Page 166 of Chased By My Grumpy Alpha
When his wolf dies, he doesn’t scream like the others. He just stares at me, awestruck.
“Magnificent,” he breathes. “Such raw, untrained power.”
I don’t respond to his words. There’s nothing to say to the man who orchestrated my torture and tried to steal my abilities.
Lucian shifts back to human form and stumbles over to me. His hands shake as he works at the ropes binding my wrists. His body is a map of cuts and bruises, blood still seeping from the worst wounds.
“Astra.” My name falls from his lips like a prayer. “How did you—”
His knees buckle, and he collapses against me, his weight nearly toppling my chair. I catch him as best I can with my newly freed hands, and I feel the fever burning through his skin.
“You’re dying,” I whisper, the realization hitting me instantly. Through our bond, I can feel his life slipping away like sand through my fingers. The incomplete connection has been slowly draining him for weeks, and this battle has pushed him past his breaking point.
“Doesn’t matter,” he murmurs against my neck. “You’re safe. That’s all—”
“It does matter,” I tell him softly. “You matter.”
More royal soldiers pour into the chamber, their voices raised in victory as they take control of the scene. But I barely notice them. All my focus is on the man in my arms, on the way his breathing is becoming increasingly labored.
I can fix this. The knowledge comes to me with absolute certainty, carried by the same ancient instinct that let me destroy our enemies’ wolves. The mate bond—if I complete it, it will stabilize. Instead of draining his life, it will strengthen us both.
Without giving myself time to think about it, I lower my mouth to his neck.
His skin is salty and metallic as my canines—longer and sharper than they’ve ever been—pierce his flesh with surprising ease. The taste of his blood on my tongue sends electricity racing through my entire body.
Then, the world explodes.
The incomplete bond that has been pulling at both of us snaps into perfect alignment. I can feel everything he feels: his pain, his relief, his desperate love for me. And I know he can feel me in return, can sense the ancient power flowing through my veins, can understand the Eclipse Born magic in me.
Mine, his wolf growls in my mind, no longer separated by the barrier of incomplete bonding. My mate. My queen.
Yours, the ancient thing inside me agrees. Always yours.
“Seth! Leon!” Lucian’s voice is stronger now, the completed bond already working to heal his worst injuries. “Stand down!”
I turn to see two men I don’t recognize approaching with weapons drawn. I feel like I should know them, but there is a haze clouding my mind. As they get closer, the ancient power inside me reacts with automatic defensiveness. Their wolves—I can feel them, can command them if I choose.
“Stop,” I whisper, and both men freeze mid-step.
Seth, red-haired and lean, fights against my command with impressive will. “What the hell—”
“Astra.” Lucian’s hand covers mine, his touch warm and grounding. “They’re friends. Let them go.”
Leon, blond and sharp-eyed, stares at me with fascination rather than fear. “She can control our wolves?”
“Release them,” Lucian says softly, his thumb stroking my knuckles. “Please, love. They’re here to help.”
The endearment breaks through my defensive haze. Love. He called me “love,” and I can feel through our bond that he means it. This man, who could have anyone, has chosen me.
I free their wolves, and both men stumble slightly as they regain control.
“Lucian needs medical attention,” Leon says to me, his voice carefully neutral as he approaches. “The healers are waiting outside.”
But the ancient power inside me isn’t ready to retreat. It wants more destruction, more dominance. It whispers suggestions about taking control of the entire palace, about making every wolf in the kingdom bow before me.
So much power, it croons. So many wolves to command. You could rule them all.
“Enough.” The word comes out firm, final. “I want to stop.”
