73

Panting, I arrived at my bushes and turned back in panic. With trembling hands I tried to put the clothes on, but since they were wet it took a little longer, which almost drove me crazy. When I finally made it and was surrounded by the cold stuff, I collapsed, exhausted and crying.

What have we done?

Sitting in the bushes I sobbed to myself and couldn't get the images of her last breath out of my head. It was incredibly difficult for me to comprehend what had happened on the beach, but I picked myself up quickly, even though my legs felt like concrete.

I felt like I would freeze if I sat there any longer. I carefully stepped out of the bushes and stood paralyzed in the rain until I wiped away my tears and finally started walking in the direction of the pack house. Then, unexpectedly, a hand grabbed my shoulder and I turned around, my heart racing and my breath caught.

He stood there covered in blood and only black, torn trousers covered his blood-smeared body. Without saying a word, he frantically started touching me while the black color faded from his eyes and made way for the beautiful green. He seemed to be looking for injuries, but I had none, at least none visible.

"You killed her," I stammered, fighting back tears. At that moment I was completely overwhelmed and turned my back on him because I could no longer bear the sight of the blood.

"I had to do it. You couldn't hear her thoughts!"

"But you already?!", I asked him and stared at the dark forest while wiping the rain from my face again and again.

"Yes! I'm an alpha. I can read every direct thought of every wolf and believe me, those two had vile thoughts!" he spoke loudly and I heard the anger in his dark voice.

"You can't kill someone because they have bad thoughts!" I turned back to him, which allowed me to watch his eyes darken again.

"They wanted to kill you, Alicia! They've been lurking in the woods since this morning just waiting for you to come near them!" he growled, gritting his teeth so hard I could hear his jaw cracking.

"What are you talking about?" I asked in disbelief, taking a step towards him to look him straight in the eye.

As he avoided my gaze, I realized that he had absolutely no reason to lie to me, and the realization took my breath away. Questions about the why and the howfore raced in my head and unfortunately remained unanswered. I neither knew them nor had I ever done anything bad to anyone.

Killian turned back to me and gave me a feeling of security with his gaze, which caused me to take refuge in his strong arms. I clung to him like a little monkey and took in the warmth he radiated towards me, which calmed me a little and stopped the trembling in my body. If it was really as he had described it, then he had risked his life for me and without thinking about his own.

"You mean everything to me, little mate. I would never let anything happen to you. You are my girl and belong to me since I saw you sitting on the stairs. I haven't been there for you often since you were here and I'm very sorry. But my thoughts were always with you, you just have to believe me. You're so different from everyone else and that's what fascinates me about you," he breathed softly into my ear and missed me with it goosebumps all over your body. I hadn't seen him that honestly before and it made me incredibly proud that he saw me exactly like that.

I breathed heavier in disbelief and clutched at him to inhale even more deeply his soothing scent. Everyone used to shut me out for being different, but he seemed fascinated by the fact that I was a clumsy, shy wolf who didn't immediately accept him. But still there was this spark of suspicion in me that didn't allow me to believe that an alpha like him was really interested in me.

"You don't even know me, Killian. Only what your instincts see in me. Your wolf is making you want me," I whispered wistfully, my face still lying against his bare, warm chest.

So we stood together that day in the rain, not knowing that this day would change everything.

"You're wrong, Alicia," he began calmly, breaking away from our embrace to give me a bright smile.

"You have no idea how you make me feel deep down and it has nothing to do with the connection or my wolf. I love how your cute nose wrinkled when you spot books around you and I would you would love to give you all the books in the world, just to experience the sparkle in your eyes again and again.You are a person who doesn't care whether they are rich or poor.You value everyone equally and that is no longer a matter of course these days I feel like I can't breathe without you and I feel that way, not my wolf or my instincts, it's me, Alicia.

As I could hardly believe the beautiful words that came out of his mouth, my heart danced with joy, bringing a smile to my face. He had memorized characteristics of me and wanted to get to know me. These weren't just superficial wolf instincts, these were really honest feelings and I was suddenly perfectly happy with the choice of my mate.

