Chapter Fourteen: Close Enough To Break
1184 Words
ANGEL’S POV
Kingsley left me near the garden path after a while. He said he had work. Something about Alpha duties.
Something about meetings. I didn’t stop him.
I just nodded and watched him walk away until he disappeared back into the palace.
Then it was just me again. The garden felt quieter now or maybe I just noticed the silence more because I was alone. I stayed there for a while. Sitting on the edge of the fountain. Watching the water move without thinking too deeply about anything.
Trying, not very successfully. Kingsley’s words still lingered in my head. You survived Clinton.
I didn’t feel like I survived him. I felt like I escaped and fell into something worse.
My chest tightened slightly at the thought.
I leaned back and closed my eyes.
Just for a moment. But even with my eyes closed, I still felt it. That pull. That invisible thread inside me. Tugging, Quiet and Constant.
I pressed my hand lightly against my chest.
“Stop it,” I whispered.
It didn’t listen.
I opened my eyes again and stared at the sky.
Bright.
Too calm for how messy everything felt inside me.
A sound behind me made me turn quickly.
I stood up almost immediately. My heart jumped. But it wasn’t Emerald. And it wasn’t Kingsley.
It was him.
Alex.
He stopped a few steps away from me. Hands in his pockets like always. Calm face. Cold eyes. But something about him felt… different today. Not softer. Just heavier. Like something was sitting on him that he refused to show.
My throat tightened slightly. I didn’t know what to do with my hands. So I just stood still.
Waiting.
He looked at me for a long moment. Not saying anything, just watching. Like he was trying to figure something out. Or maybe I was the thing he didn’t understand.
“You’re always here,” he said finally.
His voice broke the silence easily. Low and Controlled. I blinked.
“I didn’t know this was your space,” I replied quietly.
He didn’t react.
“I didn’t say that.”
Another pause.
My chest tightened again. Every time he stood close, it felt like the air changed. Like my body reacted before my mind could catch up. I hated that.
“You’re avoiding the palace,” he said.
It wasn’t a question.
I looked away slightly.
“I just needed air.” I said
His eyes stayed on me.
“You’ve been out here since morning.”
I hesitated.
“…Maybe I like it here.”
That wasn’t fully true. But it wasn’t a lie either.
Silence stretched again. This one is heavier than before, I could feel him studying me. Not aggressively. Just… watching.
Like I was something unfamiliar he had to get used to. My fingers curled slightly at my side.
“I heard what happened earlier,” he said.
My stomach tightened.
Of course he did.
News moved fast in places like this.
“What part?” I asked quietly.
His jaw tightened slightly.
“Emerald.”
Just her name alone made something shift in my chest. I nodded slowly.
“She came to see me.”
“I know.”
Of course he knew.
I swallowed.
“She didn’t do anything,” I added quickly.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
“I didn’t ask if she did.”
That shut me up.
I looked down at the ground. My heartbeat was too loud again.Too aware, too close.
“You don’t have to report to me,” he said after a moment.
I looked up slightly.
“Then why are you here?” I asked
That question hung there longer than I expected. His expression didn’t change. But something in his eyes shifted for a second. Very small. Almost unnoticeable.
Then it was gone.
“I was passing,” he said simply.
That sounded like a lie.
But I didn’t argue.
I nodded instead.
“Okay.”
He didn’t move to leave. That was the strange part, he just stayed there. Watching me again.
Like earlier, like last night, like every moment since this started. My chest tightened.
“You don’t like staying still,” I said before I could stop myself.
His brow lifted slightly.
“What makes you say that?” he asked
“You always leave.”
That was all.
He didn’t respond immediately.
“Not always.” He said
That made me look at him properly. For a second, neither of us spoke.
The wind moved through the garden softly.
The fountain kept running, everything felt normal outside. But not between us. Never between us.
“I don’t understand you,” I admitted quietly.
The words slipped out without planning.
He looked at me for a moment longer. Then stepped slightly close, not too close but enough.
Enough for that pull to hit harder. My breath caught slightly.
“I didn’t ask you to,” he said.
That should have been cold.
But it wasn’t harsh.
Just… honest.
I nodded slowly.
“I know.”
Silence again. Thicker this time. I hated how aware I was of him, of everything. His scent,his presence. The way my body reacted without permission. I wrapped my arms lightly around myself trying to stay steady.
“You should go back inside,” he said.
I frowned slightly.
“I just came out.”
His eyes didn’t move.
“It’s not safe to stay alone too long.”
That made me pause.
“…Safe?”
He didn’t explain.
Just turned slightly like he was about to leave.
But I spoke again.
“What do you mean?”
He stopped.
Didn’t turn back fully.
Just enough for me to see his profile.
“That look Emerald gave you,” he said.
My stomach dropped slightly.
“She’s not harmless.”
I stayed quiet.
He continued.
“And neither are the people watching you now.”
My chest tightened.
I looked around instinctively. The garden looked the same. But now I wasn’t sure anymore.
“I didn’t ask for any of this,” I said quietly.
He turned his head slightly toward me again.
“I know.”
That was it. Simple, no argument, no blame.
Just… acknowledgement. That somehow made it worse, because it meant he understood and still nothing changed.
He finally turned fully this time.
“Stay inside after this,” he said.
My lips parted slightly.
“That’s an order?” I asked
“No.” He said
“Advice.”
That word felt strange coming from him. I didn’t know what to do with it. He walked away then. Just like that. No more words.
No explanation. I watched him until he disappeared again, and only then did I realize
My heart was still beating faster than normal.
Not from fear, not fully. But from something I didn’t want to name. Something I didn’t understand yet.
And that scared me more than anything else.
Because the more he came closer…
The harder it became to remember I was supposed to hate this, or maybe
I already didn’t.
- Writer
