Alpha Tristan

- Tristan -

She was bleeding so much.

Her blood soaked my clothes and I couldn't get the sight of her limp body out of my mind. My hands shook and I lifted them off my l.a.p to her dried blood on my skin. A shaky breath fell from my lips and I turned to my men who were guarding the room they were holding me in. 

"I need to wash my hands." my voice was scratchy and I dragged my gaze upwards to Markus who was pacing anxiously in the room. He came to a stop and nodded towards a door.

"There's a bathroom there, Alpha." 

I pushed myself off the floor and stumbled over to the bathroom. I locked the door behind me and it was within seconds that I collapsed against the sink. My hands gripped the edge of the basin and I flipped the tap open before the water streamed against my skin. 

I scrubbed Kara's blood off my hands and as the water turned a painful red, I sunk my teeth into my bottom lip. I swallowed down the sob and continued washing my hands. I had seen a lot of blood in my life—I had spilt a lot of it in my life but nothing could have prepared me to have my mate's blood on me.

The mate pull was a lifeline for us both but I could tell that it wasn't enough, not with way Mindy had stabbed her. Kara was hanging on by a thread, I could feel it. The bond that pulsed between us strongly was dwindling and it was taking everything in me to not run and be at her side. I had to have faith that she would live. 

If I lost faith, I wouldn't be able to hold back the monster within. I glanced up at the mirror in front of me and bloodshot eyes stared back at me. I looked like I had run through hell and back, and quite frankly, I felt like it too. The moment Mindy dug her claws into Kara, I felt this searing pain and it had knocked the breath out of me. 

I wasn't bleeding but I felt the pain all the same and I had never felt so scared in my life. Seeing her fall to her knees tore my heart out of my c.h.e.s.t and I had caught her before she hit the floor. Her eyes, always so beautiful, didn't instantly find mine like they usually did and it had tipped my world upside down. 

She was the only person I could focus on. My existence depended on hers and I didn't want to think about what would be left of me if she died—

Shaking my head vehemently, I growled and screwed my eyes shut. Closing the tap, I tugged my shirt off and dashed it into the bin by the door. When I stepped back into the room, I took deep breaths and dropped the barrier in my mind between me and all my pack members. 

For once. it was chillingly silent and I clenched my jaw as I thought of Christian and slipped into his mind. 

' Get everyone home, Christian and tell them Kara and I will be okay.'

' Yes, Alpha.'

I turned to Markus. "How long has she been in surgery?"

A grim expression covered his face. "Two hours, Alpha. The doctors had to sedate you when you got too much to handle." It was then I noticed the nasty bruise on Markus' jaw.

My heart dropped and the deep frown pulled at my lips. "I'm so sorry." I glanced around the room to see fourteen more of my men. "To you all. I didn't mean to hurt you." 

They bowed their heads and Śaka, one of the men who had pulled Kara and I's sled, spoke consolingly. "We know, Alpha. You wanted to be with your mate. All of us would have acted the same way."

Kara's motionless body flooded my mind again and my thoughts turned to the person who caused all of this. I growled lowly and walked towards the door. Before any of my men could protest, I opened the door and stepped out into the hospital hall. I set out towards the exist but I came to an immediate halt when I caught Kara's scent. I honed in on it with all my senses and I could hear her incredibly slow heartbeat. 

I knew she wasn't dead but I wanted her heart to beat a promise that she would stay alive. It took everything in me to not go to her and hold her hand. I almost turned towards the door that would lead me to her when a cry of anguish travelled through the halls.

"You said you wouldn't let any harm come to her!" Dahliah cried, rushing towards to me before Matthijs pulled her back with his arms around her waist. Kara looked so much like her mother and I couldn't look at her as she audibly struggled against her mate's hold. "Matthijs, let me go!"

"Liah, calm down."

The disdain was back in her voice. Over the past two months, we had come so far but I knew that at that moment, we were back to square one. 

"No! She's all I have and I said this fight was a bad idea! I knew this pack was going to get her killed!" her screams broke down into sobs and I saw her fall to the floor as she clutched at Matthijs' arms.

