Into the Alpha’s Keep Chapter 125: 125

For a few seconds, we remained still, our breaths panting, our bodies sweaty, satisfied and exhausted.

I rested my head on his chest and listened to the rapid rumbling of his heart.

Nothing would ever compare to that, to all the love that seemed to explode from my chest, to the feeling of comfort, of security, of home. My wolf purred inside me, satisfied and happy to be by his side, close to him.

"Can I give you a bath?" he asked, without separating our bodies.

"Yes, please," I begged, exhausted. "I think I'll be able to sleep very well now."

He pulled away to look at me. He closed his hands on my face, holding it under his large palms.

"Always tell me your torments, little wolf, it makes things easier to overcome. Don't keep anything to yourself, I feel what you feel, so there's no point in lying to me."

"I wasn't planning on lying to you." He narrowed his eyes.

" But you didn't tell me earlier why you didn't want to wait for me alone in the room.

I shrugged.

" It seemed too stupid.

" It's not stupid at all. Everyone deals with trauma differently. I'm here, as I always will be. Talk to me.

" I promise I'll talk.

" Always?

"Always.

He pulled out of me and held me in his arms, cradling me as if I were a crystal about to break.

Fenrir was being a perfect partner, as a good male should treat his female. He fed me, took care of me and was always around in case I needed anything.

The males of our species tended to become even more protective when their females got pregnant. And that was exactly how he was acting.

Nothing I once thought I felt for Hunter compared to what I truly felt for him. It was so deep, different, rooted in me.

It was never love, at least not until he showed up.

He climbed in with me in his arms, prepared our bath. He sat down on the bathtub and settled me on top of him, sliding his palms over my body, cleaning me, massaging and caressing me.

“No one touched the nest while I was away,” I commented.

“I forbade anyone from entering this room.”

“Why?”

“Because I knew I would be back home and I wanted things to be as you left them.”

I purred, rubbing my head against his chest and closing my eyes.

“I think my wolf approves of this attitude, she still feels a bit obsessed with that nest.”

He laughed, shaking his shoulders.

“And, according to my few experiences with this, she won’t let anyone touch it. At least, not until the cub is born.”

I opened my lips in mockery.

“Am I going to be surrounded by that mess, as if I were a bird, for nine months?”

“Yes, you will,” he confirmed.

“That’s the best news I’ve ever received,” I scoffed.

“Leave our nest alone, little wolf.” He’s not bothering anyone.

I snorted, trying to hide my smile when I heard him say “our nest.”

***

POV Fenrir Dăneşti

**Days later**

I reviewed the timber export reports from the past days I had been away, completely focused on my mate, ensuring her health and safety.

Before, it was Anton who took care of these things.

I placed the papers on the desk and fixed my gaze on an inanimate object, getting lost in thought.

He was a good friend and would be greatly missed; life would never be the same without him around.

I let out an exasperated sigh, allowing the sadness of his death to weigh on me.

I had tried to avoid thinking about it for days, but in moments like this, it was inevitable.

Andrei's scent reached me before the sound of his footsteps followed. He entered my office with his hands in the front pockets of his pants, his posture relaxed.

“What do you think?” he asked, tilting his chin toward the papers on the desk.

I ran a hand through my hair, pushing the curls back. I threw my body back into the swivel chair and lifted my legs, resting my feet on the desk.

“It’s all normal.”

He nodded and moved toward one of the chairs in front of my desk. He placed his hands on the backrest and leaned forward, pressing his lips together.

“I just got back from Beniamin’s house, and earlier, I went to Florin’s house. They’re both doing well, despite the injuries they sustained from the Eclipses.”

“Any serious injuries?”

“Beniamin will have scars from the arrows that hit him, that’s it. As for Florin, he lost three fingers from his left hand.”

I clasped my hands in front of my body.

“Send two deer to each of their houses as a gift, as a thank you for their contribution in the battle.”

None of my men had died in the fight against the Eclipses. The element of surprise had been crucial; they didn’t expect to be attacked, nor were they ready for us.

Beniamin was struck by a wave of silver arrows, caught between life and death. But the wolf was strong, resilient, and managed to survive. Florin had his fingers ripped off by a transformed wolf. The others returned with some scratches and silver scars, but nothing that risked their lives.

“They’re happy to have been there, to have become part of the history of the Dăneşti,” he murmured, shifting his weight onto one leg. “Now that everyone knows Savannah is your predestined mate and that she’s expecting the heir, they’re even happier.”

A smile curved my lips.

My little wolf had renewed the hopes of my people. Hopes they had long since lost. I would be the first alpha of the Carpathians to have an heir, to continue my lineage.

There was a curse cast upon us, something no one could comprehend yet. Our people only had heirs if it was with their predestined mate, slowly condemning us to extinction. Predestined mates were rare, often even scarce. I waited three hundred and thirty-eight years to find mine.

“How is Savannah?” he asked quietly.

I took a deep breath and ran my tongue over my lips.

“Savannah has been through a lot in the past few months. She’s strong, much stronger than she thinks. But… it’s not always easy to overlook everything that happened.” I shifted uncomfortably. “She’s overcome many traumas, but the recent events have shaken her.”

“Alexandra noticed that,” he commented, serious.

I nodded, pressing my fingers tightly, feeling the hate for that damned Eclipse alpha pulse through me.

“She’s afraid of being caught, afraid of being alone, and has nightmares at night. But we will overcome this, I’m always by her side, so she knows nothing will happen to her. Never again.”

“Hunter is dead,” Andrei growled, his hatred for the alpha as intense as mine. “I made sure he couldn’t return. We gathered all the pack’s bodies and set them on fire, along with the rest of the houses. Eclipse, and everything it represented, turned to dust. I never took my eyes off Hunter’s body, not until it disappeared and disintegrated in the flames.”

While I ran with Savannah in my arms, back to our home, I left him and the others responsible for ensuring that no one who didn’t deserve to survive had.

I didn’t stop running, not until I reached home. Not even when my body was exhausted, and I was being driven by my wolf. My beast took over everything we were and made me keep going, without eating, without drinking, without stopping to rest, while I focused on feeling what she was feeling, listening to her breath, and the heartbeat of the pup that was weak.

I couldn’t take her to a human healer. They wouldn’t understand her body’s regeneration, and the medicine would be toxic for both of them, further harming her health. They wouldn’t be able to help her in any way.

When I finally arrived home, startling Alexandra, Mihaela, and Nicoleta, who were waiting for us, I placed Savannah on the couch and injected the drug produced by Vanóia. I then stayed by her side for two days, watching the color return to her face slowly and the pup’s heartbeat grow strong, like the wings of a bird. Only then could I finally rest.

Someone, someday, would find the burned and abandoned village, and speculations would be made about the disaster that had occurred. But by then, they would fall into oblivion and be nothing but a bad memory.

“Savannah saw many people die in the past months, witnessed a lot of evil. It’s not in her nature to be cruel, so she suffered for others. She’ll overcome it, but it will take time. One day at a time.”

When I wasn’t with her, I left her in the company of Alexandra, Mihaela, or Nicoleta. She really liked the she-wolves, felt happy and comfortable beside them.

I noticed how she avoided being alone, always seeking someone’s company. When she tossed and turned at night, tormented by nightmares, I would hold her close, and she would calm down.