Ch. 41..45: The Alpha’s Exchanged Mate Chapter 41-45

The Alpha’s Exchanged Mate – Chapter 41

Edwina’s POV…

If there were one thing I could openly say I am happy for, that would be the truce with Alex. Should I call it a truce? I could just say we found a temporary common ground.

It’s been three days since Ben’s escape, and everything has been silenced. We were still trying so much to manage information and limit people’s access to the night howlers pack.

I stood in front of the old painting of the late Luna, Alex’s mum, and then recalled the secret about Alex’s birth that had accidentally slipped off from Becca.

I was still finding it so hard to believe that such a huge secret had been kept from him in the past, and he still doesn’t know,

He has indeed been through a lot, and I can’t help but wonder what specifically has been deliberately kept from him.

If he doesn’t know that his mother wasn’t a wolf but rather a human, such a big detail that was skipped, what else doesn’t he know about?

My hands trailed down the rungs, and I took note of every piece of painting on the wall, from the arctic drawing of the first ever night howlers’ war to the drawing of the moon goddess’ first encounter with the Luna. I wondered why the moon goddess hadn’t interacted with me yet.

A Luna in every pack is expected to be the one bridge between the pack and the moon goddess, directly hearing from the moon goddess and passing her message to the people.

But the night goddess has never talked to me since I assumed the position of the Luna. Maybe it was because I wasn’t a wolf and did not have any ability to connect to the spiritual. I glared more at the painting; I was hoping there was more to me that could help so well in the upcoming war against the sizzlers. I was still caught deep in thoughts and had not noticed when a young girl had entered the room; with her natural blonde hair and oval-shaped face, this young lady would be no more than nineteen years of age.

“Good morning, ma’am,” she greeted with a smile and slightly bowed down. I hate it when people do that. To them, it was a sign of acknowledgment for the higher ranks.

“Good morning, ” I replied.

“Your relaxation bath is ready,” she announced. I had asked for a relaxing bath, and I wanted to know if I could clear my head off the whole Ben’s saga. I thought of every one of my best and worst memories with him.

Truly ever since he escaped prison, he has been the one thing on my mind.

As I dipped myself into the cold water which had risen sprinkled on it, my mind immediately went to a day in which we made love. It was the only time we didn’t just f**k, but made love. It was on our wedding night.

He had gotten out of the shower and saw me lying there gloriously half-naked. Maybe the reason I was remembering this particular memory was because of the way the water was making me feel right now, immensely dipped in its sweetness and soaking in its calmness.

He was wrapped waist down with a white towel as his waistline exposed his cores and gave me a mental picture of what was underneath the towel.

I was pleased because I knew then I had married such a fine man, the envy of a lot of people, and I get to have him as mine.

“I was just about coming over to strip you off your clothes, good thing we are on the same page,” he had said, smiling sheepishly and keeping his devilish grin on his face. There was always something about his grin that turned me on immediately.

I shivered as he ran his hands down my body, my breaths were coming fast and short, and I heard him chuckle. What I was doing was risky; hell, this was me surrendering my totality to him. I’d sworn to myself I’d never try it, to give myself totally to someone in this manner.-these were the types of things people did that made them fall in love, but the daredevil side of me had been intrigued, and here I was. He walked to a cabinet on the other side of the room and pulled it out. He then brought a rope and a blindfold.

I was getting nervous as he approached me, and the smile wasn’t leaving his face.

And then here I was in our room lying down on our king-sized bed with my eyes blindfolded, my arms above me, and my wrists bound. The bind on my wrists was loose; I could tug them off if I wanted, but I wasn’t going to do that; I hated to admit it, but I was enjoying myself, and Ben hadn’t even started. I had f****d Ben before, even before we had gotten married, but there was something about how intentional about s*x he was on that very day.

I felt him trace his hands on the straps of the bra I was wearing; then, he brought his lips to my ear lobe; I turned my head to the side to give him more access as I m****d. His lips left hot trails as he descended to my boobs. Finally, his teeth found my erect nipples through the sheer material of the bra, and he bit down gently.

I arched my back and pushed my boobs up when he repeated the same thing on the other nipple. Then he unstrapped my bra, and he kissed my shoulders and neck. His lips found my breast again, and he took one nipple in his mouth and the other between his thumb, switching back and forth between them. I was moaning and writhing on the bed.

