Falling in love with my Ex's Alpha Chapter 180: Book 2 - Chapter 13

I followed precisely what Dana suggested. No rest breaks. No time to eat. No slowing down.

It was demanding and exhausting, mainly because my Prince was not as agile and fast as us, and the closer we got to the central cave, the colder it was getting as there was a snowstorm – towards the end of winter, it would most likely be one of the last.

I avoided talking to Dana almost the entire way, and she was wise enough not to mention Sandy’s name again. Letum saw that something was wrong between us, and when he tried to mindlink me to see if everything was okay, I ignored him.

He knows better than to try to irritate me when I’m already annoyed. But that’s one thing he is that Dana isn’t. He knows how to respect my silence because I respect his.

As soon as my eyes catch a glimpse of the mountain that holds the central cave, I take a deep breath of relief that we can finally stop. Prince’s hand isn’t frozen because of mine’s heat.

Dana doesn’t wait for us. She picks up her pace and starts running, climbing the mountain with a strength that I don’t know where she got it from. Well, I know. Mate bond. She is already desperate for her fated mate.

I envy her. All I wanted most was to finally meet my fated mate. It doesn’t matter if my fated mate was a woman like Dana’s mate or a man. I honestly don’t care. I just wish I could fill that part of myself that’s missing. That part of me that I know will then be filled with my other half.

I look at my Prince. If I meet my fated mate now, I don’t know what it would be like. Maybe I had to stay away from him. Certainly, our current relationship is not like a couple, but it is far from being just friends.

I don’t bathe Letum, and he doesn’t feed me in the mouth with his own hands.

Just the thought of him doing this makes me shudder.

‘Can you mindlink your parents?’ Letum mindlinks behind Prince and me.

I try, but they are not within my reach, which is obviously greater than Letum’s.

Fuck. My. Life.

They are not there.

I look ahead, almost getting close to the central cave now, my Prince panting by my side, I see Dana running through the entrance, totally ignoring the two people who were guarding the cave entrance.

Before they see me, I let go of Prince’s hand. He tries to hold my hand again, but I walk faster.

It will be better this way. I don’t want these busybodies to think I’m taking advantage of someone who clearly doesn’t know what’s happening around them. Also, in their eyes, my Prince is human.

The guards stand up when they see me, “Alexa! Alpha and Luna will be happy you’re here!” Eliot says.

I give a curt nod and continue my way into the cave; behind me, I hear him greeting Letum even though I know that his gaze is fixed on Prince next to me.

Dana takes her backpack off her back and talks to the guards. She ran so much to get here in vain because we ended up arriving at the same time.

In the corner of my eye, I see her taking a mirror out of her backpack and fixing her hair, which is in a mess due to the wind and snow. *Oh*, I understand her reasons now.

‘Take care of Prince, stay close to him. I’m going to talk to Beta Carter,’ I mindlink to her.

I turn to Prince and lift my chin at him, “Stay with her,” I point to Dana. He knows what this command means. I don’t need my Alpha aura anymore.

He has snow all around him, the tip of his nose is red, and his hair is a little messy. Yet, he’s still handsome.

He looks at me sadly and then goes to Dana. He doesn’t like it when I tell him to stay away from me, especially after I’ve avoided his hand, but he obeys anyway.

Letum goes straight to one of the corridors where the ‘rooms’ are. We barely arrive, and he already wants to isolate himself as always, ‘if you need me, let me know,’ he mindlinks me.

I make my way to where my father’s makeshift ‘office’ is. Around me, people greet me, and I give them a curt nod... They look sadder than when we left.

In the middle of the cave, there is a circular space where some people are gathered, sitting on benches made of stone. Some are eating, others talking.

It’s a little dark in here, but our eyes can see better than any human’s, so we don’t have that much difficulty. Dust, however, is our weak point; our senses are very sensitive, and the dust around us can make us sick if we are not careful.

I see some different people, but I don’t stop to make out who they are; I continue on my way.

However, before even entering the passage where the ‘office’ is, Nige comes out with a smirk on his lips. Lips that I’ve left swollen in the past from kissing too much.

“I sensed you from afar. You arrived earlier than I expected,” he says. He is dressed in a simple black outfit, but it doesn’t diminish his apparent muscles. His black hair is shorter than the last time I saw him, and his tanned skin is paler due to the winter.

“Where are my parents?” I ask him, cutting off any chit chat.

“Did you miss me?” he ignores my question, “I miss going with you.”

“Cut the crap, Nige. Where are my parents?”

He rolls his eyes quickly. I walk past him and sit on one of the wooden benches in the office. Everything here is so plain, no wonder everyone is eager to move.