"I'm glad to have you, Killi."

I let out a contented breath and put a hand on his cheek, which made him wantingly place his lips on my neck and kiss it gently.

I wanted to feel his lips on mine, only the blood on his face holding me back and just letting me enjoy his caresses on my neck, but he stopped abruptly and took a step back to look past me.

"Bad timing, Resul," he muttered, crossing his arms.

"Sorry Alpha and sorry Alicia. I shouldn't have let you run back alone but I didn't realize it until it was too late and then I thought I'd better let Caleb know what happened. He's waiting for you at the packhouse." he informed us and looked ashamed at the ground. He looked really contrite.

"The main thing is that everything went well," I said to him and ran towards him to hug him warmly, which elicited a low growl from the alpha behind me. I turned to him and raised an eyebrow questioningly, but he didn't respond, instead coming towards us and taking my hand, we then made our way to the packhouse.

Before we got there, Resul said goodbye and left us alone until we met Caleb in front of the pack house, whom I saw for the first time in the light. He had gray hair that was combed to one side and a lot of small wrinkles on his face. I couldn't see any resemblance to Killian and before I could look at him further, Killian tore me out of my thoughts.

"Caleb, this is Alicia." He introduced me with a smile, eyes shining with pride. I was kind of uncomfortable, so I took my eyes off him and looked down at the floor.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Alicia. Would you please walk me into my office? Just to answer a few questions," he asked gently, and I turned my gaze back to him to nod in agreement.

"And you're going to take a shower right away," he ordered my mate in a stern tone, who then immediately broke away from me with a kiss on the cheek and disappeared into the house.

"Then please follow me."

He turned around and I followed him up the stairs to the 2nd floor. The walls up here were painted darker than downstairs and that somehow made the atmosphere more tense. Without looking around, I followed him through a glass door into his office and sat in the brown leather chair in front of his desk. He elegantly poured himself a glass of whiskey before sitting down and staring at me. After he then took a large sip of his drink and then his eyes fell on me again, his facial expressions changed suddenly. His eyes suddenly radiated only cold, while the smile disappeared from his lips and only pure contempt lay in his eyes. I figured he must be mad

"Either you leave voluntarily or I have to force you," he snapped me out of my train of thought, clasping his hands on the table while narrowing his eyes at me.

I leaned forward, irritated, certain I must have misheard.

"Did you get that?" he asked when I didn't answer.

"No. I think I misheard," I stuttered in confusion, shifting nervously in the chair, my wet clothes giving me goosebumps from the cold.

"You didn't hear me wrong! I won't let someone like you drag my pack into the dirt!" he suddenly yelled at me, growling menacingly. I stared at him with wide eyes in bewilderment. I didn't really know what his problem was, but I didn't need to be abused for no reason either, so I worked up the courage and leaned in a little further.

"I have no intention of dragging your pack into the dirt! What happened in the forest today was unfortunate! I defended your son and stand by his side faithfully," I defended myself and looked at him contemptuously. I was afraid he would get even angrier, but he just laughed out loud and then stared at me in amusement before taking a deep breath.

"I know a few of your kind and you all have one thing in common. Your false pride," he explained, taking a quick sip from his glass before continuing.

"So we agree? You're going of your own free will?"

I thought about what he meant by variety and briefly thought he was misogynistic. When he cleared his throat I felt compelled to give him an answer.

"I won't leave Killian. Without me, he'll perish due to the missing connection. I won't allow that," I said decisively, although there was a tremor in my voice.

He suddenly jumped up and hit the desk with full force, making me wince violently.

"Listen to me, you disgusting piece of mongrel. Either you leave or this wasn't the last attack today! And one word to Killian and you won't be able to save him again, do you understand me now?!" he yelled at me angrily and then before he left the room, he spat at my feet. My blood froze in my veins as my heart pounded painfully and my arms and legs felt numb. How did he know, I asked myself over and over again.

I wanted to get up and get close to my mate, but the shock wouldn't let me and kept me trapped here in my fear.