He continued his unholy exploration of my body. Until I was begging him to stop, then he continued the trail to my stomach, then the waistband of my panties. He ran his fingers on the beads I had on my waist, and I felt myself turn even wetter than my panties were soaked. Then he ignored the wetness beckoning to him and continued to k**s his way down to my thighs, then my legs. Finally, he took the trail back up my legs, focusing on the hollow at the back of my knees, my legs on his shoulders. I was moaning and begging, and I didn’t even care; I wanted to release.

He kissed my inner thighs as he continued up, ignoring my p***y again to suck my boobs before he took my lips in a fierce k**s. He gripped the fragile straps of the panties and tore them off me, and I gasped. He quickly moved down my body and dropped a k**s on my clit that had me calling out his name.

Then he was fingering me and sucking me at the same time, with one finger at first, then a second and a third were pumping inside me, and I was thrashing on the bed. Then, finally, I felt the o****m coming; it was like tethering on the edge of a cliff, waiting for the wind to push you off. And then I was falling, the o****m rolling over me in waves as I clamped my legs together around his head; he didn’t stop but continued to eat me out until I rode out the waves of the o****m.

My body was good in his hands as he dropped my legs back onto the bed, then I was feeling the pressure of his manhood inside me. I spread my legs wider and gasped as he pressed his shaft into me, and my p***y walls clamped around his shaft, pulsing with warmth. I m****d out his name and shivered from the pleasure. Then he was pulling out and pressing himself back into me, and the pleasure doubled.

He then began to move inside me, slowly at first, then he was pounding into me, and I was screaming his name. His shaft was long and thick, and I imagined it was hitting against my womb.

I felt him pull out again, and he was undoing the binds on my wrists, he quickly flipped me over, and I was on my knees, my a*s in the air, then he bound my hands again behind my back. He penetrated me again and started to pound into me.

I felt myself on the edge of that cliff again; I couldn’t see the ground this time. I tried to hold off on the climax for a bit longer, but it seemed futile. I removed the blindfold soon enough to see him released too.

The door to the room opened, and I was startled back to reality and immediately conscious I was naked; and Alex strode in with his wheelchair and a smile on his face.

I was already wet from the thought of Ben, and I could see him already getting excited at the sight of the naked me.

 

The Alpha’s Exchanged Mate – Chapter 42

Author’s POV…

He stood gazing through the window blinds at her. He stood at a distance that was safe, close enough to get a perfect glimpse at her but also far enough not to get noticed, her dark wavy hair blowing with no synchrony as the standing fan was doing enough justice to her. It was doing its work.

She wouldn’t notice he was there. He had never been the one who was good enough for her,

She was walking from the home office today as the Alpha had called her over to tend to some needs of his.

He shouldn’t let himself be distracted by her, but her beautiful, curvy body makes it so hard for him to concentrate. Her straight legs fall out perfectly, revealing their glory under her black straight gown, they were crowned with thin heels, and she could just be called a Luna if only she were. No wonder she had always kept high standards for herself. No wonder she had always thrown herself at the Alpha before he disappointed her by choosing another woman as his Luna, but she didn’t let her hope to die down. She kept on striving to be the Beta mate since that was the closest to the throne. She had always believed she had a standard that couldn’t be fulfilled by being just the mere assistant to the Alpha. She threw herself at the Beta countless times, rumor had it that she even became the Beta’s f**k buddy, but no one could prove it. No one cared to prove it because she wasn’t relevant, especially when the Beta announced his wife to be a different woman, and the realization hits again as she knew she had been once again placed as an option.

She often second guesses herself. Was it that she was never good enough? Was her standard too high?

She turned back and was fortunate enough to catch his eyes on her, she knew he was there, and she smiled.

She is smiling sheepishly at the man she once told was not good enough for her, the man she swore would never have her even in the hades. She was at it again. When he was made Beta, she knew immediately that she needed to right her wrong.

Why did she undermine a fellow human? She asked herself.

Her brain was at it again, about to stoop so low to get what she had always dreamt of.

But this man loved her. This man adored her already. It shouldn’t be that hard, right?

Yes, she had treated him wrongly in the past. Yes, she had spat on his integrity and pushed him to the path of nothingness before her, but she is only human, and what use is life if we don’t forgive people for all the wrong they had done us out of ignorance?

She was going to swallow her pride. She was going to go down to zero just to right her wrong.

It was the night of his formal induction that she decided to take that bold step.

When she saw him entering into the sizzler’s meeting with Alpha Alex, she found it rather strange, but it could happen, considering the former Beta is facing trial, and maybe Alpha Alex needed company.

