Chapter 4 Don’t Run
832 Words
Kael
The second she crossed the fence line, the bond snapped tight.
Not formed.
Not complete.
Triggered.
I stood there staring at the empty road long after her boots stopped echoing, jaw locked so hard my teeth ached. The pack waited. They always waited. Wolves know better than to interrupt an alpha when his instincts are screaming.
“She kissed you,” Rylan said.
Not a question.
I turned slowly.
Every man there felt it the shift in pressure, the warning ripple through the air. Rylan didn’t flinch. He never did. That was why he was still breathing.
“She trespassed,” he continued, controlled but sharp. “She challenged you. And she left carrying your scent.”
“I know what happened,” I said.
“She’s human.”
“Not fully.”
That made the night go dead quiet.
Liora lifted her head from where she’d been pretending not to listen. Her eyes flicked to me, then away. Confirmation without words.
Rylan swore under his breath. “That makes it worse.”
“It makes it dangerous,” one of the others muttered.
I stepped forward, boots grinding gravel, hands flexing like they wanted to grab something and break it. My chest burned like I’d inhaled fire. Her smell was still on me—soap, heat, defiance. It clung under my skin like a brand.
“She doesn’t submit,” Rylan said. “You saw that.”
“I saw everything.”
The way she stood her ground.
The way her mouth tasted like she’d bite back.
The way my wolf surged the second she touched me like it had been waiting.
Illegal bond.
Unclaimed blood.
Elders would tear the pack apart for less.
“She comes back,” Rylan said, voice tight, “you end it.”
I laughed.
It came out wrong. Low. Ugly.
“End it how.”
“You know how.”
I did.
That was the problem.
I turned toward the road. The night stretched wide and empty, but my instincts pulled in one direction like a chain around my spine.
“She’s already running,” Rylan said. “Let her go.”
I mounted my bike.
The engine roared to life, loud enough to drown out the arguing that followed. I didn’t look back. Alpha didn’t explain himself.
I hit the highway hard, speed tearing the thoughts from my head until there was nothing but wind and scent.
And there she was.
Not far.
She was walking fast, jacket pulled tight, shoulders tense like she expected the world to grab her from behind. Brave. Stupid. Mine—no, not mine.
Not yet.
I slowed just enough to pace her, engine snarling beside her like a warning animal.
She stopped.
Didn’t turn.
“You following me now?” she said.
I cut the engine.
Silence slammed down between us.
“You didn’t leave far enough,” I said.
She faced me slowly, chin up, eyes bright with fury and something reckless. “You said straight. No turns. I followed your rules.”
“My rules change.”
She snorted. “Figures.”
I dismounted, steps measured. Not crowding her. Not touching. Every instinct screamed to pull her close and mark what had already started.
“You don’t belong near Iron Fang,” I said. “And yet here you are.”
“I was passing through.”
“You don’t pass through wolves.”
Her jaw tightened. “I don’t believe in fairy tales.”
“Then stop acting like bait.”
Her breath hitched. Just once. She covered it fast.
“You kissed me,” she said. “Don’t pretend I started this.”
I stepped closer. Too close.
“I told you to leave.”
“And I did.”
“Not enough.”
The space between us burned. The bond hummed, unfinished and pissed off about it. My wolf pressed forward, pacing inside my skull.
“You think this is about want,” I said. “It’s not.”
Her voice dropped. “Then what is it about.”
“Control.”
She smiled. Slow. Dangerous.
“Then you’re already fucked.”
I should have walked away.
Instead, I lifted a hand and stopped an inch from her jaw. Didn’t touch. Just enough that she felt the heat.
“You come back,” I said. “You don’t run. You don’t provoke. You don’t kiss me again unless you’re ready for consequences.”
Her pulse jumped under my gaze.
“And if I don’t?”
My smile showed teeth.
“Then the pack gets involved.”
She didn’t flinch.
“Good,” she said. “I hate easy roads.”
She turned and kept walking.
I watched until she disappeared into the dark.
Then I swung back onto my bike and headed the other way.
Straight toward the territory line.
Straight toward the Elders.
Because whatever she was?
She wasn’t done with me.
And I sure as hell wasn’t done with her
- Writer
