Bonds of the Alpha Billionaire (Maya and Alex)

Chapter 135

-Alex's POV-

The concept of a Moon Goddess was a fairy tale to me, nothing more. Sure, the stories spun tales of her weaving destinies, forever binding two souls together. But fate, in my experience, was a cruel mistress. If such a being existed, she wouldn't have allowed what I'd endured under my father's iron fist. She wouldn't have snatched my mother away, leaving a gaping hole in my life. No, I didn't believe. Not until the moment the darkness claimed me.

The life drained out of me, replaced by a bone-chilling emptiness that threatened to suck me under. Then, nothing. Just pure, unadulterated blackness. The end, I figured. An eternity of nothingness stretching out before me like a never-ending blank canvas.

But then, light. Blinding, white-hot light that ripped through the suffocating darkness. I couldn't make out any clear shapes, but a flicker of familiarity washed over me, a feeling like recognition from a dream. Then came the falling, a seemingly endless descent that stretched time thin. Finally, a crushing pressure, a smothering sensation like I was drowning.

With a gasp, I ripped my eyes open. My hands instinctively flew to my chest, the place where the bullet had ripped through flesh and bone. But there was nothing. No pain, no gaping wound, just smooth, unmarked skin.

Healed.

Amaya. She was the first thing I registered, slumped in a corner of the room. Dried tear marks streamed down her dirt-streaked face, her eyebrows furrowed with worry even as she slept.

Then everything came flooding back. Memories, pictures flashing in my head one after another. I remembered calling out to her wolf, trying to connect with her, any way I could. It felt weak, shaky, the connection barely there. Strangely, I didn't need the wolves from my pack to find her but they had been a welcome distraction from the humans attention on me while I raced forward. And from the looks of it, they were finally getting some payback after weeks of being hunted down.

The weak connection with her wolf, that faint pull, led me somewhere an abandoned tunnel on the edge of the city. It took me right back to the spot where I shielded Amaya with my body, where I took the bullet for her.

I looked down at her again, her face peaceful as she slept. And in that moment, I knew without a doubt, that I would do it all again in a heartbeat. My feet found me moving, drawn out of the room and back into the main living area. A loud crash shattered the uneasy silence, and I whipped around to see Natalia frozen in place, her face etched with shock. A shattered coffee mug lay scattered at her feet.

"You are alive. How... are... you are alive?" Her voice was barely a whisper, laced with disbelief and a tremor of something akin to fear.

still grappling with the events that had unfolded, when Christian's voice cut through the tension. "Even death didn't want you," he said, a hint of amusement coloring his tone. But when I turned to face him, his eyes held a genuine warmth, a flicker of relief that warmed a cold corner of my

until they were almost comically large. She opened

you? I saw you die. You are alive?" Those were the most words she'd spoken

twins. My children that I had no clue existed for

time she'd looked at me for any significant length of time was when she narrated the horrifying truth: Ivan was the mastermind behind everything. The staged pictures, the systematic dismantling of my company from the inside out, the collaboration with Adrian to expose werewolves, planting Miranda in my life - it all unraveled in a sickening display of his twisted agenda. That darkness I'd felt, the darkness I'd witnessed glimpses of - it was far more extensive than I'd

had another thing

entire world believed me dead. The elaborate burial orchestrated by Christian cemented the illusion. It was a strategy I'd readily agreed to. Operating from the shadows offered the best chance of finding the twins. Ivan, convinced of my

him, thanks to the official order issued through Christian. The charade was crucial. They needed to believe I was truly gone just like I

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Chapter 135

another glass of whiskey, the amber liquid

"Trouble in paradise?"

my head to see a woman walking in. A woman who had been introduced as Sarah. The last member of their friendship group. A werewolf like us. I understood that they wanted to

glance, irritation simmering just below

after all. Why was she even talking to

a glass, and poured herself

to slam it back on the table and storm off when her voice stopped me

words hanging

right now. What would they think? I know there's a backstory I'm missing, some messed-up things that shaped you into this guy with trust issues so deep you couldn't spare three minutes to ask the woman you claimed to love if she betrayed you. Instead, you kicked her out when she was carrying your children. Then, years later, she walks back into your vortex, and you think it's okay to waltz in, stir everything up, complicate her life when it was clear to everyone, even a blind person, that she still loves you? So, I ask you again, if you were a character in a book,

that would send her scurrying back to wherever she came from. I wanted to tell her, in no uncertain terms, that she didn't know me and this wasn't any of

men like you, with egos bigger than an entire country. You don't apologize, that much is clear. But all of this: whole mess - could