The One He Claimed

Chapter 123: Thank You

Ezra

I hadn’t realized how sick with heard her voice and something inside me relaxed. Not only is she okay, but she’s out for blood, My blood. Good. I’d rather fight her while she’s standing on her own two feet than while she’s lying unconscious in a hospital bed.

She turns when she hears my voice, bearing down on me hard.

“Who do you think you are, huh? How dare you mark me! You think you can just put your mark on me, and I’ll calmly submit to you?” she yells, slapping her palm hard against my chest. I have to fight not to smile. D**n, it’s good to see her fire back.

“I told you I wasn’t going to let you die,” I tell her calmly.

“That wasn’t your decision,” she says, smacking me again. Because I’ve marked her, I can feel her anger, and the hurt, but underneath that, there’s a twinge of happiness that I’m still here and that she is too.

“Joshua didn’t get to win. He didn’t get to have you in life and death. He didn’t deserve you and you deserve better than dying because of him,” I growl, putting my hand over hers and holding it against my chest.

She narrows her eyes at me. “And then, you don’t even have the decency to be there when I wake up? I have to hunt you down so I can yell at you?” she continues.

I press my lips together and look away from her. I didn’t want to leave her, but Alpha Carter was a good Alpha, he deserved the respect of my attendance at his funeral.

I feel the shift in her as she reads my face. She turns, looking around, suddenly realizing there are others in the room.

“Mother?” she asks, looking aro

Hunter watching us. “What’s

! and seeing Sophie and on?”

Hunter puts a protective arm around Sophie.

“We weren’t the only ones who were attacked, Margot. Alpha Robin was attacked as was Alpha Dutton,” I say, and she turns back to me.

“What happened?” she asks softly.

“When Alpha Carter sent warriors to help Alpha Dutton, Alpha Alaric attacked him.”

She sucks in air and turns to look at Sophie, then her mother before looking back at me. Sophie has tucked her face against her mate and Luna June has tears in her eyes again.

“Alpha Carter?” she asks, her voice small.

“And Luna Amy,” I confirm, watching grief and horror fill her face.

“Mother,” she says, turning and going to her mother, holding her as her mother begins to cry softly again. She turns to look at Hunter and Sophie.

“Oh, Sophie, I’m so sorry. Is there anything I can do?”

“We just returned from laying them to rest,” Hunter says to her. “I need to take my mate upstairs. A lot has happened. Your mother and Alpha Ezra can fill you in.”

She turns and looks at me, her arm still around her mother.

“I brought your mother hinking you’d both be happier he together,” I tell her.

I feel her surprise but also appreciation. “Thank you.”

An omega comes up, letting us know where Luna June’s room is and I grab her bags, following June and Margot to her room. Margot sits with her mother but looks up at me.

“Come find me when your mother is settled and you want to talk,” I tell her, setting the bags down and stepping out, closing the door behind me. I’ve only taken a couple of steps when the door opens. I turn and see Margot stepping out.

“Erza…” she steps up to me. “I’m not happy about wearing your mark without giving my consent, but… thank you for saving my life.”

“I know we have a lot to talk about. That isn’t how I wanted to mark you and I’m not expecting you to mark me. But I couldn’t let you die. I just couldn’t,” I say, reaching out to stroke her cheek. I can feel her resistance to the pull of the mate bond, but I can also feel her desire and her gratitude. “When you’re ready. I didn’t force this on you because I wanted to. Yes, I want you. I really want you, Margot, but not like this. You’ve been forced enough in your life. I would have preferred that you make the decision and I hope that one day you will decide to mark me and become my mate. But that decision will be yours and 1 will not force that on you.”

She leans into my palm, reaching her hand up to press my palm to her cheek and closing her eyes. “Thank you for bringing my mother here. You were right about us needing to be together now. And I need to get back to her.”

“Yes, you do,” I say, waiting for her to pull away first. I can feel the resistance to pull away but she does, and she steps back.

“I’ll see you soon,” I say, 1ng to head back downstairs. Now that Margot is awake, I need to focus on making sure my pack is safe and coming up with a plan for Owen’s pack lands.

Hunter POV

I take my mate up to our room. The stress of the last few days is weighing on her. Rather than tucking her in and leaving her alone, I scoop her into my arms and sit on the bed, holding her.

I can feel her exhaustion and I don’t like what all this stress may be doing to our pup, so rather than leaving her when she falls asleep in my arms, I reach out to Lucas in the mind link to find out what I’m missed.

‘Alpha, we’ve buried Joshua’s pack members, and our pack members are ready to be laid to rest. Brooklyn got two of the mates to wake up, but we had one of our warriors die because of his injuries, his wolf was unable to heal him. His mate is now in the recovering mates’ ward.’

I had been too far away to know whose connection had snapped, but I’d felt it while we were gone.

‘What about our borders?’ I ask.

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Yeah she would,” I say, then proceed to tell him about Amela taking over as Alpha

‘Whoa! That’s…isn’t she pregnant? What about Alpha Calvin?’

“Yes, she’s pregnant, but all of the Alphas put their support behind her. And Calvin went home to his pack.’

He’s silent for a moment. ‘I don’t understand him. With everything I’ve had to do to

Kinsley to trust me, I would come between us. What was never, ever, let greed or pos he thinking?”

‘I’m betting he’s wondering the same thing right about now,’ I say, ‘but it brings me to my next item that I wanted to talk to you about. It looks like the remaining Alphas are planning to open up the vacant packs to anyone who wants them. It will be a fight, as it should be and the strongest, last person standing, would take over the pack. You and Kinsley should talk about whether or not you want a chance to become an Alpha, Lucas. You’d make a d**n good one.’

I can feel the shock of my words through our pack link. But when he answers, his surprise is covered with a joke.

‘You trying to get rid of me, Alpha?’

‘It would be a devastating blow for me and this pack to lose you, Lucas. But you deserve the opportunity if you want it. I wanted you to know, that no matter your decision, I support you. Owen’s pack will be first, but Joshua and Elias’ packs are now without a leader and as soon as we’re back to full strength and take out Alaric, that pack will also be without a leader. That’s a lot of opportunity for Betas and G**as to take over as Alphas. Think about it. Talk to Kinsley about it. Having you as an Alpha and ally is a close second to having you as my Beta.’

That night, we laid our pack members to rest, lighting the pyres as the sun set and letting our pack members speak about and remember our beloved family. This time, Sophie put aside her own grief and like the amazing Luna she is, she went around and consoled our pack members, as did I. However, I watched as the pack gravitated to her, wanting her to hold them, to comfort them in a way that I, as their Alpha, can’t do. My mate has a special gift of making others feel loved, and cherished, even when she, herself, is feeling wrecked with grief.

‘That’s because I have a mate who holds me together when I fall apart. A mate who giv ne a strong foundation to stand on hold me up when I get weak,’ she says and arms around me in the mind link.

‘You, my mate, are never weak,’ I tell her.

‘That’s only because my mate is always there to support me and help me stay strong. I don’t know what I would have done without you these last couple of days, Hunter.’

‘I never intend to let you find out, Sophie. I will always be here, in any way that you need me.’

Our pack members grieved well into the night, the mournful howls of those who lost their loved ones, surrounding the packhouse until the early morning hours.

The next morning, I get up, ready to put the war behind me and start moving to a future where we give our pack members the opportunity to earn their own right to become an Alpha. But first, I make a phone call.

“Alpha Zahn, this is Alpha Hunter. What can I do for you?”