be far stronger than in other wolves.

After Maria, I thought I had never wanted to wear a mark again. I had never wanted to feel that much at another's mercy again. But April had shown me what the bond truly was, what its potential could be, how its power could heal. She had seen the darkest parts of my past and hadn't shied away. My numerous flaws had been laid bare and she accepted every single one. I had noticed that unpleasant anxiety that sat constantly in the back of my mind had virtually disappeared and I hadn't had a single bad dream since she accepted me into her life. We were by no means safe, there were still so many things left uncertain. But now we were joined, they would be faced together.

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Her scent seemed stronger this morning, as though my senses were more sensitive to her; those sunshine and floral undertones seemed that bit more pungent now I bore her mark. She hadn't stirred once in the night, while I seemed to wake every hour just to make sure she was still there. My protective side had increased 10 fold with the bond strengthening, the idea of my sweet being out of my sight felt excruciating. That would obviously be unworkable and was a slightly unfortunate side effect of our souls entwined with one another. I'd have to be careful till the potency wore off so as to not be overbearing, she may probably feel the same when she woke. But now that our bond was set, I would feel if she was in danger, if she was scared. I'd also sense if she was injured or in pain, so I would know instantly and be able to jump into action.

I moved to get up, even though every fiber within me begged for me to return to her. She could very well sleep till as late as this evening, maybe even tomorrow, I didn't know how all of this would affect her wolf. August was remarkably unique from others and may need longer to recuperate. After showering, changing into a simple plaid shirt and jeans and dealing with the clothing we had discarded everywhere, I made some breakfast; something that I could warm up later for April if need be. I really should learn to cook more dishes, I knew a few simple things but nothing too complicated. 

As I ate I sent a message to the two contacts that I scheduled a meeting with for April, to let them know it would probably be a lot later than planned. The reply was instant, disappointed but understanding and both sent their congratulations at our marking. I also finalised my list of people I wanted interviewed discreetly in the coming days and sent them both to Carrick and Jude. As expected their replies were also instant, it was my Gamma's mind-link that came first with a distinct angry edge.

'Ethan, why the fuck is my brother-in-law on this list?!'

A second voice, my Beta, added to the conversation, more confused than angry. 'Yeah, I'd also like to question a certain name too.'

'Guys, if it makes you feel any better they're more potential witnesses. With Kevin being a porter at the hospital he might have seen something without realising it. Those cameras at the lab were moved and whoever did it knew how to approach without being seen. And Greer is incredibly perceptive, he may have noticed some change in behaviour in a warrior or pack member. If you want, come up to my suite, I'll talk to you both in person...I can't leave here just yet.'

'Fine, I'll be up in a second,' Jude responded.

'Give me 15 minutes and I'll be over,' came Carrick's reply.

Barely a minute later my Beta was knocking on the door. As I opened it his eyes fell instantly on my neck.

"No fucking way?!" He practically shouted in elation.

'Shhhh, April's still sleeping. Let's take this through to my study.'

As I led him through I noticed he was mind-linking, I knew exactly who he was telling.

"Seriously, Jude?" I asked, exasperatedly. 

"It'll move his ass along, trust me. But I'm real happy for you. And to think you were worried she wouldn't even come back here!"

"Thanks...and while we're on it, I thought you said you were swearing off the guys in this pack?" I challenged back with a smirk.

"Kevin...is just a moment of weakness...repeatedly...for the last year and a half," he said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

"But seriously, he's a sweet guy. I know he wouldn't betray me...I mean, us, the pack." 

I really hoped he was right, for his sake. "As I said, he's just a possible witness."

I heard my front door quickly open and slam shut, followed by Carrick bursting into the study. He grabbed my shirt collar down to look right at my mark.

"Holy shit, dude!" He exclaimed.

I smacked his hand away, "why don't I give you both a damn cowbell?!" So much for a peaceful sleep for my mate.

"Sorry, sorry, Jude warned me. It's just, this is huge! Well done man!" He said while clapping me on the back.

"Can we get back on track?" I was starting to get a little self conscious with them both eyeing my mark.

"Awww, he's getting all embarrassed," Jude said while pinching my cheek in the fucking mock-babying voice that annoyed the hell out of me!

I slapped his hand away, releasing an irritated growl, "would you stop?!" This just made the two of them laugh more. Assholes!

