Page 19 of The Alpha’s Chosen Mate

“Alpha Justin?” My hands curl into fists. I have no energy, no power, but revenge—revenge would be satisfying.

“He’s dead.”

I snap my gaze back to Harrison. “Dead?”

I’m afraid to believe it. To get my hopes up. Because if I wish for it, then it’s less likely to be true. And if I wish for it, what does that make me? Does that make me a monster like him? Will my wishing for his death bring an ill fate upon me as well?

“Yes,” Harrison confirms. “Alpha Justin is dead.”

Dead. Gone. No more. No longer able to hurt us with his lies, arbitrary rules, and commands.

Relief floods through me, cool and refreshing and invigorating. Harrison and his dad would have protected me from Alpha Justin. They gave me their word. But now that he’s gone, I’m truly free.

“Did you…” I arch my brow in question. I sensed the tension and anger in Harrison as I told him what had happened on my birthday. It wouldn’t surprise me if he went after Alpha Justin himself.

Harrison’s jaw tightens. “No. I wanted to, but staying with you and keeping you safe was more important to me.”

“So, what happened? How did he die?”

“Alpha Justin showed up at the Silver Ridge border, demanding information on your whereabouts. When Alpha Julian refused to answer him, Alpha Justin and his ranked members attacked Silver Ridge. They were no match for Alpha Julian and his warriors. Alpha Julian killed Alpha Justin and the others, and is absorbing the remaining Lupine River pack members and the lands into Silver Ridge.”

It all sounds so straightforward and simple when he says it. I know there’s more to it than what he’s telling me. How did Alpha Justin figure out I’d disobeyed him? Did he feel my bond to the pack break? Did someone tell him that they saw me with Harrison? Why did he approach Silver Ridge instead of Crescent Lake?

More questions race through my mind, but I don’t care about the answers. None of it matters. Not right now, anyway. All that matters is that Alpha Justin is dead. Lupine River is no more. Harrison’s dad is my alpha. Crescent Lake is my pack—my home—now.

Home. I lived my entire life in Lupine River, but it never felt like home. Not in the way Crescent Lake already does. Even from this hospital bed, I can sense love and security flowing through the pack bond. Alpha Michael clearly cares for all his pack members, not just those with a rank. He has to, or he wouldn’t have made such an intense promise of protection to me when he accepted me into his pack.

That kind of love—that kind of acceptance—isn’t something I’m used to. I’ve never experienced it. Except maybe from my parents, but I hardly remember them. Most of what I remember is from after they passed.

“The command. He placed it on all of us. All the—” All the omegas. I think it, but I don’t say it. It will just upset Harrison again.

I still don’t understand what I am if not an omega. Everything feels backwards now that I know it’s wrong. I’m floating into the sky like a lone, loose balloon without that knowledge to ground me. What else have I gotten wrong about our world? What other misinformation was I fed? What all was I too gullible to question?

“There will be others,” I continue. “Like me. Whose wolves are suppressed.”

“My dad warned Alpha Julian. They, along with Alpha Timothy from Amber Forest, will help train them so they can build up their strength.”

“Good.” No one asks for my opinion or approval of their plan, but I give it anyway. “And me? They’ll train me too?”

I sit up straighter, waiting for Harrison’s answer. I never wanted training—or I thought I didn’t. But it was never an option. Now it is. And I want it more than anything. So I can never be too weak again.

“No.”

His response steals all the energy from my body. But before I can deflate, before I can lose myself in the sadness of missing out on something I never realized I wanted, before the words of self-doubt come creeping back into my mind, he says the most surprising thing I’ve heard him say since meeting him.

“They won’t be training you,” he says. “Because you’ll be training with me.”