The Alpha I was Forced to Betray

Chapter 4 - Nico

I felt her the second she crossed back onto pack land.

It wasn’t a question.

Not a guess.

Something deeper.

Something that settled under my skin and refused to be ignored—sharp, immediate, undeniable in a way that told me exactly who it was before I ever saw her.

Isla Quinn.

For a moment, I didn’t move.

Didn’t react.

She was back.

After years.

After everything.

I had always known there was a chance she would return one day. Death had a way of pulling people back to places they should have stayed away from. It didn’t matter how far they ran or how long they stayed gone. Eventually, something dragged them back.

But knowing it could happen and actually feeling her here—

Two very different things.

I didn’t go looking for her.

I didn’t need to.

If she was here, she would come to the cemetery.

And I would see her there.

---

I saw her before she saw me.

Standing at the edge of the crowd, trying to make herself smaller than she was, like that would make a difference. Like anyone here could forget who she was.

Like I could.

My gaze moved over her slowly, deliberately, taking in every detail whether I wanted to or not.

She looked the same.

And not at all.

Still smaller than most, her frame slight, but there was nothing fragile about the way she held herself. There was control there. Awareness. A quiet kind of strength that hadn’t been there before.

Her dark hair fell down her back, familiar enough to pull something old and unwelcome to the surface before I forced it back down where it belonged.

I didn’t need that.

Not from her.

Not anymore.

Then she looked up.

And everything snapped.

It hit hard.

Immediate.

Final.

The bond locked into place like it had always been there, like it had just been waiting for this exact moment to make itself known.

My body went completely still—not from surprise, but from control.

I felt it.

All of it.

The pull.

The recognition.

The way something inside me shifted in response to her presence whether I allowed it to or not.

Mate.

The word settled without hesitation.

And for a brief, sharp second—

I understood exactly how cruel fate could be.

Because out of everyone—

It chose her.

The one person who had already taken everything from me once.

My expression didn’t change.

It didn’t need to.

But I watched her closely, saw the exact moment it hit her too. The way her body stilled. The way her breathing shifted.

Good.

She felt it.

I didn’t move toward her.

Not yet.

There was no reason to rush something that was already inevitable.

She wasn’t going anywhere.

---

She tried anyway.

I let her.

I watched as the service ended, as the stillness broke and people began to move, as she slipped away from the crowd like she thought she could avoid what had already happened.

Like distance would change anything.

She made it farther than most would have.

Not far enough.

I followed at my own pace, unhurried, giving her just enough space to believe she might actually get away before closing it.

Then—

“Isla.”

Her name was enough.

She stopped immediately.

Of course she did.

Slowly, she turned, and I took in her expression now that there was nothing left to distract from it.

There it was.

Guilt.

Awareness.

And beneath it—

Understanding.

I closed the distance between us without rushing, each step measured, controlled, intentional. I didn’t stop until there was only a few feet between us, close enough that the bond settled heavier in the space, but not close enough to touch.

Not yet.

Silence stretched between us, thick with everything neither of us needed to say out loud.

“You don’t get to come back here and act like nothing happened.”

Her jaw tightened, but she held my gaze.

“I’m not.”

“Good.”

The word came easily.

Flat. Unmoved.

She drew in a breath, steadying herself before she spoke again.

“I’m not staying,” she said. “I’m here for the funeral. That’s it.”

I watched her for a moment, letting the silence sit long enough to matter.

Then—

“No.”

The word landed between us without hesitation.

Final.

Her expression sharpened immediately.

“You don’t get to decide that.”

“I already did.”

Her eyes flashed, something stronger pushing through the guilt now.

“You hate me,” she said, her voice tighter than before. “So what exactly is the plan here, Nico? Keep me here? For what?”

I didn’t answer.

I didn’t need to.

The truth was already there, sitting between us, woven into the bond neither of us had asked for.

I saw the exact moment it clicked.

The shift in her expression.

The realization.

And that’s when everything changed.

Because now—

She understood exactly what she had walked back into.