But waking up to the shocking news that he had been made Beta, her world came crashing down. Her life flashed before her eyes as she could vividly recall the thousands of times she had been so rude to him and had pushed him away countless times.

She knew she would need to do something she had never done before, apologize.

She walked towards him as a lot of people surrounded him, congratulating him, celebrating him, and regret slapped through her eyes. She should be there with him, hand in hand, receiving all the congratulations alongside him. Be the star of the moment, people would say.

“Look there, she is his woman,” she would love being pointed at and addressed as his.

But she had looked down at him in the past as an ordinary omega who would never amount to anything.

It took a moment before he noticed she was standing there.

“Hello,” she said to him so gently, and he smiled at her.

“Hello, Ramona, you look beautiful,” He complimented. She smiled as she felt that the moon goddess was on her side today. She had precisely worn that red dress because countless times, she had remembered him saying red looks certainly good on her.

It is strange that now that she is interested in him, the words she thought she never listened to came from the archive of her mind, and his voice began to register in her head and mind.

“Thank you, ” she replied modestly with a smile. She was still trying to keep it cool. She didn’t want to come off as desperate of any kind. She knew this was her last card in the deck. If she lost this one, there was no other round for her.

“Congratulations, it is a well deserved ordaining,” she finally said to him as they stood staring at each other for a moment. She was gazing at the fact that she had never noticed how beautiful his hazel green eyes were. How come she never noticed his broad shoulders that perfectly complimented his six-foot, five-inch height? How was it possible she never caught a glimpse of his dimples whenever he smiled? His arched eyebrows, his fair spotless skin, how did she never see how devilishly handsome he was?

She knew she had made a grave mistake in the past and needed to right her wrong immediately.

“Thank you, are you sure it was a well-deserved ordination? I can almost swear I have heard you said differently in the past,”

She sighed as she realized this wouldn’t be as easy as she thought, but she wasn’t going to give up just now because she had come this far and had worn this uncomfortable dress just to impress him, and she wasn’t backing up without giving it all she got.

“Can we talk somewhere that is more silent?” She asked, rolling her eyes around to indicate a lot of activities happening around.

“This is my party, I am not sure it would be okay if I just left, like that,”

Damn him! She cursed into her mind. Why does he have to be ever so considerate?

“I am sure they wouldn’t miss you if I stole you away for just five minutes,” she muttered, almost so obviously flirtatiously.

“Hmmm,” he sighed.

“Come one, Caleb,” she said again.

He rolled his eyes. Damn her! He cursed within him. Why does she still have so much grip over him?

“Okay,” he said, and she grinned. It was one of victory. As they walked past the crowd and headed for the garden, the silence grew more, and finally, there was total silence. Apart from the whistling sound of the birds and the creaking sound of the cricket, a pin could be heard, and their footsteps could be heard. Her painful heel could be heard.

They stood before the swimming pool, just behind the house. A howling noise came from the abyss of the night, it wasn’t a full moon, but the toenail shape of the moon was enough to give some of the strongest wolves enough strength to shift and attack at night.

“The night is so calm,” she finally said, as the staring competition was becoming unbearable, and she was failing.

“Yes it is,” he replied briefly.

“Caleb, I know we have had our differences in the past, but now, you are way more superior to me. Now we both work directly under the Alpha, and it wouldn’t be good if we continue in the way we have been known for in the past,” she muttered to him so calmly. He had never heard her speak to him in such a matter before. All he had gotten in the past was a series of retortion and countless mumbling.

“Are you saying all this because I am finally Beta and will now appeal to your sense of higher calling to be either a Beta or Alpha,”

She knew he was not stupid. He would see through her bullshit, but she came prepared, and as she already clearly stated earlier, she wasn’t going down without a fight.

“I am not doing this because you are Beta now, in fact, I still find you relatively unbearable,”

He chuckled, and finally, you could feel the atmosphere getting less tense for them. She smiled.

“But I swore my allegiance to the pack, to the Alpha, to the good of the realm. It would tell if we are not aligned because we need to work hand in hand, I wouldn’t jeopardize my participation for just some childish feud we have,” she paused to observe if she had his full attention now, and she did.

“In the past, I had not seen any need that warrants me tolerating you, but now that you are the Beta. I have to withstand you and I don’t want to make working with you so toxic,” she explained further.

“I have never had a problem with you, it has always been you.” He replied, pointing out the obvious.

