When My Alpha Ex-Husband Came Looking for Me by Mark Twain 20
Chapter 20
81
Lucas’s POV
Since Maurine collapsed after the vampire hoodlum attack at that damned bar, confusion had wrapped itself around me like a suffocating shroud.
I sat on the edge of my bed, staring out the window where the pear blossom tree stood, its delicate petals fluttering in the cold night breeze. That tree had been the scene of so many memories, so many promises made and broken. And now, it haunted me again.
Maurine. The key. The cure.
I rubbed my temples, trying to make sense of it all. “Why?” I muttered under my breath, voice rough with frustration. “Why did she get infected if she’s supposed to be the cure?”
Beta Reid had been pacing the room for the past hour, no doubt just as restless as I was. “Alpha,” he said finally, breaking the silence. “We need to watch her carefully. The infection might be hiding, but it’s there.”
I nodded, not trusting myself to say more. I’d left Reid in charge of guarding Maurine in the shadows while I went back to Silvana Pack, desperate for answers. Answers that seemed to slip through my fingers like sand.
The elders had been tight-lipped as always, but I pushed harder until they brought the seer to me. The old woman arrived that night, draped in black robes that fluttered like raven wings. Her eyes, cloudy yet piercing, fixed on me without a word at first.
Finally, she spoke, voice rasping like dry leaves. “The vampire hoodlums multiply with desperation. They seek the key, the cure hidden in the life essence of your fated mate.”
My jaw clenched. “My fated mate,” I repeated, tasting the words.
She nodded slowly. “But the she-wolf cannot feel the bond. The key hides herself, for she carries the fate of many on her shoulders.”
I wanted to argue, to say I knew who she was-Maurine, beneath the fragile surface. But doubt crept in, cold and sharp. If Maurine was the key, why did the infection claim her? Why was she so weak, collapsing like that?
That question consumed me.
When the seer finished repeating the premonition, she gave me a warning: the key can meet you in the place where the pear blossoms fall, under the tree where fate first called you together.
That tree.
And fuck it, she already told me about the same premonition years ago. Why was she repeating it now as if I didn’t memorize it myself?
I knew that tree well, better than anyone. And I knew Maurine was there once, waiting. But somehow… something didn’t sit right.
Back in my room, the weight of it all pressed down on me like a mountain. I paced the floor,
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fists clenched, trying to push away the doubt that was poisoning my heart. Could it be possible… that Maurine wasn’t the key? That she wasn’t my fated mate?
The thought stabbed at me like a sharpened fang.
That night, when sleep finally claimed me, I was pulled into a dream so vivid it felt more real
than the world I knew.
I was a boy again, no older than twelve, standing beneath that same pear blossom tree. The petals drifted down like snow, each one catching the light like tiny stars. The air smelled of spring and fresh earth.
And then I saw her.
A girl in a pink dress, her laughter bright and clear as she jumped around with a small white rabbit. She was beautiful in that innocent, untouched way only children can be. She didn’t notice me at first, too lost in her play.
But then I stepped closer. She turned slowly.
And my breath hitched in my throat.
It wasn’t Maurine.
It was Rebecca.
Her eyes caught mine, deep pools of stormy grey that seemed to see through me, through the years and the lies. For a moment, time stood still.
“Hi,” she whispered, her voice like a song I hadn’t heard in years but never forgotten.
I wanted to reach out, to touch her, but something held me back. Shadows curled at the edges of the dream, dark and whispering warnings.
“Why are you here?” I asked, voice trembling with confusion.
She smiled softly, the kind of smile that both healed and hurt.
“You’ve been looking for me all this time,” she said. “But you never knew.”
The petals swirled faster now, blurring the edges of the dream.
“Who is the key?” I demanded, desperation rising in my chest.
Rebecca’s eyes held mine, steady and knowing. And then she was gone, swallowed by the falling petals.
I jolted awake, sweat slick on my skin, heart pounding like a war drum. The room was dark and silent, but the questions screamed louder than ever.
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Chapter 21
Rebecca’s POV
The wedding was fast approaching, each day closing in like the tightening jaws of a trap. The whole pack buzzed with preparation, but for me, every second felt heavy, like I was walking on a knife’s edge between duty and something deeper I didn’t fully understand yet.
Every midnight since I arrived at the Thane Pack house, I found myself slipping quietly into Alpha Maximus’s room. No one knew where I went in those dark hours-omegas careful not to question the rituals of the Alphas-but I felt drawn there by something beyond reason. The room was always dim, bathed only in the soft glow of moonlight filtering through heavy curtains. Maximus lay on his bed like a sleeping giant, his handsome features peaceful but marred by the faintest shadow of pain that never seemed to leave him.
But at midnight, his eyes would snap open-red and sharp as rubies-and though at first he looked like a threat, those moments changed the way I understood him.
“You can save me,” he said one night, voice low and raw with exhaustion. His hand reached out, trembling, to grasp mine. “When you’re near, the pain… it lessens. But I don’t know why.” His honesty struck me harder than I expected. Here was a man, or wolf, broken and trapped inside his own body, reaching out in the dark for anything that could keep him from slipping
away.
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “I don’t know why either,” I admitted, voice barely above a whisper. “But I’ll be here. Every night.”
Night after night, I returned, sitting by his side, speaking softly, sharing stories, trying to learn the man behind the curse. I hoped somehow my presence could ease what haunted him. Then one night, as I quietly stepped out of his room just before dawn, Beta Yuan caught me. He had already warned me not to do it again because he said it’s dangerous but I was too hardheaded.
His sharp eyes flicked between me and the shadows, a mix of concern and something else— curiosity, maybe, or suspicion.
“Rebecca,” he said quietly, pulling me aside onto the balcony where the cold air bit at our skin. The moon hung low and heavy, casting silvery light over the quiet pack grounds. “I told you it’s dangerous.”
I looked down, heart pounding. “He’s not, Beta Yuan. He told me already, his pain lessens whenever I’m with him,” I admitted. “I’m no longer scared, okay? I realized he’s harmless upon
coming back to his room each night.”
He sighed heavily. “You’re stubborn.”
I mirrored his sigh, feeling the weight of his gaze. “I… I can reduce his pain. Whenever I’m near, it’s like the ache inside him softens. That’s why I keep coming back.”
Beta Yuan was silent for a long moment, eyes fixed on the moonlit horizon. Then he looked at me, his expression unreadable. “That’s… unusual. Are you sure he’s not just pretending to be
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fine?”
I shrugged, trying to seem casual, but inside I felt like my chest would burst. “No, and I don’t know why. Or maybe there’s another reason why still don’t know about.”
He finally broke into a small, thoughtful smile. “I can’t stop you from visiting him, can I? Just make sure you’re safe.”
“I don’t want to be afraid of my own future husband,” I said, surprising myself with the truth. “I want to face what’s coming, with him.”
There was a pause, and then I took a breath, the courage rising in me like wildfire.
“Beta Yuan… I want our wedding to be at midnight.”
His eyes widened slightly, clearly taken aback by the request.
“Maximus will be awake then,” I explained, “and I want him to remember it. To be part of it, even if he’s in pain.”
Beta Yuan hesitated, but I saw the kindness in his gaze soften.
“That can be arranged,” he said quietly. “I’ll make sure it happens.”
The days that followed felt surreal. The pack rallied, every corner bursting with excitement and tension. I helped where I could, though my mind was tangled in worries and hopes. Would Maximus truly be awake? Would he remember me even though it was his Alpha wolf I was talking with every night?
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Rebecca’s POV
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