Half Faced Alpha
Chapter 24

Natalia's eyes fluttered open, and it was filled as she slowly opened it, her left eye dropping the overflowing tears down her face.

She looked around, realizing she wasn't back at her home with her father anymore, but Axton's home.

She looked around, to see Alpha Axton's bare back turned to her. He was leaning, his face supported by his palms that stood on his laps.

He didn't know she had woken up, and he kept his back turned to her, his expression shielded away from her.

"Axton?" She said, here voice small and teary. Somehow hearing the sound of her own voice brought more tears to her eyes.

He turned immediately, and felt her cheek, then her forehead. "You were burning up earlier. I am sorry."

"Did you...bury him?" She asked, her eyes filling.

"I sent some people back to prepare the body. I do not know of...you would like to see the funeral. I would rather you do not...But..he is your father. I do not want to take your rights away from you." He held himself above her, lacing his hands into her hair comforting her in the way he knew best.

She looked down, sniffing back the years that were already unapologetically running down her cheeks.

"Do you know who killed him?"

He shook his head. He knew, but what would that help her with? "It was a natural death."

She burst into another round of tears and without a single word, he cradled her in his arms, letting her cry all she wanted.

The funeral was soon prepared and Axton made them bury him right beside his own parent's graves. He didn't know them at all, he had only been some months old when they died, so he never really missed them.

Natalia watched from her window, safely tucked in Axton's arms and his body served as a shield for her to fall on when she got too weak. Some sentences are incomplete if you are not reading this novel on Narugi.com. Visit Narugi.com to read the complete chapters for free. He had forgotten about his own countless scars, and his own pain from all her tears...and focused all his energy on helping her get through this low.

"I brought food, Natalia." He said as he walked in with a plate of food he had made himself. "I made it myself for you. Please eat."

She looked up to him as he sat next to her on the bed, then patted her hair.

"I do not feel like eating." She said simply. "So, Axton...now, you are really... the only one I have."

He nodded. He thought of it too. At first he had taken her forcefully, but now, because of him, she had nowhere to go back to. Except him.

"I will take care of you." He sat her up and propped a feathered pillow up for her to lean on.

"What are you going to do?" She asked him. "In the end, I have come to realize I am nothing but a cure to your inexplicable affliction. I can not hate you because that would make you bedridden. I can not leave because you need me."

"You are not just a cure, Natalia. You are my mate. You are the woman the moon goddess has designed for me. You are the woman in my destiny, Natalia. I know your life went upside down the first time you met me, but..."

"But...? Can it bring my father back? Can it take me back there so I spend his last moment with him?"

He swallowed. "Please eat, Natalia."

"How am I supposed to eat? I was blissfully asleep in a house where my father was lying cold and lifeless. How could you sleep?"

"I did not. I did not, Natalia. And I could not disrupt your sleep with such horrible news....I am sorry, I do not deserve you. I am sorry I am not well versed in all of this. I do not even know the words to comfort you with, I just hope you would...be comforted by my presence alone."

She held her quivering lips between her teeth. "What happens to me now?"

He moved closer, leaving the food on the table. "You will be with me. You will stay with me and I will protect you. Whatever that takes."

He leaned her head on his shoulder as he brought the food. "Please eat. I beg you."

He helped her sit back up and then fed her slowly, taking time to wipe off her tears occasionally.

He didn't know what to start apologizing for, and he wished he at least knew that much.

She fell asleep much later, and he sat by her all day, till morning.

"Alpha, good morning."

Alpha Axton nodded at the greeting. "Is something wrong?"

Beta Scott shook his head. "The burial went okay, and everything is fine with the pack. I did not know you left when the eclipse started."

"I did. It was too dangerous for her."

"Yes. Even the wolfsbane might not stop some. Speaking of...your back and hands...you are injured all over."

"It is best to be honest."

"How so?"

"Because I need the pain outside to numb the one inside. It would be too unbearable without it."

Beta Scott went silent for some time. "I will bring the healer."

"Beta? Have you found your mate yet?"

Beta Scott nodded. "Yes, I did."

"Does it always feel like a million stabs when she cries? Or when she is hurting?"

"Does it feel that way when Natalia is crying?"

Axton sighed. "For some reason, it feels like I should cry too." He blinked the tears back. "There is this deep sadness within me...a sadness that I am not sure of the source. It feels like I should cry."

Beta Scott hesitated, then walked closer to where alpha Axton was sitting and lightly patted his shoulder. "Then maybe you should. If you feel her pain that much, then maybe you should share it with her." "Then who will comfort her if I falter too?"

"You can always cry when she is not looking, Alpha. You do not have to carry the burden in you."

Alpha Axton smiled and looked up to him. "I guess I was not wrong with my choice of a beta."

Beta Scott chuckled. "If you think so."

"Axton?" Natalia's voice suddenly rang through their ears and Alpha Axton stood.

"Yes?"

"I found some ointments. For your back. I saw how scarred it was earlier."

Beta Scott gave a knowing smile and stood. "I will leave you two now. Call me when you need me, Alpha."

"I will."

He walked out, as Natalia came to his side, occupying the position Beta Scott was.

"How do you feel now?" He asked her as she slowly made him lean, so she could see all the injuries on his back. "I will just do as you said."

"What?" he asked her as the cool feel of the ointment spread everywhere she touched.

"I will remember him as soulful and full of life. I will remember him as my first love. And then...I will try to be better."

He turned to her, her almost teary blue eyes meeting his turbulent blood red ones.

"Would I...be taking advantage of your sadness if...I decided to kiss you now?" He asked her without batting an eyelid.

She gave him a small smile. One of her smiles that seemed to chip at his heart every time. "You would be making me even sadder if you decided not to."

It was all the confirmation he needed and he gently pulled her to him, his hand cupping her face and his fingers lacing themselves naturally into her hair.

He leaned forward, watching the expression in her eyes as he went, and when he got close enough to feel the slight flutter of her lashes on his face, her breath warm on his skin, he knew he had crossed the point he promised himself not to. He didn't feel this way because of a mate bond. The mate bond had done its part in taking him to her, but now...now things were a lot different.

"Thank you," he said. He didn't know what he was thanking her for, but it just felt right to do jt.

She closed her eyes as he brushed his lips lightly on hers, taking her breath with it, and leaving small tingles on her lips.

He moved away and she almost opened her eyes before he crashed his lips on hers again, knocking the breath out of her, his fingers lacing into her hair almost painfully.

He parted her lips naturally like he had done it before, and moved his hand to cup her waist like he knew exactly what to do.

Because with her, everything always fell into place. After a lot, it would still fall into place and that was her allure. That was why he knew just how much he couldn't let go of her now. Because she was comfortable. She always will be.