Alpha Tristan

The flight back had been excruciatingly long. 

It seemed like time went slower the faster you wanted it to go. Although I had company, there wasn't much I could think about on the flight—it had been like that the entire morning. 

Before I had left Ramiel's territory, I ate breakfast with him and he had told me everything he knew whilst being an alpha. I was surprised to know that he knew the true story to the war but knew that Tristan was one of the most powerful alphas he had ever seen and thus would be feared to a certain degree. 

"The alliance wasn't just to secure our safety as a pack." He had said, picking on his poached eggs. "Tristan knows pain better than I do, but he empathised with me after  she left and for that I was grateful."

It had warmed my heart to know that other people outside of Tristan's pack saw the goodness in his heart. I stressed the importance of Ramiel telling the pack that Tristan deserved a lot more respect than he was being given. The sole reason I had 'hated' him was because of the rumours spread by people around me. 

I had left the pack with a slightly lighter heart. 

"Alpha's nearby, but you already know tha—" Markus began, almost instantly being interrupted as I sensed Tristan's presence and locked gazes with him. I sighed deeply in relief and felt the urge to run. 

Markus seemed ready to catch my bag as I picked up my pace and felt the ache in my heart ease up. He was smiling at me and even though we had only been apart for two days, it had felt much longer and I couldn't help but collide into him, wrapping my arms around his neck tightly. 

He grunted at the collision but his arms came around me, lifting me up as my legs quickly wrapped around his waist. I inhaled his scent, ecstatic to finally smell the real thing as the electrifying feeling I had missed came back to me full force. 

My lips pressed against his ear and I sighed. "You've never smelled so good." Hugging him for a few long moments, I slowly unwrapped myself from him, placing my feet firmly on the ground. Staring up at him, I examined every inch of his face and settled on his tired eyes. 

It was a clear indicator that he hadn't been sleeping, but his eyes still shined at the sight of me. I raised my hands to cradle his face as my gaze drifted to his lips. I debated whether to act on my urges in such a public place and kiss him like I wanted to. I could feel the excitement and relief that bloomed deep in his c.h.e.s.t. 

He lifted his hand to thread his fingers through my curls as he pulled me closer, slanting his lips over mine. I sighed into his mouth, wrapping my arms around his neck as he kissed me softly. It was brief but passionate and he pulled back to rest his forehead on mine. "It's really good to see you, Kara." His nose pressed gently against mine and he smiled softly. Wordlessly, he wrapped his arm possessively around my waist and hugged me tightly. 

With his lips against my temple, he stayed still until I felt him tense. Tilting my head upwards, I stared up into his crystal blues before my gaze drifted to where he was so attentively staring. Sighing, I stepped back from him and gripped onto his hand as he squared his shoulders. 

"Tristan...this is my mother, Dahliah." I stared at her and watched as she fought against the urge to bow her head in front of us. I stiffened until she tilted her head just slightly, a deep frown on her face. My heart threatened to fall to my feet at the thought that she would blurt out what she had told me only yesterday. 

She seemed angry and I hated myself for thinking that maybe she shouldn't have come with me after all. I didn't want her lashing out at Tristan or treating him with disrespect. Her decision to leave Ramiel's pack had come as a shock to me, especially because I hadn't expected her to agree at all.

I had been packing what little I had taken out of my suitcase when she stopped at the threshold of my door, leaning against it with an apologetic expression on her face. "You do mean everything to me, sweetheart. I'll come with you...a girl needs her mother just as much as the mother needs her." She had said, walking in to kneel down beside me. She had gently c.a.r.e.s.sed my face before pressing a tender kiss to my forehead. "I'm sorry for everything, Kara."

Her apology had been accepted and she tied up as many loose ends as she could before packing essentials and buying a ticket at the airport. She had received a warm goodbye from people in the pack and Ramiel had let us go with comforting departing words. "Take care of each other. I hope you both find the happiness you're looking for."

