Chapter 30 Alaric
ALARIC
Alaric gestured toward the tree line. "Walk with me? Just for a few minutes."
Elara looked between him and the inn. "I don't know if that's a good idea."
"Please."
The word felt foreign on his tongue. He didn't ask. He commanded. But commanding her had gotten him nowhere except alone.
She adjusted her bag on her shoulder. "Fine. A few minutes."
They walked in silence, boots crunching through snow. The sun was setting, painting everything in pink and gold. His wolf wanted to run, wanted to shift, to show her everything at once.
At the perimter of the woods, he stopped. "I owe you an apology."
"You owe me more than that."
"I know." He forced himself to face her fully. "I'm sorry. For lying by omission. For making decisions about what you could know without asking you. For treating you like a problem."
She crossed her arms. "Keep going."
"I'm sorry for not trusting you with the truth. For hiding what I am. What this town is. For letting you think the danger was your fault when I should have told you from the start what you'd walked into."
"And what did I walk into?"
He took a breath. This was it. No more hiding. "A sanctuary. For people like me. Shifters. Witches. Fae. Anyone who doesn't fit in the normal world. We're hidden here. Protected by magic called the Veil. It keeps humans from finding us unless we want to be found."
"And it let me through."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"I don't know. The Veil has its own rules. Sometimes it lets people through because they have latent abilities. Sometimes because they're meant to be here." He paused. "Sometimes because someone on the other side wants them here."
She stared at him. "You're saying you're a shifter."
"Yes. A wolf shifter, specifically."
“You can turn into a wolf.”
“Yes.”
"Prove it."
He dropped his pants and took off his shirt, leaving him in the cold with only his underwear.
He stepped back and let the change take him.
The shift was smooth after years of practice.
Bones lengthened, muscles reformed, fur rippled across his skin.
Within seconds, he stood on four legs, steel-gray coat catching the fading light.
He watched her reaction carefully. Her eyes went wide. Her breath shallowed. But she didn't scream. Didn't run.
"The eyes in my dreams," she whispered.
He dipped his head once, then shifted back. The return was quick and she looked away with a flush as his naked human form stood there before reaching for the pants he discarded.
"How is that possible?" she finally asked once he pulled his shirt over his head.
"Magic. Biology. Both. I don't have all the answers." He moved closer, watching her process. "But that's what I am. What most of the town is. Different species trying to survive in a world that tolerates us where we are ‘accepted’ and known or would hunt us if they knew we existed."
"The hunters."
"They're part of old families. Passed down knowledge through generations. They track us. Kill us. Take trophies." He clenched his jaw and bit down as memories surfaced. "They killed my pack while I was following orders to scout ahead. I've been here ever since, making sure it doesn't happen again."
She looked at the ground. "And I led them here."
"You didn't know. Your articles connected patterns, but you didn't know what those patterns meant. The hunters did. They used your research to find us."
"That doesn't make it better."
"No. But it makes it not your fault." He stepped closer, his wolf pushing him forward. "You were doing your job. You're good at it. Too good. But you weren't trying to expose us. You were trying to find truth."
"And I found it."
"You did."
She looked at him. "The Council wants me gone."
"Bram does. Emmett's torn. The others are waiting to see what happens."
"What do you want?"
His wolf howled the answer before he could speak it. Mine. Ours. Stay.
"I want you to stay," he said quietly. "I want you to choose this place. Choose to be part of it. Choose..." He stopped, the words catching in his throat.
"Choose what?"
"Me." His voice came out rough. "I want you to choose me. But I can't ask that when you didn't know what I was. When you thought I was pushing you away because I didn't want you."
"Did you? Want me?"
"From the moment I saw you in the café. My wolf recognized you as my mate before I could even process what that meant."
"Mate," she breathed, barely audible.
"It's a bond. Between shifters and their other half.
When we find them, we know. Instantly. Completely.
" He moved closer, drawn by something deeper than choice.
"I knew you were mine before you even said your name.
And I've been fighting it every day since because I thought keeping you at a distance would keep you safe. "
"What does the mate bond mean?"
"It means you're mine and I'm yours. It means protecting you becomes my instinct. It means wanting you becomes impossible to ignore." His voice dropped. "It means if you choose me, if you accept the bond, we're connected for life."
"And if I don't choose it?"
The question drove claws through his chest. His wolf whimpered. "Then I respect that. And I live with it."
She looked at him. Really looked at him. He forced himself to stand still, to let her see everything he was. The scars. The wolf. The man who'd failed before and was terrified of failing again.
"You should have told me."
"I know."
"You should have let me make my own choices instead of trying to make them for me."
"I know." He stepped closer, his wolf pushing him forward until he could feel the heat coming off her. "I'm telling you now. Everything. No more secrets. No more half-truths. You want to know something, ask. I'll answer."
"What do you want from me?"
"I want you to stay. I want you to give this place a chance. Give me a chance." His voice turned raw. "I want you to stop looking at me like I'm going to disappear and start looking at me like I'm yours."
"I don't know if I can forgive you for lying."
"Then don't. Not yet. But don't leave before you try."
The sun had set fully now, leaving them in twilight. Snow glowed faintly around them, the trees casting long shadows. His wolf watched her through his eyes, waiting.
"I'm still angry," she said.
"You should be."
"This is insane. All of it. Shifters and magic and mate bonds. It's insane."
"Yes."
"I'm still angry," she repeated. "And I don't forgive you yet. But I don't want to walk away."
He moved then, unable to stop himself, his hands coming up to frame her face.
Before he could stop himself, he kissed her.
Soft at first, terrified she'd change her mind.
But she didn't. She leaned into him, hands gripping his coat, kissing him back with everything he'd been craving since that night in his cabin.
The kiss deepened. His arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer. He trembled with the effort of holding back, of not letting his wolf take over completely.
"Alaric," she whispered against his mouth.
"Yeah?"
"I want this. I want you. No more stopping. No more pulling away."
He groaned, the sound half-growl. His wolf sang triumph. "My cabin. It's close."
"Then take me there."
He pulled back just enough to look at her, to make sure. "You're sure?"
"I'm sure I want you right now. To feel you and see what happens."
He lifted her easily, her legs wrapping around his waist. His wolf pushed close to the surface, wanting to run, to claim, to mark. He forced himself to walk, boots crunching through snow, her mouth on his neck, his hands gripping her tight enough to leave marks.
His cabin appeared through the trees. He'd started the fire before going to find her, some part of him knowing, hoping.
He fumbled with the handle, kicked the door open, and carried her inside.
The fire burned warm and golden. His wolf howled satisfaction. Finally.
He set her down beside the couch, his hands moving to her coat. "Last chance to change your mind."
"I'm not changing it."
"Thank God," he breathed, and kissed her again.