HIS SAVAGE VOW

You Don't Get to Decide

Chapter 2: You Don’t Get to Decide

The parking garage was empty.

Cold. Quiet. Safe.

Lies.

The fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, casting everything in a sick yellow glow. My breath came out in short puffs. I leaned against my car, knuckles white around the keys, trying to breathe through it. Trying to shove the wolf back down where it belonged.

If Kade caught my scent, it was over. No more hiding. No more normal life. No more pretending I was just Selene Miller, ER nurse, no pack, no past.

“Stop running,” he said from behind me.

I didn’t jump. I’d trained myself out of that five years ago.

“Stop finding me,” I shot back, not turning around yet. If I looked at him, I’d lose the argument. I always did.

“You’re my mate.”

The word hit like a slap. My chest tightened. Stupid body. Stupid bond.

“And you’re the reason I ran,” I said, finally turning. I forced myself to meet his eyes. Ice blue, sharp, unreadable. “Remember what you said? ‘A good Luna doesn’t argue. She obeys.’”

Kade’s jaw locked. A muscle ticked under his skin.

“I was wrong.”

“Too late.”

He stepped closer. I didn’t back up. I wouldn’t give him that satisfaction.

The air between us felt electric. Dangerous. Like if one of us moved wrong, we’d combust. The bond between us pulled, hot and heavy, making my skin feel too tight.

“I searched for three years,” he said, voice rough. “Every pack. Every territory. Do you know what it’s like to think your mate is dead?”

My throat went dry.

“Do you know what it’s like to be sold at seventeen?” I whispered. The words tasted like ash. “To have your own father sign you over like property to your father?”

His face darkened, shadows moving across his features.

“My father’s dead. And yours will be if he sets foot in my territory.”

There it was. Violence. Control. Ownership.

The reason I ran.

“See?” I laughed, short and bitter. “This is why I left.”

“I’m Alpha,” Kade said simply. “I protect what’s mine.”

“I’m not yours.”

The bond flared. Heat. Recognition. Want.

For one second, I forgot why I was angry. Forgot why I ran. All I could feel was him. The way his presence filled the space, the way my wolf recognized him instantly, even after five years of suppression.

I hated it.

I forced myself to step back. Put space between us.

“I’m off shift,” I said again, grabbing my bag from the passenger seat. “Don’t follow me.”

Kade didn’t answer. He just watched me, eyes dark with something I couldn’t name. Regret? Anger? Possession?

I walked out.

The cold night air hit me like a slap. My scrubs were damp with sweat under my jacket. I moved fast toward the exit, heart hammering.

“Selene.”

He was behind me. Of course he was.

I didn’t turn around.

“You can’t avoid me forever,” he said. His voice was quieter now, but no less dangerous.

“I’m trying,” I said, unlocking the car with shaking hands.

Kade didn’t touch me. He didn’t need to. He just stood there, and the bond between us pulled like a chain around my chest.

“Why did you run?” he asked quietly.

I stopped. For a second, I almost told him. Almost said because you scared me, because you made me feel small, because I thought if I stayed I’d lose myself completely.

“Because you’d have caged me,” I said instead. “And I’d rather die free than live in your cage.”

For a second, nothing.

Then Kade said, “I’m not caging you anymore.”

I finally looked at him.

He looked tired. Angry. Desperate.

It didn’t make me feel better. If anything, it made it worse. Because now I could see the man under the Alpha. The man who’d made mistakes and knew it.

“Too late,” I said again. The words felt hollow this time.

I got in the car and locked the doors. My hands shook as I started the engine.

Through the window, I saw his expression shift. Something raw. Something dangerous.

“Don’t come to my apartment,” I said. “I mean it.”

Kade didn’t answer.

I drove off.

In the rearview mirror, he was still standing there. Stone face. Ice eyes.

He’d come for me again.

He always did.

And this time, I wasn’t sure I wanted him to stop.

The thought scared me more than anything he’d ever said.

Because if I let him back in, I might not be able to walk away a second time.