MATED TO THE SECRET ALPHA
Chapter 201: Not Worthy Of Worship

Chapter 201: Not Worthy Of Worship

He met her gaze without flinching. "That’s why she’s not worthy of worship."

Her voice trembled, but her eyes stayed locked on his. "I always felt there was something... tragic about you. I just didn’t know it was this."

Ryder said nothing. He only watched her. He could see the disbelief in her eyes—the way she still couldn’t accept she had once been his, across lifetimes. But he wouldn’t force it. Maybe it was her doing. That cursed goddess. Maybe she was the reason Reana couldn’t remember.

She drew a slow breath, her voice steadier now. "So this goddess... if she loved you, why give you a mate at all? Why not make you mateless?"

His jaw clenched, pain flickering in his eyes like a storm barely held at bay. "Maybe... maybe she was jealous of how much I loved you. I loved you more than I feared the gods. Maybe she wanted that kind of devotion for herself."

Reana exhaled shakily. "And you’ve been carrying this alone... for lifetimes."

"I had no choice."

She leaned in and kissed him—a long, deep kiss—her palm flattening over his heart like a brand. When she pulled back, her voice was soft, fierce. "But you do now."

His eyes flickered with disbelief, as if he didn’t dare hope.

"I don’t care about some ancient prophecy or a curse whispered by a jealous goddess," she said, voice trembling with defiant conviction. "You’re not a monster, Ryder. You’re a man who’s been drowning in pain with no one to throw you a rope."

Tears shimmered in her eyes. "Maybe I can’t break the curse. But I can stand beside you through it. And if your love truly is a poison, then let it kill me slowly... because I’d rather suffer with you than live a life where I never knew you at all."

He stared at her—stunned, stricken—as though her words had pierced through centuries of darkness and disbelief.

She finally believed him.

And then, without warning, his hands cradled her face, and his lips crashed into hers with all the desperation of a man clinging to the only light he’s ever known.

It wasn’t just a kiss.

It was a vow.

A rebellion against fate.

A whisper into eternity: Not this time.

Without warning, his hips moved. A thrust that knocked the air out of Reana. She gasped into his mouth, eyes wide in a brief shock, but he didn’t stop. Ryder had no intentions to stop.

He couldn’t cry to express the relief he felt. So, the only thing he could do was to express it in action with every hard thrust.

Reana’s nails dug into his exposed shoulders, anchoring herself as he thrust deeper, pushing her towards another wave of pleasure—this time not just with lust, but with everything he had left to give.

...

Reana lay draped across Ryder’s chest, her breath still uneven, her lips swollen from his kisses. Their bodies remained entangled, joined by more than just flesh. His arms circled her back, holding her like she was something precious—fragile yet unbreakable.

He pressed soft kisses along her hairline, his hand stroking slow, soothing circles over the curve of her thigh. "Still hate me?" he murmured, voice low and warm.

She didn’t answer right away. Instead, she kissed the hollow of his throat, then up to the rough stubble along his jaw. Her fingers threaded through his hair, nails scraping lightly against his scalp.

"You’re mine, Ryder. Whether I’m furious or smiling, whether I walk away or kiss you like a starving woman... you belong to me."

His lips curved against her temple. "I always did."

Reana sat up slightly, legs still astride him, her bare thighs brushing his hips. She looked at him—really looked. The man who broke her, who rebuilt her with his touch, who could ruin her again with a single lie... and she still wanted him more than air.

She leaned down and bit his shoulder—not hard enough to wound, but enough to sting, to leave a mark.

He hissed, groaning at the feel of it, but didn’t pull away. If anything, he leaned into it.

She licked the spot slowly, then whispered, "That’s so you remember. Every time you see it, every time some pretty little she-wolf flutters her lashes at you—you’re mine. No other female gets to smile at you. Not without remembering that I’m watching."

Ryder looked up at her, eyes half-lidded with affection and something deeper—worship. "Jealous, are we?"

She narrowed her eyes and shoved at his chest. "Dead serious."

He grinned. "Good."

Then he surged up, capturing her nipple in his mouth. She moaned as he suckled slowly, reverently, while his hands fondled the other breast with a tenderness that made her shiver. His thumb brushed over her sensitive peak as he kissed, soft and slow, and her fingers found their way into his hair again, clutching tightly.

"Mine too," he murmured between kisses. "Every inch of you. This mouth..." he kissed her neck, then her jaw "...this soul... these hands, this heat..."

He looked up at her, eyes full of adoration and wildness. "I’d burn the whole world just to keep you safe in my arms."

She smiled, slow and soft, despite the sting of emotion behind her eyes. "I hope it doesn’t have to come to that."

He didn’t speak.

He froze.

Just like that—his entire body tensed beneath her. A second ago, he was all warmth and kisses. Now, steel.

Reana blinked. "Ryder?"

He didn’t answer.

A beat later, everything exploded.

Boom.

The carriage detonated behind them in a blinding flash of red and gold. Fire split the sky. The roof caved. Wood shattered. Screams ripped through the air like wild beasts.

The warriors on horseback scattered, shouts piercing the air as they dove for cover. A second ago, they were flanking the carriage—now, it was nothing but flames and splinters, a burning carcass of what had been.

The wind howled like a living beast, sharp and feral, slicing through the smoke with an eerie wail. It carried the stench of fire... and something darker.