“I know that, but I am willing to bury the hatchet now if you are, for the good of the pack,” she said, and he glared at her for a second.

“Come on, Caleb, I am raising the white flag, don’t keep me hanging,”

He stretched his hands to her, and she smiled.

“White flag accepted,” she shook his hands, and for a moment, everything went still as their fingers intertwined with each other.

“Congratulations once again, Beta Caleb,” she said with a smile.

“Thank you, Ramona,”

He called her name, just the way he used to in the past, with love. And she knew she was on her way to winning him back again.

She knew what card she needed to play, and for the first time in a long time, she finally felt in control of her situation. She was going to achieve her childhood dream and marry this man standing right here before her. And she wouldn’t let anything or anyone get in her way, not even herself.

 

The Alpha’s Exchanged Mate – Chapter 43

Alexander’s POV…

I glared at her as she stood gloriously naked before me, her perfect curves being highlighted in the beam of the sun. It cooperated to make her gleam so bright like the ray of sunlight she is

She shined so bright; no wonder the moon goddess made her mine, my Luna. The water dripping down her skin made me want to trail them up with my tongue and lick every curve and corner of her body. She was exceptionally beautiful, and she knew it. She smiled at me when she reached out for the towel hanging on the toilet rail and wrapped it around her body.

F**k this wheelchair!!!

If I wasn’t still confining myself to the restriction of its wheels, I would have reached out to her right now. I would twelve her from behind, yank the towel out of her body with no apology, turn her to face the wall, and f**k her right here and right now.

But I was still so much not willing to give up this act, especially not for some temporary form of pleasure. It wasn’t worth it for the greater and bigger picture which I saw that made me still keep up with this act.

“Enjoying the view?” Edwina asked with a smile on her face. She looks like an angel when she smiles.

“Well, it was good. Too bad it didn’t last for so long,” I said with a smirk on my face, and I could see her blushing. The beauty this lady radiates is immeasurable.

“How has your search for Ben been?” She asked another question, passing me and going to the main bedroom. She was headed straight to her dressing mirror. And I wheeled my wag behind her. Everything in me was tempted to get up from this wheelchair and f**k her right before the mirror, watching her scream out my name. I could almost feel myself getting hard at the thought of it alone.

“My search for Ben has not been fruitful as expected,” I paused and exhaled. I am not sure I should be talking to Edwina about Ben, considering the already existing history between them. Yes, she had sworn her allegiance to me as her Alpha and the throne, but we all know that the heart has a mind of its own when it comes to the matter of the heart.

“It was a perfectly laid out plan,” she replied when she noticed I was lost in thought. The noisy sound that came from the hair dryer brought me back to reality.

“From his end, right?” It was a question because I already knew what she was talking about.

“Yes, from his end,” she replied when she had turned off the noisy hair dryer.

“He had carefully laid out a plan of his own, and with the help of the sizzlers, he executed it with no trace. It was too clean. He left no footprints behind, nor did he leave any loose end.”

She sighed in disappointment, I was expecting to hear from her, but she fell silent all of a sudden and stood up, walking towards me. With each step she drew closer to me, I could feel her getting tense, and I was already getting a hard-on.

Damn the f*****g effect she had on me. She lowered herself to my level and, without uttering a word, took my lips into hers and began to k**s me immensely, her mouth felt like they were devouring mine, but the gentleness she also brought when her lips stalled with mine. I kissed her back, using my hands to draw her closer to me. Closer and closer till her chest burnt into mine, and she let out a soft m**n. Her towel was still around her chest, and it was taking everything I had not to pull out of her body.

She was moaning gently in my mouth as our mouths collided, tasting her and exploring her. My hands were gently moving down her body and soon exploring the south side, and with one swift movement, the knots on her towel were off and loosened, and it came flying off.

“F**k,” a sound came out of my mouth as I glared at her gloriously naked body.

“F**k me,” she cried out. I quickly started unbuckling my trousers and then paused.

“Not here. I can’t have s*x with you in this wheelchair. It is restrictive,” I complained as I noticed I was about to lose grip of myself. I almost stood up from the wheelchair to remove my trouser until something in me kicked against it. I don’t know how long I would keep on going on like this.

“Let me help you out of the trousers then,”

Gently and slowly, she didn’t just help me out of my trousers but also out of my top, we were both naked before each other, and my length was so hard, crying for some sweet lovemaking.

I cupped her breast in my hands as she bent down again to my level and kissed her, my hands were caressing her slowly and gently, and she was moaning loudly.

