Page 45 of Fated to the Alpha Warrior (The Wolf’s Forbidden Mate #1)
Aurora
Everything hurts.
That’s my first coherent thought as consciousness returns.
My entire body feels like I’ve been hit by a truck, then backed over again for good measure, maybe even dragged around a little bit like a rag doll.
Even my hair hurts, if that’s possible. The bond in my chest throbs with a strange, hollow ache—not broken like I wanted, but…
different somehow. Wrong in a way I can’t quite define, as if I’m feeling it through a great deal of interference.
When I open my eyes, the first thing I see is Kieran.
He’s slumped in a chair beside my bed, dark circles under his ice blue eyes suggesting he hasn’t slept in days. His big hand is wrapped around mine, warm and strong, and for a moment I let myself feel the comfort of his touch before memory crashes back.
Trusting him. Letting him in. His rejection. His cruelty.
The ritual. The witches. The soul-shattering pain.
Him finding me. Again. And the bond… is still there.
Jerking my hand away, I try to sit up—only for the room to spin violently. Black spots dance in my vision as nausea rolls through me. Kieran reaches for me, but I flinch away from his touch.
“Don’t.” My voice comes out raw and scratchy, as if I’ve swallowed broken glass. Which, given how much I screamed during the ritual, isn’t surprising. “You don’t get to act concerned now. Not after everything you’ve done.
Pain flashes across his face, and his hands drop to his sides, resignation in his ice blue eyes. “You’re right. I don’t deserve to be here with you… but I am. Aurora, please. Let me help you. You can barely sit up.”
“Like you helped me by taking my virginity then rejecting me again?” The words taste bitter on my tongue, but I can’t stop them. “I think I’ve had enough of your help to last several lifetimes. In fact, I think I’d be better off if you never ‘help’ me again.”
He flinches as if I’d struck him, but doesn’t back away, lifting his chin to take it.
Something has changed in him—the Kieran I knew would’ve retreated behind cold walls by now, admitted defeat and run away.
“I know I hurt you. I’ve been the biggest fool imaginable.
Trust me when I say it’s all I’ve been thinking about this whole time.
But the ritual nearly killed you—please, just let me make sure you’re okay. ”
Before I can argue further, footsteps approach.
Bonnie appears in the doorway, her dark eyes assessing us both.
“Good, you’re awake. The ritual failed, in case you were wondering.
The mate bond is still there, just… muted temporarily by the magic.
It should return to normal in a few days, as far as we can tell. ”
My heart sinks. Even this last desperate attempt to free myself has failed. I’ll never be rid of him—or this constant ache in my chest.
“We’ve arranged for you to recover at Pack Opal,” Bonnie continues, her tone brooking no argument.
“They’re allies of Pack Jade, and their healers are excellent.
Plus, they have experience with magical backlash.
Not to mention, we can’t keep you two around with all the snarling and growling—and we don’t have the spare bedrooms.”
“I can take care of myself,” I mutter, but even as I say it, another wave of dizziness hits me. The room tilts alarmingly, and I have to grip the edge of the bed to stay upright. “And I’m not snarling or growling… oh.”
Kieran. Of course. He would think he gets to be possessive and jealous.
“We should go to Pack Opal while you recover. You can barely sit up,” Kieran points out, then holds up his hands when I glare at him.
“Which is entirely my fault. I know that, and I fully accept the consequences of my actions. But please, let me help you now. Let me try to make things right at least in a little way.”
Something in his voice makes me look at him—really look at him. The Kieran I knew would never admit fault so openly, would never show such raw vulnerability. His ice blue eyes meet mine steadily, full of regret and something that looks dangerously like love.
I can’t deal with this right now. My head is pounding, my limbs feel like lead, and I’m not sure which way is up anymore. Worse, the man who rejected me is acting like a kicked puppy dog and giving me dangerous hope again.
“Fine,” I say curtly. “But only because I don’t have much choice in my current state.”
Getting dressed is a humiliating ordeal.
My fingers fumble with simple buttons, and my arms shake when I try to pull a sweater over my head.
Kieran hovers nearby, clearly wanting to help but trying to respect my need to do it myself.
When I stumble trying to put on my shoes, though, he kneels in front of me without a word.
“I can do it,” I protest weakly.
“I know you can.” His voice is gentle as he helps me slip my feet into my boots. “But you don’t have to. Not now that I’m here.”
The trip to Pack Opal passes in a blur. Kieran rents a truck for us and my bike, then carries me to it despite my protests, treating me like I’m made of glass. Every touch is gentle, careful, as if he’s afraid I’ll shatter. Maybe I will.
He’s different with me now—attentive without being overbearing, protective without being possessive. When I start shivering, he turns the heat up without comment. When nausea hits halfway there, he pulls over immediately, holding my hair back as I retch on the side of the road.
“I’m sorry,” I mumble, mortified.
“Don’t be.” His hand is warm on my back. “This is my fault. All of it. I’m the one who should be ashamed and embarrassed, not you. Especially not you.”
We’re met at Pack Opal’s borders by a small contingent from Pack Jade—including, to my dismay, Dierdre Reynolds and her mate.
My former best friend’s lip curls when she sees me, her perfectly styled hair and designer clothes a stark contrast to my current disheveled state.
I can almost smell the sweat in my hair and the vomit on my breath as she looks at me.
“Still can’t shift?” she asks sweetly, exactly the same tone she used to use when we were friends and she was about to say something cutting to someone else. “Although I suppose that’s the least of your problems now. Attempting to break a mate bond? How desperate can you get?”
The words hit harder because we used to be so close. I remember sleepovers at her house, sharing secrets and dreams. She was the first person I told about my crush on Kieran. Then she got her wolf, found her mate, and suddenly I wasn’t good enough to be her friend anymore. Because I was tainted.
Before I can respond, Kieran’s growl cuts through the air. Not just any growl—an alpha’s growl, full of power and fury. “Watch your tongue,” he snarls, positioning himself between me and Dierdre. “You’re speaking to my mate.”
Shocked silence falls. Dierdre’s eyes go wide as Kieran continues, his voice hard with authority, “I made a mistake in rejecting Aurora, something I know now without a doubt. She is stronger and braver than any of you can possibly understand, worth every single one of you put together. If anyone questions her worth again, they’ll answer to me and they won’t like what they get. ”
“But she’s broken,” Dierdre’s mate protests, taking a step forward. “She can’t even shift! How can you claim her as your mate when she’s not even a real shifter?”
I expect Kieran to hesitate at his words.
After all, they echo his own thoughts from five years ago.
Instead, his growl deepens as he advances on Dierdre’s mate.
“She took down several fae warriors without shifting, saved a shifter from madness, and has proven invaluable in this fight,” he snaps.
“What have you done lately besides gossip? When was the last time you fought for our people? Protected our pack from its enemies?”
His arms tighten around me protectively as he continues, “Aurora is perfect exactly as she is, wolf or no wolf, and she’s still a shifter.
I was too weak to see it before, but I see it now.
She’s ten times the shifter any of you will ever be.
Anyone who has a problem with that can leave—and don’t think I won’t remember who stood against us when I’m alpha. ”
No one speaks. I stare up at Kieran, stunned by his vehemence. This is not the man who rejected me twice. This is someone new—or maybe someone who was there all along, buried under his father’s toxic influence and his own fears.
Pack Opal’s healers set us up in a comfortable guest house near their clinic.
As they examine me, Kieran hovers nearby, growling whenever anyone gets too close.
His protectiveness should annoy me, but instead it makes something warm flutter in my chest. I didn’t realize how it would feel to have an actual mate, didn’t dare dream of it, but now… I almost can.
“The ritual did significant damage,” one healer explains, her hands gentle as she checks my pulse points. “Not just physically, but magically. You’ll need time to recover.”
“How long?” I ask, dreading the answer.
“At least a week, maybe more.” She eyes Kieran. “The mate bond will help speed healing, if you let it. Anything you do to tend to her will be significant.”
I stiffen at her words, but Kieran just nods. “Whatever she needs. Whatever she wants. As long as she wants it, of course.”
Once we’re alone in the guest house, I expect him to hover, to try to control everything like he did this morning. Instead, he keeps his distance, letting me set the pace.
“You don’t have to stay,” I tell him, easing myself onto the couch. Even that small movement exhausts me. “I’m sure your father needs you back home, given everything that’s going on.” He caught me up on the way here. “I won’t keep you from your duties.”