It was at that moment that I felt everything would be okay, but that feeling was shattered as I saw the bitter expression on my mother's face. 

Tristan's face was like a blank state and this side of him seemed miles away from the man who had his lips pressed against mine. "I'm glad to see you're better."

My mother cracked a stiff smile and before the tense silence could settle between us, I cleared my throat and tugged on Tristan's hand. Instead of speaking out loud, I felt my eyes mist over as I spoke in his head. 

' I'm sorry. Can we just go home?'

He tilted his head to glance at me and his deep voice sounded crystal clear in my head. 

'I'm used to it, αγάπη. It's okay.' He nodded his head and tightened his grip on my hand. When his gaze fell upon Markus, he smiled softly and stepped forward to pat his shoulder. 

"Thank you for going with her. I appreciate your help." He took my bag from him and hooked it over his shoulder before his eyes glasses over quickly. I presumed that he spoke to Markus as he turned his head towards my mother. "Markus will take you to where you'll be staying if that's okay with you. I have many guest rooms, you can pick any."

My mother seemed relieved that she wouldn't have to be anywhere near Tristan for much longer and I couldn't stop the frown that pulled at my lips. Her cold demeanour made me uncomfortable and that had never happened before. I hung back until she followed Markus out of the airport before turning back to Tristan. 

Before I could say anything, he curved a hand around the side of my neck, his thumb gently resting on my earlobe as he lowered his lips to mine. "Smile." He implored with a gentle smile of his own, letting go of my hand to cup my face completely. "If you're not too tired, I want to take you somewhere."

I stared up at him and felt my lips lift into a bright smile. I noticed how his eyes seemed clearer than normal. They seemed like glass and because I could feel his emotions too, it was as if I knew all his deep secrets. He seemed more than enamoured with me.

"Is it somewhere warm?" I questioned, watching him chuckle before he planted a fleeting kiss on my lips. 

"It's somewhere warm, come on." He slid his hand down my arm before linking our fingers, leading the way out of the airport. "Hopefully, you're hungry too."

————

The journey seemed longer than usual and it didn't take long for me to figure out that Tristan had taken me to the other side of his territory. It wasn't entirely noticeable but it felt slightly different, like something about this place struck something deep in my heart. I couldn't pinpoint it exactly but it was definitely a foreign feeling. 

"Close your eyes, αγάπη." His fingertips lightly pressed against my closed eyes as he guided me forward with his own body. I felt the heat emanate from him and shuddered slightly as the snow crunched under my shoes. 

I didn't realise just how much I missed Tristan's touch. He affected me a lot more now and it took everything in me to not turn around and kiss him senseless. I still had the fear of rejection at the back of my mind and it yearned to move itself to the forefront of my thoughts. 

"Why is it a surprise?" I asked, lifting my hands to lightly grip his wrists as I felt us come up to a door. 

He moved his left hand to cover both my eyes as he reached into his pocket to pull out a set of keys. I heard them jangles against his palm as he opened the door in front of us. I was hit with a wave of warmth and I sighed in relief. 

"I figured that you'd want us to be alone for a while when you got back." He guided me inside the building as he lowered his head to press his lips to my cheek. "So I set a surprise up for you."

I slowly fought the smile that wanted to emerge and felt a new sense of excitement blossom in my c.h.e.s.t. We came to a standstill as he lifted his hand from my face. He wrapped both arms around me from behind as I opened my eyes. 

The gasp softly fell from my lips when my gaze fell upon the sight before me. We were in a cosy log cabin and the walls glowed the same fiery orange as the fireplace that emitted not only heat but light too. Beside it was a larger-than-most dinner table for two that held two scented candles and rose petals. 

It was a much more romantic welcome than I was expecting, and I quickly turned around in his embrace to wrap my arms around his neck. "Who would've thought you're this romantic?" I joked lightly, stepping up onto my tiptoes as I inhaled into his neck. His scent drove me crazier than before and even though I could smell him on me because of the mark, the real thing was much better. The tip of my nose brushed against his jaw before I tilted my head to softly kiss him. "Thank you, Tristan."