We got down to business arranging which of us would interview whom, for obvious reasons my Beta couldn't interview Kevin and my Gamma couldn't interview his brother-in-law; they were far too close to be impartial. I attempted to alleviate both their concerns, but I wasn't leaving anything to chance with the safety of my pack or my Luna. Even my soon-to-be head warrior, Bryce, was on the list, he had been at the hospital the day the samples went missing, taking his pup for a check-up and highly doubted he would ever betray the pack; that guy bled loyalty. But he did have his promotion suspended for a few years due to our current head warrior not wanting to retire just yet. It was a weak motive but still a motive, though if I actually held any qualms about him I would have never entrusted my mate's training to him. Kevin had been one of the three to fail the warrior tryouts 6 months ago and Greer had failed his entrance exam three times into the pack medical school. Like Bryce, I highly disbelieved that this was motive alone to betray their whole pack for. Our leak was more likely from one of the families that have had a member expelled from the pack due to insubordination, constant trouble causing, or incarcerated for breaking our laws. The few rogues I had begrudgingly accepted - when I still held my prejudices against them - I watched intently when I first suspected information being divulged, convinced that only the rogues would be devious enough to do so. Then April had literally dropped into my life and not only opened my heart, but my eyes too. They were people just like her, that had lost their home, their families, their friends...and I had treated them like outsiders. And like April I had silently made a promise to do better by them; each of them had been accounted for when the wolfsbane serum samples were stolen...it couldn't have been them.

As our discussion was coming to a close, an intense wave of warmth filled my heart fading everything else in existence into the background. Her scent engulfed me before I even saw her, striding into the study with quiet confidence...in nothing but my fucking shirt?! Was she serious?!

My wolf instantly came forward to pull our mate behind us, out of sight of the other males present. While logically I knew there was nothing I needed to worry about with Jude or Carrick, Ezra on the other hand wasn't the least bit logical when it came to our mates right now.

'I'm wearing shorts underneath Mr. Alpha, calm down. Plus one's mated and the other's gay...I think I'll be ok,' she teased in mind-link, giving me that doe-eyed look and stepping around me to greet my Beta and Gamma with a warm welcome.

'Putty in her hand,' Jude's voice called out in my mind, while he wore that fucking smirk.

"I think now we're done, we should probably head out. We've all got shit to do today," Carrick said, rather unceremoniously, but with a knowing smile. He knew what I would hopefully be sharing with April today.

"Oh, I hope I didn't disturb anything. I can leave if you guys still need to talk?" My mate offered, unnecessarily. I would never exclude her from pack business.

"Naw, Ethan's got stuff to talk to you about and I doubt he wants an audience," my Gamma beamed...while I gave him a death stare. I swear, I will actually kill him one of these days!

Jude smacked him up the back of his idiotic head while moving to drag him out of the room. "Ok, we're leaving now. Luna, it was great seeing you, congratulations, we'll see you later. Carrick, let's go," he pressed, pulling Carrick with him before he could say anything else. I could already feel the silent argument the two were having as they left.

"What did he mean, what do you wanna tell me?" she asked now that we were alone.

Well fuck, there goes one surprise. Luckily I still had another and it was stashed here in my desk.

"Nothing that can't wait till after you've eaten, but don't worry it's something good," I reassured as I took her hand and reached into my desk draw to take out the wrapped, rectangular surprise. "I wanted to give you this for Winter Solstice but I didn't want you thinking you'd lost it. I know how much it means to you."

Her face broke out into a beautiful smile, one that I always wanted to see on her face. I watched as she opened the paper up to reveal the photo frame inside, her eyes filling with tears of happiness.

"This is beautiful! I love it! Did you make this? Ethan you're so wonderful!" She leapt to engulf me in a huge hug, almost knocking me over. 

"I wish I could say I did, I'm terrible at anything remotely artistic," I laughed. "But I did have it commissioned, I told them what I wanted. I take it I did good?"

"More than good," she said lovingly as she kissed me.

The gift was a thick wooden frame, containing the picture of her and her parents. I'd also scanned it and saved a copy so it would always be preserved as a backup. The frame had a carving of three wolves, a dark brown one with dark blue eyes for her father and two red ones with pale blue eyes for her and her mother. I didn't know what her parents' wolves looked like, but their coats would most likely be the same colour as their human hair colour.

"I made you some breakfast too, why don't you go warm it up. I've got this really important conference call to set up while you eat, ok?"

She nodded, still clutching the frame to her chest and left to go eat. I quickly grabbed my cell and shot off a text.

Me | Hey, a little short notice, be ready in about 20-30 minutes. She's just eatifn.

Me | *eating

I typed out quickly, my fingers flying over the screen, my reply was virtually instant.

L&N | No that's fine, we'll be waiting!!!

I went into the kitchen to sit and talk with April, keeping my eyes on the clock. After she was done, I led her back to my office without a word, sitting her at my desk, in front of the computer screen.

"Will you tell me what's going on?" She laughed.

"In a second...you're gonna love this, but it's gonna be a lot too," I moved a box of tissues in front of her, this was going to get very emotional... probably for everyone.

I knelt on the floor beside her, setting up the video call. They answered straight away, already looking a little teary eyed. April's eyes widened, glistening with tears, as she looked at the two women on the screen, her hand over her mouth in utter disbelief. I held her hand for moral support, reassuring her this was very much real.

"...Lillian? Nina?"

Chapter 29 - The Wanted Alpha