The Alpha's Shatter Zone ✔️

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2674 words ☺️
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"I figured you'd be here," Lexi poked him in the shoulder and moved past him, peering over the edge.

"Just admiring the view," Kaiden murmured as he gazed out over the cliff edge at the sparkling lake below. The pine forest rose up behind it, speckling the rolling hills with a quilt of jade and emerald greens. It truly was beautiful, and he hadn't had a chance to admire it the other day when the mischievous guard and her crew had manhandled him over the edge.

"Yeah, you never get sick of it," the guard stood beside him, hands behind her back that stood straight and rigid. The epitome of a well-disciplined Head Guard, he allowed himself to admit. Maybe that stubborn mate of his knew what she was doing after all.

He cracked his neck side to side. "And how's the new construction going? Chesca won't tell me anything, let alone look at me," he muttered those last words under his breath.

"It's coming along well. Alpha has had her plans pretty much ready to go for months, just waiting for Alpha Asa to give the green light."

There it was again, that cocky confidence that they would just get their hands on someone else's territory. The fact he wanted to do the same suddenly hit him full force, smacking him in the gut totally unexpectedly. But his plans were different. He was rightfully—no, okay, not rightfully taking land. This pack didn't belong to him, and he knew it. So he had been a little overcome with anger towards his father, which had fueled his decision to march into this pack with the intent to kill and plunder.

Perhaps that was the reason Chesca still eyed him with unreadable expressions in her haunting eyes, a quirk of distrust gracing her delicate eyebrow. He couldn't blame her that she didn't want to be anywhere near him.

"Come on, enough deep thinking. You'll get wrinkles on that handsome forehead of yours," Lexi punched him in the arm. "The fire's about to be lit." She skipped down the hillside and made her way towards the large bonfire that sat nestled in the slight valley in front of the pack castle.

Pack members were coming out in twos and threes, families and couples, children and elderly. He rather liked the idea of this monthly celebration, and was intrigued as to its origins. Maybe, if the fiery embers thawed Chesca's heart just a little bit tonight, he'd ask her about it.

The particular blonde beauty that so filled his thoughts these days seemed to materialise in front of him as he drew nearer to the center of the activity. Her tinkling laugh could be heard from a dozen yards away, and her presence seeped into his heart despite his best intentions to remain detached. Blame the mate bond. And the scar that now graced his neck, the mark that claimed him as hers forever.

He placed his hand gently on the small of her back, and felt her flinch, but not step away like he expected. Probably because it would look bad in front of the pack, and because Alpha Asa was still here, enjoying the time off from regular pack duties. Not to mention being with his mate finally.

A small part of Kaiden envied the contented look that had permanently been on Asa's face ever since meeting Danella, and the huge smile he gave her everytime she looked at him, or rested her head on his shoulder, or slipped her tiny hand in his big one. There was something precious between them, and Kaiden wondered if he ever wanted that between himself and his mate. It was something he had honestly never thought about, but just like the spark of flames brought heat to cold hands, so too the spark of a mate bond brought a flicker of hope and desire to his heart.

"Alpha, we are ready for you," a man spoke up, and Kaiden realised he was talking to Chesca. She took the objects handed to her, but hesitated. Turning slightly, she looked up at him.