Alpha Alec's Redemption by Kathy M

The air is cool and still when I step out onto the training field. Morning dew clings to the grass, sparkling under the rising sun.

I should be focused. I should be clearing my mind and centering my energy. But all I can think about is Nyx and Xena. All I can think about is the love that turned into hatred. The power that was never wanted. The betrayal I still don't

understand.

What could possibly shatter a bond like that?

I try to picture Xena, but it's hard to imagine someone I've never seen. All I have are fragments of who she is, but no face.

Nyx... I know her. I've felt her pain, her strength, and her rage. I've carried her memories like they were my own. But Xena? She's still a mystery. And I can't fix what I don't understand.

I shake my head and push the thoughts aside. Enough. I didn't come here to spiral into my thoughts. I came to train.

The field is empty, just me and the silence. Nyx is nowhere in mind, so I rely on what she taught me yesterday.

I steady my breath, spread my fingers, and reach inside myself, searching for that spark, that golden thread of power waiting to be pulled.

Nothing.

I try again and again.

Still nothing.

my spine. My palms tingle but

the fifth attempt, when all I feel is the familiar sting of failure, I scream. Loud and raw. It tears out of me and echoes into the

breathing uneven. My

me.

felt every time she didn't master a technique immediately? This crashing weight of disappointment and failure. No wonder she always felt inferior. I don't know Xena personally, but the fact that she can

sigh, my tears threatening to fall, but I

I need a break.

my eyes, letting the breeze run over my skin, trying to calm the whirlwind inside. And that's when I remember-Alec

say yes? I didn't even think about it. Didn't even

still so much that's unresolved between us. So much pain. And yet, there's this flicker of hope in me. This foolish, reckless hope that maybe, just maybe, everything will work out. That maybe we can

me because what if I'm

What if the goddess decides to fuck me up again? I can't handle another heartbreak. Especially not from the same man. Not from my

my phone from my pocket, needing a

King.

Sadie," he answers, voice

I say softly, "how are

How

mind," I

doing really well. Everything

good to hear. I never doubted his capabilities. I knew King would take care of the pack so well, they n't even notice their alpha isn't