Alpha Tristan ✓ [Republishing]

Dodeka [ 12 ]

author's note: i honestly love writing this book so much! tristan and kara have to be my favourite characters ever. what do you like about this book?

p.s. Mindy's character is a parallel to Minthe in the myths ;)

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I had to truly give him a fair chance.

The realisation hit me when he tucked a sleeping Arianna into bed, gently brushing the hair away from her face. I stood at the door and watched him lean down and press a soft kiss to her forehead. I had never seen an alpha care for the children in his pack the way Tristan did. The entire day showed me a new side to him and I purposely stayed on the sidelines to see the way he interacted with all seven of them.

When he stood up from her bed and turned around, I pushed myself off the door frame and mustered up what I hoped was a comforting smile. He took a few steps forward and stopped when he was stood right in front of me. He seemed happier than he was in the morning, but I could tell from his eyes that there was something eating away at him.

I hadn't noticed it before because I had never looked at him to truly see him. I wasn't observant nor did I take the time to see the man behind the stories. But, something deep inside me wanted to change all of that. The mate pull was getting stronger with every minute we spent together and I figured I would let nature take its course and see where it would lead me.

What would make me the monster would be ignoring the pain that had filled his eyes at the reminder of the war.

I didn't want to add to that pain by being another person who misunderstood him.

Raising my hand, I softly threaded my fingers through his hair and stepped closer to him. His eyes slowly closed and I found myself admiring his features. Black eyelashes brushed the skin under his eyes and I followed the slope of his nose to lips that were pulled down into a slight frown. "Tristan, are you okay?" My whisper cut through the silence and my hand slid down to cradle the side of his face.

Touch, I concluded, had to be therapeutic. The simple act of touching him sent blood rushing through me at a faster rate and it was like I was more alive when I touched him.

His lips twitched into a barely-there smile and he lifted his eyelids to reveal beautifully azure eyes. "I'm okay, Kara." He leaned into my hand and there was a sudden urge to wrap my arms around him. But, before I could act on it, he hooked his hand around my wrist and led me out of the bedroom.

I stayed silent and followed him down the stairs. He turned back to me and smiled in a way that I could tell wasn't genuine. "It's just one of those days."