I met Matthijs' apologetic gaze and forced breath into my lungs. "Kara is all I have too." The crack in my heart deepened and anguishing pain filled my c.h.e.s.t. "The last thing I expected was for someone in my pack to try and kill her. I failed Kara and you. But, I can feel her and she's hanging on. We won't lose her."

She stopped struggling in Matthijs' arms and turned to cry into his shoulder. He held her tightly and I willed the emotions away, trying to focus on what I needed to do.

I forced one foot in front of the other until I was out in the snow. I couldn't control my anger as I leapt into the air and shifted. My paws slammed against the snow as I set off running to a place I hadn't visited since the war.

The anger boiled over in my c.h.e.s.t the closer I got and I mind-linked Christian to bring me some clothes and meet me at the cells. It was the only place that the rumours did justice. It was a place full of torment and suffering. It had been the place the old alpha had forced me into when I would become slightly stronger. It was pitch black and completely silent, designed to drive you mad if your mind was weak enough.

It was never enough to break me.

Christian stood at the gates with clothes in his hands as I came to a stop. I caught onto Mindy's scent mixed slightly with Kara's blood as I shifted back into human form and stood tall in front of my beta. He held the clothes out to me and I quickly pulled them on before pushing at the large gates. 

"I couldn't stop her fast enough," Christian spoke solemnly. "I tackled her after a few seconds but I should have spotted it before she got off the ground."

I glanced at him. "It's not your fault, Christian. It's Mindy's fault." I didn't say anything more on the matter as we descended down the long stairs to the dungeon. I didn't feel anything the deeper we got into the dark building and when I spotted the Hounds, I put away my anger for a moment. Stepping towards them all, I hugged three brothers at the same time.

The wouldn't touch anyone but me, and the emotion got stuck in my throat as their arms wrapped around me. "I didn't expect you to stay in here but thank you for your loyalty."

Their voices flooded my mind in unison. 'Always, Alpha.'

I hugged them tighter before pulling back and letting them move out of the way. Christian followed behind me and I switched the light on, watching as Mindy brought her bloody hands to her eyes. She was in the dirty cell, backed up against the brick wall. 

Her gaze fell on mine and she scrambled towards the bars, standing up. "Alpha! Alpha, please let me explain."

I tried my best to control my anger but when I stood in front of her, I couldn't stop myself from gripping her shirt and yanking her right up against the silver bars. She cried out and the beast within emerged as I snarled at her. "Explain what? What f.u.c.k.i.n.g excuse can you give to justify what you did?"

Before the silver could burn through her skin, I released her and she fell to the floor. A sob slipped passed her lips and her shoulders shook. "She doesn't deserve you." She gasped and forced her teary gaze to meet mine again. At that moment, I saw her true colours and I realised Kara was right.

She was in love with me.

"I should be your mate. I've loved you for six years."

I crouched down and narrowed my eyes at her. My gaze had never been so cold. "I don't want you, Mindy." I watched as her heart broke and I didn't feel anything towards her, not even the love as her alpha. "I have never wanted nor will I ever want you. I have only ever seen myself as your alpha, never as your mate."

She began to sob and that fuelled my anger.

"You tried to kill my mate. What did you think that would achieve? Did you think that if she died, I would fall into your arms and make you my Luna?"

"I deserve to be your Luna! I've always been loyal to you."

I reached through the bars and gripped her neck tightly in my hand, pulling her up roughly. A menacing growl ripped from my throat and she closed her eyes tightly as she clawed at my hands. I applied enough pressure to make her dizzy as I delivered a promise.

"You deserve to die for what you did." I stepped forward until her face was close to mine through the bars. "Kara is the love of my life. If she dies, I swear to God, I'll kill you the exact same way you tried to kill her."

Her eyes opened and her face turned a deathly red before I let go of her throat. She spluttered out c.h.e.s.t-heaving coughs and clutched at her neck as she curled into a ball and sobbed quietly.

I ignored the way my hand stung with her scratches. I was healing quickly and I hated that it wasn't the same for Kara.

"And unlike you, no one will stop me until I see the life leave your eyes."