Fated to My Forbidden Alpha – Episode 14
Ethel remained in the corridor after Selene left the study. His hands trembled around the hidden ledger, not from fear but from hope too large to contain. Fifteen years of searching had taught him to distrust miracles, yet every fact pointed toward the same impossible answer.
He had crossed battlefields, rogue territories, abandoned villages, and distant packs. Each rumor had demanded belief before ending in silence. Some had been cruel attempts to claim a reward; others were grieving parents mistaking their own lost children for his. Tonight he possessed more than rumor: the crescent birthmark, the matching age, the moon pendant, and an archive entry describing his wife’s embroidered blanket.
“Could it really be you?” he whispered. His wolf answered with a protective ache that had never fully died. Still, Ethel forced himself to wait. Selene deserved certainty, not another stranger pressing an identity onto her.
Selene escaped into the garden, leaving music and strained celebration behind. Moonlight silvered the stone paths, and cool air loosened the pressure around her chest. Roses stirred along the low walls, carrying a sweetness untouched by the tension inside. She walked until the ballroom became a distant glow between hedges and the guests’ whispers faded.
You’re overwhelmed, Lyla observed. Selene gave a tired laugh. “Yesterday I thought I had no wolf. Now I have you, two impossible bonds, and a room full of Alphas acting as if my life belongs to them. I don’t know what to believe.”
You know one thing. Selene looked toward the full moon and waited. You are stronger than you were yesterday. The simple truth drew a faint smile from her. Lyla could not solve the mystery, but she reminded Selene that uncertainty had not erased her growth.
Footsteps sounded along the path. Selene turned to find Alexander approaching, then stopping several yards away. The deliberate distance eased her instinct to retreat. “I wasn’t trying to follow you,” he said. “I needed air.”
“So did I.” Silence settled between them, surprisingly comfortable. Jackson’s silence had always demanded that Selene guess what would anger him; Alexander’s allowed her room to think.
“You’ve had a difficult night,” he said. Selene laughed softly. “That is one way to describe it.” Alexander’s expression gentled. “I owe you an apology.”
She studied him. “For what?” He could have blamed fate or Jackson, but he accepted his own part. “I arrived, recognized a bond, and treated that recognition as permission to claim answers from you. It wasn’t.”
The honesty surprised her. Jackson apologized only when doing so preserved his authority; Alexander seemed willing to admit fault without bargaining for forgiveness. “My life was already complicated before you crossed the border.” Alexander glanced toward the ballroom. “I don’t want to make it harder.” Selene’s gaze returned to him. “Then why does it feel as though everything changed the moment you arrived?”
He had no answer because he felt the same. Their bond hummed quietly beneath the pause, powerful without demanding action. Neither moved closer, and that mutual restraint created more intimacy than possession ever had. For the first time, Selene wondered whether fate could offer a possibility rather than a command.
Behind a marble column near the terrace, Tiffany watched them. Alexander treated Selene with a respect Jackson had never shown, listening instead of ordering and keeping his distance when closeness would have been easy.
Tiffany’s nails dug into her palms. She had already lost control of the engagement party; by morning, gossip about Jackson’s hidden mate would spread beyond Blood Moon. Her parents would demand explanations, allies would reconsider promises, and every rival Luna candidate would delight in her disgrace. If Alexander openly favored Selene as well, the servant would become untouchable.
“She has to disappear,” Tiffany whispered. Tomorrow, decorations would be dismantled and servants scattered through the estate. In the disorder, an accident could remove Selene without creating an obvious enemy. Tiffany had spent years learning which corridors lacked guards and which repairs the steward kept postponing. One neglected fixture in the old storage wing offered exactly what she needed.
High above the garden, Jackson stood on a balcony and watched Selene speak with Alexander. His wolf growled continuously, forcing one word through every attempt at reason. Mine.
Jackson gripped the stone railing until cracks formed beneath his fingers. Below, Alexander inclined his head while Selene spoke, giving her an attention Jackson had never thought necessary. Luke joined him and glanced at the damage. “You’ve destroyed three pieces of furniture tonight. If this is calm, I’d hate to see you upset.”
“I am going to reject her,” Jackson insisted. Luke folded his arms. “Then why does another man talking to her make you furious?” Jackson offered no answer. The future he claimed to want and the loss his wolf feared could no longer exist together.
Because she is ours, his wolf said. Jackson closed his eyes and whispered no, but the denial lacked its former force. Watching Selene relax beside Alexander made rejection feel less like freedom and more like surrendering something irreplaceable.
Later, Ethel requested a private meeting with Alexander. Inside the library, he placed the recovered ledger on a table and opened it to Selene’s entry. “I think I found my daughter,” he said, his voice cracking despite his effort.
