Rivers
The world spun, my breath hitched, my mind sounded, and my vision blurred only for a fraction before that strange spark pulled me forward, longing, daring, and with a primal instinct I couldn't contain.
I found my legs moving before my heart could fully understand what was happening, completely ignoring the scrutinizing gaze of the lady at the counter.
I didn't know where I was going, didn't understand what I was chasing, but somehow I made it to the door, following that sharp, intoxicating scent. I couldn't even tell how or when I lost control.
One moment, I was walking, no, chasing, following the very scent my wolf had already recognized and claimed as ours… our mate. And the next moment, everything collapsed beneath me.
I tripped.
Falling straight into a strong, unyielding chest.
My arms pressed instinctively against hard, sculpted muscles, my fingers digging in as my face came dangerously close to something powerful… something alive… something beating wildly beneath my touch.
The world stilled.
Everything froze.
I struggled to steady myself, inhaling sharply, drawing in that scent again, rich, overwhelming, maddening. It felt wrong. Too conflicting. Too impossible to be real.
Then, as if something snapped sharply inside my mind, like an automatic switch in my brain flipped without warning, I pulled away instantly.
My eyes lifted…
And collided with the darkest glare I had ever seen in my entire life.
Strong, sharply defined features. A broad, intimidating frame. Muscles that spoke of raw power beneath control. Dark, tousled hair. Piercing grey eyes that seemed to cut straight through me. And an aura… a suffocating, commanding aura that radiated dominance without effort, without movement, without a single word.
"I… I'm so sorry, A-Alpha. I wasn't looking, and I tripped…" My voice faltered as I tried to explain, but he didn't react.
He didn't move.
Didn't speak.
Didn't even blink.
But his eyes…
Those cold, merciless eyes held something far more terrifying than anger.
They screamed, no, commanded one line…
Run.
While you can.
I don't know how I scrambled with the long, corset gown I had worn and hurried out of his presence, making my way through the large passageway, not even understanding where I was headed until suddenly the cold air hit my skin, carrying that fresh woody and citrus scent hitting me hard, and when I turned in the direction it was coming from…
My breath hitched.
Him.
The same boy from eight years ago.
The same day Dad had taken me with him to the Alpha summit… before the attack that stole everything from me.
The same face that had haunted my dreams, no, my nightmares, for years.
He stood there, unmoving, his hands tucked casually into his pockets, yet nothing about him was relaxed. Power radiated from him effortlessly. Dominance. Authority. A silent command that demanded submission without him ever raising his voice.
His eyes locked onto mine.
Those same blue orbs that once held warmth… softness… something almost gentle.
Now?
They were cold. Distant. Unreadable.
****
Alpha Nathan's POV
I was never supposed to have attended this year's summit due to some impending issues that regarded the pack borders and the Stonecave pack.
Alpha Benjamin thinks he could override me simply because he felt I was far too young in age compared to him. He thinks power and control could just be obtained by parading as the feared Alpha King of the East. But one thing he didn't quite understand, or just decided to overlook on purpose, was that I didn't take over leadership from my father at thirteen, exactly seven years ago, simply because I was some weak fellow.
It takes more than the strongest heart and blood to rule with precision, dominance, will, and power like I had for the last seven years.
Pascal, my Beta, had insisted I attend. The summit was not optional, it was a binding ritual requiring the presence of every Alpha across the territories.
But even that wasn't the real reason I came.
This gathering… This conference was held once every two years. And I had been attending since I was ten, ever since my father decided it was time I learned the truths behind leadership. The rituals. Politics. Burdens.
But one summit… my second… changed everything.
That was when I saw her.
A small rounded figure standing quietly by the garden.
Plump. Fragile.
Red hair cascading down her back like fire. Hazel eyes glowing softly under the light. Her fingers brushing delicately over flower petals as though she belonged to a world untouched by cruelty.
I remember the exact moment my eyes found her, and something shifted.
Something awakened.
Like a spark.
One that refused to die.
It brought me back to every summit after that… searching… waiting…
But I never saw her again.
Eventually, I convinced myself she wasn't real. Just a fragment of imagination. A foolish fantasy.
I wasn't a man who entertained such things. I had no time for women. No interest in bonds. No desire for something I could never keep.
Because I already knew the truth.
I was cursed.
My bloodline was cursed.
My lineage was cursed, with loneliness.
Stripped of happiness. Meant to dominate without love and rule without a companion.
It's been this way ever since the third generation of my father's line. Their brides were cursed to die at first childbirth, leaving them lonely for the entirety of their lives and reign.
The same curse that claimed my mum and left Dad standing, bruised and broken, weakened, shattered, lonely, and eventually depressed.
I wasn't ready for that kind of burden. I wasn't ready for a mate. I wasn't ready to subject any innocent lady to such a cruel curse in the name of love or the cruelty of the mate bond.
Love was only a luxury, one my lineage and throne could not afford.
If the moon had wanted my bloodline to ever experience and cherish their mates, why then would she not lift the curse? Why then would she keep taking the brides and leaving the Alphas broken, vulnerable, until they finally passed away dejected and even driven mad?
But then, as I looked into those same hazel eyes, the same that had grown into a beautiful, tall, plump damsel. Same red flowing hair, a blue gown that clung tightly to her rounded frame like she would melt if she mistakenly took a breath, I didn't even know what to call that tingling that sparked beneath my skin.
"Mate," Maxwell growled inside me.
"Shut up," I snapped instantly, turning away before I could look at her any longer.
Before I could feel anything more.
But even as I walked away, my eyes betrayed me, glancing back, again and again, until I disappeared into the hallway.
"You should have spoken to her," Maxwell said, his tone edged with disapproval.
"Like it would make any difference?" I shot back.
"You could have tried."
"And then what?" My voice hardened. "Let her believe I would accept her? Bind her to me? And for what? So she dies because of me?"
Silence stretched between us.
Then he spoke again.
"Have you ever considered," Maxwell said slowly, "what rejection would do to her? And to you?"
I stopped walking.
The words hit harder than I expected.
My jaw tightened as frustration surged through me, my hand dragging roughly through my hair.
That… I hadn't thought about.
And I hated it.
I hated being caught off guard. When I wasn't in charge of a situation. I hated even more when it seemed control was slipping and I lacked clues or ideas over a situation.
And right now?
I had no answers.
"You see?" Maxwell muttered.
I shut him out instantly before he could say anything else.
Before he could make this worse than it already was.