My Mate....The Alpha (new version)

35. Preston

The door slammed behind me, and I flinched—Ajax let out a sleepy, startled whimper against my shoulder. I clutched him closer, burying my nose in his curls as I backed into the wall, heart pounding in time with the distant roars and snarls bleeding in through the thick walls of the pack house.

"I shouldn't have let him go," I whispered, not to anyone in particular.

My fingers trembled as I tried to adjust Ajax's blanket. The bump pressed uncomfortably against my ribs, making it hard to breathe. I ran my palm over the curve of my belly, grounding myself. The pup kicked gently under my hand, as if sensing the chaos.

"I know, sweetheart," Nicole—Ryker's mother—said softly as she approached. Her aura was warm, maternal, even in the face of war. "But he needed to go. That's who Ryker is. And you, love, are his anchor."

I looked up at her. Her eyes were a mirror of Ryker's, fierce and gentle at once. Ajax, now fully awake, blinked sleepily at her and reached out. She took him carefully, holding him with practiced ease, her cheek brushing his head.

"He dreamt this," I said, my voice cracking as I tried to explain. "He told me about it weeks ago—said he felt like he was going to lose me. But I think... I think it's him I'm going to lose."

A rush of sobs threatened to drown me, but I refused to let them take me. I couldn't fall apart. Not now. Not when he needed to believe I was safe.

"He'll come back to you," Calista said, her voice unshakable. "They always do."

The living room was filled with quiet motion. Richard and Benson-Ryker's father and brother respectively—were boarding up the front windows, reinforcing the barriers with swift, precise movements. Their bond was like a song—every action in harmony. Luna, the was comforting the pack's youngest children in the corner, whispering soft lullabies even as she glanced toward the door with barely concealed worry.

And me?

I sat in the middle of them, hollowed out and heavy with everything I couldn't control.

Every time a howl echoed in the distance, I flinched. Every distant cry made my body curl tighter, hand on my belly, whispering prayers to the Moon Goddess to keep them safe. Ryker. Zain. Morgan. His entire pack.

My pack now, too.

"Water," Nicole offered gently, holding out a glass with one hand while balancing Ajax with the other like it was nothing.

I took it with a whisper of thanks, gulping down the coolness, letting it wash away the bile rising in my throat. My fingers brushed against Ajax's back and I clung to the connection like a lifeline.

"He still smells like him," I said, voice breaking. "Like Ryker."

Calista smiled faintly. "That's what happens when you love someone deeply. Their scent never truly leaves you."

I nodded, swallowing the lump in my throat as I looked down at my stomach again. The pup gave another nudge, softer this time.

"I think they know something's wrong."

"They're intuitive like that," she said. "Especially the babies born to fated mates. Their bond is strong even before the first breath."

I blinked away the fresh tears. "How did you do it?" I whispered. "When your mate went off to fight? How did you not break?"

She was silent for a moment, her gaze drifting toward the window.

"I did break," she admitted. "Every time. But I broke in silence, because I knew if I fell apart too loudly, he'd feel it through the bond. And it would weaken him."