Chapter 19
Gia
My heart was churning with so many emotions after Wreck told me everything.
Not all at once.
Not dramatically.
The words came rough and reluctant while he packed gear into the truck beside Havoc and Justin, like dragging those memories into the open physically hurt him.
And honestly?
I thought it probably did.
He told me about Forest Ridge.
About growing up feared instead of loved.
About the way his Alpha father had looked at him, like he was something wrong the moment he was born.
Hybrid.
Monster.
Abomination.
Every hateful word settled heavily inside my chest until I wanted to cry for the lonely sixteen-year-old boy who’d been chained down by fifteen grown males because they feared the True Alpha strength inside of him.
My Alpha Bear.
My poor, beautiful Alpha Bear mate.
Rage simmered low beneath my skin the more he spoke.
Not because he was dangerous.
Because they made him believe he was.
And somewhere between the bond and the mating and the impossible intensity of the last few days… I knew something else, too.
We’d created something together.
Life.
I could feel it—that tiny, precious heartbeat fluttering beneath my own—and I felt near to bursting with emotion.
The realization that I was pregnant—no, that we were pregnant—settled quietly but firmly into my heart while I watched Wreck load equipment into the truck with tight angry movements.
Maybe it was instinct.
Maybe Dryad magic.
Maybe fate itself was whispering softly through the bond.
But I knew we were having a baby.
Just like I knew I was completely ass over teakettle in love with Grayson “Wreck” O’Connell.
And I would be damned before my child grew up without their father because some bitter old Alpha wanted to challenge his son for existing.
I’d grown up without a father.
I knew exactly how much that hurt.
No.
Absolutely not.
“Honey? Gia?”
Wreck’s voice pulled me back immediately.
He stood near the truck now fully geared in fire-resistant equipment, dark hair damp from his earlier shower, while tension carved deep lines into his face.
Goddess.
He looked ready for war.
Because that was exactly what he was heading into.
“You stay here. I-I don’t want you to watch,” he admitted quietly.
The vulnerability hidden beneath the words nearly broke me.
Not fear for himself.
Fear for me.
Always for me.
I stepped closer immediately.
“No, I’m coming with you.”
His jaw tightened.
“Gia—”
“You belong to me and I belong to you, right?”
The bond pulsed warm and fierce between us.
Wreck went perfectly still.
“Yes, Mate. Always.”
I placed my hand over his heart, and he immediately put his on top. His chest rumbled with his beast, and I couldn’t stop my grin if I wanted to.
Newsflash, I didn’t want to.
“Then we’re both going to see this through. Together.”
The certainty in my own voice surprised even me.
But it was true.
The moment we chose each other, this stopped being only his burden to carry.
We were mates.
Partners.
I was the Omega to his Alpha, and nothing was ever going to keep us apart.
We were a family now, whether or not either of us fully understood what that meant yet.
Wreck stared down at me for one long, drawn out, silent moment.
Emotion flickered dangerously behind his mismatched eyes.
Love.
Fear.
Pride.
Protectiveness so intense it bordered on painful.
Then his gaze shifted toward Havoc and Justin.
“You will keep her safe while I deal with this,” he said roughly.
Not a request.
An order.
Both males straightened immediately.
And for the first time, I truly saw it.
The shift.
The newly established hierarchy between them.
Yes, there was dominance.
But also, and more importantly, trust.
Respect.
Loyalty.
The Wolf and the Dragon exchanged one quick glance before nodding almost in unison.
“We got her,” Havoc said quietly.
“We will keep your Omega safe,” Justin pledged with a quick bow of his head.
My chest tightened unexpectedly watching them.
Because these three broken outcast Alphas had somehow built their own Pack here in the mountains.
Their own Clan.
And Wreck?
He was absolutely the center of it.
Not because he demanded power.
Because the others trusted him with theirs.
Pride swelled warmly through me.
My Bear.
My Alpha.
He was the best man for the job.
A male who never even realized he’d become a leader simply by surviving.
I stepped closer and fixed the collar of his flannel gently.
“You’re not facing your past alone. Not anymore,” I whispered.
Wreck’s hand slid immediately to the back of my neck.
Possessive.
Needing touch.
The bond between us tightened hard enough to ache.
“You should stay here,” he murmured.
“But I won’t.”
His lips twitched slightly despite the tension radiating through him.
“Stubborn minx.”
“You love that about me.”
The Bear rumbled visibly beneath his skin.
“Yeah,” he admitted softly. “I really fucking do.”
Heat bloomed briefly through my chest despite everything.
Then my phone buzzed in my pocket.
Valerie.
I glanced at the text quickly.
Val
Gia call me NOW. Something’s wrong. Jeremy is on his way there. He said it was a business trip, but when he was finished you’d be expecting him? What is going on?
The world tilted.
Ice slid through my stomach so fast it stole the air from my lungs.
Jeremy?
On his way here?
My mind raced through the implications immediately.
Why would he come here without warning?
Why lie about me expecting him?
Unless? Unless maybe this wasn’t just about Wreck’s old Clan.
Unless it was bigger.
Colder.
Calculated.
The bond between Wreck and me pulsed sharply, reacting to my spike in fear like it had its own nervous system now.
Wreck noticed my expression instantly.
Of course he did.
Nothing slipped past him when it came to me.
“What?”
His voice dropped low, already alert.
Already protective.
I forced my face into something neutral and locked the phone screen slowly.
Valerie would have to wait.
Because this?
This was happening now.
And whatever was coming up that mountain—whether it was the Forest Ridge Clan or my Coven or something worse—I wasn’t letting my mate walk into it alone.
I stepped closer and slid my hand into Wreck’s.
His massive fingers curled around mine immediately.
Warm.
Solid.
Mine.
“It might be nothing,” I said softly. “Coven business.”
His eyes narrowed slightly.
He didn’t believe that was nothing.
But he didn’t push.
“Do you need to take care of it?” he asked carefully.
The fact that he even asked—that he would let me walk away right now if I said yes—made my chest ache.
“No,” I said firmly. “It’s not important.”
Not right now.
Not compared to this.
I squeezed his hand harder.
“Let’s go end this.”
We started toward the truck again, but I hesitated after two steps.
The weight of everything crashed into me all at once.
His past.
His father.
The fire.
The challenge.
Jeremy coming here without my consent.
Something bigger was moving around us. But I couldn’t be sure what it was and I couldn’t voice it. Not yet.
And suddenly fear wrapped icy fingers around my ribs.
“Wreck.”
He stopped immediately.
Turned to face me fully.
Head tilting slightly in that instinctive Bear way that always made my heart squeeze.
“Yeah?”
I swallowed hard.
My voice felt smaller than I wanted it to.
“I need you to be careful.”
His expression softened instantly.
“I need you to be safe,” I continued, stepping into him now, pressing my forehead lightly against his chest. “I just—I just need you, okay?”
The words came out raw.
Unfiltered.
Honest.
Because I did.
Not just for protection.
Not just for mating instinct.
But because somewhere in the last few days, he’d rooted himself inside my heart in a way that terrified me.
Wreck cupped the back of my head gently and drew me to him for a soft kiss on my lips.
The gesture was so tender it almost undid me.
“I swear,” he murmured, voice steady and certain in a way that felt older than either of us. “I will always come back to you, Mate.”
The promise settled into my bones.
Into my magic.
Into whatever fragile future we were trying to carve out of this mess.
And for the first time since reading Valerie’s text—I felt safe.