The room had emptied after some final words from Hank. He didn't want any more discussion about the life of his daughter.

'Save her first, and we'll work out the consequences later,' he had sighed heavily, looked briefly at Aidan and promptly exited the room. The others had soon followed, each kissing Alex on the forehead or face as they left, their faces showing their dismay at what they were doing to their sister and friend.

Aidan felt no better. There were a thousand different ways he had thought he would meet and mark his mate, and marking her unconscious body without consent was not one of them. Marking was generally part of the mating ritual, when the two mates felt at the height of their pull to each other. The mark signified their union, the joining of their body and souls. The pain of the bite was immediately overcome with a surge of pleasure, igniting the highest desire and passion for the couple and affirming their shared bond.

'I should have believed in you Alex,' Aidan had taken her cold hand in his and spoke softly to her, pleading for her understanding. 'I should have believed in the mate bond. I should have seen what a blessing you are to me and to my pack instead of an obstacle that needed to be managed. I wanted to be a better man than my father but I see now, I'm just like him. I'm just as dismissive and unyielding to my own mate.' His voice choked in his throat as he shook, 'I'm so sorry.'

Aidan sat on the bed and lifted Alex's limp body into his arms. He hugged her close to him, planting light kisses on her cheeks and lips, still hopeful for any kind of reaction. He stared into her beautiful face, readying himself. He kissed down her neck, feeling his canines extend as he closed in on the dip between her neck and shoulder. He inhaled her scent deeply and bit her hard, her blood sweet against his tongue. A sensual fire passed through his entire body, making him gasp and clamp on harder. His breaths came shorter, as though he had been racing, the pleasure filling up his body with such force that he momentarily forgot the strange and sombre situation he was in. Alex whimpered softly for a second before falling silent again. He licked the wound gently, checking back on her face for any sign of movement or change.

Aidan held her for another moment, rubbing his finger over the mark he had just made. He should have felt overjoyed at finally seeing his bite mark on her. But he felt empty. A strange loneliness was threatening to overwhelm him. He laid Alex gently back on the bed, tucking in the sheets around her and planting a wet kiss on her forehead. It was only then that he realised he was crying.

Without knocking, Cain and Ronan strode back into the room. Ronan stalled for a moment on his way to Alex's bedside as he saw Aidan's face. Ronan was puzzled at the upset and pain evident there. Aidan rubbed his eyes quickly, brushing past the brothers, almost running from the room. He needed to breath fresh air, his lungs and heart feeling tight and restricted. He could hear Ronan calling after him but he kept moving until he was outdoors, at the edge of the forest. He leaned against a huge oak tree, letting his legs slide him down to the ground. If he had battled a hundred werewolves, he wouldn't have felt so spent and exhausted as he did at that moment. He closed his eyes to the darkness and let sleep wash over him.

The light of the approaching dawn awoke Aidan some hours later. It took him a moment to place the heavy feeling of hopelessness that was upon him. He didn't dare believe that marking Alex could save her, but he willed his legs to lift him from the ground so that he could go and see for himself. The walk back to the hospital seemed farther this morning than when he had fled the night before. Every step brought him simultaneously closer to his mate, whom he now knew he loved endlessly, but also to the news on whether the mark had done it's work or not. Staying in the space of not knowing seemed mildly appealing. If this didn't work, he could not face the news that he would lose her.

Aidan moved through the corridors of the hospital quietly, dragging his feet slightly. He was almost to the door of Alex's room when Cain arrived beside him carrying chart.

'I was just on my way to check in on her,' he patted Aidan on the shoulder and led the way into the room. With the exception of Kit and Nora, it looked as though no-one had left the room overnight. Ronan and Hank were sprawled across the long couches, breathing deeply. Nolan had climbed into bed with Alex, his back to Aidan, and held her to him while he slept with Robbie sitting in a chair at her beside, his head resting on his folded arms and holding Alex's hand.

Cain moved silently around the sleeping figures, checking monitors and papers, looking into Alex's eyes and checking her heart with his stethoscope. The room began to stir and there were yawns and stretches from all sides just as Cain finished his work, a small smile forming on his face.

'She's getting stronger by the hour,' Cain announced, relief pouring from him and warming up the room. Nolan and Robbie stepped around the bed to hug one another while Hank hugged his two sons, moving over swiftly to kiss his daughter's forehead, tears loaded in his eyes.

Aidan sat down heavily on a chair, awash with relief but still sagging under the weight of his guilt. He felt compelled to speak, to try and explain himself.

'I killed my father,' Aidan began, staring at the floor as the group turned to look at him, exchanging confused looks.

'You've heard the rumours over the years I'm sure, about Lunar Ridge. The way he ran it. The treatment of our women and girls. I never wanted to be like that. I never wanted to be like him. I thought I could protect Alex, I thought I had to or she'd end up like my mother, like my sister.' Aidan rubbed his hand over the back of his head and neck. He was a man in great distress as he continued rambling.

Never lifting his eyes from the floor, he told them everything; his sister's murder, his mother's suicide, the challenge to his father and how he had ripped his throat from his body. He detailed the dissent and open hostility he had to face as the new Alpha. The banishments of friends and family who betrayed him, who he thought would be loyal to him. The attempted uprisings to overthrow and assassinate him and his followers. The new laws and protections around the female population and the forcefulness with which he had had to rule to make sure that women and girls received their new status. His fear for Alex when he had realised that his new pack may not accept her and how, instead of talking to her about it and explaining his past to her, he had undermined and humiliated her. And only at the point of losing her, did he fully appreciate how fortunate he was to be mated to her. To be mated to someone who loved so fearlessly and openly; who had family and friends that would die for her and whom she would die for; to someone who wanted to protect her pack, even a pack that so shamefully disregarded her.

He talked until his throat went dry. He felt as though a venom was being purged from his body, each word bringing him closer to being cured. No one interrupted him.

'You were all right. I never deserved her,' he looked up at them all now; Alex's father, her brothers, her best friends. 'But I will. I swear I will earn her respect and love.'

'I'll hold you to that,' a gentle voice came softly from the bed. The sound made Aidan's stomach flutter. The heads of those assembled snapped around to see Alex, eyes slightly open and a small smile forming on her face. The jubilation was instant and loud. Alex accepted kisses from everyone present, declining hugs after Ronan's initial squeeze made her squeak in pain.

Aidan hung back awkwardly as Cain and a nurse did some further checks and changed bandages, as everyone spoke over each other in delight at Alex's revival. Despite her weak state, Alex immediately set to task, giving everyone as much information as she could and asking so many questions that her eyes started to lilt.

'Ok, everyone out and let her sleep,' Cain ordered, playfully pushing his brother and the others out the door. Alex piped up for a moment, 'Aidan, you stay.'

Aidan's heart soared. He hadn't so much as spoken to her since she had awoken and all he wanted to do was be near her.

'Alex, I'm so sorry,' he began.

'Quiet now,' Alex lifted her finger to Aidan's mouth. She moved over in the bed and patted the space. He climbed in obligingly, wrapping his arms tenderly around her and resting his chin on her head.

'Later you can tell me all about how you don't deserve me.'

Aidan smiled and inhaled her sweet scent, rubbing her back gently as she dozed off in his arms.