The Alpha's Cursed Mate

Chapter 30

I dream of slow red rivers winding through the white-capped mountains, washing onto gravel banks, pouring like waterfalls, and pooling in alpine lakes. It pulls me along, thrashing yet thick, and I look up at the mountains themselves. The Living Mountains flash blue, purple, red. I shut my eyes.

When I wake in the middle of the night, my heart is steady and quiet — quieter with every passing minute. My chest is cool to the touch as though my own blood has stopped moving within me. The fire in the fireplace is dead, the bedchamber is colder than I used to like it, and Alexei rests beside me, a devoted mate.

"Fall back asleep," he tells me. Usually I listen, but the burn in my belly is back.

I turn in bed to face him. "How long have I been asleep?"

"Some hours."

"Have you answered Gaius?"

"He sent another message; I don't want you to worry about it, but he said since we do not seem willing to come to him, he will come to us."

I breathe in and out. "Okay."

"I'll speak to him when he arrives and tell him you're too unwell to leave the apartment. If he insists on seeing you, he can see for a moment that we aren't lying, if that's alright?"

I nod. "I look the part don't I?"

Alexei ignores my question and says, "I can get blood — you know that. I'll do anything to see you like you were yesterday."

"To see me bend metal? That isn't right; I'm not right."

"You were strong enough to leave the bed."

"It doesn't matter. I told you, I'm out of time. No amount of blood will stop what's going to happen." I feel Him all around me, see Him just beyond my line of vision. My stomach cramps and I wince. "If I fall asleep again, I want you to chain my hands behind my back and my feet together."

"I don't—"

"Just in case I lose my sense of mind — please. I don't want anything to happen to you."

Alexei grinds his teeth then questions, "And what if Gaius comes after your time is up?"

"I suppose if I'm gone — mentally — and I'm dangerous, you should tell him the truth. He'll tell the other Alphas, and they'll hunt me like the old Alphas hunted the vampires, and you won't have to see any of it."

Alexei breathes in, teetering into anger. "And if you're still here? If you're still yourself?"

"I don't know. I find it very unlikely... that I'll be the same person I am now."

Alexei sits up in bed. "I want to take you back to the Goddess."

"She won't speak to me."

"She will," he insists and throws the blankets off himself. He gets up and comes to my side of the mattress, suddenly removing my covers and scooping me up.

"Alexei—"

"No, Brea. I need you to trust me and let me bring you back."

"You aren't thinking clearly."

"Clearly not — no, but I don't care. I've waited this long for you, and I'm not going to let you go."

He carries me out of the bedchamber and through the living room. The apartment doors are closed, so he kicks them open, letting his anger leach out. I cringe at the noise and bring my arm around his shoulders. "My body hurts, Alexei. I want to lay down."

"You can rest when we get there, just hold on," he says and adjusts his grip to hold me higher.

"What if you bring me all the way there and She still says nothing?"