The Alpha Returns

Lilac

Lilac awoke with a start to the sound of horses whinnying. She squinted open her eyes, exhausted, wondering what she was hearing.

She tried to stuff her head in between two pillows to drown out the noise, but it didn’t help. Finally, she got to her feet and stomped over to the window to see what all this commotion was about.

But when she pulled back the curtains, Lilac’s heart lurched with excitement.

Outside was a group of familiar carriages: pack carriages!

They were back.

~Kyril~ was back.

She ran to her closet and started rummaging through her clothes, looking for something she could quickly throw on. She was desperate to see her mate again.

After throwing on a loose beige sweater, jeans, and a pair of slip-ons, Lilac bounded down the stairs and ran outside toward the pack headquarters.

She passed by Sapphire. “Lilac, they’re back!” Sapphire shouted gleefully.

“I know,” Lilac said, grinning. “But where are they?”

“I saw some of them outside the infirmary.”

Lilac blanched, smile faltering. ~Why are they at the infirmary?~

And shouldn’t she have heard Kyril calling to her? At this distance, he could have psychically reached out.

Lilac

Kyril!!!

Lilac

You’re back?!

Lilac

Are you all right?

But all Lilac heard in response was silence. A silence that suggested…

~Oh no.~

“Did you see Kyril?” Lilac asked, panicked.

Sapphire realized what she was worried about. “No. But, Lilac, that doesn’t mean—”

Lilac didn’t wait for her to finish. She bounded toward the packhouse without another word.

She ran inside, looking left and right. There were wolves everywhere being treated for wounds. It looked like a scene from a war film.

And still Lilac couldn’t see Kyril anywhere.

~What if he’s…~

But Lilac refused to allow herself to think that way. She pushed her way through to the end of the hallway, where, finally, she saw someone she recognized.

“Jon!” she cried out.

He turned, and she saw that Adhira was beside him, grateful tears in her eyes. The beta and his mate were together and safe.

~Why can’t I say the same for myself?~

“Where…” Lilac began, “is…”

“He’s all right, Lilac,” Jon said, reassuring her. “He’s just inside here.”

Jon nodded to one of the infirmary rooms that was sealed off. This only confused Lilac more.

“But if he’s all right, why didn’t he come to me first?”

Jon looked away, uncertain how to answer that. He clearly had come to ~his~ mate first. But Adhira took a step toward Lilac, patting her shoulder kindly.

“Think about it, Lilac,” she said. “This is my place of work. I’m a healer. Of course, Jon would come here first. And Kyril, he...his duties to his pack must sometimes come first. Especially when lives are at stake.”

Lilac felt silly for feeling neglected when all around her wolves were recovering from life-threatening injuries. But she couldn’t help it.

“Maybe I should wait in my room,” she said meekly. “Wait until he’s finished doing what he needs to do.”

Adhira tried to reach out, but Lilac couldn’t hear her. She turned away to leave and saw Crystal embracing her mate, Alex.

Her fae’s wings fluttered, and blue dust cascaded off of her. The Gamma was grinning to have her by his side again.

Everyone was reunited with their mate, and everyone was happy, it seemed, except for Lilac.

She headed for the door and turned the handle, about to walk out when she heard him.

Kyril

Lilac.

Kyril

Where are you going?

Lilac

Kyril?

Kyril

Turn around.

Lilac took a sharp breath. His scent was strong. She could feel his intense blue-eyed gaze as if he was scorching her with his eyes.

She spun around to see that he was only inches away.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

“I…” she stuttered. “I thought you were…”

“Come here,” he growled.

Without another word, Kyril pulled Lilac into his muscular arms and brought his lips to hers with unbearable longing.

It was so passionate, so sudden, Lilac felt like she might melt on the spot.

When he pulled away, she blinked away a tear.

“I missed you,” she whispered.

“I missed you more, I guarantee,” he replied with a small smile.

She was so overcome by passion, by sheer joy at seeing her mate again, that she’d almost forgotten his absence upon arrival. Once again, he read her mind.

“I had to make sure my brother was taken care of first,” he said. “I’m sorry if I kept you waiting.”

“Zion? Is he okay?”

Kyril looked down and sighed. “His blood was nearly drained by those vampires, little flower.”

“What happened?”

His eyes told her. ~Not now. I will tell you everything later~. And she nodded, willing to be patient.

All that mattered was that Kyril was back. Holding her in his arms.