She kept on moaning.

“F**k me, Alex,” she cried out again.

And as soon as she stood up, she sat down, but instead of facing me, she turned her back, and I cupped her breast, and she gently settled down into my hard manhood and began to f**k me. She rode me so hard that I knew I was going to cum very soon.

“Slow down, baby. I don’t want to cum now,” I said to her, breathing huskily.

“I want you to cum. I am about to cum,” she replied, and this time, kept going harder on me, and soon the juice from both our cums came rushing down as she was also squirting gloriously.

We were both breathing hastily as we both reached climax.

“F**k, that was one hell of a ride,” I said with my voice a little bit hoarse.

“Yes, it was,” she replied as she stood up from me, picked up her towel, and wrapped it around her body.

She also helped me back into my clothing. I hate that she had to help me get dressed in such a moment like this and that I kind of feel is so helpful. I also knew I needed to keep on.

“So I was thinking,” she finally said when we were both dressed, and as soon as the word left her mouth, the realization hit me, did she just f**k me for a reason?

I glared at her, trying not to conclude hearing her out.

“What were you thinking of,” I asked.

“You know how the settlement the sizzlers asked for was me. Why don’t we leverage on that to win the war?”

I was both confused and curious to hear her final line of thought. I was trying not to jump to the end of the statement before she reached it, but something told me whatever she was going to say. It wasn’t going to go well with me. And I could feel it already.

“Okay, let me in on your thoughts,” I said to her.

“Why don’t you use me to lure Ben out? We all know that’s what he wants, for whatever reason he wants me but why not we use me and draw him out?”

I was trying to hide how furious I was by her even thinking of such a thing.

“You keep saying we, like you and I agree to this already,” I retorted. I knew my voice had gone an octave higher, but I couldn’t help the way I felt about such an absurd plan.

“I am actually trying to tell you about it and let you in on my idea. It is subjected to change, and discussion,”

“There is nothing up for discussion, I am not going to use you as bait of any form. “

“But you haven’t even heard the full plan yet,”

“I said no,” I shouted, and she was startled and moved back a bit.

“Was this why you f****d me the way you just did?” I asked. I knew it was such a low and petty question to ask. But I was already at that low point, and I knew all I could do was go lower.

“Why do you always think I sleep with you or rather always associate s*x with some sort of sick idea in your head?” She replied with rage and anger written all over her face.

“I am sorry,” I apologized calmly. I wasn’t really sorry for my insinuations but rather for raising my voice on her, and she quickly wore a black A-shaped long gown over her head and took her floppy bunny slippers.

“I will be in the piano room if you need me, and please do me a favor, don’t need me,” she said and walked out on me. As soon as she shut the door, I stood up and threw a punch at the mirror glass, shattering it into pieces.

“F**k,” I yelled, and the door immediately opened again.

I was so f****d.

 

The Alpha’s Exchanged Mate – Chapter 44

Authors POV…

He knew this wasn’t all it seemed to be, she sounded like an entirely different person, but deep down, this has always been what he wanted, to be noticed by her, that when she finally sees him as worth her love, he would have measured up to her standard.

But now that he has that, she even came to offer a truce to him. Why does he still feel strange and indifferent about the whole thing?

He left her office after a short casual chat. He could even consider them friends now. But why does friendship feel like that of one with fringe benefits?

He walked past the hallway and took the stairways leading to the ground floor. He wanted to go talk with Alpha Alex.

Then when he was about to take the last turn, he bumped into Becca, who was holding some toiletries in her hands and all of them fell off.

“I am so sorry,” he said as he quickly bent down to pick them up for her.

“It’s nothing,” she also bent down to pick them up, and in the course of that, their fingertips touched.

There was suddenly this synergy that followed between them.

“Here,” he said calmly as their eyes locked in each other, and they got up gently and slowly.

“How have you been?” He asked her, still looking at her.

This was the first time he was looking at her in this manner, Caleb is a young, strong man in his early thirties, and Becca is in her forties. Their relationship has always been one of friendship, especially the fact that the late husband of Becca was a mentor to Caleb. He took him not just as a mentee but also as a friend. Regardless of the age difference between them, he was always shouldering Caleb, especially on the battlefield.

So when he passed away in battle, he got close to Becca out of sheer respect for her husband, and he would take care of her because he noticed how lonely she had become without her husband.

But then, a genuine friendship emerged between them over the years. But that was it. There had been nothing more than that.

