Page 25 of Pack Owned
Can I really abandon her to some unknown Alpha?
Since when did I let instinct overrule cold logic? Maybe since the moment I looked into those haunted blue eyes and saw a reflection of the person I used to be—before the wars.
Her scent, vanilla and jasmine, wraps around me, and I fight the urge to take her into my arms and tell her I’ll never let her go.
“Kayla,” I start, voice low. “Nexus... how are they any different from what we do?”
She pales again, and it’s like watching a ghost settle into her skin.
“They’re not like you,” she whispers, voice trembling like a leaf in the wind. “They don’t steal Omegas.”
Bullshit. I know it. She knows it, deep down. And it guts me that she believes otherwise.
“You need to understand?—”
“Understand what? That I’m just merchandise?” Her voice cracks, and it’s like I can hear the splintering of whatever defenses she has left.
“Damn it, that’s not what I meant.” Frustration boils over, but there’s something else, too. A pull. An urge to shield her from the shitstorm outside these walls.
“Look, I...” Words fail me. How do you explain a connection that shouldn’t exist? How do you justify an instinct that defies everything you’ve built your life around?
“Never mind.” I shake my head, feeling the weight of centuries-old laws and modern survival tangling up inside me.
“Fine. But if you think I’ll just roll over and accept whatever fate you guys decide for me, then you’re mistaken.”
I step into the shadow-soiled corridor, the door snicking shut behind me like a judgment. The thrum of my pulse is deafening, hammering against my temples as if trying to break free.
I shouldn’t have said that about Nexus. Damn it. I raked up the past, maybe hers, maybe something worse. My gut tightens, and I shove a hand through my hair, fighting back the sour twist of guilt gnawing at me.
“Fuck!”
I lean against the cool wall, feeling its chill seep through the thin material of my shirt. It’s a fleeting distraction from the heat roiling in my chest, the anger at myself, the system, the whole fucked-up situation.
“Get a grip, Dane,” I scold myself. Though I want to go find her stepfather and beat the ever-loving shit out of him.
The urge to go back, to offer some kind of comfort or reassurance, claws at me with relentless insistence. But what the hell could I say? That it’ll all be okay? That’d be the biggest load of bullshit, and she’d see right through it. She’s no fool; she’s a fighter, I can tell.
I push off the wall with more force than necessary and start down the hall, each step heavier than the last. I’m an Alpha, a protector by nature, but this… this feeling is different. It’s personal, and it goes against every rule, every business deal Ryker and I ever shook on.
“Shit!”
My mind reels between the need to shield her and the knowledge that I’m part of the very thing she needs protection from. The irony isn’t lost on me—it’s a blade twisting in my side.
She deserves better than this, deserves a life without cages—literal or figurative. But here I am, keyholder to one and enforcer of the other. How can I stand there and promise safety when I’m surrounded by walls built on danger and despair?
“Think,” I command myself, even as my instincts scream to turn back, to make sure she’s really alright.
But she’s not, and it’s partly my fault.
“Fuck this,” I growl, the words echoing off the walls, carrying all the weight of a vow. With every step I take away from the door, the harder it becomes to leave her behind. To abandon her to a fate I helped create.
No. That life ends now for both of us. I’ll go to Liam, and together we’ll find a way out of this, even if it means pissing Ryker off and making more enemies.
Kayla deserves a free life, and I... I deserve a second chance to be the man I once was. To protect instead of endangering those who can’t protect themselves.
My fists clench, my resolve hardening. I don’t know how, but I’ll make things right. She’ll never be a captive again.
I pivot on my heel, retracing my steps with a newfound purpose thrumming through my veins. Leaving her was never an option. I just didn’t realize it until now.