She kissed him again, savoring the taste of his lips. As long as she lived, she never wanted to be apart from this lycan. Never for so long again.

“I need to go back there now, Lilac,” he said.

“I understand,” Lilac responded, lowering her eyes. “I will wait for you in the house.”

Kyril considered her and shook his head. “No. You’re my luna. You should be by my side.”

Lilac couldn’t believe what he was suggesting. To be allowed to accompany the alpha during his sacred duties was an immense honor.

“What do you say?” he asked.

She nodded sheepishly. “I...of course I will.”

He grinned then took her hand, and they proceeded toward the open doorway.

Although Lilac was nervous to see what carnage lay inside, at least she would be with Kyril.

At last, the alpha and luna were together. That was what mattered most.

ZION

Zion still wasn’t sure where he was.

After being reunited with Serena, he had fainted shortly thereafter and everything had gone dark. Now, he was somewhere safe. But the details were murky.

All he knew for sure was that Serena had never left his side.

“Zion,” she said, and he smiled at the sound of his name on her lips.

“Where...where am I?”

“Back at Alpha Vasilio’s Packhouse,” she said. “We’re safe.”

He took a closer look at Serena. Her once healthy, rich complexion was gone. In its place was the palest skin he’d ever seen, almost translucent.

Spider veins had spread all over her skin. Beneath her eyes drooped heavy bags.

They were all a testament to the years of torture and enslavement she had suffered. If anyone needed a healer, it was her! Not him.

“Serena, you need to be looked after,” Zion uttered, his voice raspy. “I suffered one night, but you…”

“Hush,” she said, shaking her head. “You nearly died, Zion. I have learned to adapt over the years. I have been forced to.”

“I’m so sorry,” he said, eyes tearing up. “I thought you were dead. If I had known…”

“We both lost a part of ourselves on that day, Zion,” she said, holding his hand tight. “But maybe now we can piece ourselves back together.”

“Maybe, but not here,” he said, looking ashamed. “You don’t know the unspeakable acts I’ve done. The evils I committed to avenge you.”

“I can see them,” she said, looking deep into his eyes. “And I know they are not you. Not the true you.”

She brought her head to his, and as they touched foreheads, Zion felt her witch’s magic infuse him with a calm, a tranquility, he had so desperately needed for so many years.

At last, his demon wouldn’t rule him. With his mate’s head pressed against his own, Zion finally felt human again.

There was a knock at the door, and they both turned.

“I don’t mean to interrupt,” a low gravelly voice said. “But there is much to be discussed.”

Lilac

When Kyril knocked on the door to Zion’s room in the infirmary, Lilac shuddered at the prospect of facing the demon again.

After their last encounter in the cell, there was no creature on Selene’s earth that scared her more.

But when they stepped inside, she was surprised to see how weak and human he looked. The tears in his eyes, the scars covering his body, the woman by his side.

~Her~.

Lilac was shocked to see what lay under the hooded cloak she wore.

Her pale skin, her scars, her exhaustion... it was all so foreign to the privilege and comforts Lilac had always known.

As Kyril stepped closer to Zion, Serena stood up and approached Lilac with a curious glance. She noticed the amberfig bracelet that wrapped around her wrist.

Zion must have given it back to her.

“You are Lilac?” Serena asked. “I owe you thanks for returning this to me.”

She smiled, and although it was a pained smile, the kindness in Serena’s heart still shone through. She slowly took it off.

“I didn’t know if dropping it in the restaurant would alert Kyril or anyone, for that matter. But you...you were the one who found it. And it’s thanks to you that Zion found me.”

Serena offered the bracelet to Lilac and nodded.

“I want you to have it, Lilac. For all that you’ve done for us.”

“I can’t possibly—”

“Please.”

Lilac could see how important this was to Serena, so she nodded her head.

But when she held up her hand to take the bracelet and their hands touched, something inexplicable happened.

Suddenly, Lilac felt like her stomach was being ripped upward through the gullet of her mouth, and her eyes were blinded with a thousand dazzling stars, and the infirmary, the pack house, everything around her disappeared.

~What is happening?! Where is she!?~

Lilac blinked and saw that her hands were not her own, her reflection in a bathroom mirror, not her face.

This was not here.

This was not now.

No, Lilac could see a younger, happier Serena’s reflection looking back at her and realized…

She’d fallen into the witch’s memory.

Lilac was looking into the past.

But what did Serena want her to see?