Into the Alpha’s Keep Chapter 18: 17

POV Fenrir Dăneşti

Then came an intense pain that seemed to tear me apart, as if my chest were being ripped open.

I choked, losing strength as I realized who had taken hold of my mind, a constant reminder of my greatest failure.

Catalina.

No! No! No!

Damn it!

I couldn't do this to her. Not again. It was a betrayal—to her, to what she represented for me, to her memory.

I released Savannah and staggered a few steps backward, completely drained. I rubbed my temples, trying to force her image out of my head.

I was despicable, utterly detestable.

Savannah stared at me with swollen, rosy lips, her neck bleeding, her breath uneven, and her eyes glowing with desire.

I shook my head and took another step back, trying to put as much distance as I could between us.

For the first time in a long while, I felt confused. I shouldn’t feel like this. I shouldn’t feel affected by her—or by anyone. By no female. Never again.

"Fenrir," she called, confused, a crease forming between her brows.

I shook my head again, denying her, extending my arm as if the gesture alone could keep her away. I needed to keep her away.

I couldn’t face her blue eyes. I couldn’t look directly at her. Because... because she represented everything I despised most: my lack of control.

"If you want to run away again and be treated like a prisoner, then do so, and that's what will happen," I warned, pulling my hair back with my hand. "But if you want to live in peace and freedom, behave and stop irritating me. Just know this—you will never leave. I will never allow it. Your life has belonged to me since the moment we... mated in the forest."

Saying aloud what had happened made everything even more undeniable. I hated what I had done with every fiber of my being.

I turned my back to her and started walking away. Away from her, from what she represented, from what we had done, and from my lack of control when it came to her.

I was walking on a tightrope with Savannah.

With her, everything was extreme, intense, uncontrollable.

After a few miles, I had to stop. I leaned against the trunk of one of the trees and took a deep breath. I dodged the moonlight's reflection, as if, in the darkness, I could hide from myself, from the regret and shame I felt.

For years, I hadn’t felt this way. A complete idiot—devastated.

***

POV Savannah Bowen

I would never be able to escape Fenrir.

Unlike Hunter, he would always know my location, as well as my feelings. No matter where I went, he would come after me and find me.

So, I decided it was better to stay by his side than fight against him.

Fenrir was strong. Strong enough to keep me safe and protect me from Hunter.

I hugged my body and rested my chin on my bent knees, sitting on the chair on his porch.

I couldn’t stop thinking about my sister. I should have gone home already, met her by the river that ran through the city. She must be waiting for me.

But I couldn’t go back. Not now, and maybe not ever. I wanted to tell Fenrir about her, hoping he could help me find her and bring her to me. But ever since that strange night in the forest, he barely looked at me, always keeping his distance, rarely staying at home, as if he couldn’t deal with me anymore.

At least I knew Selena would be safe for a while, with all of Hunter’s men dead.

I had no idea what had happened between us that night. He had marked me again, as if wanting to assert his dominance over me, then kissed me as if he needed to claim me, and then… he pulled away, as if I disgusted him.

He confused me. And I hated him for it.

I hated being trapped, yet I felt relieved under his protection. I hated how inconsistent he was, being an unbearable bastard at times and irresistible at others.

After thinking long and hard about it, I decided that the strongest feeling I had for him was hatred.

I stood up abruptly and walked down the stone path, away from his house. After wandering for so long in search of a safe place to escape, I had memorized every damn inch of the village.

I decided to take a walk and try to find something to do.

Normally, Alexandra or Nicoleta would keep me company, but something was happening—or about to happen—because not just them, but everyone else had spent the entire day running back and forth, busy with some task.

I wandered through the village center, strolling aimlessly between the houses. People still looked at me with total distrust and stayed as far away as possible.

It didn’t bother or affect me. If a new she-wolf had arrived at my pack, introduced as the mated companion of the alpha, without anyone having heard of her before, I would have been suspicious too.

I admired how the pack was managed, how everyone contributed in some way to its growth and evolution.

"Out walking of your own free will, or trying to discover something to report to someone?" Anton appeared beside me, quickening his steps to keep up with mine.

I rolled my eyes and sighed, ignoring his teasing, provocative tone.

"I thought I wasn’t a prisoner, as long as I behaved and didn’t try to escape."

"You’re not," he agreed, shoving his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. "But that doesn’t mean I trust you."

I let out a bitter laugh.

"Good." I pointed with my chin at the people walking ahead, skirting around me. "Join the line," I mocked.

He stayed silent as he walked beside me.

"You know, I still can’t understand how Fenrir lost control and mated with you…"

"That’s the burning question everyone has."

He gave me a serious look.

"Nothing to say about it?"

I took a deep breath and intertwined my fingers in front of me.

"Even if I told you the truth, you wouldn’t believe me."

"Try me," he challenged.

"The truth is…" I looked at him and shrugged. "I don’t know what happened. One moment I was running, trying to escape…" I cleared my throat. "…Hunter, and the next I ran into Fenrir and… it all happened so quickly, so wildly… and I mated," I admitted, thinking about it once more.

I had no idea what the hell had happened. It was my first heat, but the way they talked and treated the incident told me it hadn’t been normal.

I knew not all alphas who lost control with an omega in heat mated them. Most of the time, it was just sex.

But… what was wrong between us? I had no idea.

He clicked his tongue, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Want my guess?" he asked.

"Why do I feel like you’re going to say it even if I don’t want to hear it?"

"Because you’re right, I’m going to say it anyway." He raised a finger. "As strange as it may sound, I believe you."

I laughed, noting how the villagers walking along the stone paths seemed to be paying attention to us.

"And Fenrir?"

Anton blinked, confused.

"What about him?"

"Well… it was my first heat. I’m inexperienced in this matter and don’t know how abnormal a mating is. For now, I’m blaming our wild, animalistic sides for what happened. But… Fenrir is older, he must have seen plenty of omegas in heat. What do you think about him?"

There was a different buzz in the village that day. When Alexandra had introduced me to the place, people had only seemed interested in living their lives and continuing to provide for the pack.

But not today.

They were bustling about, animated. Some carried small bundles of herbs. I could smell them but couldn’t identify what they were. They seemed… well-dressed, as if preparing for some celebration or event.

"I think Fenrir is getting old and losing his mind," Anton confessed.

Anton seemed to be Fenrir’s right-hand man, his advisor. While Andrei took things lightly, despite being totally loyal to his alpha, Anton seemed to think through, study, and analyze every detail of the situation.

"And about the ritual?" I asked, lowering my voice so only he could hear. "It’s an option, trying to remove the mark and being free of each other."

He pressed his lips into a thin line and slowed his pace, prompting me to follow suit.

"I don’t know how your former pack was or how much importance your alpha gave to it," he said in a harsh whisper, "but know that’s not how things work here. Fenrir values us greatly and sees the pack as his family. He will never do anything to put his life at risk—not because he values it for its own sake, but because he knows there are hundreds of people who count on him, who need him."

I felt a pang in my heart, a sense of desolation. I admired that about Fenrir. He was a very different alpha from how my father had been and how Hunter would be.

People didn’t follow him out of fear; they followed him out of respect and admiration.

He had many flaws—huge, countless ones—but being a bad leader wasn’t one of them.