Alpha’s Angel

Chapter 10

Kael let out a bitter laugh, running a hand through his hair. “You think you can just run, Angel? You think you can leave, and I’ll just... what? …let you?” He took a step foward.

She froze but did her best to face him head on. “You don’t have a choice.”

“The hell I don’t!” His whisper was sharp, the edge of a command seeping into it. “You don’t get it, do you? You think this is some game? That you can just disappear, and I’ll forget about you? That’s not how this works, Angel. That’s not how we work.” His words a testifying threat naked in the dark.

She clenched her fists, her heart hammering in her chest. “There is no ‘we,’ Kael. There never has been.”

His growl rumbled low again, a sound that made her spine stiffen. “You keep telling yourself that, Angel. But you can’t outrun me.”

Sage look up sharply to glare at him, fire in her crystal-blue eyes. “Out run you? So what? If I turn to run right now, you will hurt me?”

His gaze softened just slightly, though the anger in his posture remained. “No,” he said quietly, “You’re everything. And I’m not going to lose you; not to some fantasy of freedom you think you’ll find out there, and definitely not to this... reckless stunt you’re pulling.”

Sage shook her head, taking a step back. “You’re delusional, I never realized just how sick you really are...”

Kael inhaled sharply, his jaw tightening. For a moment, it looked like he might explode again, but he forced himself to calm down. “Fine. You want to leave? Then at least come with me first. There’s a cabin nearby. You can get dressed, warm up, and... just let me talk to you. That’s all I’m asking.”

Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. “You’re asking?”

“Yes,” he said firmly, his voice steady now. “I’m asking. Because whatever else you think of me, I’m not the monster you’ve made me out to be. Just... give me this. One conversation. If you still want to run after that, then….” He stopped himself, exhaling slowly, as if the thought of finishing that sentence physically hurt him.

Sage hesitated, her instincts screaming at her to keep running, but something in his voice; a rawness she hadn’t heard before…gave her pause.

“Okay,” she said reluctantly, her voice cold but quiet. “But I’m leaving after, or I’ll die trying...”

Kael’s lips twitched, almost like he wanted to smirk, but there was no humor in his expression. “We’ll see.”

Without another word, he shifted back into his wolf form, his massive frame towering over her. He glanced back at her, his brick red eyes, waiting.

Sage took a shaky breath and followed suit, her body transforming as she tucked her fanny pack strapped securely to her. The two wolves moved through the trees in tense silence, this unknown cabin looming ahead like a shadow in the distance.