He wedged a hand into my curls and pulled me back to see my face clearly. "I've never had a reason to be romantic before you." His gaze flitted over to the table and he helped me out of my jacket before pulling me over to sit in the cosy chair. "This is so I can get to know you. I've marked you yet I know barely anything about you."

My gaze followed him as he slid off his coat, hanging both of ours up before walking into the open kitchen. I smelled the delicious food before seeing it and my mouth watered when he set my plate in front of me. It was my favourite meal. 

It was then I realised that he was right. Save for where I was born, my favourite meal and that I didn't drink alcohol, he didn't know much about me. But something about that scared me because I was certain that he wouldn't want me if he truly knew me.

When those feelings of uncertainty rose within me, I tried to squash it so I could enjoy the food placed in front of me. "What do you want to know?"

Tristan stared at me with that same intense gaze that had me weak at the knees. "Everything."

I picked up the fork as I twirled the pesto pasta almost aimlessly for a few moments. I sighed as I thought of where to start. "I love nature so much." I smiled at the thought of flowers blooming in spring. "I'm always grateful for my ability to shift because nature deserves to be truly appreciated and everything is so heightened in wolf form. I remember shifting for the very first time and I was  so happy because I could hear everything. The water rushing up the stems of the plants, the bees collecting pollen…it was just so beautiful."

By the time we had finished our meals, Tristan knew a lot of information about me. My likes and dislikes, my growing feelings towards him and how scared I was of the possibility that I would fail as a Luna.

He gripped my hand from across the table. "Leadership doesn't come with a manual. You don't learn how to be a leader. It's within you, Kara. You wouldn't be my mate if you weren't meant to lead beside me, which means you won't fail. I would never let that happen."

I dropped my gaze to our joint hands, mustering up a smile in the face of my insecurities. While he knew a lot about me, he didn't know my deep and dark secret. I felt my throat close up and I desperately tried to overcome my emotion because he would feel it too. My c.h.e.s.t hurt and he quickly stood up to be at my side. I briefly wondered for how long he would do that, be by my side. 

It was like the dark secret reared its ugly head and drilled into me the belief that this was all karma for treating him so cruelly at the beginning. I didn't deserve him at all. 

"Kara, it's okay." His hand gently cupped my face and with the hand still linked with mine, he pulled me up from the chair and towards the sofa. It was like he wanted no distance between us as he gently tugged me into his l.a.p. "I promised that I would be with you every step of the way, αγάπη. I always keep my promises."

While the seed of relief cracked open within my c.h.e.s.t, it lacked the substance it needed to fully bloom into certainty. I wasn't certain that he would still be able to keep his promise after he found out that not only did he know and hate my biological father, he was the one to kill him.

I knew that these feelings were unwarranted especially because I had never known my father and he couldn't really be called that. But I had his blood running through my veins and I couldn't ignore that. The mere thought made me feel sick and I suddenly resented my mother for ever telling me in the first place. 

Cupping his face, I delivered a hard kiss to his mouth in an attempt to focus solely on him. He always made me feel better and as my mate, his mere touch helped me. I could feel the apprehension that simmered within him and inwardly, I told myself to get it together.

I would tell him when I felt it was right, but I didn't want to ruin the romantic night he had prepared for me, no matter how much I felt I didn't deserve him. Gently knocking my forehead on his, I closed my eyes as I caught my breath. "God I missed you so much."

He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me ever closer until there was practically no space in between up. Ducking his head, he pressed a kiss to my mark and smiled softly as I shuddered in his arms. "I missed you too." He lifted his head and grinned so brightly at me that I had no choice but to feel what he felt, happiness to finally be with me again. 

Leaning forward, he lightly dragged his lips up my neck to slant across my mouth. "I haven't kissed you properly in two days. We have a lot to catch up on." And with that, he kissed me senseless.