Alpha Alec's Redemption by Kathy M

Alec.

I can still feel her lips on mine minutes after we pulled apart. The soft tremor of them against mine, the way she leaned in like her heart couldn't fight it anymore. And then-the tears.

Not tears of rejection. Not tears of regret. But something far more dangerous. They were the kind of tears that say this matters. That this kiss wasn't casual or reckless, but a moment neither of us can take back.

Even now, my chest feels too tight. I've waited so damn long for this-waited while she pushed me away, while she doubted everything about us, while she carried scars I helped put there. The weight of my failures presses heavy, but still she let me in tonight. She kissed me back.

The image of her stays burned into my mind even after the kiss

Sadie standing in the middle of the training field, scepter glowing in her hands like it had always belonged there. Energy crackling around her fingertips, hair caught

in the wind, she commanded, fire swirling at her call. And then the moment she hurled a sphere of power that split a tree clean in half.

Fuck me, but I've never been more proud of her.

Not just for the kiss, but for everything. For the fire in her hands, the wind bending to her will, and the raw energy she controls like she was born to it. For summoning her scepter with a grace even the ancients would envy. For the courage it takes to stand here, in her pain and doubt, and still open her heart even a fraction to me.

I've commanded armies, I've conquered wars, but Sadie? Sadie humbles me and not just because she can kick my ass to oblivion.

These past few months, I've grown to love her. Some might argue that it's impossible to feel that way this soon, but I can't help it. I love her.

had been happy to have her by my side, but if I'm being honest, I never really quite

pack and fulfill my responsibility. I cared for her in a way, but I never loved her. With Sadie things are different.

quiet sniffle, and it cuts through the haze. My

breaks more than I'd like. "Why

me. One minute I'm terrified

I can't stop myself from

honesty slices me wide open. Seeing her cry feels like my heart is being torn to pieces. Her tears pierce my

wrong with you. Not one damn thing. I've hurt you, Sadie. You've carried so much on your own. Of course you're torn. But don't you dare think for one second that it makes you

gaze flickers, as if she's searching for cracks in my words. "You say that now, but what if I can't ever be

let her finish.

Ket

already more than enough. More than I deserve." My throat tightens as the

into my arms every night like I've been with her all along. You-"swallow hard. "You gave me a family before I even earned it. How could that ever not be

keep her away from me, but she didn't. Sadie has been so good to me even without realizing it. Even when she hated me the

loved me when

I locked you in that dungeon, you still loved me. You still cared You held on to hope for my sake... I've heard what you did for for me, even praying to the goddess on my behalf. I never appreciated it back then, but now I do. So how then can you think you're not enough? If anything,

hitches. I can see the war in her.

she whispers, so quietly I almost

fear doesn't mean we stop. It means we fight harder. And swear to

feel her fingers fist in my shirt, her heartbeat racing against mine. Slowly, her walls ease. Not all the way, but enough for her to rest in