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.

family. With

away,

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 to me

on my knees. The cold mist rising off the water kissed my face, a stark contrast to

Knox murmured, his voice rough and ever-present in the

know," I muttered

need our mate." Knox

doesn't believe me, Knox. How the hell am I supposed to prove something

answer me because he knew we screwed up. We messed things up so badly, I wondered if it was

straightened, exhaling slowly, I entered the training arena, knowing Brian would be working with the warriors

of fists hitting pads and the dull thud of bodies slamming against mats echoed through the open-air training ring. I stepped in, and a

at the center,

stance precise and sharp as

saw me and raised a br "Decided to finally

grounded. The disheveled man

eyes. "Thought I'd remind them what

then

few of the younger warriors chuckled, but