The king sat as he watched the alpha families mingle and relax after a long morning of meetings and fights. He, himself, was exhausted. There had been several rumors and poor choices in words to make him suspect a few alphas of siding with Liam Wade. More than that, it reminded him of the things he had heard from the Wade Pack prisoners.
The gamma wouldn't say more on the subject, however the delta was more forthcoming once he regained consciousness from his injuries. The man didn't know details, however, he spoke of a group of alphas determined to return to the old ways. They were angry at the modern laws Alexander and his father had moved toward.
Alexander remained vigilant in listening to the side chatter and whispers as best as his heightened hearing would allow. The meetings and social events painted clear pictures of which alphas were allied with which, who was likely to be working together in the shadows.
It was no surprise when grumbled frustrations came from the alphas who had the absolute worst record of omega treatment. More importantly, Alexander had noticed a trend for female abuse as well. He hadn't specifically brought it up during the meeting. However, his reiteration of the law covered those transgressions as well. Honestly, it all made him sick. He didn't understand how anyone could wish to abuse another in such ways. He had thought their culture had let go of such disgusting concepts.
Yet, then his conscious would rear up and remind him of what he was doing to Nadine. Was he any better?
He would never forget her words. She had compared him to the monster of her past. To Lukas. And damn did it hurt.
Sure, Yuri had something similar, but to hear her say it too...
His instinct was to protect her. And he had thought that he was doing that by keeping her away. But all she saw was a controlling, manipulative bastard. When he pushed her against the wall, he smelled her fear. It was fleeting, before turning into rage. Yet it still burned his nostrils for hours later. He had given her a reason to fear him.
Worse, was the moment he realized just how wrong he had been. How wrong they had both been. She thought he didn't know about betrayal or feeling weak. But he did. And through her raw, embattled emotions, he finally saw just how much they had in common.
Like a cosmic slap upside the head, his eyes refocused to see what was in front of him all along. All that time, he had looked at Nadine as a girl, like any other girl he had met before. With female motives and expectations. And he could never understand why she did or said the things she did, not when it didn't match what he had come to know from other she-wolves. Then, in the hall that morning, he realized he needed to stop thinking of her as another female, but rather as another broken soul, like himself. That had been what had been pulling at him all along. She didn't react like others. She reacted as he would in her situation.
It was all there; the defensiveness, the walls, the difficulty trusting and desire to keep everyone else far away from the painful truth; and the trained facade of anger built to hide the fear and weakness as raw nerves were exposed to everyone else, terrified it would continue until no protection was left.
His mind was in a whirl.
However, he was pulled out of it as he caught the scent of his mate. She was an intoxicating mix of earthy spice and honey. He had to hold his wolf back every time they were in a room together. All he wanted to do was smother himself in her scent and never let go.
Quietly, she sat next to him. Yuri pushed in her chair as Alexander didn't stand to greet her. He had been too busy fighting his instincts to move from his seat.
Yet, as he glanced at her, his chest tightened painfully. She wouldn't look at him. She sat stiffly in the seat with no expression on her face, bottling everything up once again because of him and his fucking mouth.
The distance and tension between the two had gained notice as alphas and lunas glanced in their direction, whispers and gossip spread quickly. However, they remained too low to catch entire sentences.
"Nadine." Markus cautiously approached the table. "I'm sorry you couldn't join us this morning."
"My apologies." She stated. "Something came up. I hadn't intended to leave you waiting."
His eyes sharpened. The girl in front of him was back to being guarded, even around him. It was something he hadn't witnessed, to such a degree, in years. He was instantly concerned. His eyes flickered to the king at her side who made no effort to comfort his mate. Something was very wrong with the picture. "Well, I understand the demands of becoming the future queen. You must have had a lot to deal with. However, I would like to visit with you before our family leaves later. Would you do me the honor of a stroll?"
She nodded and stood to make her way to her adoptive father's side, flinching only slightly as he held his arm out for her to take. The two made their way to the back of the room, where Alexander could no longer hear. Damn it.
His focus was pulled from the father-daughter moment by his beta sitting next to him.
'When are you gonna stop being a dick to her?' Yuri question through their mindlink. The beta couldn't wait to be in a room with his king just so he could question the idiot. Never in his life had he hated how the mindlink was limited to short distances, not as much as he did that day.
Alexander turned away. His eyes surveying the room once again. He didn't have a firm answer to such a question.
"Look at her." The beta growled through their connection, tilting his chin toward the subject of their quiet conversation. 'She is everything you always said you wanted in a luna, in your queen. From the time we were young, you talked about finding a strong female who carried the social compassion of your mother. And there she is. I see it in your eyes when you think no one is watching, the respect and wanting. Why are you doing this to her? To yourself?'
He didn't need his friend to try to back him into some kind of emotional corner. Yuri meant well. However, he didn't know the truth about the past. Standing, the silent king started to work his way toward an alpha he had been wanting to corner. The excuse was needed at that moment, just to distract himself from the awkward situation.
However, his beta wouldn't take the hint and let him be. 'You're hurting her you know.' Amber eyes snapped to his friend. Yuri pointed toward Nadine once again. 'Really look at her. The bruises, the way she limps.'
They both watched as she winced slightly, bending down to hug the twin girls who braided her hair the day before, only to suck in a deep breath before slowly standing again. It was then he really saw the lingering bruises on her exposed arms, deep circles under her eyes, the edge of bandages peeking from below the knee length hem of her dress.
All Alexander had noticed earlier was how flattering the dress was on her figure, followed by how her scowling expression detracted from her beauty. She was more striking when she relaxed. He wanted her to relax and not show her stress for a little while. However, he royally fucked that up. He had gone about it all wrong and he knew it once he calmed down enough to realize exactly what he had said.
'I didn't cause her injuries.' He snapped defensively.
'No. But your lack of acceptance is slowing her healing. You are responsible for that.' Yuri sighed as he leaned back. 'I just don't get it. You were blessed with a second mate. A mate who lives up to every dream you had for a mate to begin with. Why are you doing this to her?'
The king growled lowly and glared at his second in command. "Because I don't deserve her!"
He hadn't realized he said that last part out loud until he heard the silence that followed. Alexander looked up to see a confused Nadine on the other side of the room and couldn't stand to face her after such a public confession. So, he did what he had commonly done in regard to her, and shut himself off once again. He returned to his seat with all of the dignity he could muster. Power filled the air around him, daring anyone to call him out for his words.
And suddenly, he remembered the defiant way Nadine stood tall when he had ordered her to remove her long sleeved shirt during training. The way she didn't waver as others in the room gasped at her scars. The way she wore a dress that showed those same scars with a look of defiance, standing in front of him.
Yes, the two were far more alike than he had realized until that day.
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Stronger- #Wattys2019
Werewolf"Why don't you pay attention?" Really? "Listen here ass wipe, I'm not the one who isn't paying attention. Take a good look at the crowd and figure out how to avoid all of that chaos before snapping at me." Her pale grey eyes looked up to the excess...
