Alpha Tristan ✓ [Republishing]

Sarantaokto [ 48 ]

author's note: almost to the end!!

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We walked through the snow in silence.

Tristan's hand enveloped mine and we were side by side as we passed the unguarded gates. A thousand and one thoughts were roaming through my mind and Tristan had his fair share of overlapping thoughts.

He was tense and I thought about what I wanted to do. It wasn't a decision any leader could make lightly but it was something I had thought about since the day I regained consciousness. I had to remind myself that every single person in the pack would feel the disconnection, and there would be a sense of discomfort that would come with it.

Sighing, I squeezed Tristan's hand and glanced at him. "How are you feeling?"

I could feel what he felt but it hardly made any sense to me. He was a complex man who felt a lot of emotions and I knew that everything that was going on was hard for him too.

"I've had time to think about all of this, Kara, and under all my anger and hatred for her, I'm hurt." He blew out a sigh and his forehead creased in frustration. "I'm hurt that she's forced me—us—into this position, and I'm hurt that for the past month, the pack has been hurting. I promised myself that I would always make them happy."

His dark blue gaze collided with mine and I noticed the weight that was pressing against his shoulders. The weight that I promised myself I would help ease for him. I frowned as we kept walking.

"It's not your fault, Tristan. And we can't change what happened." I brought his hand to my lips and pressed a soft kiss to his skin. "It's been a rough month but we can get it back together again. We'll be doing it together."

He stopped walking and gently caressed the back of my hair. He looked troubled and I stepped closer to him as he lowered his head and kissed me softly.

"None of this was supposed to happen." His forehead rested on mine. "The pain was supposed to end with the old alphas."

I cradled his face with gentle hands. "The pain ends today. I'm alive. We're together. Mindy is going to be gone."

He sighed through his nose and nodded slowly. We stared into each other's eyes and he leaned into my right hand. Curling his nimble fingers around my wrist, he pressed a strong kiss to the palm of my hand and intertwined our fingers.

We began walking again and I breathed in the crisp air, feeling like the fresh air was doing me some good. During the past month, I couldn't do much active work since I had to let my body heal and that meant I was often inside.

Werewolves were outside creatures, we thrived in open spaces and with fresh air. I instantly knew that one of the reasons I didn't feel like myself was because I couldn't appreciate nature in its entirety. It had been a long time since I had shifted and felt the wind through my fur or the thick snow under my paws.