After Breaking The Mark His Desperate Chase (Sarah)

"Thank you."

I mumble, resting my head against his shoulder. Raizel dips his head down to kiss the top of my head.

There's no need to thank me. I'm here. Always."

I didn't doubt him.

Finding Isaac had been easier than I expected.

With how vast the territory of the Capital was, it normally would've taken a considerable

amount of time to find him even with a bond that connected us both. As it was, Isaac had

shut his side of the bond off. I wasn't surprised. I knew he wanted his thoughts to be his own for a while. The sorrow he'd let slip for just a few seconds earlier on was so overwhelming it made me physically sick.

Trudging on into the thick of the woods, I let my wolf handle the reins of control. She had a better sense of Isaac's lingering scent. While normally she would've turned tail to bask in Raízel's presence she knew our pack mate needed us more. His anguish practically called on our end of the bond. It urged us to do something.

A few deep whiffs led us to the starts of a narrow creek.

When we broke free from the thicket of trees, she obediently relinquished all control back

to me, understanding the gist of what we needed to speak to him about. I stepped into view without making the slightest bit of noise. Water rushed down the rocks of the stream and pushed further into the north, but I didn't care to watch it. My Gamma was sitting by his lonesome, knees drawn up and head resting on his forearms. His broad back hunched over in on himself and although he still looked strung up, the earlier trembling had ceased.

Uniting with Duskfall.

The phrase repeated itself in my head like a mantra. What do I even say to that? How am I

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supposed to feel? How is Isaac supposed to feel? How can I pretend any of this was easy? As though making this decision could be as si

picking what to eat for dinner?

I almost scoff bitterly to myself.

Isaac obviously wasn't jumping for joy at the prospect of merging our packs. It didn't matter

the reason, he just wasn't. Understandably so.

Fate really is a cruel thing, isn't it?

Everything was coming to a full circle with the ancestor dilemma and now, pack unity.

From what it looks like, we could begin again in the place where everything ended. Where I ended. Where Isaac ended.

The cruel irony of it all had my chest aching with loss. It never really stops, does it? This vicious cycle of destiny and what must happen for the greater good. Fate never stops for anyone. It shouldn't come as a surprise. It never stopped for me before, nor will it stop now. "When someone leaves a room like that, people don't usually try to follow, Alpha."

Isaac lifts his head to turn in my direction. The relief I felt at the small smile playing on his lips was poorly concealed in the way I unconsciously let out a breath. Isaac, ever the attentive Gamma, noticed and fondly rolled his eyes. The little smile that played on his lips widened just a tad more. He'd calmed down, that much was obvious, but the remnants of

his heartache still persisted in his tone. No matter how hard he tried to play it off, it was

there.

"I suppose not,"

I admit, walking over to him. When it's clear he doesn't mind my presence, I allow myself to settle down beside him. I can see why he decided to go into the deeper parts of the woods. It guaranteed the seclusion someone who wanted to be alone would be looking for. It was perfect for him.

Isaac isn't looking at me anymore. Instead, the green-blue of his eyes remain at the steadily flowing stream.

"But not everyone is your Alpha. Not everyone understands the real hurt of what Williams

said."

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After Breaking The Mark His Desperate Chase.

Isaac says nothing to that. He doesn't appear to have any plans to, so I fill in the silerice for

1. us.

"We'd decided to postpone making a decision. Maybe a week or two later, give or take. He wanted to... give us time to discuss what's going to happen-" "What needs to happen."

Isaac cuts in. The steel in his tone surprises me. Such a startling contrast to the mood of espondency surrounding us. He didn't sound mad, didn't even sound upset in the slightest. The entire walk here I'd been contemplating on how to bring this conversation up, but it seems as though Isaac had already made up his mind. Judging from the look of determination on his face, he was very certain of it.

The Gamma lets out a ragged breath,

"I'm not opposed to uniting the territories together."novelbin

He began carefully, picking at the ground for a small rock,

"I'd much rather Duskfall fall into your hands than some other Alpha. If I could've, I'd have

taken the land myself a long time ago. But I'm not an Alpha. It's not in my blood. I wasn't

born to be one and never wanted to be one. You, however, are. There'd be no one better to

take the mantel from Alpha Oliver than you. There's no else I'd entrust it to."

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After Breaking The Mark His Desperate Chase