The Alpha's Unclaimed Mate-Chapter 22: He Cleaned WHAT While She Was Unconscious?

Her first disorienting thought was fabric. Silk. A short chemise she did not remember putting on.

Her second thought was the sensation, everywhere his skin touched hers. She was laying on top of Dex and his shirt was off.

Then his scent hit her.

Forest after rain. Clean and deep and far stronger than she remembered. Had it always been like that, or was she only just aware of it now?

Memory crashed back like a wave. Fragments. Fire. His hands, his mouth, stirring a storm inside her.

She wasn’t even fully awake, but her thoughts were sprinting.

Was this what the matebond felt like? Had he changed her clothes? Cleaned her while she was unconscious? Oh hells, she was a virgin so there was definitely blood. Gods.

Her face burned hot enough to rival a forge.

Aegon: She is upset.

Dexmon: I know.

His arms tightened around her.

"Hey... you’re okay," he whispered, kissing the top of her head.

Then a strange surge of calm and adoration hit her hard. Almost like it was pushed into her, but it wasn’t hers.

Did Dex just do that?

Her eyes flew open at the exact moment he rolled them both over. Her back hit the bed, and his body hovered over hers.

"What’s wrong?" he asked, kissing her temple.

Then her cheek. Her forehead. The corner of her mouth. Everywhere.

She started to laugh, and it made him crack up mid-kiss.

Some of the stress she felt faded, but not all of it.

Then it clicked. He understood.

"I had to clean you. The smell of what we did was driving me crazy."

His lips found hers.

He knew she felt him now. It wasn’t the deep bond they would share once her wolf healed, but she felt him—just like any mate would once they were marked.

He pulled back a second later. "I won’t be able to stop. And Alaric’s already livid I marked you."

Her hand drifted to her neck.

Dex watched her carefully. "I wanted to ask you first... but my wolf..."

She cut him off abruptly with a kiss, feeling his worry. There was no need.

Blaming the wolf was the oldest excuse in the history of shifters. Somehow it worked every single time.

The kiss began to deepen, but a sharp knock at the door jolted them both.

"One moment," Dex called, rolling off the bed. He threw on pants and a shirt, then reached for a silk robe hanging in his closet.

Serena’s gaze flicked to it, curiosity flashing. She had never seen it before.

"I got it for you," he said, crossing the room. He was already putting it on her before she could respond.

Alaric stepped into the room and shot Dex a look.

"Told you he was mad," Dex said, grinning.

Alaric pinched the bridge of his nose. "She was poisoned three days ago, had an EpiPen shot two days ago, and was marked yesterday." He paused. "Dear gods."

"She’s my fated mate," Dex announced proudly, lifting one of Serena’s hands and pressing a kiss to her knuckles.

Serena blushed, caught off guard by the gesture.

Alaric froze mid-sigh, then smiled. "The most attractive couple in Drakenfell. A perfect match. Infuriating, but perfect."

The compliment landed like a coin tossed into a well. Sincere, but he clearly wished he could fish it back out.

He handed off a tray of tonics, which Serena downed.

"No physical activity," he said sternly. "None. Take it easy today."

Dex’s mouth opened with the speed of a man who had already calculated exactly how many loopholes existed in that sentence.

"None," Alaric repeated, glaring.

His gaze lingered on Dex.

"That is a medical order."

Dex lifted his hands. "I hear you."

Alaric snorted, clearly unconvinced, and left the room shaking his head.

Aegon: He does not trust you.

Dexmon: I said I heard him.

Aegon: You hear many things. You obey none of them.

Dex picked Serena up before she had a chance to protest, sweeping her off the bed like she weighed nothing.

"Dex—"

He was already carrying her through the arched doorway into his bathing chamber, where a freestanding tub was steaming.

"You’re sore." His mouth found the spot just below her ear. "I can feel it."

His kisses made her start to laugh, breathless and blushing.

He pulled his shirt off in one smooth motion. She was still caught somewhere between flustered and enchanted when he reached for the belt on her robe, slipping it off.

He pulled the silk chemise over her head and then froze, forgetting how to breathe.

She turned a deeper shade of scarlet under his gaze.

"That blush," he murmured. His hand cupped her face gently. "You have no idea what you’re doing to me."

He gathered her up and carried her to the marble bath, easing her in. Serena groaned the second the hot water hit her skin.

The heat, the herbs, the scent. It felt incredible. Her muscles were sore, and her body ached.

Dex slid in behind her and pulled her against his chest, his arms locking around her.

Aegon: We have never shared a bath with anyone.

Dex: I know.

Aegon: We are doing this every day now.

"My mate doesn’t talk much in the mornings," he commented lightly, a playful tone threading his voice as he nibbled at her ear.

