“If I knew, I wouldn’t have asked,” I admitted. Did she really care for me beyond what our bodies demanded from us?
Like I was coming to care for her.
Damn it. I almost wished I could pull the armor back around my heart. Almost. It was dangerous to care. I knew that better than anyone. But caring for her was like the sun coming up after the longest dark night. It was what I wished for but never thought I’d have.
Ashla pressed closer, her tongue darting out to lick my nose before she murmured, “I can’t leave you behind because I—”
A harsh wind whipped around us, reminding us that any breeze could quickly carry her scent across the land and send wolves hunting for us. We couldn’t stay here.
“Come on,” I urged. “We need to get to Luxoria before this storm gets too close.”
I pulled away and ran toward the city, letting my mind wonder how she meant to finish that sentence.
I need you? She did. She needed me to stand with her at the trial. She needed me to sate her heat. Maybe she needed other things from me too.
I want you? That would have been a better ending. No one had ever really wanted me. Not just because. Perhaps they’d wanted me because I held a position of power or because they thought they could get closer to the king, but wanting me just for me, the real me? That was different.
I… love you?
I sprinted faster, dust kicking up as Ashla kept pace beside me. I tried not to stare at her as we ran. She was such a gorgeous wolf. Mine. A wave of sadness swept over me as our reality sank in.
No, Ashla couldn’t love me. Not after what I’d done, living as an alpha, pretending I didn’t belong in the Badlands.
Except the truth was I didn’t belong there. I was too alpha to survive there, and my parents had known it. Instead, I belonged nowhere. Maybe that was why ending The Division was something I couldn’t immediately latch onto. I couldn’t see a unified future the way Adalai did when he mated Zelene.
You belong where your mate is, my wolf reminded me. If there was a single truth to take away from this, it was that I never wanted to be anywhere Ashla wasn’t. Whether she felt the same way or not.
We crossed the desert in record time, our animals pushing us to our limits. As we passed my outpost in the east and drew near to the city boundaries, I scanned our surroundings, looking for any hint of trouble. None of my men would expect to see me as a wolf unless…
It occurred to me that they wouldn’t automatically think of me as an omega just because I was shifted. The other alphas were also able to shift after mating omegas. At first glance, my soldiers would think I had mated Ashla and unlocked my inner beast.
I could use that to get us through the city safely.
The city streets were still ravaged from the beta uprising, but clean up had begun and the king’s soldiers patrolled heavily. I cut down a side road, trying to avoid any who weren’t from the eastern borders.
We made it deep into Luxoria, the castle in sight, before males recognized Ashla’s scent. Betas and alpha guards alike, took notice. Soon, we would be surrounded.
It was time to play my trump card.
I led Ashla to the nearest of my soldiers and addressed them in my wolf form. “My mate is wanted by the king for treason.” I hoped they didn’t know that I was apparently also wanted for treason. “Guard us from the betas until we reach the castle.”
A younger alpha guard stumbled over my command, drawing his weapon. “Sir? You’re…” Don’t say wanted. Do not fucking say it. “… a wolf.”
I snarled to cover my relief. “No, shit. I just told you the outlaw is my mate. You know alphas shift when mated.”
He looked to the other three and they seemed to be considering what to do. I could make it easy.
“Hurry,” I growled, nudging Ashla in front of me as we pushed past them. “If anything happens to her, the king will have your head.”
Ashla ran, taking the lead, dodging the guards and weaving toward the castle with me hot on her heels. I ignored my soldiers behind us as they fought back beta and omega males who wanted to sink their claws in my mate. My only goal was to get behind those castle gates. The only thing safer than being in the king’s custody, was being so far away from Luxoria that no one could ever find us.
The guards at the entrance were confused as we approached but it didn’t take long for them to realize who I was, and they opened just enough for us and my men to slip past.
I circled Ashla as they secured the gates and then the guns were turned on us. The guards shouted for us to shift so we could be taken into custody, but that wasn’t how this was going to go down. The second we shifted we’d be separated, and I wasn’t letting my mate out of my sight while she was still vulnerable.
“Take us to the king,” I demanded.
Ashla
Chapter Twelve
“She’s coming with me. I’ll make sure she’s ready for trial.” Zelene grabbed the scruff of my neck and ripped me away from the chaos that had erupted upon our arrival back at the castle. None of the generals expected Solen to show up in his wolf form. Of course, most of them thought it meant he’d claimed me. They had no idea what else it signified.
I was proud of him for facing these charges, and facing who he really was.
“You didn’t