He gazed at her with the kind of intensity he had never done before. He noticed how she looked so good for her age. In fact, she doesn’t look her age. Her wavy blonde hair brought out her beautiful blue eyes and her slightly oval face.

He marvelled at how he had never noticed how beautiful she looked before.

“I have been great,” she replied and moved back. She lowered her head down. She was a bit uneasy by the way he was staring at her with such intensity. It was a look she wasn’t used to. It was a look only one man had for her, the man she had vowed to love forever.

“Are you heading to the Alpha’s room?” She asked, trying to get the attention away from her.

“Yes, I need to run through some things with him,”

She exhaled as she could step back a little, giving her room to breathe.

“I see; things have been so intense the last few days,” she replied to him. She was still staring at the floor, trying so hard to avoid his gaze.

“Yes, it has been, from the new Luna and now the escape of Ben, it has been a whole lot lately, and a lot of people are now leaving the pack and swearing their allegiance to our rivals,”

“Does the Alpha know about all this?” She asked as she moved heretofore until her back was resting on the wall.

“Not the full details. I don’t want him to get so worked out and worried,” he replied, taking a step forward. She doesn’t know what kind of game it was they were playing, but she didn’t like it because it seemed she was losing. Her legs were growing weak at every step he took closer to her.

She sighed because she knew exactly what to do to level the playing ground once more.

“What about Ramona? I am sure she must have reached out,” she asked, and a slight frown appeared on his face. Becca was aware of Caleb’s undying love for Ramona because he had told her a lot of times.

“She reached out to me, calling out for truce,”

Becca tried to hide her disappointment, not the reply she was expecting because she knew when it came to the battle with Ramona, she stood no chance.

“Really? She did?” Becca asked as she raised herself from the wall and was about to start walking away. She didn’t want to walk away but maybe was hoping he would follow her. After all, she was heading somewhere before he rudely bumped into her but then instead, he held her by her arms and just like a robot that was being controlled using a remote, she stopped immediately. When they came in contact with each other, it felt like the world had come to a pause, and everything had stopped moving. The world was in slow motion, and every other thing had been put on pause. Only the two of them existed in their world.

“Don’t go, I know you have a lot to do but I need someone to talk to, I need a friend,”

And that word “friend” sank all the ships floating in her head and killed all the butterflies stretching their wings to fly.

That word friend reminded her of all she was to him and all that she would ever be. She slowly pulled her hands away from him.

“Okay, I am all ears,” she said blankly, trying to hide the hurt in her eyes.

“It has just been a lot for me, starting from being ordained as the new Beta and then other problems that have to do with Ben and this threatening war. I don’t know if I can withstand all that,” he lamented, and she could see the glimpse of fear in him.

“It is okay to be afraid, _.”

“I am not afraid, just overwhelmed,” he quickly interrupted her, and she smiled because it reminded her of how her husband never agreed to be afraid of any battle but almost always ended up having a mental breakdown before any battle.

“I never said you were, but it is okay to be afraid sometimes because you get to turn all those fears into fuel.” She paused, and he smiled, ” I had seen you before you were made the Beta. You fought so courageously and with all your heart. With or without a title, you have always been fierce at heart, and I would want you to always hold on to that fire in your heart. That is what makes a good Beta,”

“You are such a wise woman, and your words are so comforting. Thank you so much,” he said and pulled her into a hug. She didn’t try to hit back, maybe because of the things already in her hands or maybe because she knew it was just a gratitude hug and meant nothing.

“And I am still observing Ramona, people don’t just change like that, but I am glad we are on good grounds now,” he finally said, and at the mention of Ramona, her heart came sinking again.

“Hmmm,” she muttered, “Okay, I am sure you know what you want,” she paused, “see you later,” she said, and without even waiting for his response left, he was about to follow her to ask about her sudden change of attitude as he noticed the change in her countenance before she walked away when he heard a loud noise of glass being broken, the sound was coming from the Alpha bedroom. He quickly rushed towards the room and, without even knocking, opened the door.

And he immediately stopped.

He was puzzled and confused as he saw the Alpha standing on his two feet before the broken mirror.

