CHAPTER 12 : THE ALPHAS DISTANCE
1503 Words
The morning sun spilled over the Silver Crest pack’s grounds, flooding the stone buildings and fields with gold. Wolves moved through their routines—warriors heading out to patrol, breakfast chatter drifting from the halls, younger wolves sparring in the yard.
To an outsider, everything probably looked normal.
But Liana could feel the tension running under it all.
People whispered as she walked by. Quiet, but impossible to miss.
She heard them. Felt the weight of their stares. Even the air tasted different—uneasy, brittle.
Ever since the mating ceremony, everyone had kept an eye on her.
Some of them pitied her.
Some looked curious.
But some... they were afraid.
Liana kept her head down crossing the courtyard, trying to pretend she didn’t notice.
“That’s her.”
“The rejected mate.”
“I heard the Alpha wouldn’t even look at her.”
“Poor thing.”
Her jaw clenched.
Rejected mate.
Those words cut every time she heard them.
It had been two nights since the ceremony, but the shame stuck to her like wet clothes.
She’d hoped rejection would hurt less with time.
It didn’t. If anything, the ache kept getting sharper.
Because that mate bond between her and Alpha Kael still crackled inside her.
Weaker. Torn.
But not gone. Just strong enough to haunt her, keep him in her mind.
Worst of all—he was everywhere.
His scent lingered in the halls, around the fields, out along the edge of the woods.
But him? He was nowhere.
She hadn’t seen him, not since the night he burst in and tore apart the rogues right outside her room.
She remembered that night too well.
The way he fought. Fast and ruthless, barely more than a blur.
The warning he gave, voice cold and flat:
Stay away from me if you want to live.
Her chest tightened.
“Careful.”
The voice yanked her out of her thoughts.
Jared walked up from the training field, wiping sweat from his neck. His eyes studied her, frowning.
“You look like you haven’t slept.”
She managed a half-smile. “I did.”
“Barely,” he shot back.
She sighed. “Is it that obvious?”
“Yeah.”
He let a few seconds pass, then said, “You’re thinking about him again.”
She didn’t answer, but that was answer enough.
Jared leaned against the fence.
“You need to stop stressing about the Alpha.”
“That’s easy for you to say.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Honestly? It’s easier for you than you think.”
She frowned. “How do you figure?”
He studied the ground. “Rejected mate bonds eventually fade, most of the time.”
Her stomach twisted. “So what, I just… forget him?”
“That’s up to him.”
“What?”
“Sometimes an Alpha keeps the bond alive. On purpose. From a distance.”
She stared. “Why would he do that?”
“Control.” He didn’t blink.
A chill snaked up her back. “That’s awful.”
Jared shrugged. “Alpha politics. They don’t care much about kindness.”
Liana stared at her shoes.
Something didn’t fit. When Kael rejected her, he hadn’t looked cruel. He’d looked more scared than anything.
Across the courtyard, three large warriors stepped into view. All muscle, all armed. Their eyes swept over her.
She felt her wolf bristle.
“Do you know them?” she whispered.
Jared followed her gaze, jaw tight. “Yeah.”
“Who?”
“Elite guards.”
Her gut twisted. “Why are they here?”
He didn’t answer at first, just watched them. Then he said, “Well, that settles one question.”
She frowned. “What question?”
“Why you’re still alive.”
She stared at him. “What do you mean?”
He nodded toward the guards. “They’ve been tailing you since yesterday.”
“What?” Her voice came out thin.
“They keep their distance, mostly. But they’re watching.”
She felt a cold prickling along her skin. “You think… they’re spying on me?”
“Maybe.”
“Maybe?”
He crossed his arms. “Or maybe they’re keeping you safe.”
Her heart started to pound. “Safe from who?”
He gave her a look. “Already forgot about the rogue wolves?”
Her memory snapped back to that fight—the attackers, their strange armor, the symbols she didn’t recognize, and their dying words.
We were ordered to kill her before sunrise.
Someone in the pack wanted her gone.
But the guards—why them?
“Who put them on me?” she asked, keeping her voice low.
Jared hesitated, then said, “Only one wolf gives orders to the elite guards.”
Her chest squeezed painfully. “The Alpha.”
He nodded.
She looked back at the warriors. They acted busy, but their eyes never really left her.
Her thoughts tangled together—confusion, anger, and underneath it all, something dangerously close to hope.
“He rejected me,” she murmured.
“Yeah.”
“So why guards?”
Jared shrugged. “That’s the mystery, isn’t it?”
“Maybe it’s just surveillance.”
“Could be.”
“He wants to make sure I don’t cause trouble.”
Jared snorted. “You?”
She glared at him, but he only looked quietly amused.
Then he sobered again.
“Or maybe he wants to keep you alive.”
Her breath caught.
“Why would he care?”
He didn’t answer, just looked away. But they both understood.
The mate bond. Even rejected, it lingered.
Still, if that was true, why did Kael avoid her so completely?
Not a single glimpse of him since that night. It had to be on purpose.
Her wolf pulled at her thoughts.
Find him.
She shook it away.
“Do you know where he is?” she asked Jared.
He frowned. “You really want to see him?”
“I need answers.”
He hesitated, then said, “The Alpha’s been out in the northern territory. Hardly comes back anymore.”
She blinked. “That’s hours away.”
“Exactly.”
The truth hit her harder than she wanted to admit. Kael was leaving just to avoid her.
She tried to laugh it off. “Guess he really doesn’t want to see me.”
Jared watched her, his voice gentle. “You’re taking this harder than you let on.”
She fought for a smile. “Getting tossed by the most powerful Alpha in public will do that to a girl,” she said, trying for a joke.
He didn’t smile.
“There’s something else you should know.”
The way his voice dropped made her stomach dip. “What?”
He leaned closer. “The Alpha hasn’t let anyone approach you. Not without his say-so.”
Her eyes snapped wide. “What?”
He nodded. “The guards aren’t just watching. They’re keeping people away from you.”
Liana tried to process that. “So”—she swallowed—“no one can get to me unless they go through them.”
He nodded again.
She tried to gather her thoughts—was this protection? Surveillance? Some kind of twisted control? She didn’t know.
Before she could sort it out, something shifted in the air. The courtyard itself seemed to pause.
Every wolf went still.
Her wolf pricked up inside her.
Her heart took off, staccato fast.
She knew that presence.
Alpha Kael.
She turned. The pack house doors opened, and there he was—tall, broad, wrapped in a black coat like night itself, silver eyes cold and sharp.
Every wolf bowed their head as he went by.
But Liana stood frozen.
Her lungs locked up. Their eyes met—just for a heartbeat.
Everything inside her snapped to attention. The mate bond sparked white hot in her chest.
Kael stopped, like he’d been hit.
His eyes darkened, startled and then—maybe—relieved, then afraid. All of it gone in a blink.
His face went hard and cold.
And just like that, he turned. Walked away, out of the courtyard, not looking back.
Like she was nothing.
The pain twisted inside her, raw and sharp.
She clenched her fists. “That jerk,” she breathed.
Jared let out a sigh. “Yeah.”
A growl rolled quietly in her head. Her wolf.
He’s lying, it insisted.
She blinked. “What?”
Jared looked at her, puzzled. “What?”
She shook it off. “Nothing.”
But her wolf’s words stuck.
He lies to himself.
She watched Alpha Kael moving away, the guards shifting and bristling around her.
Protecting her. Or were they just watching?
And suddenly, stuck there in the middle of all those curious eyes, one question burned deeper than ever
Was Kael keeping his distance because he didn’t want her?
Or because getting close would destroy them both?
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD