Page 25 of The Alpha’s Forced Omega (Alaska Alpha Wolves #1)

Seated in the pack den amongst the alpha’s subordinates and the elders of Snehvolk feels like an interrogation. I wring my hands together, my palms sweaty, but Elias takes notice, and to my surprise, he reaches over and places a soothing hand over mine.

I looked up with a frown, only to find that his attention was fixed on Elder Caius, who addressed the room. It’s like the gesture was the most natural thing in the world, and he isn’t afraid to hide it from the others.

A soothing wave of comfort washes over me, letting my insecurities simmer down and allowing me to straighten up with confidence as I turn my attention to the elder. I am the luna of this pack, after all, and I am the only one who faced the demon dog and injured it.

“Donovan’s murder at the border was a message left behind by the demon,” Elder Caius continues gloomily. “But if it wanted to kill one of our werewolves, it would have done so without causing the fire.”

A cold shiver courses down my spine as I feel somewhat responsible for the young werewolf’s murder at the hands of the very same creature who’s after me because of my powers.

Elias and I already figured out that the spirit drew me into the clinic fire with a faked child’s cry, knowing I was there.

Someone lost their life because of me, and though Elias assured me that it’s not my fault, I feel the weight of that blood on my hands if the demon wants me for my powers.

Elias’s grandfather lifts suspicious eyes at me. “The fire was meant to draw out a particular member of this pack.” He glances at Elias more sternly, eyes narrowed. “Will you explain what’s going on, son?”

Elias sighed as he folded his fingers over my hands, giving me a gentle but reassuring squeeze before straightening up to address the people of the Snehvolk council.

“My mate, Aurora, is gifted. Her maternal bloodline consisted of witches of the ancient tribes, and she possesses the type of magic from the legends.” He pauses, giving the others time to digest this information.

“It is why I believed her prophecy from the beginning,” Elias explains, his gaze measured as he glances at each of their faces. “I witnessed the power she wields that can impair the demon even when I couldn’t. But I spoke nothing of it because she had only just discovered them herself.”

“So the prophecy was true?” Alpha Thane asks after a moment of terse silence, his piercing green eyes narrowing at me and sending a shiver down my spine.

The only consolation I’ve received is that, until tonight, the other members of the council weren’t aware of my ancestry and didn’t know I have powers. What I suspected all along—that Elias wanted to use me for my powers to save his pack—wasn’t true.

None of them would have been oblivious to my true identity. That means Elias covered up for me about the fire outbreak at his parents’ home.

Oh, my…

I was so wrong about him.

This time, I’m the one who squeezes his hand reassuringly, clearing my throat as I prepare to speak.

“If I may…?” I quirk up timidly, but everyone in the pack den has heard me when their eyes fall on me. The pressure of taking the floor is made easy when Elias turns to smile warmly at me, encouraging me with a curt nod.

“The prophecy is true,” I admit. “I may have trouble remembering it since, at the time, my powers were dormant until that night. But I trust Alpha Elias, as everyone here should. He’s our leader, and he knows what he heard when I spoke in that trance.

The baby he and I conceived will be the key to defeating the demon. ”

“So the demon came here because of you?” Brooks rolls his eyes as he leans back against the wooden frame of his seat. “I’m not surprised.”

I feel the stirrings of Elias’s inner wolf and console it with another squeeze of his hand.

“Whatever the demon dog wants—”

“Is already here,” Dawson, who’d been quiet throughout the meeting, interjects with a skeptically raised brow. “You said conceived… it means you’re already pregnant.”

My heart skips a dreadful beat, and my eyes, searching Elias’s face, become tight with a stunned expression.

“That means the demon was drawn here because of your powers and the child you carry,” Elder Caius speculates. “It must know more than we can imagine. That’s how it found its way to you.”

With Elias stiffening beside me, I’m left to concede to the elder’s speculation, nodding. No more hiding away. If there’s one thing I’ve learned over these past few weeks, it’s that I can not only trust my mate, but I can trust myself, too.

I’ve seen what I can do with my powers, and I’m capable of helping the council take the demon down.

“I know that the child and I pose a threat to the pack, but perhaps my powers were unleashed around the demon because I’m the only one who can beat it at its own game. I can use my powers against it, lure it here, and we could trap it somehow.”

