An Alpha's Revenge

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LEAH

"I'm getting really tired of this." Leah muttered as her eyes blinked open and she took in the face hovering above hers. Jack, the rogue, whatever she wanted to call him, held a cold compress to her forehead. She was surprised at the tenderness in his touch, and realised she was cradled in his lap. He had taken care of her.

She reached up slowly and held the hand that pressed the cold flannel to her forehead. "Thank you." She whispered as his eyes drank her in.

Silence stretched between them as she tilted her head to better see him, taking in the fine lines around his eyes and the tense line of his jaw. She could see his wolf battling in his eyes, a battle that he was relentlessly fighting even as he held her so gently.

Something danced through her middle, a light, giddy feeling that made her smile. He flinched in surprise, eyes wide and unblinking as they stared at that smile. The smile that was for him.

Had he ever made someone smile before? He couldn't remember. Not past the dark cloud of pain that his wolf was trying desperately to run from. No. He didn't think he'd ever seen someone smile for him – just for him. At least not someone this beautiful. This gentle. This kind. She'd healed him and nearly died for it – and he'd wear that guilt until the day he died.

This wolf in his arms belonged to him. To him. How in the hell had he got this lucky? He was convinced that any second now he'd wake up back in that dense cloud of pain and would find that this was all a dream – that she was all a dream. Because there was no way that he'd been lucky enough to earn someone like her.

It made sense now to him, why he'd been drawn here. At first, he'd followed the wolf who he'd set free. But his wolf wasn't right and soon the man had been lost to the beast and he'd been forced to watch as he killed and maimed and attacked innocent after innocent. He was almost relieved when the wolf had swiped his final blow and nearly killed him.

But then he'd caught her scent.

His entire world had stopped.

And now here he was, in a house with his moonmate. He couldn't quite believe it. Couldn't allow himself to do so. All those years spent in that dark place, he'd thought death was the best case scenario – he'd never even realised that this was an option. That she was an option.

"What is your name?" She asked gently, a hand tracing his jaw.

He clenched his teeth, overwhelmed with the kindness in her touch. His wolf rioted against him, wanting to-to... he didn't know what his wolf wanted to do. Claim her? Hunt? Kill? His wolf was restless and he was so damaged that he had no idea if his wolf wanted to harm or to hold her.

He was a danger to her.

The thought hit him like a baseball bat to the stomach. The truth was so inescapable that it swallowed the oxygen into the room until his mind swam.

He should leave. Give her up and go. Save her.

But he wouldn't. He wanted her. He was not a good man and would never claim to be.

He cleared his throat, shaking off the panic still clawing at his throat. "I-I don't actually know. They called me Subject 6."

Her face shuttered with pain and he hated himself for causing it. He only wanted her to smile. Only ever to be happy.

His face was so full of pain that she was nearly choking on guilt. Leah had never intended to stir whatever memories he was currently reliving. She'd only wanted to know what she should be calling him.

"W-Who did this to you? Who made you rogue?"

She pulled out of his arms and sat up, nestled against his side – both her and her wolf unwilling to be too far from him.

He lowered his head and shrugged despondently. "I don't know. I don't remember. I don't know how long I was there for or where I was before."

Leah's stomach tightened and her chest ached with empathy for him. It must have been so terrifying. So painful. Her eyes skipped over the small scars still present on his skin. The ones that even her powerful healing magic had not been able to fully heal. She wore some of those scars too from when she'd tried to heal him. She could feel them against her skin.

He could never know.

"I'm sorry I couldn't fully heal you." She whispered.

His head snapped up to hers, his eyes wide and watchful. "You are. Around you, I feel better. Every day, a little better."

Her heart stilled as the distance between them shrank until every breath was shared, until her entire vision was filled with him. His eyes flicked to her lips and she knew what was coming next. Her middle tightened and she waited as patiently as her wolf would allow as he slowly leaned down and kissed her. Her arms wrapped around his neck and he pulled her into his lap until her body fit against his chest like two halves of a whole.

She'd never felt more at home.