 

The Alpha’s Exchanged Mate – Chapter 45

Alexander’s POV…

I am so f****d. Once I heard the door open, my mind left my body, and I was finding it hard to breathe. All of a sudden, the spacious room became so much thinner, and everything appeared to be smaller. My lungs closed up against each other as I struggled to grasp for air. A moment of anger had ruined months of work. I didn’t want to look at the door as the figure quickly rushed in. I could have run back to my wheelchair, but my head had already calculated in a matter of milliseconds that it was impossible to make that run. And then I gazed up at the mirror, and a sense of relief came unto me immediately as the curvy shape figure I was expecting to see turned out to be a masculine, muscular figure.

F**k!!!

F**k!!!

F**k!!!

It was Caleb. Caleb just discovered my secret.

He stopped halfway through as I could see him perplexed. He was totally and utterly confused.

This wasn’t what he was expecting to see, as I could see him puzzled as his head cried out to understand exactly what he was having a glimpse of.

I could almost read the questions out of his mouth.

What exactly is this?

Did he just start walking?

Has he always been pretending?

Was he ever f*****g crippled?

I knew those and many more were the raging questions in his head.

How was he going to ask me all these questions?

He stood still as he kept observing, with no words coming out of his mouth.

Then he moved back and took some series of conscious steps towards the door.

I watched to see exactly what he was doing because, at this point, I found it hard to figure out what his next move would be.

Was he going to scream out and howl out at everyone that the Alpha, their Alpha is a f*****g liar and has been deceiving them, acting to be crippled, yet being able to fully walk and all that?

But to my greatest surprise and utmost amusement, he reached out for the doorknob and twirled it right to ensure it was properly closed, and I exhaled and sighed.

I wondered why for a split second, I forgot this was Caleb, the one who has proven himself worthy of my trust. So many times, he could have chosen to betray me, but he didn’t.

So I wondered why I was so worried.

Do I truly have a trust issue? I wouldn’t blame myself if I did. Humans and wolves have given me so little reason to trust them, especially people who have been so close to me. They have betrayed me in the worst possible way.

He kept staring at me, I knew we could continue with this staring competition for a long while, and nobody would utter a word to each other.

“Caleb,” I finally said, breaking the unspoken vow of silence we had both taken in our hearts a few minutes ago.

“Alpha Alex,” he replied.

He always calls me Alpha Alex whenever he wants to revere me about my position. He calls me that whenever he wants me to be reminded that it isn’t because I was familiar with him that he still sees me as the Alpha, and nothing would ever change that.

“I know you have a lot of questions,” I said gently as I moved towards the chair. I could see him observing me slowly as his eyes trailed after me. It was a moment of blind realization for him, and amazement fluttered all through his eyes. He couldn’t hide it.

“I do, and I know you have a lot of answers for me,” he replied, and I smiled.

I was glad that he had not lost that wonderful sense of stoic humor even in such an awkward moment like this.

“I do have a lot of answers for you, but can you sit first,” I muttered, trying to level the playing ground. I wanted to remind him that he was not just the Beta or someone who had sworn his allegiance to me but also my friend. I don’t think I needed to remind him that I held his words in high esteem. But I needed to remind him of this moment. I wasn’t the Alpha, but rather his friend, who wanted to talk and rub minds with him as a friend.

“Let’s start with the easy questions before we slowly graduate to the hard ones,” I said with a smile on my face, but Caleb didn’t smile back. I could see his mind searching, thinking of the question he could ask me.

“Who else knows apart from me?” He asked gently.

Not the question I was expecting. I know I asked for something simple, but I was expecting something a little bit complex that I would still find hard to explain to him. I could still see him making an effort to make things easier for me.

“Well, no one, you are the only person who knows on planet earth,” I answered, sounding more confident than I should at this moment, that I should humble myself.

I should be aware that with just one utterance from his side, all the effort I had put to sit down a*s straight in this God-forsaken wheelchair for the past months would be all for nothing.

“I am privileged,” he said with a bit of sarcasm and unfiltered humor.

“I know, right,” I chuckled, and soon the tense air became lighter as I could feel us going back to that mutual ground that had existed between us in the past.

“Have you ever been crippled, or was that all just for show?” He asked, and that was the hard question. He jumped from mini, skipped mid, and went straight to max.

That was classic Caleb for you.

My mind flashed back to the moments when I first found out that I was crippled, and my world came crashing down.

“You might not be able to walk or shift to your wolf form ever again,” the special physician for the night howlers had diagnosed me months back.

It was a devastating process for me, as that was also the same time I found out about my cheating wife and mediocre Beta. I had tried to shift to my wolf form countless times in the wheelchair, but I was unable to.

