Alpha’s Angel

Oh…

Sage moved toward the door breaking through her perverse thoughts, trying to break the silence, but when she reached for the handle, it didn’t budge. She pulled harder, then gave a frustrated sigh.

“It’s jammed,” she muttered, her voice barely above a whisper.

“Great,” she heard Kael mutter behind her, a faint note of exasperation creeping into his tone. He stepped forward, his broad chest brushing against her back still trying to keep his distance as he moved to open the door. “Let me try.”

Sage froze, feeling the heat radiating off of him even though she couldn’t bring herself to look at him. He didn’t need to be this close to her.

Her body was too aware of every inch of his proximity. Her thoughts were tangled, and all she wanted was for him to move back, to give her space.

But instead, he was right behind her, his scent filling her senses; wood, smoke, fresh pine, made a cocktail of something that was distinctly him.

He gripped the door handle, twisting it with more force than she had, but it still wouldn’t budge.

“Kael,” Sage said, almost laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation, her voice filled with a mix of frustration and nervousness. “If you’re gonna break the door, at least make it look like you’re doing it on purpose.”

He gave her a sidelong glance, lips quirking slightly as he leaned in closer to inspect the handle. “I didn’t build this cabin to break it down just for you,” he teased, his voice a little less tense now, though still laced with that strange vulnerability she hadn’t expected.

That she hadn’t ever seen.

Sage rolled her eyes, stepping away to give him more space. She crossed her arms over her chest, but she couldn’t keep her gaze from flicking back to him. Despite the awkwardness, despite the strange intimacy of the situation, Kael’s unease made her feel oddly... comforted. He wasn’t the intimidating alpha that everyone saw. He was just a guy, trying to get a damn door open for her.

She blinked at the thought. For her…

“I don’t want to break it,” he said softly, a rare honesty in his voice. He was now crouched in front of the door, his muscles tense as he tried to pry the handle loose. “I care about this place. I built it. Do you have a card or something in that pack of yours that I can shimmy the lock loose?” He asked

Sage stopped herself from blurting out anything sarcastic. She hadn’t realized how much he cared about this cabin.There was a quiet pride in his tone now, something that felt strange and… endearing.

“Yes..” she whispered scrambling through the bag giving him a brochure of a place she wanted to go, he he briefly examined it before trying to work on the door again.

Every line of his physique—the broad shoulders, the way his chest expanded with each breath, the lean waist and the subtle curve of his hips; was made for power, for dominance. And yet, there was a rawness to him now, a vulnerability that was almost too much to ignore squating down naked, almost mundane. The intensity in his red eyes flickered as he caught her glance, but he didn’t say a word.

“You built it?” she asked, her voice softer now, genuinely curious breaking the awkward silence.

Kael nodded, his face serious, but there was still something undeniably charming in the way he looked at her. “Yeah. It’s the only thing I’ve done right for myself, you know? I don’t like messing things up.”

His words hit her harder than she expected. For all his arrogance, all his claims of dominance, he had this side to him;a vulnerability that, for a moment, reminded her of the boy he used to be.

The boy she grew up with.

Sage hesitated for a second, then stepped closer to him, putting her hand on his arm. “Kael, you can’t let a stupid door stand between you and getting me inside.”

He turned to her, and she noticed the way his eyes softened, almost like he was seeing her for the first time again. The door creaked under the strain of his efforts, but he let go of the handle, standing up and stepping back.

“Fine,” he said quietly, brushing a hand through his disheveled hair. “I’ll break it down if you really want me to.”

Sage hesitated, then shook her head. “No. Don’t. Not like that. I don’t want you to destroy it. You said it meant something to you.” She looked up at him, feeling strangely small in the way he towered over her. “We’ll figure something out. Maybe there’s a back entrance.”

Kael’s lips twitched, and for the first time since they’d gotten here, she saw something close to warmth in his eyes. “You’re impossible,” he said, shaking his head but his tone was soft.

Sage smiled, the first real smile she’d had in a long time, a smile that felt... right. She was still on edge, still terrified of what the next few hours might hold, but in that moment, Kael wasn’t the threatening alpha.

He was just... Kael. Her childhood friend.

And despite everything, she was glad for it.