Bölüm 4: My Bully, My Husband

= TRIX =

The morning mist hung around the trees like a blanket, making me feel as cold inside as the air around me. Sleep had been a stranger the night before as the heavy burden of responsibility weighed on me. The rogues, the attack, the missing Tear - thoughts of them churned in my mind like a wild storm.

But another face kept flickering through the chaos – Dixie. The way she looked at me defiantly in the clearing, her eyes filled with fear and something else I couldn't quite put my finger on, it really shook me. Alvera had told me that Dixie disappeared after our last unfortunate and inconvenient encounter. Part of me was relieved – at least she wasn't in immediate danger.  Another part, a part I couldn't explain, felt a pang of… concern?  It was a foreign sensation, one I quickly pushed down.

Alvera appeared next to me, and her constant vigilance always made me feel safer. "Any sign of her?" I asked, my voice lingering in the cool morning air.

She shook her head, her expression worried. "The search parties haven’t returned yet. But Alpha," she began, sounding unsure, "we need to talk about her."

I tensed up. I still vividly remember how scared Dixie looked when I confronted her in the clearing. The elder couldn't find out about her, or about the rune and the mark that looked just like the rogues' symbol. After the attack on the temple, his trust in us was already fragile.

"We can't leave her out there," Alvera continued. "The Nardoo people might find her first. And if they do..."

The thought of them getting their claws on Dixie and her falling into their clutches, really scared me. It was a fear mixed with a weird protective feeling I couldn't quite explain. She was nothing more than just a human  I had always liked picking on caught in the crossfire, but leaving her to fend for herself wasn't an option. 

“We need a plan, Alpha."  Her voice was a low murmur, respectful yet firm.

"I know," I said, feeling really frustrated. The Elder couldn't know about Dixie.  Not yet. If he did, it would cause chaos in the pack with all the rumors and doubts it would stir up. Plus, the Nardoo pack – those rogue wolves – wouldn’t hesitate to use her against us if they knew about the rune on her hand. That's a risk we can't take.

"We need to keep her close," Alvera added calmly. "But we gotta do it without raising any red flags."

I clenched my jaw.  Keeping Dixie close, that was easier said than done.  The clearing, the confrontation with the rogues – she'd seen too much.  She was a liability, a loose thread in the fabric of our secrecy.

"The Nardoos saw her with me," I argued, still feeling the sting of their shocked looks. "If she started living with us all of a sudden, it would raise more suspicion than if there was a surprise attack on the Moon Temple."

“But, Alpha–”

"She can’t stay with the pack," I growled, cutting her off. My voice was a harsh whisper in the quiet of the morning. Keeping her close was the only way to ensure her safety, but it couldn't be seen as anything other than coincidence.  The Nardoos had already seen her with me, and they were probably suspicious.

Alvera's lips thinned. "Then what do you propose? Leave her to the wolves, literally?" 

My silence said it all—there were no good options, only shades of bad.   And then, out of nowhere, this crazy, desperate idea popped into my head, and it was so wild it almost made me laugh.

Just then, something sparked in her eyes, that same wild idea that just popped into my head.

Yes, my Beta and I can sometimes read each other’s minds. It’s something we have in the Slater Pack’s royalty line. We’ve had it since the inception of our pack centuries ago.

"Marry her," she blurted.

The air crackled with the absurdity of it.  

Yes, it was an idea that passed my mind, but it was just that! Just a passing idea! It was totally insane for Alvera to even voice it out and think it to be a sensible thing.

Marry Dixie?  The girl who I had spent my entire life making sure she saw me as her tormentor?  The idea was ludicrous.  "Are you out of your mind?" I choked on a growl, the words spitting from my lips.

"Think about it," Alvera pressed, unfazed by my outburst. “A sudden marriage wouldn't be entirely out of the blue for you. You're Alpha, and it's been… well, a while." 

 "A while since what?" I snapped. 

"Since you've shown any interest in… companionship," she finished delicately.  

My face burned. True, the death of my brother, Enzo, had left a gaping hole in my life, a void I hadn't even tried to fill. But the thought of marrying some… human girl… her of all people…

"As her husband, her presence by your side wouldn't raise an eyebrow.  It would silence any suspicion." She added.

I ran a hand through my hair, my frustration increasing by the second.  Her point was valid, but the thought of marrying Dixie…  It felt wrong on so many levels.  And yet… what other option was there?

"There has to be another way," I muttered, grasping at straws.

Alvera shook her head. "There isn't, Alpha. Not unless you're willing to risk the Nardoos getting to her first.  And with the mark and rune she bears…" 

Her words lingered, heavy and cold, reminding us how much danger Dixie was in. I closed my eyes, feeling the heavy responsibility settle on me like a heavy cloak. Lives were on the line—mine, the pack’s, and now, somehow, Dixie’s too.

Alvera placed a hand on my shoulder, her touch grounding. "It's the only way.  A marriage would explain her constant presence at your side.  Anything less or more would raise questions." 

My stomach churned. Marry that human girl?  This was pure insanity.  But as I looked out at the rising sun, feeling the heavy responsibility for our pack’s future, I realized Alvera might be right.  It was insane, yes, but it was also the only way.  

Taking a deep breath, I met Alvera's gaze, a bitter taste on my tongue.  "Fine," I conceded, the word tasting like defeat. "But this doesn't mean I like it." 

Alvera's lips twitched into a slight smile. "No one said this would be easy, Alpha. But sometimes, the hardest choices are the ones that save us all." 

“Yeah…whatever…” I rolled my eyes and she instinctively took her hand off my shoulder as i rose, “We'll do it your way.”