Page 82 of Chased By My Grumpy Alpha
She is curled on her side with Luna pressed against her chest, one hand buried in the cat’s black fur as if she’s afraid to let go. Even in sleep, there are lines of pain etched around her eyes, a tension in her shoulders that never fully relaxes.
The mating bond pulses steadily in my chest—a constant rhythm that tells me she’s alive, she’s breathing, she’s mine. It’s the only thing that has kept me sane these past four days while she recovered. That connection tying me to her, proving she wasn’t slipping away despite how broken she looked when I found her.
But with the bond, I can also feel the emptiness in her. The hollow ache where her bright spirit used to be. Andrew didn’t only hurt her body; he shattered something fundamental inside her. Stole the light from her eyes, the music from her laughter.
Andrew Crew. He’s going to pay for every tear she shed, every moment of trust he twisted into a weapon against her.
A twig snaps behind me. “You’re brooding again.”
I don’t turn at Seth’s voice as he emerges from the tree line. “She’s sleeping.”
“Good.” He settles beside me, his eyes automatically checking Astra’s breathing and taking in the way her face looks less pinched than it did yesterday. “How is she?”
“She woke up today. Spoke.” I keep my voice low, careful not to disturb her. “But Andrew did a lot of damage.”
Seth nods grimly. We both know I’m not talking about her physical injuries, which healed days ago under the royal healer’s magic. It’s the wounds to her soul that will take time to mend.
If they ever do.
After a minute or two, Leon steps out of the shadows with his usual silent grace. My other closest friend surveys our makeshift camp, his sharp eyes noting the way I’ve positioned myself between Astra and any potential threats as she sleeps.
“She looks better,” Leon observes quietly.
“Physically.” The word comes out sounding harsh.
Leon’s expression softens slightly. He was with us when Seth and I brought her back here, saw the way she looked more dead than alive despite her heart still beating. The complete absence of everything that made her Astra.
“Have you told her?” Leon’s question cuts straight to the heart of what I’ve been avoiding. “About the mating mark?”
I shake my head. “She wouldn’t believe me.”
“Or she would, and she’d run.” Seth’s voice carries a warning. “She’s human-adjacent, Lucian. Her wolf is so latent, it may as well not exist.”
“I know.” The words taste bitter.
“Which means the bond may be one-sided,” Leon continues sympathetically. “You’re tied to her, but she may not feel anything for you beyond gratitude or attraction.”
My jaw clenches. I’ve considered this. Spent the last four days thinking about little else. A latent shifter may not haveenough wolf to feel the mate bond properly. Which means I could be bound to someone who will never feel for me what I feel for her.
“That makes her a weakness,” Seth says bluntly. “Someone who can destroy you without even meaning to.”
“Seth.” Leon’s warning is quiet but sharp.
“No, he needs to hear this.” Seth turns to face me fully. “She could leave tomorrow, Lucian. Find another human to marry, decide she wants a quiet life somewhere you can never follow. And you’d be powerless to stop her.”
The thought makes my wolf snarl with possessive fury. The idea of Astra walking away, of losing her to some other man’s bed, of never seeing her smile again…It’s unbearable.
“You could tell her nothing,” Leon suggests carefully. “Let her think whatever she wants about your interest in her. Keep the bond a secret.”
I watch Astra’s chest rise and fall in the steady rhythm of sleep. She looks so small, so fragile. The mating mark on her neck is hidden beneath her hair, invisible unless someone knows to look for it.
“That would be the smart thing,” Seth agrees. “Protect yourself. Don’t give her the power to destroy you.”
They’re right. Strategically, politically, and personally, keeping the bond secret is the intelligent choice. It’s what any sane ruler would do.
But as I watch my mate sleep, I realize I don’t care about any of that. I don’t care about protecting myself.
I want her to choose me. Not because of some magical compulsion, but because she wants to. Because she trusts me enough to let me heal the wounds Andrew left behind.
