Chapter 90

***Alpha Ethan***

*With a beaming smile and eyes shimmering with happiness, the little boy clutches Little Dove and his dad’s hands, looks up at them, and says, “I knew you’d find your way back to each other… I wished for it every night.” I notice him gripping their hands tighter like he’s afraid to let go. Az goes on in a shaky little voice, “And now, we’re all together again. Please, I never want this to change. We’re a family again.”*
Thwap! Thwap! Thwap! Thwap! 
Sweat drips down my face, stinging my eyes, as I hammer the heavy punching bag with relentless jabs and hooks in front of me. My fists strike the thick, black leather with a dull thud over and over.
Az’s words echo in my mind, just like the heavy thud of my fists slamming into the punching bag, ringing through the packhouse gym.
Thwap! Thwap! Thwap! Thwap! 
*I finally have my family back together.*
Thwap! Thwap! Thwap! Thwap! 
I wish I didn’t care about that little pest, but unfortunately, I do. I want my fated mate by my side, but not at the expense of her or her son’s suffering. Before leaving her house yesterday, I watched like a mad stalker as they had their breakfast together.
Az was so happy.
The kid was never shy about what he thought of me or that he wanted his parents back together. No. The mini Alpha made himself clear that he wanted to have his family together. That’s why it hurt so much to see him happy with that fucker in a way he never was with me when his mother and I were together.
Thwap! Thwap! Thwap! Thwap! 
*Please, I never want this to change.*
Thwap! Thwap! Thwap! Thwap! 
I realized one thing earlier. 
Vi was right. 
I can’t just force my fated mate to drop everything and come to my pack out of nowhere. Not after everything I’d done to her. Not after she saw me killing someone. Not to mention that she has a son. But that’s not an issue for me. The real problem isn’t that she already had a child with someone else—it’s that her son doesn’t accept me. 
As the little pest already threw it in my face, between him and me, who would his mother choose? 
Obviously him. As she should.
Thwap! Thwap! Thwap! Thwap! 
It was so fucking stupid of me to try to talk to her like that, not that I could control myself. That’s why I decided to follow what Vi suggested. I’m going to make a plan to get her back in a way that will make it impossible for her not to want me back. It will be easy; after all, we are fated mates. 
I’m not going to impose our mate bond on her. She’s going to come to me willingly. I need to do this right, especially after I’d treated her so fucking badly. I’ve handled much tougher challenges than this. This obstacle won’t stop me from having my Luna by my side.
Thwap! Thwap! Thwap! Thwap! 
*I finally have my family back together.*
Thwap! Thwap! Thwap! Thwap! 
That tiny woman holds my heart in her hands. She’s mine. And she will realize it soon.
I wonder how I can do it. I know my personality and the way I’d been treating her has not been amazing, but maybe my Little Dove can look past that. 
I hear Kral’s voice after he snorts in my mind. ‘Yeah, right.’ 
Thwap! Thwap! Thwap! Thwap! 
I wished it was just a physical twinge in my chest when I saw that fucker kissing her, but the non-physical pain was much worse. When a Werewolf’s mate has any kind of romantic touch with someone else, the Werewolf feels a sharp, physical pain in their chest. If it’s tied to something sexual, the agony is almost as intense as a heart attack. But that happens only if they haven’t marked each other.
If they have already marked each other, the pain is far worse—not only is it an invisible torment in the Werewolf who was betrayed chest, but their skin also breaks out in whip-like marks. A brutal reminder of the other Werewolf betrayal.
A mate bond is sacred. That’s why this almost never happens because no Werewolf can betray their mate. They don’t want them to suffer. Usually, this happens when their mate is chosen and not fated.
Thwap! Thwap! Thwap! Thwap! 
I sit on the bench behind me, continuing to ignore the presence of my sister and Josh next to me.
“Don’t you have anything else to do?” I ask them, controlling my temper. “I already told you. I’m *fine*.”
“Don’t lie, Ian,” Vi says. “It pairs so poorly with whining.”
I let out a growl in her way, and she crosses her arms, saying nothing more.
“Ethan, we’re worried about you,” Josh says, his aura making me nauseous with his obvious concern. “Before you’re my Alpha, you’re my brother. We can he—”
“Quit being mushy,” I croak. “I’m calling Maggie for you before you unman yourself, okay?”
Josh rolls his eyes before saying, “You can’t possibly be fine, Ethan—”
“My fated mate is with someone else! How do you think I am?” I yell. “Stop fucking bothering me and just leave me the hell alone! I have to figure out how to get her back.”
“You have finally gotten your head out of your ass, have you?” 
I narrow my eyes at the implication that I’ve been ignoring what my sister said and that she was right. “My head was not up my ass, Vi. She’s my mate. I shouldn’t have to work for it.”
Okay, maybe it has taken me a while to get it all out. But I will work on it, and I will gain my fated mate’s trust again. “We have more important things to talk about,” I remind Josh. “Did you find out where her ex-husband works?”

