Page 42 of Alpha's Runaway Mate

“Get him to the healer. Now!” Kaine commanded, and the man hastily scooped up his friend, disappearing into the darkness.

Taking off his jacket, Kaine moved toward me and draped it over my naked and trembling body. I was shivering, both from the cold of the night and the horror of what I’d done. His arms wrapped around me before I could crumble completely.

“I…I almost killed him,” I whispered, my voice heavy with regret and fear. My chest tightened as I clutched the jacket, feeling the shame of my own weakness, of this uncontrollable part of me I couldn’t escape. I looked up at him, tears filled in my eyes. I knew he didn’t judge me—he never would. But a part of me still felt the need to explain, to reassure him that this wasn’t who I was, that I’d never willingly hurt anyone, that I was still the woman he knew. “I can’t control my wolf, Kaine. I don’t want to hurt anyone. I don’t want to be this…person. I don’t—”

“Shhh,” he pulled me closer to him, his voice gentle as he kissed my hair. “I know, Lyra. You’re not alone in this, I’m right here. I’m going to help you get through this.”

I shuddered, clinging onto him as I sobbed, overwhelmed by everything that was going on in my life. I let myself believe his words, to trust that he wouldn’t turn away. He wouldn’t abandon me. Not again.

His fingers gently tilted my chin up, and our eyes met. Using his thumb, he brushed away tears from my eyes, and without a word, he leaned in, his lips brushing against mine in a kiss that served as a reminder that he would never see me as anything less, no matter what I did.

Exhaustion settled over me, and I felt his arms, strong and reassuring, lift me effortlessly from the ground after adjusting his jacket over my shoulders. The gentle thrum of his heartbeatbeneath my ear quieted the chaos inside of me, and I allowed myself to drift to sleep, holding on to the words he had told me.

Just as I began to drift into the safety of sleep, a thought shattered the fragile peace settling over me, filling me with a chill of apprehension.

Sensing the shift in my breathing, Kaine tightened his hold on me, and asked softly, “What’s wrong?”

I replied, my voice tinged with the worry I couldn’t hide. “What are you going to do when the pack finds out? They’re never going to believe I was attacked first.”

For a brief, unguarded second, something flashed in his eyes—confusion, doubt, a glimmer of worry, as if he hadn’t fully considered the risk this posed for me until now. But just as quickly, he masked it over with a forced, reassuring smile. “Don’t worry. I’ll handle the pack.”

For the first time, I saw it—the quiet battle he’d been fighting this whole time. A struggle I’d never truly understood until this moment; the crushing weight of his loyalty, the burden of trying to protect everyone and keeping the peace even as it tore at him, the pressure of being an Alpha. And now, because of me, Kaine was plunged into a dilemma—between his duty to the pack and his desire to protect me.

A chill gripped my heart, seemingly colder than any fear I’d felt. I had let my guard down.Again.I had allowed myself to be vulnerable.Again.And now…what if, in the end, he had to choose between me and the pack? And what if that choice wasn’t me?

Chapter Nineteen — Kaine’s POV

The recent attacks on our pack members had prompted a meeting with the Betas. Fortunately, none of these incidents were connected to what had happened between Lyra and those two shifters the other night. The attacks seemed unrelated, a separate threat entirely. But the Betas didn’t hesitate to bring up the unease spreading among our people, hinting that Lyra’s return to Crescent Valley was somehow connected to these attacks.

“She‘s been back for a month now, and these attacks just began last week,” I had said firmly. They shrugged their shoulders, exchanging wary glances with one another, as though unconvinced, but the finality in my voice was enough to cut the conversation short. The Elders were already obsessing over Lyra and my broken engagement with Juniper Greymont. I hadn’t expected that my own security council would turn into a roundtable about her, too. We worked to strategize—tightening patrols, increasing support for victims, and tracking down the attackers still at large. They were talking about something else entirely.

Just outside the town hall in the pack headquarters where most of our meetings were held, I was saying my goodbyes to the Betas when I spotted Dominic among the gathered pack members. They looked visibly agitated, their expressions a mix of worry and frustration, while Dominic stood in their midst, seemingly trying to calm them. At least, that’s what I presumed, until a few of his words caught my attention.

“The attacks…I know who’s behind them,” I heard him saying.

My brows shot up. I’d been ready to head back inside to get my things and head to the sparring ground. But now, I froze in my tracks, curious about what Dominic was talking about.Did he know something about the recent attacks?

“Clarke and Talon have been to the healer’s place for a week,” Dominic continued. “And when I asked if they saw who attacked them, they affirmed they knew who it was.”

A ripple of gasps passed through the crowd, their interest piquing, just as mine did.

“It was the girl—Lyra Winters. She shifted and nearly killed one of them, if not for the intervention of the Alpha.”

One woman, her voice filled with venom and sharp with accusation, cut through the crowd. “So, the Alpha knows about this?”

“Know?” I could hear Dominic scoff. “He swept it under the rug because he knows what pack laws say about pack members harming their own. You need to see Talon’s face—scarred for life. And Clarke? He’s still recovering, but she nearly took him out.”

A cold disbelief settled over me, willing me to deny the familiar voice in my ear, to refuse to believe that this was Dominic—my cousin, a man I’d considered my brother. And yet, as I turned to see him, I couldn’t escape the bitter truth before me.

“He’s slowly slipping out of control,” Dominic went on, his tone thick with spite. ”He cannot handle this pack anymore and we know it. Our Alpha isn’t acting in our best interest anymore. He’s risking everything for her. We can’t stand by and watch him bring chaos to our pack.”

“That girl,” another woman spat out. “He’s going to bring us all to the ground because of her.”

They spoke some more, and at the end, another person from the crowd said, “Mr. Mason is holding today’s meeting at his house. Apparently, he’s also recovering from an allergy flare-up, thanks to the girl.”

Dominic shook his head slightly. “I’ll see you, then. Just have a few things to wrap up.”

*****

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