Alpha's STOLEN Mate Chapter 91

Frost

I found Cross on the training grounds outside the castle, leading a squad through combat drills. He looked magnificent—sweat gleaming on his muscular frame, his movements precise and powerful, barking orders with the confidence of a loyal soldier.

The sight made my stomach turn.

*How long has he been playing this role? How long has he pretended to serve while planning betrayal?*

I approached slowly, my footsteps deliberate. Cross noticed me immediately, breaking from his instruction to offer a crisp salute.

"Beta! Welcome back!"

I smiled, but there was no warmth in it. "Gamma. Your technique looks sharper than ever. Quite impressive, actually."

Several of the younger warriors grinned, their admiration for Cross obvious. One spoke up eagerly: "Beta, you should have seen it! While you were gone, the Gamma helped Elder Rowan and the Alpha King eliminate that traitor Silas! He practically saved the entire pack! The King will probably reward him handsomely!"

"Is that so?" I said softly, still approaching. "How... heroic."

Cross seemed to preen slightly under the praise, his chest swelling with pride.

Then I stopped directly in front of him, close enough that only he could hear my next words.

"How much did that bitch Rowan pay you to betray our Queen?"

Cross's expression transformed instantly—pride replaced by fury. "WHAT?!" he snarled, loud enough that several warriors turned to stare. "Beta, have you lost your mind?! Elder Rowan is the second most powerful figure in this pack! Even the King shows her nothing but respect! How dare you insult her?!" His voice dripped with contempt. "And 'Queen'? I never acknowledged that woman as Queen! If anyone deserves that title, it's Elder Rowan—beautiful, intelligent, worthy!"

I stepped even closer, my eyes boring into his. The younger warriors sensed the sudden tension and scattered, leaving us alone on the training grounds.

"Tonight," I said quietly. "This exact spot. You and me. A duel."

Cross's eyes flashed red—his wolf rising to the surface. He leaned in close, inhaling deeply, then laughed with cruel satisfaction.

"If this were a year ago, I might have worried. But look at you now, Beta." He took another exaggerated sniff. "You smell like a candle about to burn out. Faint. Weak. Your combat abilities are probably comparable to a newly-turned adolescent!" His laughter grew louder. "Are you really so eager to die for your wounded pride?"

"Well," I replied coldly. "You don't need to worry about that. Because I guarantee the one who dies tonight will be you."

Cross jabbed a finger at my chest. "I'll be here, Beta. But this stays between us—a private duel. Don't involve anyone else." His smile turned vicious. "And when you're dead, I'll pay a visit to your mother and sister. They're still living in that shabby village, aren't they? Of course they are—people who've spent their lives as slaves never quite adjust to living in proper packs, do they?"

Rage exploded through me, hot and absolute. "Tonight, you'll regret those words."

I turned and walked away before I did something stupid—like killing him right there in broad daylight.

---

Back in my chambers, I prepared methodically. Checked my weapons, stretched my muscles, tried to conserve what little strength remained in my deteriorating body.

*This might be my last fight. I need to make it count.*

After a simple meal, I left my room to head back to the training grounds. But as I passed through the castle corridors, I heard it—feminine moans echoing from behind a closed door.

*Kaius?*

Fury surged through me again. Had he learned nothing from our conversation in the library?

But then I realized the sounds were coming from a different direction. Not Kaius's chambers.

Cross's room.

*You've got to be fucking kidding me.*

I moved closer, and the sounds became unmistakable. Not one woman—two. Their voices mingled with Cross's guttural groans.

"Fuck," I muttered. "He has the energy for this before a fight?"

Then I heard Cross's voice, thick with pleasure and arrogance: "Elder Rowan has given me many gifts... but you two... you twin sisters are my absolute favorite..."

One of the women giggled breathlessly. "Gamma, don't you have a battle tonight? You shouldn't exhaust yourself with us!"

Cross laughed, the sound punctuated by increasingly aggressive movements. "You two are the only battle that matters. As for Frost?" He practically spat my name. "He won't take more than a few minutes of my time."