I couldn’t hear my wolf speaking to me anymore as his voice went faint and faded away in my head. I was in a state of mild depression. But one morning, I woke up and heard my wolf’s voice, it was very faint at first, and then soon, it grew louder, gradually.

“Let me out,” he cried out, and I was most joyous and excited to hear from him again. My wolf and I had an exceptionally deep connection, but it was the wild part of me, not the simple side of me. It was the side that told me to get married to Edwina to spite Sonia and Benjamin. It was the crazy side of me that told me to keep on with this act.

When it first cried out to me to be let out, I was both scared and anxious. It had been months since I shifted to my wolf form, and a lot of times I had tried in the past, it proved abortive.

But then the voice kept getting louder and, of course, unbearable.

I went downstairs to the sacred spiritual center for the night howlers. It was the place where the ancient wolves came before battles to tap into the spirit of the moon goddess and become the strongest version of themselves. It was the place where the moon and water spirits were said to meet and intertwine between themselves. It was a place that didn’t just condone but demanded intimacy. It was holy ground.

As I stepped on the grounds of its floor, the cold tiles sent a vibration to my brain. My legs were shaky, and I knew I was going to fall down in a split of seconds, but there was this force in me stronger than my will and power, and as soon as I arched my back, I saw myself begin to shift, it was painful at first as I howled out loudly and growled. It was one of the most painful shifts I have ever done in my entire life. It was taking all the willpower in me, I wanted to stop halfway, but I kept on going, and as soon as my entire body changed to the hairy big bad wolf, I howled out loudly. I could hear other wolves howling too. But I was glad they weren’t in a telepathic connection with me at that moment.

And after I shifted back to my human form, I realized I was completely healed, and I could walk just fine, even better than I could work before, if that was a thing.

“Yes I was crippled at first, months after the battle, I couldn’t move but one day I shifted to my wolf form, months after, and then I realized I could walk again,” I explained to Caleb.

I could see he still had a lot of questions in his head. He wasn’t one to stop asking questions until he was fully and completely clear.

“Then why did you keep on with the act?” He asked, and I sighed.

“For countless reasons, I don’t think we have all day to outline all of it for you,”

He sighed and rolled his eyes. He knew I was taking the easy way out of the issue, but I know we would later have ample time to send out all of these reasons to him.

Maybe it was because I was still struggling with my main reasons for doing it deep down in my head.

I want to tell myself I was doing it because of presenting the element of surprise during battles, but something tells me it was still linked to my trust issues and wanting to know who was there for me as an Alpha or as a leader.

Because when I lost my ability to move, it made a lot of people undermine me as a leader. I was going to stop this act sooner than later; truly, I was.

But when I saw Edwina, my mission, vision, and objectives changed.

My wolf had advised me again to marry her.

“What other way would you make Sonia and Ben feel your pain by marrying her,” I advised myself. I have gotten used to very abstract and crazy advice, but this one was way out of place.

“How was I going to keep faking being crippled to her, she is going to be sleeping in the same room with me, and she would be watching my bath and do other things. How in heaven’s name was I going to fake all that,” I retorted back to it, and it let out a slight growl as I grumbled within me. It does that every single time we do not agree on a subject matter.

“You have been doing it for months, you would figure it out, and I will be more silent,” it wasn’t a great assurance, but it was one that I could work with.

And I glared back at Caleb, waiting for his response.

“So Edwina doesn’t know?” I knew he wasn’t asking, but I just wanted to be certain.

“Yes, Caleb. You are the only one that knows and I appreciate it that way. I have my reasons for doing so and I am hoping you would respect it.” I said.

“Yes, Alpha Alex,” he responded, and I knew he was going back to that place where he saw me just as the Alpha and not as a friend.

“I am glad I get to share this part of me with you, you know how hard it has been, at least we will get to train for battle together now,”

He smiled. “I have always won you,”

I laughed, and I heard a knock on the door. We had forgotten that the door was locked from the inside. The knock was silent, and I knew it was Edwina. I moved back to my wheelchair while Caleb headed to the door. He opened it, and as soon as he saw her, he bowed down and exited the room almost immediately.

“Can I go to see my sister?” She asked calmly.

“Yes, sure,” I replied, and she headed to the wardrobe, took out a long blue gown, and headed for the door.

“Edwina,” I called out to her.

“Yes,” she responded.

“I am sorry,” I said calmly. She looked at me and smiled.

“I know you are, I will get someone to clean the broken glass,” she said, pointing at the glass, and headed out.