🐺 🐺 🐺

There she is. My Luna with her bright aura. My bright spot on a dull day. 
“Ethan!” my Little Dove whispers after she opens the door, still holding the door handle.
“Hey, Little Dove,” I say with a smile.
Her tone is harsh when she asks, “Why are you here?”
“Can I come in?” I lift my hands in playful surrender, a smirk playing on my lips as I do. “I swear I won’t do anything to upset you.”
She lets out a cute, long sigh. But she opens the door wider for me. 
As I make my way inside the house, she says, closing the door behind her, “I told you I didn’t want you here anymore, Ethan. Go away.”
“I can’t. We need to talk. I want you back, Little Dove.”
“Ugh. Stop calling me that!” She says, approaching me. “And I don’t want you!” 
“And why is that now?” I ask her, but I don’t give her time to reply before continuing, “Because you’re scared of what we can have? Because you know we’re great together, and that fucking terrifies you? I know that what you saw scared you and made you think differently about me, but I had my reasons, Little Dove. I finally found you, and, well, you won’t get off that easy. I’m right here for you. You know we are *perfect* together. Don’t do this to us now. I want you.” 
She takes a step back. “Wanting me isn’t good enough.” 
“I love you, Little Dove.” My voice cracks with every word, feeling the rejection coming as her bright green eyes look away from mine. 
“No, Ethan,” she says, shaking her head. “You *can’t* love. You can’t love me.” 
“But I do,” I say firmly, suddenly feeling my eyes sting with tears. “I *can* love you. I love you so much, Little Dove.” 
She crosses her pale arms. “You are a murderer, Ethan. You were right before. You were honest with me, at least about one thing. You can’t love me.”
I curl my hands into tight fists. “But I—”
“No!” she yells, looking up straight at me. “You feel nothing for me. You’re only like this now because I don’t want anything to do with you anymore.” *Fuck me! Even her anger turns me on. Why does she have to look so pretty when she’s upset?* “While I wanted you, you wanted nothing to do with me. You made me feel clingy all the time. And now that you don’t have this idiot here to chase you anymore, you come here and declare yourself so you can get me back. This is typical of a petty, narcist murderer. You’re selfish, greedy, ruthless, and arrogant!”
My stomach flexes, and I run my hand over my hair. I need to shave. “I feel everything for you. You’re like the wind on my skin for the first time in a long time, Little Dove. The breath in my lungs.” I reach down and grab her delicate hand. The first touch on my fated mate. So perfect. So right. Then I draw her small hand to the beat of my heart in my chest. “My heart pounds inside my chest whenever I’m near you, Little Dove. My muscles tense with rage at the thought of someone hurting, or touching you... Make no mistake, I feel everything for you. I love you.” 
I give her much smaller hand beneath mine a squeeze as I stare down at her beautiful eyes. I can feel the sparks, desire and want crackling through her skin. 
For a second, we just stare at one another. 
Have her lips always been that delicious looking? 
Even when she was underweight, I still thought she was beautiful, because Alicent *is* a beautiful woman. However, she was much more gorgeous after gaining some well-deserved pounds. 
But now… Her beauty is simply overwhelming. 
My beautiful Luna.  
My heart quickens in my chest, and before I can pull her hand a little harder so that she can fall into my chest, she says, her chin trembling, “Don’t say that!” She takes her hand out from under mine and looks at it as if she, too, has felt the fire of our connection. 
Then she shakes her head and crosses her arms. 
I know what she will say. Fuck. The rejection doesn’t just sting. It fucking stabs me deep within my battered and bruised heart.
I reach out until my hands wrap around her shoulders. Tears stream down her pretty face now, and she shakes her head. “Tell me you don’t love me, my Little Dove. But if you say it, you should mean it.” 
Little Dove takes a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Ethan.” Then she shakes her head, too. “I can’t give you what you want anymore. I’m happy where I am. And I can’t love a murderer.” 
“Can’t or don’t?” I ask her.