She gave a small, helpless smile, soft and a little unsure, not quite knowing what to say. It was a lot to take in. Her vocabulary had been reduced to blushes since she woke.

"Thank you for taking care of me." She swallowed, turning to face him. Her green eyes were open and sincere, filled with unguarded gratitude.

Dex swallowed, his throat locking. He hadn’t prepared for gratitude to feel like that, unperformed, unguarded, aimed directly at him.

It was her sincerity that hit the hardest. She meant every word and looked at him like he’d earned them.

"I will always take care of you."

He washed her hair and shoulders, careful and attentive.

Aegon: You washed her hair.

Dexmon: I’m aware.

She turned in the water and reached for him.

"You are absolutely not well enough to be washing me." His tone was firm, but his resolve was melted in two seconds by her giggle. "This goes against my better judgment."

Their laughter intertwined, easy and unguarded. It reminded Dex of who he was before war and duty hardened him.

He would gladly lose every argument if it meant hearing hers again.

Aegon: Use the lavender soap next.

Dex: Are you going to narrate the entire bath?

Aegon: Yes.

✦✦✦

Just as he was drifting off to sleep, a noise came from outside, like boots scraping on stone.

He slid out of bed, careful not to wake her. Then he immediately froze, catching a scent that didn’t belong.

But when he sniffed again, the scent was gone.

Regardless, something felt off, so he checked the balcony first, then the windows. Nothing suspicious. He locked and bolted every one of them anyway before crawling back into bed.

Long after, he still lay awake, haunted by a sound he thought he’d heard and a scent that felt all wrong. Ridiculous.

Was this just him being overprotective? The line between his protective instincts and logic was blurred. He’d never felt this way about someone before, and he would do everything in his power to keep her safe.

He pulled her closer, pressing his nose into her hair, and a thought hit him so hard he stopped breathing.

He loved her.

Aegon: You just realized?

✦✦✦

Serena slept for another full day, her body recovering in slow, stubborn increments.

When she finally stirred, Dex was sitting beside her, engrossed in what looked like an official report. One hand stroked her back, as if he hadn’t moved in hours.

"You have duties. You don’t have to keep—"

"Nope," he cut her off, not even looking up. "Handled."

"You can’t just pause everything to take care of me."

"I can and will. Try and stop me."

Then another thought crept in, less rational but far more pressing.

She didn’t want to overstay her welcome in his quarters.

Dex felt her hesitation through the matebond, as if she were carefully weighing options. His gaze snapped to her, sharp and focused, trying to understand.

"Oh, right," Dex said, as if the thought had just occurred to him, "I had your things moved in."

Aegon: "Oh, right." As if you did not move her in with precision of a wartime logistics operation.

Dexmon: It was a natural transition.

"You what?"

"Relax. I did it days ago."

"Dex," she said, half-laughing, half-incredulous, "isn’t that a little fast? Are you sure?"

He scoffed as if she had personally offended him. Then he starfished on top of her, claiming space like an overgrown, territorial toddler who had very loudly called dibs.

"You are mine," he mumbled into her shoulder, his voice muffled and stubborn.

She huffed, trying to shove him off. "You are ridiculous."

"No," he corrected. He didn’t elaborate.

Instead, he tightened his hold around her, squeezing her the way a child holds a stuffed animal after being told bedtime is in five minutes. With defiance.

The idea that she was intruding was absurd. He wanted her within reach. Within sight. At all times. Preferably touching.

"Still mine," he added, as if reminding her in case she had forgotten in the last three seconds.

She felt his emotions for the first time through the matebond.

Not dominance or certainty. Nerves. A tight, quiet tension he was trying very hard not to show. He braced himself for her to say no.

"You live here now," he said firmly. "I wanted that from the moment I brought you back."

He kissed her again, then pressed his forehead to hers.

She felt more nerves roll off him and realized he needed to hear it.

"Yours," she said, squeezing him back.

Aegon: The most feared alpha in Skardos, undone by a five-letter word from a woman who weighs less than your armor.

Dexmon: Are you done?

Aegon: I will be savoring this for weeks.

Serena’s breathing evened out against him, her fingers still curled in his shirt.

Hale’s mindlink hit without warning.

Hale: Someone broke into Serena’s old quarters. Window smashed. Room torn apart.

Dex’s arms tightened around her without him meaning to.

Dexmon: When?

Hale: Tonight. Omega on night watch heard the glass and called it in. Whoever it was had already gone by the time she arrived.

Dexmon: How bad?

Hale: Bad. Furniture overturned. Bedding shredded. This wasn’t a search, Dex. This was a message.

He stared at the ceiling. Serena warm and trusting against his chest. Completely unaware that someone had just destroyed the room she would have been sleeping in tonight.

If he hadn’t moved her when he did, she would have been in that bed.