Alpha Alec's Redemption by Kathy M

Chapter 246

The wind bit into my skin as I tore through the forest, the soles of my feet

pounding against the earth. I was running, not just because it's a routine but to escape the ache in my chest. Maybe if I could run far enough, fast enough, the weight pressing against my chest would finally loosen. But it didn't, and neither did it quell the heat that burned beneath my skin.

It's been a week since Sadie looked at me with those wide, doubtful eyes and asked if this if we meant anything beyond the bond.

She didn't believe me.

And the worst part? I understood why.

Her words haunted me. Scraped at my heart until I was left raw. It felt like sharp knives were being driven into my chest over and over again, leaving me destroyed.

I clenched my jaw, pushing myself harder through the trees. Sweat slid down my temples, but it wasn't the exertion that left me raw. It was her doubt- understandable, justified—and still, it shredded me.

She had every right to question me. I destroyed her once. Turned away when she needed me most. Let her walk away believing she was never enough. I had given her nothing but silence and rejection.

And now?

Now I was begging for a chance, because, goddess help me, I wanted her. Craved her in a way I never had before. Not just because of the bond-though that pulled like a tide inside me-but because she was it. All of it. The fire, the storm, the light I never knew I needed. Watching her with Aspen had gutted me in the most beautiful way. It made me ache for something I'd never allowed myself to hope for.

With

from the storm brewing inside me. The full moon was two nights away, and I

my memory, taunting me. Her laughter from the zoo, the way she had looked at Aspen like she was her whole world—and the way Aspen had clung

the edge of the training grounds, bent over with my hands braced on my knees. The cold mist rising off the water kissed my face, a stark contrast

are spiraling." Knox murmured, his voice rough and ever-present in the back of

I

need her, Alec. We need our mate." Knox

supposed

we screwed up. We messed things up so

Brian would

bodies slamming against mats echoed through the open-air training ring. I stepped in, and a

at the

the warriors, his stance precise and sharp as

when he saw me and raised a

looked stronger. More grounded. The disheveled man from the dungeon was long

smirked, though it didn't reach my eyes. "Thought I'd remind them what real skill looks

met my gaze. He inclined his head, then smirked. "Let's see if

younger warriors chuckled, but