Marked Twice by the Alpha King Chapter 142

**Ava's POV**

Tyler's tough-guy face melted as he picked up the story: "Mate bond hit us like lightning, but we were stuck. She couldn't bail on her pack, and I couldn't just ditch Blake and my duties here."

"Two freaking years of sad little letters and stolen weekends," Maya said, voice tight with remembered pain. "Every goodbye felt like having my heart ripped out."

"Finally Eastern Woods' Alpha pitched a medical alliance," Tyler added. "Blake let Maya split her time between packs, and that kept us going."

"Then Blake—bless that grumpy wolf—brought me here permanently," Maya's eyes shone with gratitude. "Turns out real mates find each other no matter what crap life throws at them. Moon Goddess gets her way eventually."

Their story hit me harder than expected. So that's what separation feels like for fated mates who actually honor their bond. Talk about night and day compared to Jackson's betrayal—how casually he'd tossed our soul-link in the trash.

"I'm sticking around for a while now," Maya promised, squeezing Tyler's hand. "Unless the werewolf apocalypse breaks out somewhere, I'm staying put. And even then, I'd think twice."

I couldn't help smiling at them; they had that easy vibe of people who knew each other inside out. Maybe Maya could be a friend here; new places were always easier with someone genuine in your corner, especially since I was basically starting from scratch in Silverpeak.

"What about Sarah?" I blurted out, suddenly remembering my mom stuck in Hayes territory. "They're not messing with her, right?"

Tyler's face turned dead serious. "Blake took care of that, Ava. Before we split, he laid down the law to Richard and Martha. Made it crystal clear—they touch one hair on Sarah's head, and the entire Shadow Creek pack pays the price."

"For real?" The Blake I knew was fierce, but that level of protection surprised me.

"Oh yeah," Tyler's mouth twitched upward. "Also mentioned how any 'accidents' might make him reconsider Jackson and Sophia's whole engagement thing. Hayes family knows what that means—lose Morgan backing, and they're basically screwed in wolf politics."

A warm feeling spread through my chest. Sarah chose to stay behind, but Blake still threw his protection over her. That went way beyond what I'd expected from him.

"Bottom line," Tyler shrugged, "even the Hayes clan isn't dumb enough to cross an Alpha King who's basically threatened to erase them. Sarah's gonna be just fine."

Ella would flip when I told her all this; no way I was keeping her in the dark. She'd been my ride-or-die since forever and deserved the full story; time to come clean about everything.

Besides, living with Blake Morgan in his secret forest hideaway wasn't exactly something I could keep quiet forever. Ella would sniff it out eventually, and I'd rather she heard the juicy details straight from me.

"You're good to go whenever," Maya said, giving my arm a friendly pat. "Tyler'll get you to your new place."

My new home.

Still felt like I was dreaming that part.

I glanced at Tyler and nodded.

"All your stuff's already there," he said, clearly catching my confused look.

My face must've been priceless because he laughed.

"Alpha King doesn't do anything halfway," he smirked. "Ready to get out of here?"

"Yeah," I managed, still processing everything.

After chugging more water and letting Maya peel off the healing herb packs and wipe the moonlight ash from my skin, I was finally set to leave.

They insisted I use some fancy wheeled chair thing, pushing me through the medical center's corridors to a waiting carriage outside.

Tyler said his goodbyes to Maya before helping me climb in; my legs still felt like jelly, but that would pass soon enough.

Just as I settled into the cushy carriage seats, Maya stuck her head through the door.

"Hope we run into each other soon, Ava. Good to finally meet the warrior everyone's been buzzing about."

I gave her a genuine smile. "Back at you. Thanks for the patch-up job."

She winked and closed the door.

Through the window, I watched her and Tyler share one of those lingering kisses that made you want to look away. After they finally untangled, he hopped onto the driver's seat, and we rolled away from the medical center toward whatever waited for me in the northern forest.

**Third Person POV**

"Ava's headed to the northern place now," Tyler's mindlink buzzed in Blake's head. Blake glanced up from the mountain of paperwork on his council hall desk, noting from the sun's position it was around noon.

"On my way," he shot back briefly.

Cutting the blood-connection, Blake sped through the remaining documents, itching to wrap up today's bureaucratic hassle.

A fluttering sound at the window pulled his attention. A silver-gray messenger hawk landed on the sill, a small metal tube attached to its leg. Blake's eyebrows pinched together when he saw the signature after opening it.

James Walker—chief messenger from the Northern Lights pack. Blake had been working with them for months, hammering out a major trade alliance.

They'd nailed down most details and reached a tentative agreement weeks ago. Blake had been waiting to hear when exactly their delegation would grace Silverpeak with their presence.

Looked like Northern Lights had finally bothered to respond after keeping him hanging for weeks.

"Esteemed Alpha King Morgan,

Sorry for the last-minute curveball, but our priestess has some major ritual thing next month and can't make our original date. We've bumped everything up to accommodate her schedule. Delegation's rolling into Silverpeak next week.

Hit us back by hawk if that's a problem. Otherwise, looking forward to making pack history together!

Cheers, James Walker Northern Lights Pack"

Blake folded the note, mulling over this scheduling headache. The Northern Lights visit was supposed to be two months out, now suddenly they're showing up next week? That meant scrambling to get Silverpeak ready in a fraction of the time.

He sighed, tossing the problem onto his mental back-burner. Right now, something else mattered more—Ava had finally made it back, safe under Silverpeak's protection. Blake felt a strange peace settle over him, like his territory was finally whole again.