THE ALPHA AT MY DOOR
1359 Words
CHAPTER 6: THE ALPHA AT MY DOOR
The blizzard didn’t stop chasing us.
It screamed through the trees, clawing at my back, trying to drag me back to the cabin. Back to the blood. Back to the rogues.
Ryder’s hand was still locked around mine.
Hot.
Steady.
The only warm thing in a world of ice.
My legs were numb. My lungs burned. But I ran.
Because the howls were getting closer.
“Silver Moon,” Ryder spat again. Like the name was poison. “Kael’s scouts.”
At his name, my chest twisted.
Kael.
The Alpha who rejected me 12 hours ago.
The Alpha who watched me bleed.
Why would he be looking for me now?
“Stop,” Ryder ordered. He yanked me behind a massive pine tree. Snow exploded around us.
He pressed one hand to my mouth. The other went to my chest, right over the crescent mark.
I could feel his heartbeat. Fast. Angry.
“Not a sound,” he whispered against my ear. His breath was hot. “If they smell you, they’ll take you back to him.”
Back to him.
The thought made me sick.
We waited.
Three heartbeats.
Five.
Ten.
Footsteps crunched through the snow.
Two sets.
Warriors.
“Spread out,” a voice said. Young. Familiar. Beta Trent.
“He can’t be far. Alpha said her scent is everywhere. Like lightning and ozone.”
Lightning.
They smelled my power.
My wolf, Ember, stirred. Not in fear.
In rage.
_They want to cage us,_ she growled in my head. _We won’t go._
Ryder’s fingers tightened on my wrist. A silent warning.
_Don’t._
The footsteps moved past. Away.
I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding.
Ryder dropped his hand from my mouth. But he didn’t let go of me.
“We need to move,” he said. “Now.”
We ran again.
For how long, I don’t know.
Minutes. Hours.
Until the trees thinned and a new smell hit me.
Smoke.
Woodsmoke.
And leather. And male.
Ryder stopped so fast I almost ran into him.
His whole body went rigid.
“Down,” he hissed.
We dropped into the snow.
Ahead of us, through the white, was a cabin.
Not the one that was destroyed.
This one was bigger. Stone foundation. Smoke curling from the chimney.
And on the porch...
Stood him.
Alpha Kael Black.
He was in full black tactical gear. Rain and snow soaked his shoulders. His hair was plastered to his forehead.
But his eyes.
His gold eyes were scanning the treeline like a predator.
Like he was hunting.
My stomach dropped.
He looked wrecked.
Jaw tight. Scar on his brow bleeding again.
And in his arms
A white cloak.
My cloak.
The one I wore when he rejected me.
The one I dropped in the snow.
“Is that her?” another voice came from inside the cabin. Beta Cole.
“His scent is all over her. The bond is flaring like crazy. He hasn’t slept in 12 hours.”
Kael didn’t answer.
He just stared at the forest.
Right at where we were hiding.
Could he see us?
No. Impossible.
Ryder pulled me back further. His face was inches from mine.
“Don’t make a sound,” he mouthed.
But it was too late.
Kael’s head tilted.
His nostrils flared.
“Ryder,” he said. His voice was low. Deadly. And it carried through the storm.
“I know you’re there.”
My blood went cold.
Ryder cursed under his breath. He stood, pulling me up with him.
No hiding anymore.
We stepped out from the trees.
Me, in torn clothes, bleeding, shaking.
Him, like a wall of muscle and fury.
Kael’s gaze hit me first.
And the world stopped.
For one second, I saw it.
Relief.
Pain.
Regret.
Then it was gone. Replaced with Alpha steel.
His eyes dragged down my body. Took in the torn dress. The blood. The lightning burns on my hands.
A muscle in his jaw ticked.
Then he looked at Ryder’s hand.
Still holding mine.
Kael took one step forward.
“Let. Her. Go.”
The command hit me in the chest. Old Alpha power.
My knees almost buckled.
Ryder stepped in front of me. Shielding me.
“She’s not yours to command anymore, Kael.”
Kael’s laugh was bitter. Empty.
“Not mine?” He held up the white cloak. “Then why does the bond feel like it’s ripping my ribs out every time she’s in pain?”
Because he felt it.
When I screamed.
When the lightning hit.
The bond he cut.
It was healing.
“I rejected her,” Kael continued. He took another step. Snow crunched. “The pack heard it. So why are you touching what isn’t yours?”
Ryder didn’t flinch.
“Because you threw her away. And I picked her up.”
The air between them crackled.
Two Alphas.
One woman in the middle.
Kael’s eyes flicked to me. Over Ryder’s shoulder.
“Lila,” he said. My name. Soft. Like he used to say it when we were 15.
“Come here.”
It was an order.
My body wanted to obey. 18 years of training.
I didn’t move.
Kael’s eyes darkened. Hurt flashed there.
“Please,” he whispered. So quiet only I could hear. “Don’t do this.”
Don’t do what?
Choose myself?
Choose to live?
“Don’t listen to him,” Ryder murmured. He squeezed my hand. “He had 18 years. He chose her.” He jerked his head toward the cabin. Where I knew Mira was probably watching from a window.
Kael followed his gaze. And for the first time, I saw it.
Shame.
Real, gutting shame.
“I made a mistake,” he said. Louder now. For the trees to hear.
“Come home, Lila. Let me explain.”
Home.
The word made me want to laugh. And cry.
Home was where they called me cursed.
Home was where my best friend wore my dress.
Home was where I knelt in chains.
“I don’t have a home,” I said. My voice was hoarse. But steady.
“Not anymore.”
Kael flinched like I’d slapped him.
“Lila—”
“Don’t.” The word came out sharper than I meant.
“You said I was weak. Barren. A mistake.”
I took a step out from behind Ryder. My legs were shaking. But I stood.
“You erased me. So don’t stand there and pretend you want me back now.”
The wind howled between us.
Kael stared at me.
And I saw it break in him.
The mask.
The Alpha.
He looked 18 again.
The boy who taught me how to throw a punch.
The boy who bandaged my knees.
“Please,” he said again. “Just talk to me. Five minutes.”
Ryder moved. Fast.
He stepped between us again.
“She’s not going anywhere with you.”
Kael’s eyes flashed gold. Wolf rising.
“Try and stop me, rogue.”
“Try me.”
They were going to fight.
Over me.
Because of me.
And I was so tired of being fought over.
“Stop,” I said.
Both of them froze.
I walked forward. Past Ryder. Past the space between them.
Until I was standing in the snow, right in the middle.
Rain in my hair. Blood on my hands.
But my back was straight.
“I’m not going with you, Kael,” I said. Clear.
“I’m not staying with you, Ryder.”
Ryder turned to me, shocked.
“Lila—”
“I’m going alone.”
I looked at Kael. “And you don’t get to fix this. Not with words. Not ever.”
Then I turned.
And walked into the forest.
Alone.
No one followed.
Not at first.
But I heard it.
Two sets of footsteps in the snow behind me.
Keeping distance.
Watching.
Kael.
And Ryder.
Both of them at my door.
And I was the one holding the key.
The snow kept falling.
And somewhere, deep in my chest, the crescent mark pulsed.
Brighter.
TO BE CONTINUED...
- Writer
