Claimed by the Alpha

Tess POV

I’m fairly certain I’m alive.

But I can’t be completely sure everything after the crash wasn’t just some deeply deranged fever dream.

A faint hum somewhere to my left. A steady beep. White ceiling. Scratchy sheets.

All signs point to hospital. Pack hospital, judging by the smell of antiseptic and herbs.

Probably Evergreen’s.

Fantastic.

“Love this for me,” I mutter at the painfully bright ceiling.

My throat feels like I swallowed gravel. My whole body aches in a way that feels like it’s been hit by a truck and then reversed over for good measure.

My memory comes back in ugly, jagged flashes.

Trees.

Cold air.

Pain.

Gabi screaming my name–

I jolt upright, and instantly regret it as pain tears through me so hard my vision whites out. I grab for the edge of the mattress before I face-plant onto the floor like an idiot.

“Easy.”

The voice is low, familiar – and annoyingly calm.

I turn my head, slowly.

He’s there.

Leaning against the wall casually. Arms folded. Expression unreadable. Until his eyes lock on mine in a way that says he’s been watching for a while. That he's been standing there long enough to wear a mark into the paint.

Heat creeps into my cheeks before I can stop it.

My wolf practically preens.

Traitor.

Doesn’t she know we play it cool when it comes to boys? In all situations. Even the life-and-death kind.

Part of me is suddenly aware of him in a way it never was before. And the way he’s looking at me does something strange to the air between us.

I yank the sheets up higher on instinct. Ugh – I can’t actually feel my legs. Anyone would think I had died or something.

“You look terrible,” I blurt out.

Lies.

Rowan’s mouth twitches, “Good to see you’re still yourself.”

“Always,” I rasp.

“Where’s Gabi?” I add, glancing around the room. “And don’t tell me the Alpha couldn’t be bothered to show up either.”

There’s a pause.

A tiny pause.

Most people probably wouldn’t notice it. I do.

I narrow my eyes immediately. “What was that pause?”

He pushes off the wall. Way too casually.

“She’s fine.”

“And I’m the moon goddess.”

“She’s alive.”

Something cold slips through my chest at the way he says it. Alive is not the same as okay.

Does he think I’m too thick to notice he only half answered my question? His voice is too even. Like he’s carefully measured exactly how much to tell me.

“That is not the comforting update you seem to think it is,” I snap.

My mind snags again on the scraps of memory. It’s all a bit blurred around the edges, but one thing keeps flashing too bright to ignore.

Gabi in the clearing.

And the fact she was very, very naked in the middle of the woods.

I look back at Rowan and decide to bluff my way into answers.

“And don’t think it escaped my notice that Gabs was naked in the woods,” I say.

“So either my shy girl suddenly lost every inhibition and got very bold with the hot alpha—”

I pause.

Because I could swear I heard the ghost of a growl when I mentioned Luca.

Oh, that is interesting.

I don’t even try to hide my smirk as I continue, “–or she finally wolfed out.”

Rowan says nothing.

But the look on his face tells me he’s having some kind of entertaining internal crisis.

Good.

I swing my legs over the side of the bed, ignoring the way the room tilts again. I pause, breathing hard. Then force myself to take stock.

That’s when it hits me.

Rogues.

Not just rogues.

Witches.

My stomach turns. Because that alone makes even no damn sense.

They weren’t supposed to be anywhere near Evergreen. So why were they there?

I need to get to Gabi. Like yesterday. “Move,” I demand.

Rowan doesn’t.

His gaze flicks over me, assessing – like I’m a problem he doesn’t quite know how to solve yet.

That should not matter.

Not now.

I push to my feet anyway, and immediately regret it. The floor feels unsteady beneath me, my body clumsy in a way I absolutely hate.

“Move,” I repeat, sharper this time. I shove at Rowan’s chest, and immediately wish I hadn’t.

Because the second my palm connects with him, a strange, low hum ripples under my skin.

He freezes.

His eyes drop to where her hand rests against his chest.

He doesn’t move, doesn’t breathe.

Just watches.

Only when she jerks away does he finally ask—

“Tess?”

I don’t answer.

I can’t.

I’m too busy trying to work out why touching him suddenly feels like grabbing a live wire. Almost like a...

I shut down the thought before it can finish, and shove at him again – harder this time.

A pulse tears up my arm and slams into my chest so hard it steals my breath. Warmth throbs at my collarbone.

I suck in a sharp inhale.

Rowan breaks contact instantly. “Tess?”

I barely hear him.

Because my fingers are already moving toward the warmth, like they have a mind of their own. They stop when they reach a bite mark, one that should be healing by now. Only, it isn’t. I know wolfsbane scars, but this is a bite.

WTF. Do rogue bites not fade?

The skin feels too defined. Too fresh. Like the wound doesn’t know whether it’s trying to disappear or become something else entirely.

Heat blooms deeper beneath my skin as a sharp, impossible flash cuts through my mind.

Rowan.

Kneeling beside me in the dirt.

His mouth at my shoulder.

The sound of my own body dragging air back into my lungs.

I go still. Very still. Because that wasn’t a rogue. And when I look up at him again, Rowan is already watching me.

His expression is too controlled.

He knows exactly what I’ve just realised.

And suddenly I’m not sure what unsettles me more. That something between us has changed.

Or that Rowan has been waiting for me to figure it out.