The Alpha's Unclaimed Mate-Chapter 114: We Do Not Rip Dress

Dexmon pulled back from her lips and pressed his forehead to hers.

"You just focus on feeling better. Let me worry about the rest."

Serena swallowed.

"Okay," she whispered after a moment.

Dex sat up with her still pressed against his chest. As if he still wasn’t convinced she wouldn’t run if he let go.

"You’re sore," he said, kissing her head.

She didn’t argue, because he wasn’t wrong. Baths always had a way of making her feel better. And right now, her body ached. Her heart ached worse.

He carried her into the bathing chamber, at Alpha speed, and turned on the water with one hand while still holding her.

He slid the silk chemise off her shoulders, his breath hitching as the fabric fell away.

She blushed, heat crawling up her neck. But she didn’t pull away.

"You are so beautiful," he whispered, caressing her cheek.

His lips found hers again, soft and reverent, before he lifted her and carried her to the bath. He lowered her into the water slowly, carefully, like she might break.

The warmth enveloped her immediately, and the knot behind her ribs loosened, one slow thread at a time.

Dex stripped off his clothes and climbed in behind her, pulling her back against his chest. His lips traced across her shoulder, her neck, her temple. Kissing every part of her he could reach.

His emotions flowed through their matebond to her.

Relief. Overwhelming, desperate relief. He’d been terrified he’d lost her for good.

Underneath her own tangle of emotions, she felt it too. A small, quiet echo of the same relief.

She was here. He was here. And for now, that was enough.

"I love you so much, baby," Dexmon whispered, breathing in her scent.

She loved him too. She did. But saying it aloud made her heart feel heavy and conflicted again.

He nibbled her ear playfully, breaking her out of her spiral. "I didn’t know our dragon breathed gold magic and fire."

Her brows furrowed but no images came to mind.

"When did he do that?" she asked, swallowing.

Dexmon laughed behind her. "While you stood on his head and killed a Dark Fae High General." He shook his head and kissed her cheek. "And after, he sucked the excess energy from you."

"I don’t remember killing Dark Fae," Serena commented. "Did they explode?"

"They turned to ash. No explosions," Dexmon answered. He was quiet for a moment, his thumb tracing circles on her arm. "What are you thinking about?"

Serena exhaled. "I’m trying to figure out what is wrong with me."

Dexmon laughed. "How much time do you have? I can start alphabetically."

Serena started laughing despite herself.

"Why are you wondering what’s wrong with you? Because you killed fae and can’t remember?"

"No." Serena swallowed. "It’s because I feel numb to the fact that I did. And when I shot them off the dragons ... the first one, I felt bad. Then nothing."

Dex understood that. He’d fought in wars and many battles. "There would have been no survivors if you hadn’t intervened. You haven’t gone out of your way to kill them, either. They invaded."

He kissed her shoulder and squeezed her tighter. "There’s nothing wrong with you. Those thoughts are common for new soldiers after battle. Killing is never easy. Feeling nothing about it later doesn’t make you a monster. It makes you someone who did what they had to do."

Serena didn’t respond, but he felt her spiraling again through their matebond. Self-directed frustration. Guilt. Sadness. His brows furrowed.

His wolf spoke before he could react.

Aegon: Severing a matebond as deep as yours hurt her at a soul level. Even with us marking her again. It will take time for her to heal.

Dex: Why isn’t it affecting us like this?

Aegon: I told you. The fated bond didn’t sever on our side. When she severed it, there was nothing to sever on our end. I marked her again before the black magic wore off.

Dexmon pushed calm and love into her through their matebond. She jolted in surprise, a small gasp escaping her.

"There’s nothing wrong with you, Serena," Dex said, voice firm. "You’re just feeling aftereffects from breaking a matebond. It’ll get better."

✦✦✦

Dexmon took care of her, and she let him.

She was depressed. He could feel it like a weight pressing down on his own chest, heavy and gray. But he got her to laugh a few times. That felt like winning something.

He washed her hair, helped her dry off, and pulled out a training suit for her.

She put it on, smoothing the dark fabric over her hips, completely unaware of the invisible threat clinging to the fibers. She began to turn back towards him, but Dexmon stiffened.

There was a slight change in her scent. Something chemical. Wrong.

His eyes widened. He rapidly unzipped the back of her suit and saw purple residue smeared across her skin.

"Shit," he whispered.

She looked down, surprised. Dex didn’t wait for her to say anything. He scooped her up and was moving into the bathing chamber at alpha speed.

He stopped under the shower, turning on the faucets.

Water poured down on them both. He pulled off her suit quickly, and gave zero fucks that his own clothes were getting soaked in the process.

His hands moved fast, rinsing the residue from her body and thoroughly checking every inch.

Serena blinked, stunned by how rapidly he detected it and acted.

"Don’t worry, Dex," she said after a minute. "I’m okay."

Dex’s face darkened at that. "Are you trying to comfort me while I’m rinsing poison off your body? Poison that will kill you?"

"Agnes said half a day, remember?" Serena said.

Dex gave a reluctant laugh and shook his head. "That’s not the reassurance you think it is, baby."

Dex wrapped her in a bathrobe and pulled her into a tight hug.

"Stay here for a second," he said, pressing his lips to her forehead. "Hale is looking through your other clothes now."

The majority of Serena’s clothes were removed from the room. Hale stood by the closet, jaw tight, shaking his head.

"Almost all of her clothes were laced. Outside of one training suit and her night gowns." Then he added, "The gown you had repaired is clear."

Dex grabbed the training suit from the pile Hale had cleared and looked it over carefully before letting Serena touch it.

✦✦✦

"I have something for you," he said once she was dressed. He grabbed her hand and pulled her into their half-empty closet.

A gown hung in a garment bag, zipped up and protected.

Serena stopped. Then her hand flew to her mouth.

She didn’t move for a few seconds, staring at it like she was afraid it would disappear if she moved too fast.

Her chin trembled. Then she swallowed and looked back at him, with grateful eyes. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

"Thank you. Can I look at it?" She was already moving towards it when she asked, face lighting up.

"Of course," Dex answered softly, wrapping his arms around her from behind and kissing her head.

He had spoken with Elara earlier about the night of Serena’s crowning ceremony. His instincts were never wrong when it came to Serena, and he knew something happened before she went to Hyran’s study that night. He described it to Elara, trying to understand.

Based on Serena’s reaction, Elara’s guess had been correct.

Dex swallowed guilt as all her emotions washed into him through their matebond. He really didn’t realize how much the dress meant to her or he wouldn’t have been an idiot.

He planned on talking about it with Serena, but today was not the day for that. That night was a memory she didn’t need to revisit.

"Go ahead. Touch it. I promise I won’t rip this one," Dex said after a moment, then paused. "Probably."

She laughed, a genuine, warm sound that reached her eyes. Dex felt the weight in his own chest lift.

He blinked, his own eyes reddening. He wasn’t about to let himself get emotional over a dress.

Aegon: We do not rip dress when we want to mate with mate.

Dex: I KNOW.

Aegon: Good luck not doing that again.

Aegon’s laughter echoed in his mind.