Chapter 44
I should’ve feared him even more than I already did. I had witnessed acts of violence by this Alpha in front of me. He had broken Alpha Shields arm. He had ripped out the black heart of a vampire, in my presence. He had lost control and marked me… all of these acts of violence seemed to always start and finish because of me.
“Valerie I can explain myself, just listen to me,” Alaric uttered out, continuing to clean my neck.
“I don’t want to,” I said, my eyes locking with his.
Alaric sighed heavily and ran a hand through his thick dark hair. Our eyes locked together, behind those deep brown eyes there was something dark and dangerous. Right now those eyes were showing me vulnerability, a side to him that I was pretty sure no one ever saw. He placed the towel down on his lap and sat up straight.
“Please, let me explain.”
Swallowing hard, I nodded my head. “Okay.”
“I’ve been alive for far too long,” he started to say slowly. “I know you know my true age, and I know it may seem hypocritical of me to think that Zander Richards wanted you as his new mate. I’ll be honest Valerie, I still feel twenty–seven, I don’t feel like a six hundred and fifty–year–old man.”
Alaric cleared his throat and looked down for a split second at the ring on his finger.
“I’ve been twenty–seven for such a long time… the thought of having a mate has always seemed irrelevant. Six hundred years have pa*sed and for a time, I had thought that my mate had died, that I had outlived her, that I would never find her. I didn’t expect to find you, Valerie, I had lost hope centuries ago.”
My heart clenched at his words. Alaric and I were similar in different ways. I didn’t think I’d ever find my mate because of my weakness and the fact that I couldn’t feel my wolf. He had thought that he would never find his mate because of his ability to live much longer than any other wolf. I couldn’t imagine being alive for so long and thinking that the one person that is destined to be with you, isn’t even alive.
“Seeing you at that ridiculous event, everything stopped inside me,” Alaric said, his voice. was still soft and sincere. His eyes held mine as he spoke. “A young careless and naive girl bumped right into me, reminding me that I was a six hundred and fifty year old Alpha who had renounced everything and forgotten about mates.”
“Alaric-”
-He held up his hand. “Please Valerie, let me finish.”
“Everything changed when I realised who you were. You are not only my destined mate, but the young girl who was to be forced to marry another wolf!” Alaric spat out, his eyes. beginning to change colour.
“You know what the worst thing is?” He asked rhetorically. “When I realised that after six centuries, pathetically weak alphas would deprive me of my mate.” He said harshly, looking at me as if he could see my father staring back at him.
“I didn’t want a mate, that’s no secret. I didn’t ever expect one, but here you are right in front of me, supposedly you’re the other half of me, as I am for you.”
Alaric took a deep breath in, closing his eyes. When he opened them, his natural eye colour had returned. He had composed himself but for how long would his composure last?
“What I’m trying to say, Valerie, is that I’ve had the urge to connect with you ever since I saw you. I’ve fought against those urges ever since I met you. It’s not easy for me to suddenly have a mate after all this time. It’s not easy knowing that you don’t feel the connection…”
I sighed heavily, taking in everything he had said. It still didn’t change the fact that he had marked me without consent.
Was it true that he had lost control? Maybe his wolf instincts took over, feeling the need to protect me. I know the vampire attacking me had caused a huge shock for both of us, but never did I think about how is inner wolf felt about the whole situation.
“Alaric…” I whispered his name. “You shouldn’t have marked me like that.”
Alaric suddenly pulled me closer to him, disregarding what I had said as his arms wrapped around me tightly.
“Do you feel it?” He asked, his fingertips grazing my bare arm.
I knew what he was referring to and it pained me to reply to him. I had to be honest, he had
told me once before that he expected complete honesty.
Did I feel the sparks of the mate bond between us?
“No.”
It was safe to say that sleeping with Alaric again was even more awkward than before. He hadn’t said a word to me, nor did he even look at me. I had changed my clothes as they were covered in blood, the sheets of the bed had to be changed too. Within ten minutes I was laying down in fresh sheets. Alaric stayed on his side of the bed and I stayed on my side. We both lay awake, not saying a word to each other. Eventually, I had drifted off to sleep my b*dy was exhausted and I had somehow managed to forget what Alaric had done in order to get some rest.
