Betrayed by My Pack – Wolfless Hybrids Escape
Chapter 17 –

Alexei's POV

Cara had been resting fitfully through the night and had multiple nightmares. I dragged my chair over to her while she slept. I kept my hand on hers, and she calmed down at my touch. It was like she knew I was there to protect her, even in her dreams. I didn't think that Paxton was stupid enough to try to climb over the wall to take her back, at least not right now.

I worried she would wake up and be alone in a strange place. I couldn't let that happen. I had fallen asleep between three and four am. I was exhausted, even though my species did not require a lot of sleep. The worry and fear I had felt for Cara had been draining. I have never been so concerned for anyone other than Anton and my mother on this kind of level.

My head was currently resting on her uninjured leg. I was facing her fee, as I would not allow anyone to come in and catch me by surprise. Anyone who wanted to get to her would have to get through me first. I woke up quickly when I felt her fingers running through my hair. It was such a soothing feeling as her fingers stroked through my hair. I didn't want her to ever stop. The feeling on my scalp was delicious. She tried to calm me and comfort me even though I was there to protect and watch over her. My mate is such a compassionate person. I pretended to stay asleep, controlling my breathing to keep it even. I have to admit that I was enjoying her actions way too much. She continued to stoke my hair for a few more minutes before saying, "I know you are awake. Can you tell me your name? Do you feel a connection between us? Do you know why I feel so drawn to you?"

I reluctantly raised my head up and turned to look at her. Even after surgery and her hair a mess, she was gorgeous. "My name is Alexei. I live in the vampire coven next to this pack. One of my men saw you in a vision a week ago. He just had a second vision concerning you and your sisters. We knew you were coming here, so I went to speak to Jaxon about it. Ivan mentioned that the men chasing you would catch you if you were not immediately allowed into the pack. He knew you had been hurt, so we were ready to help you when you arrived. You are safe here. We will protect you. How are you feeling?" I asked her. Concerned that she was in pain.

"I can deal with a little pain. I am used to it at this point. I see you managed to gloss over speaking about the connection between us. Is that a deliberate omission on your part? Is it because you have an issue with me being a defective hybrid?" Cara asked me. That question broke my heart. How much has she gone through to think so harshly about herself?

"No, that is nowhere near the truth. There is nothing wrong with you, Cara. In my eyes, you are perfection, and I already love you. I don't care what or who you are. You are my mate. That is the bond between us. You are more important to me than you could ever know. I will tell you who you are. You are mine. Mine to hold, mine to love, mine to protect. There is nothing flawed about you. I plan on courting you until you accept me. I will love you. I have been waiting so long to replace you. Please, do not just reject me just because I am a vampire. Allow me to prove to you how much you mean to me," I begged her.

I need her to give me a chance to show her how strong our bond can be. Like wolves, we need time together to flourish and grow our bond. I hoped she could see that I was telling her the truth. I could see her searching my eyes for the hint of a lie. She would not replace it a lie. I was absolutely serious about taking my mate. She will be my wife. I will love and protect her for the rest of my days. I could see her nod at me, hopefully in agreement with what I had just told her. I hope that means that she will be giving me a fair chance. People had different opinions about vampires. Some of the rogue vampires have given us a bad name. We feed off animals we hunt for food or from the blood donations we pay people to give. We do not drink from humans or other species. We needed blood, but we would never kill someone to take it from them. "I will get the doctor to come and check on you. I want to make sure you are healing, and everything is OK," I told her as I stepped into the hallway to stop a nurse.

A few minutes later, Dr. Hill entered the room and smiled at Cara. He needs to stop doing that right now. She is not an unmated wolf. She isn't marked yet but has found her mate in me. I am more than accepting of her and what she needs. She listened as he told her about her injury. She seemed surprised to hear how dangerous it had been to her. She is so much tougher than she even realizes. He spoke to her as he checked her injury. I tried to hold back my hiss of anger as he touched her calf as he checked it.

