4
1504 Words
CELESTE
For the first hour, I told myself I wouldn’t ask any questions. Wherever he was taking me didn’t matter. I just wanted the distance between me and those damned gray eyes that seemed to see more than I wanted them to.
I had underestimated how powerful a bond could be. Sitting with Knox and his scent in such a confined space was doing things to me, and my wolf wasn’t helping. I wanted to purr so bad.
I was so distracted with containing all the silly emotions bubbling within me that I didn’t pay attention. But when the car began to slow, and the trees outside became painfully familiar, I froze.
The scent hit me like a memory I’d buried so deep I thought it had rotted away.
My pulse spiked. “Knox,” I said quietly.
He didn’t look at me. His jaw was tight, hands clenched on the wheel.
“Knox,” I repeated, louder this time. “Where the hell are we?”
He said nothing.
“No,” I whispered. My fingers dug into the seatbelt. “No, no, you didn’t ”
“Celeste ”
“You son of a b***h!” The words tore out of me. “You brought me here?”
He finally looked at me with eyes dark and unreadable. “You need to see your father.”
“Great! How I must have missed the old man. Should I also start shedding tears profusely?” I sneered. “Do you think he wants to see me? I left, Knox! I left and made damn sure I’d never come back!”
“You disappeared,” he said evenly. “Everyone thought you were dead.”
“That was the point!” I snapped.
He slammed the brakes. The tires screeched, the car jerked to a stop right before the old wrought-iron gate that marked the boundary.
My throat tightened before I even saw the sign. WELCOME TO DARK VINE TERRITORY.
For a few moments, we sat in a silence heavy enough to crush the air between us.
Then he turned toward me slowly. “It was a difficult decision, but I had to do it. I had no other choice.”
“You did,” I hissed. “But that’s what you do, isn’t it? Control everything. Play the savior when it suits you. Drag people where you think they belong.”
His nostrils flared, and I looked away, my throat burning.
The car was too quiet again. The forest still whispered with the same haunted calm. The air still pulsed with power, old and restless. And under all that, the faintest trace of the pack bond the one I’d severed when I ran away. Now it hummed again, faint but undeniable, tugging at something deep inside me.
“You can’t do this,” I said, quieter this time.
“I told you I’d let you go,” he said. “I never said where.”
“Don’t play word games with me.”
He sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. “Your father deserves to know you’re alive.”
“My father doesn’t deserve a damn thing.”
Knox’s gaze softened for a moment. “You don’t mean that.”
I did. I meant every word.
The memories flooded me. The shouting, the walls that always felt like cages, the endless rules, the weight of being the “Dark Vine heiress.” I’d been raised to be perfect, obedient, diplomatic, and a weapon for the pack’s future. I’d been trained to lead, to marry, to serve and when I refused to be any of those things, he’d called me ungrateful.
“Turn the car around,” I said through clenched teeth.
He didn’t move.
I grabbed the handle, but his hand shot out, catching my wrist. The heat of his skin sent a jolt straight through me, my wolf stirring uneasily.
“Don’t,” he said, voice low.
I glared at him. “What the hell is wrong with you? What about this looks or sounds like a good idea?”
“You need to go home, Celeste.”
“Home?” I snarled. “That’s what you call this?”
His silence was answer enough.
I shoved the door open and stumbled out. My legs were still weak from the poison, but anger had a way of lending me strength. I turned back to him.
“I cannot believe you brought me here!” I screamed. “Of all the places in this damned world, you brought me here!”
He stepped out of the car slowly, shutting the door behind him with calm that only made me want to scream. “You belong here,” he said simply.
“No.” My head shook violently. “I don’t belong here. Not anymore. Not after what they did to me. Not after what I did to them.”
He took a step forward, but I backed away. “Celeste ”
“Don’t you dare say my name like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like you care,” I spat. “You don’t. You’re just another asshole.”
He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “You’re not thinking straight.”
I laughed again. “Oh, I’m thinking perfectly fine. You drugged me, kidnapped me, dragged me across gods-know-how-many miles, and now you dump me in front of the one place I swore I’d never return to. You’re lucky I’m not clawing your eyes out right now.”
“Kidnapped you?” His tone sharpened. “You were dying in my territory, Celeste. I saved your damn life.”
“Maybe I didn’t want it saved!”
The words tore from me before I could stop them. They hung in the air, raw and terrible. His expression flickered before hardening again. I stared at him, trying to ignore the dull throb of the bond between us that wouldn’t shut up, no matter how much I wanted it to.
The wind rustled through the trees. Somewhere in the distance, a wolf howled. And all I could think was how cruelly, stupidly wrong this was.
“Do you know what happens if they find out I’m alive?” I whispered.
His eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about?”
“My father will lock me in that mansion and never let me out again. The Elders will tear apart my name for leaving.”
“Then we’ll deal with them.”
I laughed so hard it hurt. “You really haven’t changed. Always playing savior, always pretending you can fix everything by force.”
He let out a deep sigh.
“Let me go. You brought me here. Congratulations, your conscience is clean. You can go back to your perfect little pack and forget I ever existed.”
He stepped close enough that I could feel the warmth of him, the wildness radiating from his skin. “It’s already too late for that.” He growled.
I refused to look up, but I felt his gaze burning into me.
“Let’s get you home, Celeste,” he said finally. “At least there, someone will protect you.”
“I don’t need protecting.”
He reached out, fingers brushing my arm a touch so light it sent shivers down my spine. “You keep saying that,” he whispered, “but your eyes say something else.”
I jerked away, the movement sharp and desperate. “Don’t touch me.”
For a heartbeat, neither of us moved. Then he stepped back, jaw tight. “Fine.”
He turned, walked back to the car, got in, and waited.
The ache in my chest was louder than ever. I told myself I was angry. That I hated him. That I’d never forgive him for bringing me here. But it was too late to go back now. The sentries and scouts must have already caught our scent.
The only reason they weren’t surrounding us right now was that Knox was an Alpha. Besides, I was feeling tired and weak again. I needed to save all this energy for my father.
I let out a frustrated growl and marched back into the car. As soon as I shut the door, Knox turned back toward the wheel and started driving again.
The gates opened with a low creak, metal groaning against stone. By the time we reached the pack house, my chest felt too tight to breathe. The memories were flooding me now.
“I shouldn’t have come back,” I said, mostly to myself.
But Knox heard. “You didn’t come back,” he said quietly. “I brought you.”
I shot him a glare so sharp it could’ve cut through stone. “Then congratulations. You’ve done your good deed. Now leave.”
His jaw tightened. “Not until I know you’re safe.”
I laughed, bitter and humorless. “You brought me back to the one place where I’ll never be safe.”
- Writer
