The Alpha's Cursed Mate

Chapter 27

Alexei kisses the back of my hand then leaves his chambers while I am hardly awake. I toss and turn in a strip of morning sunlight cast on the bed, and I rub the sleep from my eyes, knowing that he will be back.

I reach toward the nightstand and find my book where I left it. There are still so many stories I haven't read, but I promised to return the books in time for their shipment to the East Islands. Anera and the God is a longer tale than I expected, but if I finish it now, there still might be time to flip through the other books. I want to read all that is written about the God — even his creatures like the vampires Senet seems so fearful of.

My bond to the God cannot be everlasting, and if I must be the one to break it, then I must uncover His weakness. The story of Anera makes this quite obvious, however. His love for the world-bound, she-wolf Anera is his only fault — a daughter of the Goddess and prey of the mate bond. But Anera is centuries gone.

I come to the end of her story, turning the final page. After Anera's village is ruined and the vampires scatter into the world, she returns home with her mate.

The first Alpha — a leader of a nomadic group of warriors — decides to repair the village for his soulmate, erecting a village even greater than the one whose ashes it rose from and building a home for themselves at its head; the first settled pack nurturing a future bustling city. The first Alpha speaks to the Goddess, and she celebrates this achievement, blessing the pair with seven children to fill their home, replacing the seven lives lost in her family during the rampage.

I finish the story and close the book.

The God's use of me is still frustratingly unclear, so I exchange the book with the worn one and nestle back against my pillows. Just as I find the page with the drawing of the vampire, the bedchamber door opens, and Alexei comes through.

"You're awake," he says and walks to his side of the bed.

"I am. I've been reading."

Alexei opens the blankets and gets in bed as though he never left. I drop the open book onto my lap, and he peers at the pages. His hand caresses where my nightdress has risen, high enough on my leg to make me squirm. "It's cold this morning."

A blush warms my face. "Your hands are freezing; where did you go?"

"To see Senet before he left. Gaius requested Senet's presence at his temple — the message was delivered overnight — and he insisted Senet come immediately. I asked him if he expects Gaius to question him about the ordeal at Davra's territory. Senet said he thinks so."

"You think Davra told Gaius about it?"

He draws away from me. "I do."

"And what will Senet say?"

"The same as you told Davra — that the bleeding was a result of Tabitha's witchcraft."

I place the book back on my nightstand and sit up straight. "This is all my fault."

"No," Alexei assures, "you have no control over Him. You didn't choose to bleed in front of Davra and his luna."

"But look at the problems it's caused. We could lose our temple — the land claim. All of this would have been for nothing. If..."

"If what?"

"If I could make sure—"

"No, Brea."

I fall silent, instead distracting myself by getting out of bed and opening the curtains fully. Alexei watches as I move about the room. He rests against the headboard and asks, "Have you read anything interesting in the books Senet gave you?"