Page 260 of Alpha Mates

Control between Julian and me was supposed to be a give and take. This is only a take. It is also innately wrong.

It ends before I have a chance to fight it. The darkness is wrestled from my grasp, and I from it, and instead, I find myself at the forefront of the world I tried to shun while Julian falls inwards.

I open my eyes out of reflex, only to slam them shut when the blinding light assaults my vision. It hurts here, too. It’s too bright, too loud, too much. I dig my fingers into—dirt? Sinking in so that I have something to hold on to while the world spins.

I swallow hard, then choke on my next breath when my stomach churns with nausea.

Where am I? What happened? Where is Julian?

I reach for him, but he doesn’t answer my calls—he can’t from the hole I’d been in that he now fills.

Something terrible must’ve happened. Something bad enough to force me to the forefront, even in my current state. I curse myself to hell and back as I force myself onto my feet, bracing for a fight. Only the world sways again once I’m standing upright. I shake it off and pry my eyes open to survey my battlegrounds.

The ground wavers in gold and green, and utter terror engulfs me as my eyes slide over the unfamiliar lush grounds. Stalks of wheat shudder before me as if cowering from some invisible force, and I find myself dishonourably desperate to do the same.

Something is here—some wretched thing that has clogged the atmosphere, thick enough that each breath catches on it. Its stench is slathered over the air, the earth—and the source is nearby.

My fingers curl into fists as I square myself, forcing the tremor from my limbs. I would not be defeated so easily.

Nothing about this terrain is familiar, from the lingering scent to the strange hut in the distance, but I forget about the oddities entirely when my eyes land on him.

My heart stammers in my chest, forgetting how to function as all else falls away—the nausea, the panic, the pain. It all comes to a halt as I look at him, staring into his blood-red eyes.

A fire flicks in them, and then before my very eyes.

The flames sway and flare, stoked by every caress from the passing winds. Bodies circle the flames in a wild rhythm, wolves and shadows, and in their midst, Max howls.

He’s so lost in his madness that he doesn’t hear me rouse, not until I approach him, and the smile on his face somehow grows. It’s so radiant, so wonderful, it feels like a sin to witness it.

“Promise?”

“I promise. There is only us. I will never leave you behind, Alexander.”

The memory flickers out of Max’s gaze, taking with it the joy and the warmth. What’s left behind is hollow.He takes a step forward, and I find the strength to take one back.

“Alex—” he starts, but I shake my head to make him stop. “Please just listen to me.”

“No.” My hands fly to my ears to block him out, to block it all out. “No. No. No.”

“I love you too much to ever leave you.”

“Alex,” he pleads, and he sounds too much like he had then. My eyes fill, but even behind the tears, the memories refuse to be washed away. “Sweetheart, just—”

“Don’t!” I shout, swallowing the sob that tries to strangle me. I shove it all down as I meet his dark gaze and hold it. “Don’t you dare.”

Max holds his tongue, but he doesn’t free me from his stare. His eyes glisten from the pain he doesn’t have the right to feel.

Anger licks at my chest. I try to stifle it, but that only stokes the coals. I bite the inside of my cheek, clenching my fists, but I can’t hold it in. It only feeds the fire. It blazes a cruel path, spreading until it’s all I can feel.

“You left me.”

I hurl the words at him like a blow, and for once, I hope they hurt. Tears roll down his face, and mine follow.

“Please … Alex,” he pleads, stepping closer.

“You promised!” I shout, my heart breaking at the memory.

It had been one of our few outings, a night spent in the woods with our betas’ wolves and closest companions, to enjoy being at the forefront now that we were mated and fulfilling the very positions we’d been crafted for.