Chapter 245

Cara’s POV

That night, I couldn’t stop kissing Alaric. I felt so confident and so in love that I couldn’t get enough.

Yes, there were plenty of reasons to be upset about what was happening. I wasn’t thrilled that most of the contests had been canceled because of the false accusations that my pack was being too hostile to the competition. And that the commissioner replaced those contests with a sparring event was suspicious.

If he and Lilia were working together, they likely had some kind of plan to help her win.

Yet, even with those concerns, in the moment here with Alaric, I felt invincible. I had Lucy back, who was growing stronger all the time. And with her return, I also had my future back.

During my illness, I had fought hard to maintain hope that I would survive. There had been moments for sure where I had my doubts about my survival. In those moments, I had called out for Lucy and heard only echoes in response. I hadn’t been sure that she would ever find her way back to me.

That she had returned now gave me so much relief that I felt as if an unbearably heavy weight had been lifted up off my shoulders. It overruled any fear I might have had about the dangers still left to face.

So I kissed Alaric and he kissed me back, and we shared in this joy together, many times and long into the night.

When we finally came up for air, our bodies were pleasantly sore and my mind was a little cloudy with bliss.

We were beside each other in bed, with Alaric’s arm stretched out and under my body. He rolled onto his side to look at me. There wasn’t much light here in the bedroom in the dark, but with Lucy returned and my senses heightened, I could still see him very well. So I could see how he was gazing at me with love in his eyes.

“Cara,” he said, then paused, like he was building up to something. I waited patiently, though it didn’t take him long to form the words. He must have found them while he was looking at my face, because he didn’t turn from me for even a moment. “Would you consider becoming my mate again? Officially this time.”

He was asking to bite me, to strengthen our bond and make it official. In the past, we’d enjoyed the pull of our mating bond, yet because he had never bitten me, that mating bond was never secured, which was how we were able to reject it so easily.

That it was returning now on its own, even after having been rejected, was nothing short of a miracle.

But it wasn’t just because of the miracle bond that I wanted to say yes. I deeply loved Alaric, and over the past few months especially, we had developed a love and a friendship that felt right, the perfect foundation for a lasting union.

But…

“If it was only a matter of love, I would say yes without question,” I told him. “But it isn’t just about love for us, is it? It can’t be. You are the Alpha of DuskWood, and I am a princess of BloodyMoon. I care for you so deeply, Alaric, but I love my pack, too. The kids have their friends here… Can I uproot all of our lives?”

I had worried the words might turn Alaric away from me, though I still felt compelled to say them. He deserved the truth. A lasting relationship had to be built on trust and honesty, and this feeling was too big to keep secret.

Alaric’s face didn’t change, however. In fact, it seemed to do the opposite of what I expected – it filled with hope. “I’ve been thinking about that. I might have a solution.”

“What is it?” I asked.

“I don’t want to say. Not yet. Not until I’m sure it will work.” He paused a moment, then asked, “If I could solve this problem, would you be my mate again?”

“Yes,” I replied. Without that problem in the way, if my heart was clear to pick whoever it wanted, of course I would choose Alaric. Again and again, I would choose him. “I’d like to be your mate again.”

Smiling, he rolled into me and kissed me again. I had thought myself exhausted, yet with these new kisses following these questions, I find a new jolt of enthusiasm. Maybe we will stay busy all night, after all.

Eamon’s POV

I was working late at the office, even though I promised my assistants I would go home hours ago. With the sparring contest to begin the next day, I didn’t feel like I could relax.

I hated not knowing what Lilia and the head commissioner had planned. And I hated that the head commissioner was blaming this change of course for the competition on me and my insistence he treat Cara fairly.

There had to be something I could do, some kind of petition I could fill out. Yet I was coming up empty. The commission were the leaders of the competition. There was no one above them. If I went to them with my concerns again, it would undoubtedly only make things worse.

So I felt like my hands were tied. All I could do with my worry was continue to work and hopefully turn this restlessness into actual productivity.

Going through my messages, I was surprised when a late-night email came through from the head of the BloodyMoon pack elders.

The email was titled, In regards to your new Alpha proposal.

This had to be about my push for Cara to be the new Alpha. Quickly, I clicked on the email. When it opened, I immediately started reading.

Alpha Eamon,

The elder council discussed your proposal in great detail. Cara is capable and would be an acceptable pack Alpha – if she can win the ongoing princess competition. Though Cara is well-liked in our pack, the fact that she is a female holds her back. As you know, Alpha Queens are incredibly rare, so we fear it would take an act as grand as winning the competition for her to be accepted by the public as a leader.

The email was signed by the head elder.

I reread it and reread it again, taking in the good and the bad. I could read between the lines here. The pack elders do not believe that Cara’s reputation would be enough as it was to push her over the potential hurdle of her being female. She would have to excel beyond the average Alpha to win over the pack enough to be respected as the leader.

It made me angry, but I also knew it to be true. This would be a big change in the pack. The people loved Cara, but as their princess. As an Alpha? She would have to prove to them, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that she was more than capable.

It was a cruel double-standard.

But it wasn’t impossible…

With Cara’s wolf returned, she did have a chance of winning the sparring event. My brothers told me that they had watched her when they practiced and she knew enough moves to help her win.

But still I worried.

Without knowing what Lilia had planned, I felt like Cara was being set up for failure.