Page 43 of Rebel for Claws
Her eyes searched his face, looking for sincerity, for truth. He laid himself absolutely bare, letting her see everything—the fear, the guilt, and the desperate love that threatened to overwhelm him.
"I won't let fear dictate my life anymore," he vowed. "I want to stand and fight for our future. But only if you'll forgive me. Only if you still want me fighting by your side."
For a moment, she just stared at him, and Alaric felt his heart stop beating in his chest. Then her expression softened slightly, though the fire in her eyes remained.
"I'm still here, aren't I?" she said. "If I wasn't willing to fight for us, I would have gone back to my rebel base instead of chasing after your stubborn ass." She paused, her voice dropping to something softer and more vulnerable. "I wouldn't still be here if I wasn't madly in love with you."
The words hit him like a lightning bolt. Alaric stared at her in shock, his enhanced hearing picking up the rapid flutter of her heartbeat and the slight tremor in her voice that betrayed just how much courage it had taken for her to make that admission.
"You love me?" he asked softly.
"Yes, you impossible man," she said, her cheeks flushing pink. "Despite only knowing you for a week, despite all the chaos and danger surrounding us, despite you being an absolute jackass fifteen minutes ago—yes, I love you."
The confession shattered something inside Alaric's chest, something that had been frozen and locked away for thirteen long years. The walls he'd built around his heart crumbled like paper, leaving him raw and exposed and more alive than he'd felt in decades.
"I love you too," he said, the words torn from somewhere deep in his soul. "God, Vivian, I love you so much it terrifies me. And I swear to you—I will do whatever it takes to fight for us and to protect what we have."
He reached for her then, his large hands cupping her face with reverent gentleness. "But you know this hidden clause changes everything, don't you? It paints an even bigger target on both our backs. The fate of our entire shifter world is in our hands now."
Vivian's lips curved into a smile that was equal parts fierce and tender. "I wouldn't want it to be in anyone else's hands," she said. "Our hands are the most capable."
Alaric couldn't help but agree with his brilliant, fearless mate. Whatever came next, they would face it together.
Suddenly, Logan Cross stood framed in the doorway of Alaric's personal gym, his dark auburn hair disheveled and his green eyes blazing with urgency. The man's powerful frame was tense with barely contained energy, his tactical clothing wrinkled as if he'd run the entire distance to the mansion.
What the hell now?
"Reports just came in," Logan said without preamble, his voice cutting through the air. "Thorne has fled the Pacific Northwest Cascade territory."
Alaric felt his blood turn to ice in his veins. Beside him, Vivian went perfectly still, her eyes wide with shock and growing fury.
"That's not the worst part," Logan continued, his jaw clenched tight. "He took the tactical bag. The one with all your evidence—the ancient scrolls and the journals that tied him directly to the Severance and the pre-Severance planning. It's all gone."
The words hit Alaric like physical blows. He watched as Vivian's face went through a rapid succession of emotions—shock, disbelief, and then a rage so pure and devastating it made the air around her practically vibrate with dangerous energy.
"No," she whispered, her hands clenching into fists. "No, no, no. How could I have been so stupid?"
Alaric's protective instincts roared to life as he watched his mate begin to spiral into self-recrimination. He moved toward her, his eyes blazing gold with the intensity of his wolf pressing close to the surface.
She's blaming herself for what happened during a life-or-death situation. Like hell I'll let her carry that burden.
"Vivian, stop," he said firmly. "You had thirty human operatives pointing rifles at your head yesterday at Moon Hollow. It's completely understandable that protecting our evidence wasn't your top priority when your life was in imminent danger."
But Vivian wasn't listening. She began pacing the length of the gym like a caged predator, her silver-blonde hair flowing behind her as she moved with that preternatural grace that marked her as something far more dangerous than any ordinary shifter.
"I dropped the bag when the shooting started," she said, her voice tight with fury—at herself, at the situation, at Thorne. "Such a rookie mistake. All that proof, centuries of documentedcorruption, gone because I couldn't maintain focus under pressure."
"That's enough," Alaric growled, catching her arm as she paced past him. The contact sent electricity shooting through his nervous system, the mate bond humming with shared emotion. "You helped save our lives yesterday. The evidence means nothing if we're all dead."
Vivian jerked away from his touch, her violet eyes blazing as she spun to face him. "But now Thorne has everything he needs to disappear forever. He has proof of what we know, which means he can stay ahead of us indefinitely."
The desperation in her voice cut through Alaric like a blade. He could see the warrior in her warring with the strategist, both sides frustrated by what felt like an insurmountable setback. But beneath that, he could sense something else—a fierce determination that refused to accept defeat.
"Someone needs to go after him," Vivian said suddenly, her chin lifting with stubborn resolve. "I volunteer to pursue him into the surrounding territory and hunt him down, regardless of the risk involved."
"Absolutely not," Alaric replied immediately. "You're not going anywhere alone, especially not into hostile territory where Thorne can set traps and ambushes."
Vivian's eyes flashed with challenge. "I have expert tracking skills and abilities that will allow me to find him faster than anyone else. My enhanced senses, my ability to shift partially into different animal forms—I can track him in ways your enforcers and guards never could."
