Chapter 115
Summer’s POV
“Mate!” The word echoed in my mind with startling clarity, like a shout across a previously silent canyon.
“Cora?” I whispered internally, desperately seeking that connection with my wolf that had been severed
for so long. “Is that you?”
Silence answered me, that momentary bridge between us vanishing as quickly as it had formed.
“Summer?” Alexander’s concerned voice pulled me back to reality. His warm hands cupped my face,
thumbs brushing tenderly across my cheekbones. “What happened? You went somewhere just now.”
I blinked, trying to process the experience. “My wolf… she spoke to me. She said ‘mate.“”
His eyes widened, briefly flashing golden before returning to their natural hazel depths. “She spoke?
After all this time?”
“Yes, but ” I closed my eyes, desperate to recapture that fleeting connection. “Cora? Cora, are you there?” Nothing but emptiness answered me. “She’s gone again. I don’t understand.”
Alexander pressed his forehead against mine, his breath warm against my face. “This is progress, little
wolf. Your bond with her is healing.”
I nodded, though disappointment settled heavily in my chest. After such a momentous breakthrough, I’d
hoped for more.
“Let’s continue,” I said, tilting my head to expose my neck. “Please, mark me.’
”
Alexander’s eyes darkened with desire, but after a moment of obvious internal struggle, he shook his
head. “Not like this.”
“Why not?” I couldn’t keep the hurt from my voice.
His fingers traced the curve of my neck gently, sending shivers down my spine despite my frustration.
“A marking is sacred, Summer. It should happen when both you and your wolf are fully present. When Cora spoke to you just now… it was a sign she’s returning, but she’s not fully healed yet.”
“But what if she never fully returns?” The fear that had been building inside me finally broke free. “What if I’m always… broken?”
“You are not broken,” he said fiercely, his grip on me tightening protectively. “You’re healing. There’s a
difference.”
I turned away, tears threatening to spill. “Alpha Foster did this to me. He took my wolf’s voice, my
connection to her.”
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Chapter 115
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“And we’ll get it back,” Alexander promised, turning my face back to his. “What just happened proves it. Cora is fighting to return to you. But rushing a marking could hurt you both. I won’t risk that–not when we have all the time in the world.”
I knew he was right, but the disappointment was crushing. After coming so close to feeling whole again, the silence in my head seemed even more profound than before.
Alexander pulled me against his chest, his heartbeat strong and steady under my ear. “When we mark each other, I want it to be perfect. I want your wolf dancing with joy, not struggling to be heard.”
I nodded against his skin, taking comfort in his warmth. “You’re right. I just… I want to be whole for you.”
“You are whole,” he whispered into my hair. “Wolf voice or not. And I’ll love every version of you until the
end of time.”
His words wrapped around me like a protective blanket. He leaned down to press a gentle kiss against my lips, not demanding or passionate like earlier, but sweet and full of promise.
“Sleep now,” he murmured. “We have a lot to handle tomorrow.”
I nestled against him, letting his steady breathing lull me toward sleep.
I awoke to the sensation of warm hands sliding over my hips and something hard pressing against my lower back. Alexander’s scent enveloped me, spicy and aroused. When I turned my head to look at him, his eyes were already open, watching me with undisguised hunger.
“I can’t get enough of you,” he growled low in my ear, his cock pressing insistently against me. “Give it to me, baby.”
Despite my morning drowsiness, my core clenched tight around him as I rolled my hips back into his hardness. We moved together in perfect rhythm, my body responding to his every touch until we both shattered, his release filling me as I cried out his name.
By the time we finally emerged from our room, cleaned and dressed, the morning was well advanced.
Alexander’s phone buzzed repeatedly with messages from Beta Ethan. The incident with Natalia couldn’t be ignored any longer.
“We need to question her,” Alexander said, his expression hardening as he read through the messages.” Security found no footage of her slipping anything into my drink, but the chemical analysis confirmed it was a specialized rut inducer laced with wolfsbane.”
I nodded. “Someone helped her. The drugging was too perfect, too precisely timed.”
We made our way down to the pack’s holding cells beneath the main house.
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Alexander sensed my discomfort and took my hand, his thumb rubbing reassuring circles against my
skin. “You don’t have to come down here.”
“I do,” I replied firmly. “This affects both of us.”
C
