Alexander gently placed me on the sofa in his living room before walking away.

Ava took a seat by my side, meanwhile Dyami was stood by the window, staring out hard.

My mate returned with a glass of water in his hand. He held his arm out for me to take the glass. I caught a glimpse of his facial expression before I gratefully took the glass.

"Thank you," I whispered.

Alexander didn't respond, but the corner of his mouth lifted slightly. It was enough to give me butterflies.

"It's just water," I heard Ava whisper beside me.

I narrowed my eyes at her, but she gave me a sheepish grin. I was grateful, but also surprised that Alexander trusted her to be here with us.

"Stylus confirmed that no one has trespassed," Dyami spoke, turning his torso until his gaze met my mate's.

Alexander, who was leaned against the wall, nodded at the boy's words.

"Who's Stylus?" Ava asked, curiously.

Her words made the rest of us glance at her, and although, the name sounded familiar, I was curious too.

"The head guard of my pack," Alexander explained, calmly.

Then I remembered. The day that Zynthéa tried to help me leave the pack, it was the same guard that we had encountered.

Ava muttered something, but when my mate's eyes locked with mine, I completely blocked out my surroundings, not understanding what the girl beside me was saying.

Every doubt that I had about Alexander suddenly seemed unfair. Almost as if him saving me had been his way of proving his innocence.

My mate arched a brow. 'What's wrong?'

The mind-link. I had completely forgot about that. I tore my eyes away from his and glanced at the other two quickly before shrugging.

'I think we should talk.'

My mate chuckled softly, causing the three of us to glance his way.

"It is hardly six in the morning," he stated out loud, pointing to the big clock on the wall. "We will rest first and formulate a plan later."

Dyami wanted to argue otherwise, but my mate wasn't giving in. Taking in their appearances, they seemed exhausted. Again, because of me.

'Ava doesn't need to go back to the cell, right?'

Alexander's gaze landed on me again, something flashed in his eyes and he clenched his jaw.

'I suppose the Wolf has proved herself. She can stay in one of the guest rooms.'

At his words, my lips broke out in to a wide smile. I was aware of how hard it had been for him to trust any of us from his enemy pack, so for him to let my best friend stay in the house was a big deal.

'Can you let Jaxon and Matteo come too?'

'Let's not push it, okay?'

My luck ended there and I pouted at him. But he was quickly distracted by Dyami who was taking his leave.

"Alpha, Luna," he said, bowing his head.

I raised a brow at his sudden change in demeanour. The last time that I had interacted with the boy, he wanted to chew me up. But I wasn't complaining, perhaps he liked me now.

Dyami had left and Ava had made herself comfortable in one of the bedrooms in the house.

Alexander and I were currently in his bedroom. I was sat on the bed, meanwhile he was rummaging through his closet.

My nerves were all over the place, and I bit my bottom lip to stop myself from saying anything I would regret later on.

"You wanted to talk," Alexander said, finally exiting the closet.

He had changed in to a pair of grey joggers and was in the process of slipping a white t-shirt over his head.

"Let's talk," he said once his body was covered.

"Well," I began saying. "I'm not actually sure where to start."

"Hmm," my mate responded, raising a brow. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"If Gabriel is not your mate, why did you return back to him?"

His question caught me off guard, and I stopped myself before I could tell him about Jaxon's plan. If I told Alexander the truth, he would never let my best friend out of the cell.

"I wasn't trying to go back to him," I told him, truthfully.

"Then why did you leave?"

I shrugged. "I know it sounds stupid, but I wanted to be as far away from Gabriel as I could," I explained, my voice faltering. "And I thought being in a neighbouring pack wasn't exactly ideal."

Alexander growled. "I would have never let him near you," he told me. "I thought you had left me for him."

My brows twitched at his words. "I would never do that."

"When I noticed you were gone, I was ready to kill your friends," he admitted, his voice hard. "The weak pup told me you were with Gabriel. I thought you returned to him after I claimed you."

"I was angry about the claim," I agreed, honestly. "But I wouldn't have escaped because of that. I couldn't tell you. I guess I didn't trust you."

My gaze met his, and I smiled sadly. If I had trusted him the way I did now, I would have never left in the first place.

But the whole reason for my escape was to get my best friends out of the prison where he had them captured.

And to know he had threatened them because of my absence, I was grateful to learn that he hadn't actually killed them.

"You have my best friends locked up," I reminded him. "I was worried you would eventually lock me up too."

Something flashed in his eyes, and he narrowed his eyes at me.

"I could never do that. You did not trust me because of your friends?"

"My friends are my family, Alexander. When my mother passed away, if it weren't for them...," my voice trailed off, and I could feel my waterworks starting.

When the bed dipped and Alexander wrapped an arm around me, I leaned in to him. His presence calmed every cell in my body.

"I didn't mean to make you cry," he whispered, his chin resting on my head. "But Jaxon is Gabriel's brother. I don't like him."

I pulled away enough to glance up at him.

"Jaxon is nothing like Gabriel. He wanted me to leave so many times and even told me to escape and start a new life," I told him quickly.

"And why didn't you?"

My gaze returned to my fiddling hands on my lap. "I couldn't."

Alexander's index finger and thumb on my chin lifted my head so that I could look up at him again.

"I can see how much that pup means to you," he said, softly. "We can talk about him later. In the meantime, I want you to be assured that I am not going to hurt him."

"I know that, but can't you at least release him?"

"He does not belong in this pack. If I released him, he could hurt my people."

I sighed. "I already told you, Jaxon isn't that kind of a person."

"I believe you, Lyra," he said, gently. "But it is him that I do not believe in. My pack rely on me for their safety and I will not risk it."

"What if he joins this pack? He hates Gabriel too, we all do," I quickly added.

Alexander sighed. "Let's discuss this later. You need to rest."

I felt completely fine, but perhaps that was because I was with him. His close proximity drove my thoughts wild.

There had been many times that I had wanted my way with my mate, and right now, being on his bed, I felt that nothing could stop me. He was right, we could talk about Jaxon later.

When I noticed Alexander's gaze on me, I arched a brow questioningly. "What?"

"I want to kiss you," he murmured in response, his ocean blue eyes claiming me.

My breathing hitched at his sudden words, and I subconsciously licked my lips. Alexander smirked playfully as his eyes raked over my face before they landed on my lips again.

He didn't waste another second before he placed his hand on my lower back and pulled me to him.

His head dipped down until his face was inches from mine. He searched my eyes one last time, before I closed them and awaited in anticipation.

When his lips met mine, and electrical currents fired away inside of me, all I could think about was how I had taken this moment for granted before.

Wrapping my arms around his neck, I pulled him closer to me as I got lost in the moment. There was still a lot to talk about and Gabriel to worry about, but right now this was exactly what we both needed.

My mind completely wondered off when I felt my mate lift me and place me on his lap.

Having my mate suddenly felt as good as I had always imagined.