Maid for the Alpha

Chapter 39

Thank you all for your continued support of this story. Your votes and comments mean so much to me. As a writer I am continuously growing in my craft and a part of that includes some hard lessons. As you read, you may notice a change. In previous chapters I used the word "Gypsy". I am formally apologizing as this is a derogatory term and hurtful to the various traveler peoples. For the duration of the story these characters shall be Romani. I am currently working my way backwards in the story and am unsure how long this will take. If you find any G-words that I missed, please let me know right away so I can correct it. I thank you for your understanding and again apologize for my error. (note: this paragraph will be repeated in future chapters to ensure all my readers have the opportunity to read this notice)

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There was nothing but the pounding of her heart ringing in her ears... and the shiver of her skin reaching to her soul as Leland's haunted gaze captured Liz. Slowly she rose, breathless and unbelieving – as time seemed to stretch into oblivion.

"Leland..." the word whispered through her lips, but the reality escaped her senses. After all that had happened, the world seemed too unreal now – as if this were a dream within a nightmare. She could still feel the tightening grasp of drying blood on her skin and sense the tingling sparks of unrealized power in her fingertips – and yet... a swell of pent up emotions pushed their way to the surface as she looked at her werewolf Mate.

She wanted to ask him What happened? Where were you? But could not utter another word. She wanted to yell and shout and berate him for not being there to protect her. But could not summon the anger. She wanted to run to him, hold him and never let him go. But could not move her feet.

She stood still and silent... as if bewitched – lost to the undercurrent of passion and pain where only his eyes, his incandescent cerulean eyes permeated her vision. The rest of the world just fell away, crushed beneath the power of the need for her Mate – her Leland, who finally stood before her once more.

The Lord Alpha's unbelieving eyes slowly reconciled back to reality and the breath of shock that he subconsciously held was released. His paws twitched, as if to take a step forward, but remained firmly cemented to the floor as a swarm of feuding feelings ravaged his already battered soul.

The wolf wanted to howl as joy, relief and protectiveness fought to remain on the surface, but Leland's humanity was quickly rising. As rational awareness began to override his animalistic instincts, he was becoming cognizant of the cost that had been made. While he wanted nothing more than to shift, run to his Mate and take her into his arms, grief and shame held him back.

She never should have gone through something like this. He should have realized who the Rogue was long before Liz ever came into the picture. He should have prevented her from being kidnapped. He should have been able to find her faster. He should have not .... killed Romani?!

Flashes of his crimes came crashing into his conscious mind. What...what have I done? The Lord Alpha became painfully and horrifically aware of the sins he committed. He finally smelled whose blood laid upon his fur... and felt whose bits of skin still stuck to his claws. It was then, as the crushing weight of their deaths hung heavily upon his soul, was when he noticed the third being in the room.

Madam Corauni hadn't noticed when Leland arrived, probably because she was so lost in Liz's healing energy that she was unable to sense anything beyond her own torrent of emotions. She usually was a woman that was not easily surprised... and yet this day was full of startling revelations. Liz, a supposed human – but obviously not, has proven to have impressive, if not scary-good, supernatural powers. Then the black werewolf suddenly appears – after somehow escaping his own mental prison while wrapped in magic-fortified chains designed specifically to subdue a werewolf – and finds his Mate without anyone else's help, as if he never needed assistance in the first place.