CHAPTER 149: MISSED YOU

Emira had never truly felt at home. And she had always known that and accepted the fact as the only constant in her life.

Her small cabin in the Moonville Pack had been nothing more than a roof over her head. As for her belonging to the Alphas, to Zen, she was someone to be used to teach his mate a lesson. Yes, the man was caring and he probably cared for her as someone in his care but that was it.

As for Kael... she didn’t know, even now, what to think of him and her own feelings for him. Or what he thought of her.

But despite everything, this new place, where she had lived barely a month, already carried a strange sense of belonging. It was unsettling, how easily her heart was willing to call the Stormhold Pack home.

’It’s good to be home.’ That was the first thought that crossed her mind as they entered the Stormhold Pack’s territory, and the realization startled her.

Because she knew this wasn’t home. It couldn’t be. She had already been told that she would not be staying here for long.

Tomorrow, wolves from the Redwood Pack were expected to arrive, and with their visit came her fate, sealed and decided by Alpha Lance Stormhold. She had already been sentenced to this... arrangement.

So she whispered to herself, reminding herself and her wolf constantly, "This is not our home."

But when the car stopped and she stepped out, something deep inside her seemed to change.

Because the entire Stormhold Pack stood there, waiting for their Alpha’s triumphant return after escaping rogues and having unearthed the truth of the dark magician witch.

However, to Emira, all of them could have been invisible. Her eyes were fixed on one person despite the sea of faces. The one who stood away from others or rather the one who was given ’space’ by others.

Yet despite the sea of faces, Emira’s eyes found only one person—someone who stood slightly apart from the rest. Or rather, she could not look anywhere else.

Without a care for the cold man behind her, who had already warned her to stay away from his brothers, she ran towards him and threw herself into his arms...

Kael Stormhold. The most feared Wolf he might be. But to her, he was her home. Her safe place.

***

Of all the things Kael might have expected upon the little Omega’s return, it was certainly not this. For her to throw herself into his arms.

He had prepared himself for many possibilities- for fear in her eyes, for hesitation, even for avoiding him because LAnce must have already told her his decision about sending her to Redwood Pack.

But no amount of thinking could have prepared him for what actually happened.

No one, not even she, had ever dared to approach him in such a way before. To cross the distance between them without a thought and throw herself into his arms with complete, unguarded trust that he would catch her.

It caught him off guard, leaving him frozen for a moment, his breath caught somewhere between disbelief and instinct.

For someone who was rarely ’touched’ and almost always feared as if he would burst over them, other than during combat or sex, skin-ship like this was an unfamiliar feeling. Added to that, the feeling of being trusted so openly, so completely was a novelty he had never even thought of having.

It was shocking, yes. But it was also strangely touching. A flicker of something stirred in him—something that made his chest tighten and his thoughts falter.

He opened his mouth, ready to say something though he had no idea what it was he could say to console her...

But before the words could form, her body went limp in his arms. Her eyes fluttered shut, and she fainted.

For a long moment, Kael simply stood there, holding her limp form against him, the weight of her trust still echoing in his mind.

Over the top of her head, his gaze met Lance’s across the crowd just as Ramona came rushing toward them. But even as the two brothers stood staring at each other, Kael sensed what Lance wanted him to do. He wanted him to let Emira go.

Kael’s jaw tightened. His grip on Emira instinctively firmed, a small, silent act of defiance. Then, without another glance in their direction, he turned away.

He’d carried and held this little Omega multiple times but it was only now that he realized just how light she was.

And right now, her skin was cool, her breathing shallow, and he could almost feel the exhaustion that clung to her like a shadow. No wonder she had collapsed.

Everything she had endured flashed through his mind- the terror she had faced in her own pack, nearly ra*ed not once but twice by those who should have protected her then followed by the way she had nearly killed herself to bind herself to them and then her heat.

It would have made the strongest of wolves collapse, but this little Omega had simply continued to roll with the tide, trusting them and then following them to Stormhold Pack....only to be met with the bitter realization that the Alphas she had come to trust were already bound to another by fate. She’d accepted all of that only to end up being kidnapped for some sort of a sacrifice...

And now, as if all that suffering weren’t enough, she was being handed over once more to another pack like she was nothing more than a bargaining piece.

For the first time ever, Kael seriously considered a decision as he walked towards the infirmary. There was no way he could defy the Alpha but he could leave the pack officially with Emira by his side. He was already used to living alone in the past

Kael stilled as he realised what it was he was thinking and was shocked at his own thoughts. He looked down at the little Omega in his arms... and shook his head at the intensity of his own feelings.