The Alpha

Chapter Twenty-Four

Josephine

For some reason I'm back in the woods. Which is odd because I remember going back to the pack house with Theo and having him put me to bed while he went and talked to his father. Then later, he came to bed and fell asleep. I remember all of that happening so why would I be back in the woods?

Shaking my head of that thought, I quietly walk around until I'm somehow back to the area of our meeting yesterday. I scan the area and then scream. Oh god. I rush over to Theo's black wolf lying on the ground, blood all around him. What's happening?!

I feel for a pulse but he doesn't have one. Oh my god, no. The tears that were held at bay in the puddles in my eyes are now falling, and I find myself sobbing.

"Theo! Theo, come back, I need you." I sob, touching his face lightly.

"Josephine." I hear his voice and I look up confused. Wait...what? "Josephine, baby, wake up for me. I want to see your pretty eyes." I fight the confusion and look down at his lifeless wolf. How is he talking to me?

I reach down and pinch my thigh, and my eyes fly wide open. There are no woods, I'm sitting straight up in bed in our bedroom. I look around frantically to find Theo looking at me expectantly. Oh my god. He's alive? I feel the tears swelling up in my eyes and his face goes from calm to panicked in seconds.

"Josephine?" He asks softly, and I claw at his shirt desperately, trying to lose myself in his embrace. He holds me tightly to his body and I sob into him. He was dead. Completely dead. I don't know what I was going to do without him.

"It was just a dream, baby. Calm down." He uses a soft voice and I control my breathing, only hiccuping when I have to. "That's my girl." He kisses my temple and I relax in his arms. Good. He's alive and awake and protecting me. This is how it's supposed to be. He leans away from me to look at my bloodshot eyes and he frowns.

"I just had a bad dream." I explain before he can get upset. He growls lightly. Too late for preventing his anger I guess. At least I tried.

"I'm mad at you, Josephine." He says and I try to shy away but he just holds on tighter. "You just ran away after defending yourself against that she-wolf. You were running away from me."

"No, I-"

"I don't want your excuses." He snaps and I shut my mouth. What happened to that love I felt mere seconds ago? "You were running away from me and that is not acceptable."

"Theo." I try to soothe but he won't have anything to do with it.

"You are not allowed to run away." He growls at me and I suddenly glare up at him. "Keep in mind that you belong to me. You can hate me but you can't leave. You are mine."

"If you would just let me finish!" I snap and his eyes turn black. Yeah, yeah, I know he's pissed. "I know very well who I belong to. I just, I just didn't think you would want me anymore after I-I killed that wolf." I look away from his angry eyes.

"Well you shouldn't have assumed." He growls and I sigh in defeat. "Now you're absolutely never leaving my side again. Ever." And if that isn't the voice of authority, I don't know what is.

Theo

She walks in front of me down the stairs and if she was in wolf form, she would have her tail between her legs. I frown at her when she glances back at me. She's ran away from me. After everything we've been through so far she fucking ran away from me like there was even a sliver of a chance I wouldn't accept her after fucking protecting herself.

She has no clue the amount of people I've killed, let alone for doing something they probably didn't do. Whereas she thought I wouldn't want her because she killed someone out of defense. If I didn't love this girl beyond belief, I would put her in an insane asylum.

"Are you just going to be mad at me all day?" She whines when I walk into the large kitchen.

"Probably all week." I correct and she groans.

"Theo."

"No, Josephine. You're in the dog house right now." I snap and she shuts her mouth, sitting down on one of the bar stools. "I cannot even believe you would run away."

"It's not like I haven't done it before." She mutters and I freeze, turning to her growling. Within seconds, I'm right in front of her, gripping her chin tightly so she'll look up at me. She whimpers and I growl.

"If you weren't my fucking mate, I wouldn't stand for this disrespect. You ran away from me, not the other way around. I have the right to be mad at you, not the other way around." I growl and she looks away from me, tears in her eyes. I soften.

Well shit. I really need to control my temper around her. She's fragile. She doesn't understand my wolf gets crazy about her like none other. It's the Alpha gene.

"I'm sorry." She whispers, her voice hitching. "I just, I panicked."

"That's not a good enough excuse for me." I snap and she flinches. "You panicking is not a good enough excuse for throwing everything we have away like its nothing." I let her free of my grasp and she steps back from me, anger filling her eyes instead of tears. Huh. I've never seen her look so angry since I've met her.

"Its not like I've ever killed someone before, Theo!" She yells at me and I raise an eyebrow at her. "How about we focus on that instead of me running away?! How about you focus on supporting me more than making me feel bad about myself. I shouldn't have ran away. You've made that clear. I freaking get it!"

"Josephine-" I start but she holds her hand up to stop me.

"I may not be completely correct here, but you sure as hell aren't either. I killed someone, Theo." Her voice softens and breaks. Oh shit. She's going to cry again, isn't she? God. If there's one thing my wolf can't stand more than anything, it's her crying. "I killed someone." She repeats and then starts sobbing into her hands.

"Oh, baby no. Don't cry." I wrap my arms around her and she tries to shove me away. Her tiny fists pound on my chest but I just keep on holding her until her steam runs out and she just sobs into me. "Aw, I'm sorry, baby. Please don't cry, you know I hate that."

"I'm a killer." She sobs and I shh her soothingly.

"No. You had to defend yourself." I correct. "I wouldn't love a murderer and I love you so that should be proof enough." She freezes and if I could slap myself, I would.

"Y-you love me?" She asks and hiccups. I smile softly down at her. Even crying, she's adorable.

"Of course I do." I brush my fingers along her jaw. "I'd be crazy not to."

"Oh." She says and burrows her head into my chest again. I know she's not going to say it back. She's just not ready. But even without her saying it, I know she loves me too.

And that's enough for now.