Chapter 5 - The Alpha’s Promise
628 Words
Sienna stood frozen beneath Kieran’s gaze, her chest rising and falling with uneven breaths. “Who hurt you?”. His question echoed in her mind, cutting through the layers of steel she had wrapped around herself for years.
She should lie.
She should push him away like she had with everyone else.
But for the first time in a long time, she didn’t want to.
The night was silent except for the whisper of the wind through the trees. Kieran didn’t move, didn’t press her for answers. He just watched her, his silver eyes unreadable yet steady, like he could wait forever if he had to.
Why?
Why wasn’t he demanding? Why wasn’t he throwing his dominance around like every Alpha she had ever known?
A lump formed in Sienna’s throat, but she forced it down.
Don’t be weak. Don’t be vulnerable.
She sucked in a sharp breath and turned away. “It doesn’t matter.”
Kieran’s jaw tensed. “It matters to me.”
A sharp pang shot through her chest. No. No, she couldn’t afford this.
She stepped back, putting more space between them. “You don’t know me, Kieran. You only want me because of the mate bond. If it weren’t for that, you wouldn’t care.”
Kieran’s expression darkened, something dangerous flickering in his gaze. “You think that’s all this is?”
Sienna forced herself to nod.
He exhaled sharply, raking a hand through his hair. “The bond pulled me to you, yes. But that’s not why I’m standing here right now.”
She swallowed. “Then why are you?”
Kieran took a slow step forward. “Because you look at me like you want to let me in… but you’re too scared to.”
Sienna’s breath hitched. He sees too much.
Kieran didn’t stop. “Because when I touch you, you don’t just react, you burn.” His voice dropped lower, softer. “Because the moment I saw you, something in me said, ‘Mine.’ Not just my wolf. Me.”
Her heart pounded so hard she thought it might crack her ribs.
She wanted to believe him. Goodness, she wanted to.
But she knew what happened when she let people in. They either betrayed her, or they died.
So she did what she had always done.
She ran.
Not physically this time. But she turned her back to him, arms wrapped around herself like she could hold herself together.
Silence stretched between them. She expected Kieran to storm off, to demand submission, to remind her that she was his whether she liked it or not.
But he didn’t.
Instead, he said the last thing she expected.
“Come back with me.”
Sienna froze.
Kieran’s voice was calm, firm, but not commanding. Not forcing. Just..offering.
She turned back, her brows furrowed. “What?”
His lips pressed into a thin line. “You don’t have to tell me anything. Not yet. But come back to the packhouse. Stay. Eat. Rest.” His silver eyes locked onto hers. “No one will touch you unless you want them to. Not even me.”
Her breath caught. No Alpha had ever given her a choice before.
Kieran stepped closer, slow and careful, like she was something fragile. “You don’t have to run anymore, Sienna.” His voice was quieter now, rough with something she couldn’t name. “I swear to you… I will never let anyone hurt you again.”
Sienna’s throat burned.
A part of her screamed not to believe him. That it was a trick. That it always was.
But then she looked into his eyes.
And for the first time in five years, she felt something she thought she had lost forever.
Hope.
- Writer