I turned away, disgusted. *Enjoy it while you can, traitor. It's the last pleasure you'll ever know.*

---

I arrived at the training grounds early and waited in the moonlight. Exactly ten minutes later, Cross appeared, looking completely relaxed—not a trace of fatigue from his earlier activities.

"Frost!" He stretched lazily. "Listen, I'll give you one last chance. Kneel. Apologize. And I'll call off this execution you're begging for." His smile turned predatory. "Otherwise, you're going to watch me rip out your heart."

I shifted without answering. My gray wolf form materialized, smaller than it used to be but still lethal. I bared my fangs.

Cross laughed, not bothering to transform. Instead, he drew a dagger from his belt—and my blood ran cold as I recognized it.

"Know this blade?" he taunted, twirling it in the moonlight. "That's right—the same one I used to stab your precious Queen. Since you're so obsessed with her, Frost, since you want to taste her so badly..." He licked the blade theatrically. "Let me give you a taste of her blood!"

The rage that consumed me was beyond reason. I lunged, claws extended, aiming for his throat.

But Cross was faster than I'd anticipated. He dodged left, then right, his human form somehow matching my wolf's speed. The dagger slashed out in controlled arcs, each strike coming within inches of my vital organs.

*Fuck. He's toying with me.*

I shifted tactics, using my speed to create after-images. One gray wolf became three, my form blurring as I moved in unpredictable patterns.

"Fuck!" Cross snarled as he stabbed one of the phantoms, his blade passing through empty air. "You still have enough energy for illusions?!"

He leaped high to avoid another phantom charging from the ground, bringing his dagger down to pierce its skull. But again—nothing but illusion.

That's when the real attack came. I dropped from above, my claws extended, aiming for his head while he was still airborne and vulnerable.

Cross tried to twist, to bring his blade up in defense—but my tail whipped out first, striking his wrist with bone-breaking force. The dagger flew from his grip, spinning away into the darkness.

My claws connected with his face.

I hooked my talons into his eye socket and *pulled*.

Cross's scream was inhuman as his eyeball came free, dangling from my claws for a horrifying moment before I flung it aside. He crashed to the ground, one hand clutching his ruined face, blood pouring between his fingers.

"FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!" he roared, staggering backward.

But even wounded, even half-blind, he maintained frightening composure. His hand went to his pocket, emerging with a small vial filled with dark liquid.

*No. I've seen that before—*

Cross drank it in one gulp.

The transformation was immediate and grotesque. His body convulsed, bones cracking and reforming. When he shifted into his black wolf form, the missing eye had regenerated—and his entire physique had swelled to nearly twice its normal size. Muscles bulged beneath fur that now looked more like armor, and his eyes glowed with unnatural red light.

*Fuck.*

The enhanced black wolf attacked with inhuman speed and strength. I dodged, using my agility to stay ahead of his jaws and claws, but I could feel my body failing. Each movement was harder than the last, my muscles burning with exhaustion that had nothing to do with the fight itself.

*My condition is worsening faster than I thought.*

Cross's jaws snapped shut inches from my throat. His claws raked across my side, drawing blood. I was losing ground, and we both knew it.

Then his massive paw closed around my neck.

He lifted me off the ground, his grip tightening with inexorable pressure. I thrashed, but he was simply too strong. The enhancement potion had made him monstrous.

*This is it,* I thought distantly as my vision began to darken. *This is how I die.*

Images flashed through my failing mind:

My mother's face, weathered and kind, the day she'd told me to find a better life than slavery.

My sister's laughter, rare and precious in our harsh world.

Elowen.

*God, Elowen. I never told you. I never said—*

I'd lived twenty-three years. Escaped slavery, risen to Beta of the most powerful pack in the territory, served a King I respected. But I'd never told the woman I loved how I felt.

*Maybe the witch was right. Maybe I've been living for everyone else.*

Cross's claws began to pierce my throat, ready to tear it out completely—

And then a blade erupted through his chest.