"Your injury is healing up very well, Cara. No heat from it tells me that the antibiotics in your IV are doing their job. You might be able to get checked out of here tomorrow if you continue to keep healing at this rate," Dr Hill told her before excusing himself from the room. A knock sounded at the door a few minutes later. The door opened, and my brother, Anton, and his wife entered the room. As usual, they had the children with them. I am always happy to see it as it has given me hope that one day I, too, would replace my mate. Maksim and Milena raced over to hug me. They were hybrids, both wolf and vampire. They were already ridiculously strong at just a little over five years old.

Anton was carrying Boris, who was three years old, and Cheryl was holding their infant, Risa, who had recently turned one year old. Their two youngest children were just vampires. They were a wonderful family. Anton and Cheryl had a love I have been jealous of for years. I wanted to replace my mate and have my own children, only to be disappointed time and again. I want to have a home life like they did. It would be a dream of mine to build a home for my own family. Just like Anton had built for his family. We had money and a lot of it. I look forward to the day when Cara accepts me. I will wait for that day so Cara can decide what kind of home she wants me to build for her.

All of their children had blonde hair, just like Anton and Cheryl had. The only difference between the children was that the twin's eyes had more of a golden color to them. Instead of the more yellow color denoting us as vampires. I loved my nieces and nephews very much. Being around them has made me want children of my own. I knew that my children would love my brother just as much as his children loved me. It made me smile to realize that I may have everything that I have ever dreamed of very soon.

"Sorry to come so early, but the children insisted on seeing their Uncle Alexei. Cheryl and I were excited to get to meet you, Cara. The children refused to wait. We are outnumbered, so we had to give in sooner or later," Anton told us with a wry smile. He doted on his children. We never thought that we would be able to have our own children. Despite our being royal descendants, it was rare for vampires to be able to have children. It had seemed like an impossible dream until Anton found Cheryl. He fell for her hard and right off the bat, despite her being mated and married. I suddenly felt guilty for teasing him about how quickly he had fallen in love. Now that I have fallen hard, I can understand what he had gone through.

"Hi, I am Cheryl, and this is my husband, Anton. He and Alexei are brothers," Cheryl told Cara before she introduced each child to Cara. I was so proud of the children. They were polite and on their best behavior. I am sure they warned them to behave on the way here. I watched Cara's eyes light up as she looked at the children. I could tell she wanted children, too, which made me sigh in relief.

I watched as Cheryl handed Risa over to Cara to hold before pulling the chair on the other side of the bed closer to Cara. Cheryl told Cara some of her back story. Including the part where she was a she-wolf and former Luna of a pack. She described how she had accepted Anton and was willing to become a vampire herself to live out her days with Anton. I knew at that point that either Ivan or Robert had outed me. They wanted to welcome her into our family. It meant a lot that they were doing that for me.

I could see Cara appreciating how warmly she was being welcomed. I could see that she was very hesitant with them at first. It wasn't because we were vampires. She clearly had a long-standing fear of other's actions against her drilled into her. She was ready to shut down if needed. She wasn't obvious about it. You wouldn't have even noticed she was doing it unless you were watching her carefully. Having the children here with us helped. Cara warmed up quickly to them. I was praying she would be willing to give me a chance. I could tell that she already liked my brother and his family.

"Alexei, I heard from Robert last night that Kevin is supposed to come here this morning. He mentioned that you had told him it was important. Is it more good news?" Cheryl asked.

"More good news?" Cara asked with a frown.

"Yes, I received good news, and others have as well. I am sure your sisters will be here very soon to fill you in. I had one of the nurses mindlink Jaxon that you are awake. I knew that you would want to see them. They are having breakfast, and I asked them to bring you a plate when they come. The Moon Goddess guided you here. She protected you on your journey," I replied.

A few minutes later, another knock sounded on the door. Cara's sisters arrived with their hands full of food and drinks for Cara. I could tell that Jaxon wanted me to exit the room. Cheryl nodded at us. I knew that she would protect Cara if it came down to it. When I exited the room, I saw two guards standing outside Cara's door.

I turned to look at Jaxon, and before I could ask, he said, "We have visitors. Paxton is at our gate again, and he brought a council representative with him."