“Alpha and Luna went to a pack not so far away. Kyrie had a vision that there were some people in need of help, and they went there,” he says, but his gaze continues to run over my body, examining me. He bites his lower lip.

“Fuck. Dana is going to freak out,” I curse and run my hand over my face and then my hair, suddenly understanding why Dana stopped for a moment to get ready before entering the cave.

I should have done the same. “Where is Beta Carter?” I ask, looking back at him.

“He went with your parents and Kyrie, just like other warriors. Your parents left me in charge,” he says with a proud grin. I get that. Nige is a great warrior. But the next Gama will be Letum and not him.

“Why did you come earlier? You must have a good reason, Alexa. I know you,” he says in a tone that makes it clear how much he *knows* me...

“I finally found a place for us to live permanently,” I tell him, and I can’t control my smile; it’s so easy to be happy around him.

“That’s awesome!” he says and comes to me and hugs me, catching me off guard, but I hug him back, and then I let him go.

“Tell me everything about the new place. Is it very far from here?” he asks excitedly, sitting next to me.

“Yes. Quite far away, but it’s perfect, Nige,” I say, trying to contain my excitement and failing, “It’s going to take a bit of work to get everyone there, especially since most of the people here are elderly–”

“I think we should restart the pack. You know, in terms of members, we should only bring the warriors and leave the elderly members behind,” Nige says thoughtfully, and I laugh because it’s clearly a joke.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” I say. He seems to snap out of his thoughts and laugh with me.

Nige has his own sense of humor; he has opinions that are a little different from what many people have, but he has never done anything wrong to anyone, even though many here don’t like him very much.

“The place is secluded! There are no packs nearby and...” I remember her... it’s a great reference point. “It’s close to where she was buried,” I say. I see Nige change his demeanor; his lips turn into a thin line.

He didn’t like my Protector when she was alive, but he gave me a lot of support after her death. That’s when we started to become more *intimate*.

Maybe I was sad because of my grief and needed someone or because he was so brutally honest – a thing that I really like, but what we had helped me get through those hard days.

I explain to him everything about the place, how much I think the Moon Goddess herself sent me there to find it again, and he listens attentively to everything.

“I can’t believe it! It looks perfect!” he says and hugs me again.

I hug him again, this time without reluctance, “But don’t tell anyone anything, Nige. I need to talk to my parents first–”

Suddenly, Rose enters where we are with a furious glare at me. “What are you doing hugging my mate?” she says through her teeth.

I release Nige like he’s on fire. Letting go of his embrace feels like open wounds that I have already healed.

Nige dated me for years before he found out Rose was his fated mate. She wasn’t in our pack at the time, we found her on one of our trips looking for territory.

I wanted him to be my fated mate so much that I thought several times about making him my chosen mate. The only thing that stopped us was Tyra.

I was so sad when he broke up with me, my heart broke into a thousand pieces, and I promised myself that I would never again be with anyone who wasn’t my fated mate. Yet, here I am, with a confusing relationship with Prince.

I stand up, feeling happy that she’s shorter than me and has to lift her head to look at me.

“Rose, it’s nothing like you’re thinking,” Nige gets up too and approaches her. She grabs him like I’m going to steal him from her.

Bitch, please.

“I know she still likes you,” she tells him, but looking at me.

I emit a forced laugh, “Points for making me gag and laugh, Rose,” I say in a mocking tone, “I’m going to rest, you know, my job requires more than staying safe here in the cave,” I say when I see her looking at me disdainfully because my clothes are dirty as if I was dirt itself.

I start to leave, but then I hear her say, “I don’t want you to talk to her alone. I don’t trust her. She wants you!”

“Rose, stop it,” Nige scolds her with a cruel look, “I already marked you. What more do you want? I do whatever I want with my life, and I don’t care if you don’t agree.”

“Sit on his face, Rose, so he can’t talk back to you. That’s how I did it to shut him up.” I say with a smirk to her and wink at him.

I leave them behind and follow the path to where the people are eating.

I don’t face danger daily to bow my head to some crazy she-wolf.

‘Fuck! Good times,’ Nige mindlinks me.

I don’t answer anything to him. I don’t engage in fights, but they’re dumb if they think I’m going to listen in silence.

As I walk, my stomach growls, and the lack of sleep starts to affect me. My body feels tired, demanding a rest that I haven’t had in days.

Suddenly, my body stiffens, and I stop, ultimately alert because not so far away from me are Dana and Prince, and next to *my* Prince, there is someone, whom I never met, daring to put her hand on his face.

I get an overwhelming sense of jealousy creeping through me like fire. I glance at her face to find her watching him with interest. He smiles at her, and my jaw clenches on reflex.