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Her words made my heart leap in hope because one of those could be him. The man I had been waiting for all this time to see again. It had been more than a year – one long painful year of knowing he was near but unable to get close to him. Sometimes, I wondered to myself if I had only dreamt it. If he had really told me he loved me, and if he had really whispered that he hoped I would wait for him until he came back. Sometimes, I wished my darker and lighter halves were still separate. That way, I could demand answers from that part of myself. Why did she have to make him go away for so long? Why couldn’t I heal and rediscover my strength by his side?
But of course, deep down inside I already knew the answer to that.
If I had him by my side, I would never really be able to fully earn the respect of panthers outside my pack. I had to show them that I didn’t need a Cavaliere to rule, and if I did have one, then it was not because it was the backbone of my reign.
I had to become the alpha because of my own strengths and not because my Cavaliere was the strongest of them all.
After over a year of proving my worth to the Panthera, I think they were finally convinced. And now that I could be the alpha my father raised me to be, I was finally free to be with the man I loved.
Anastasia snapped her fingers in front of my face, jerking me back to reality. “Hellooooo?”
I turned red. “Sorry, I was just...”
“Daydreaming about your werewolf?”
I mumbled incoherently in reply.
“You don’t have to worry about him, you know.”
“I can’t help it,” I confessed. “It’s been a year—-”
“Calys, he’s already here. I had the men at the gates report to me if they saw him.” She checked her watch. “If you watch for him by the window, I bet you could see him any moment now.”
I had already reached the windows of my bedroom before she was done speaking, making my younger sister laugh. “You really have it bad for him.”
“I love him,” I said simply.
Standing beside me, Anastasia squeezed my hand. “I’m so happy for you, Calys.”
Below us, cars started to drive into our territory, ranging from flashy sports cars to understated stretch limousines. Not counting our race, most shifters travelled in style, and such display of wealth was typical. I held my breath when the first limousine slowed to a stop and one of our guards immediately opened its door.
It was him.
Alejandro.
Before I could call out his name, I watched his handsome face break into a smile just before he offered his hand to someone still inside the limousine. A second later, he was drawing a young woman out – and into his arms as they shared a passionate kiss.
ALEJANDRO
“Are you ready?” Domenico asked his younger brother as their limousine drove past the gates that secured the lands belonging to the Adelardi pack. “Do you need an inhaler perhaps or you’re still somewhat able to breathe?”
Alejandro only looked at his brother’s wife. “I hate that he’s got his warped sense of humor back ever since you returned to us.”
Misty blushed and laughed, the sound self-conscious. Even though she and Domenico had been together for over a month now, she still found herself unused to the way everyone so casually spoke of her husband’s love for her.
Domenico frowned down at his wife. “You mustn’t blush at other men’s words, darling.”
“Domenico!” Her cheeks turned a deeper shade of red at his words.
The heir to the Moretti pack nodded in approval. “That’s more like it.” His gaze slid back to Alejandro’s. “But seriously, brother, are you sure you’re capable of breathing?”
His grin over Domenico’s jealousy disappeared. “Shut up.” He would rather kill himself than admit there was more than a grain of truth in Domenico’s words. He was finding it hard to breathe, and the bow tie he had around his neck felt like it was choking him. Too much time had passed since the last time he had seen Calys. Did she still feel the same way about him? Or perhaps she had forgotten about him? Maybe one of those winged Souris had managed to steal her heart and this party was but a formality, something to get over with before she announced her engagement to another man?
It had killed him every day not to go to her, but he knew it was for the best, knew that her dark half would not have asked it of him if their separation had not been necessary.
She had so much going against her as potential alpha. Her youth, her gender, her lack of panther blood—-his presence would only have made her weaker and less suitable to be a pack leader. A Cavaliere could and would always only be as strong as the woman he served. Before he could be seen as a strength, she had to prove her own strength first – and that was something she could only do on her own, away from him.
