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 her.

a low branch, my breath ragged now, not from exertion, but from the storm brewing inside me. The full moon was two nights away, and I could already feel Knox clawing at the edges of my control. His need for Sadie was always sharp, but lately it has been

her skin still lingered in my memory, taunting me. Her laughter from the zoo, the way she had looked at

my hands braced on my knees. The cold mist

murmured, his voice rough and ever-present in

I muttered

our mate." Knox

supposed to prove something I should have never

because he knew we screwed up. We messed things up

straightened, exhaling slowly, I entered the training arena, knowing Brian would be working with the warriors by now. I needed something-anything-to

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

was at

his stance precise

and raised a br "Decided to finally get your

disheveled man from the dungeon was

eyes. "Thought

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

few of the younger warriors chuckled, but Brian just shook his