Chapter 32

Sierra’s POV

Standing, I follow Lucas out of the dining hall. He’s moving so much faster than me, so I must run to catch up.

“What’s wrong? Are you stressed about the rogues? Is there anything I can help with?” I ask when I catch up to his side. Lucas doesn’t pay me any attention, which makes my stomach cramp.

Why does this keep happening? I’ve dosed him several times, and I constantly feed the fake bond I forged. I shouldn’t have to keep doing this, yet here I am.

“Lucas, please talk to me!” I grab his arm as he enters his office and tug as hard as I can. I let the tears well up in my eyes before blinking until they begin rolling down my cheeks. “I-I know you don’t love me as much as I love you… I’m not sure why, but… but…”

I let the broken, sad sob fall from my lips to accompany the tears.

Somehow, I have to stop him from getting close to Harper. If anything is breaking our bond, it’s her, though, I’m not sure how.

“Sierra, I’m—”

I throw my arms around Lucas’s neck and pull him close, burying my face in his chest. My sobbing grows louder and more dramatic as he just stands there. I know for sure that Lucas hates when women or children cry, so I let the waterworks do their thing, and after a moment, he wraps his arms around me tightly.

When he pulls me close, I brush my fingers across the back of his neck, spreading the new potion along his skin. Since the regular bond forge wasn’t working, I made a physical potion. Hopefully, it’ll work better and keep the bond steady.

I can’t have a bond that continues to dwindle.

Lucas’s POV

“I didn’t mean to make you cry, Sierra,” I say softly, hugging my mate. Shit. Everything is going wrong.

“You… I never see you anymore,” she cries, pulling back and looking up at me with big, tear-filled eyes. “I-I can’t even get you to pay attention when I’m right next to you, Lucas. What kind of mate acts like that? I-I…”

A sob shakes her entire body as more tears fall from her eyes.

“I’m sorry, Sierra. Please don’t cry anymore,” I whisper, brushing the tears from her cheeks. “I’ll do better.”

Her fingers brush along my neck as she listens to my promises, and after a moment, she smiles, “Do you swear?”

A surge of emotion hits me, and I realize I’ve been crossing a line. I have a beautiful and loving mate here with me, and what am I doing? I’m focusing on another woman.

“I swear, Sierra. I’ll make sure to pay more attention from now on,” I tell her, kissing her forehead. The tingle that burst through me at the contact is comforting, so I hold her for a few more minutes.

After a little while, she pulls back and smiles up at me, “Then, I’ll see you for dinner? We can eat together like we used to, just the two of us.”

“We can. I’ll take you to your favorite restaurant, so be ready at six.”

With a squeal of delight, she kisses me and rushes out of the room excitedly.

“If you need me, I’ll be out running.”

I stick the note to my office door and make my way outside, shifting when I hit the grass and running once I hit the tree line. The wind whips around me as I dodge trees and jump over roots. The clear, crisp air clears my head like nothing else can, giving me time to think.

Or so I thought.

Just as I make it to a clearing, I find one of the patrol groups moving along the East border.

Each of them greets me respectfully, and I decide to join their run. I don’t run with my men as often as I should, since I’m busy, but I do like to check on them.

“Anything suspicious?” I ask as I move toward the middle of the group.

“No, sir. We haven’t had any issues today, but someone on the south said they found traces of a disturbance, so we’re keeping our eyes open,” Jonathan, the lead of this group says.

The only other person with him is his twin brother, Jake. There was a delay in the new patrolling group schedules, which is why I joined them. I make a mental note to check with Brandon to make sure the new groups are ready by tomorrow.

“Alpha, I heard we’re getting more training,” Jake says, coming to my side. “Will we learn more fighting for our human form?”

“Yes. I’m going to make sure to add—look out,” I shove my shoulder into Jake just as a rogue lunges at him. It slams into me instead, and I immediately lock my teeth around its neck, biting down.

Blood pools in my mouth as snarling surrounds us.

“Rogue attack. East border. Three miles in near the East clearing,” I send the message through my link with Mason before focusing.

Five more rogues surround us, forming a circle around us until we’re caged in. The chaos is instant. They attack and the air fills with the sounds of snarling and tearing flesh. I rake my claws down the side of the nearest enemy before shoving him aside with my body.

It doesn’t help, though, because another wolf takes his place and jumps on me. Teeth pierce my shoulder, and I roar. I whip my head around and clamp my teeth down on the nearest body part, biting as hard as I can.

The rogue yelps, and the moment he loosens his grip, I yank him from my back. He tumbles to the ground, and before he can move, I slash my claws across his belly.

At the same time, fire burns down my side where another rogue digs his claws into me.

A pained howl fills the air, and I whip around to find Jonathan kneeling on the ground with his brother in his arms.

Shifting back to human form, I groan and call out to them, “Jonathan! Jake!”

“He-He’s…” Jonathan’s head whips up while I grab the oncoming rogue by the throat, and I realize what happened. Jake isn’t moving. He’s not breathing.

“Get him to the healer!” I shout, throwing the rogue across the clearing. “Go!”

Throwing his brother over his shoulder, Jonathan takes off and leaves me to deal with the last two rogues. Quickly, I run forward, shifting midair and land on one rogue’s back. I bite down on his spine, and instantly, he falls limp to the ground.

The last rogue standing takes off in the direction of my retreating warriors, and I take off after him. I can’t let him reach them first.

However, my body is weak and my vision blurs as I lose more and more blood.

“Almost to you, Alpha,” Mason says, and in the next moment, a group of my warriors are surrounding the fleeing rogue.

“Take him alive!”

It’s the last thing I say before collapsing.

Pain pulls me from the darkness, and I open my eyes. The sounds of soft cries from my left make me sit up. Jonathan sits there, holding Jake’s hand as Harper backs away from the warriors.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispers. “I can’t… There’s nothing I can do.”

Jonathan’s forehead drops to his twin’s, and I squeeze my eyes closed as something in my chest tightens painfully. It tears and sends a shockwave through my body, an unfamiliar shockwave, but I still know what it is.

The pain of losing a member of my pack.

“Lucas. Let me heal you.”

Harper is at my side when I open my eyes, already working her magic through my body. I can feel it, the warmth it provides, flooding the injuries and chasing the pain away. Her healing touch instantly helps me relax, but only slightly.

It does help to have Harper close, though.

“What happened? Are you—”

“Why don’t you worry less about asking questions and worry more about healing my warrior?” I snap, remembering how my mate reacted earlier. I need to keep a distance between me and Harper.

For all of our sakes.