Chapter 208

| have never, not once, begged for anything, and definitely not while | was on my knees. Not until today. Today, | will do anything that this woman wants me to do, if she will only stay with me. Rik’s words come flooding back into my head. ‘Be everything she needs and wants you to be.‘ | didn’t know what that meant, but right now, it means that | will humble myself as | have never done before.

When | realize that it's me she’s running from, because of what | looked like when | left Eli, | feel a stabbing pain in my heart. |

did this. | made our mate scared of us.

‘And you better fucking fix it. | warned you. If we lose her, | will go feral and I'll kill anyone and everyone in my path.’

Even if my wolf wasn’t threatening to go feral, | must fix this. This sweet little angel has found a way to calm the chaos in my mind and body. | need her like | need air to breathe. Cara’s rejection is nothing compared to the possibility of Angel rejecting us.

As she paints the picture, | can see that her witnessing me covered in blood has thrown her back into her own private hell. As soon as she starts hyperventilating, I’m ready. | expect her to pass out and when she starts to drop, | jump up to catch her before she can fall off the cliff.

Once she’s in my arms, | turn and see Dustin watching. | snarl at him. He raises his hands in a surrendering gesture and bares his neck. “I made sure no one else was up here. It was just me and you know | will never say anything.”

Alphas don’t submit. If the pack thought that | was weak, I’d be challenged daily and I'd have to kill too many pack members before re—claiming my undisputed title of Alpha.

| begin the slow decent back down the waterfall with Angel in my arms. | look at Dustin. “I need you to run things until | can take care of this. | need to make this right. Nothing is more important than her right now.”

“Yes Alpha.”

| was worried that Angel might wake up on the walk back, but she remained unconscious. | walked past pack members, all wondering what was going on. Dustin must have ordered them to move along because | hear a couple of yips before everyone finds something to do other than stare at me and Angel.

| tuck her into her bed and quickly run into my room, grabbing some clothes, 1/2 +15 BONOS before coming back and pulling up a chair. | don’t want her trying to run off again. We need to talk, | need to know what | can do to fix this, make her see that I'm not a monster.

But, a part of me wonders if | haven’t become a sort of monster. I’ve had Eli in my cells for months. | use him as my own personal punching bag. My hate, anger, sadness, frustration, loneliness, it all rolls into something that feels an awful lot like a monster.

Angel even said that my music was angry. | hadn’t considered it. | made the list after | lost Cara, when | felt like | would be alone forever. It matched my feelings. at the time, and even since then, it’s felt like it fit my mood and feelings.

But | haven't listened to that song list since Angel has been here. | don’t feel alone anymore. If anything, | feel vulnerable for the first time in my life. This sweet little angel has given me a hope that | never had before. A hope for a different kind of life. The kind of life that I've always wanted but was too afraid to dream of. A life where I’m not alone anymore. And now, | may have fucked it all. up, by being the person that | am.

| grab my earbuds and my phone and | start to create a new playlist, something that | think my Angel will like. Something that tells her how | feel about her and how she is changing me, even if she doesn’t realize it.

I'm busy listening to songs, reading lyrics to find the ones that convey what | want to tell her, when | hear her moving around. |

look up and see her staring at her gray eyes wide.

me, | slowly pull the earbuds out of my ears and set my phone on the bed. | don’t say. anything, | wait for her..

“Who was it? Who did you kill?” She asks me.

“| didn’t kill anyone, | swear. His name is Eli Gunnar, | hurt him, yes, but he’s not dead.”

+15 BONDS