The silence stretches all around as the members of the Snehvolk council consider my offer, but it’s at that time that Elias snaps out of whatever frozen daze he’d been in to clear his throat with the sovereignty that demands everyone’s attention.

“The demon isn’t drawn here because of Aurora’s powers. As legend has it, it’s only here to wreak havoc and destruction and take what it’s meant to have before leaving for another two hundred years. It’s only coincidental that Aurora has such powers that best the demon.”

Elias’s grandfather nods thoughtfully. “Even if it is coincidental, her premonition spoke of the child being the key to defeating the demon.”

Elias shifts uncomfortably, tightening his grip on my hand. “As the alpha of this pack, I cannot endanger my mate or our child. Aurora will no longer fight the demon head-on. She will be protected, and so will our child.”

Turning my head slowly, I stare at Elias’s immaculate side profile, my eyes becoming narrower with every passing second. While the council discusses probable methods to defeat the demon without my help, their voices become distant while I focus on the pain of a shattering heart.

***

“What were you thinking, leaving me out of the fight?!” I exclaim as soon as we’ve entered the cabin. I’d been holding back the urge to lash out at Elias until we were alone, and now my fury burns through my blood.

Elias turns slowly at the door when he’s done locking it, a frown gripping his face. “What do you mean, Aurora? I’m protecting you.”

“Protecting me?!” I spat with a scornful scoff. “You’re protecting me while forsaking the others?! Or don’t you have faith in my capabilities?”

“Aurora, of course, I—”

“No, Elias!” I throw up a hand in front of his face and abruptly spin around, stifling the urge to let out the tears of pain that pool in my eyes.

I swallow down the lump in my throat before speaking again.

“You’re the one who encouraged me, told me you believe in me and have faith in my powers.

” I shake my head inconsolably. “But now you don’t trust that I can do this even after seeing what I did with that fire. ”

Finally letting the tears spill, I don’t fight Elias when he places a hand on my shoulder.

“Aurora, you don’t understand…”

“What don’t I understand?!” I snap scornfully as I spin back to him, glaring at him through heartbroken tears.

Elias sighs and hangs his head, cautiously stepping forward to take my hands in both of his.

He lifts his eyes, remorseful and sincere through the veil of his dark lashes that contrast the tresses of platinum blonde hair sweeping his forehead.

“I don’t want to risk losing you, don’t you see?

I—” he shakes his head fervently. “I don’t ever want to lose you. ”

Noticing the fear in his eyes, my heart softens, and my brows tug into an understanding frown.

Elias is afraid of losing me. He doesn’t want me involved with taking down the demon because he wants to protect me, not because he doesn’t believe in my powers.

Reaching out when his eyes soften as he stares at me, I cup his cheek and offer him a reassuring smile.

“Please trust me, Elias,” I plead. “I might not know the full extent of my powers, but I do know that they’re developed enough for me to harness them against the demon. You saw what I did with that fire at the clinic. I never felt more powerful before, and it’s all thanks to you.”

Elias nods slowly, understandingly, and places a hand over mine where it rests on his cheek, a wistful smile lifting his lips. “Of course, I trust you, Aurora. I just can’t afford to lose you.”

“I know, and you won’t lose me, Elias. I know myself better now, and I understand the weight of these powers, as well as the responsibility that comes with them.

I know I can do this. With you by my side, I feel unstoppable,” I admit, allowing the honesty to flow from my heart.

“I don’t want to hide anymore. I want to be free, to be authentically me, and lift my head up high with my greatest supporter beside me. ”

When I’m done saying everything from my heart’s core, I gasp, realizing just how powerful I feel right now. As Elias gazes into my eyes with a kind, gentle fondness that’s striking, I let my eyelids drift closed instinctively.

He leans in and presses his lips to mine, to which I sigh and melt in his warm embrace. Without the walls up to guard me, I feel liberated in my freedom, empowered by the surrender and flow that comes with letting my guard down.

As Elias walks me toward the bedroom, our lips remaining locked, the last bits of my distrust slip away, and I allow him all the way in, feeling the energy of not just the parts that make me a powerful witch, but the parts that make me a wolf shifter, too.

It binds to his wolf just from the gentle strokes of his fingers as they brush my skin to unclothe me, and I can only imagine how powerful and intense it will be when he’s inside me, binding our wolves together in the union of our mate bond.