Page 6 of Alpha's Second Chance

I whirled around. “Fuck you.” I was pissed off that he wasn’t even panting.

“I am trying to help you,” he said.

Sure. Not freaking likely. “No bear has ever done one thing that would help me. Let go of me.”

He didn’t let go. Instead, he took both of my wrists and held on. “I am not here on clan business. I’m here to save your life.”

I jerked my arms, but I couldn’t get away. “I’m doing just fine on my own.”

His jaw tightened. “Yeah. You were doing so fine that you were standing three feet away from Bull this morning while he scented you. Just fine.”

“That was an oversight. I underestimated him. What’s your excuse?”

“I don’t have one. All of us have underestimated him. I won’t make that mistake again. I’m not letting you go. You’ll die out here.”

“I can live with that.”

“Well I can’t.”

I didn’t want to die, far from it, but I refused to live a half life, confined and controlled. “I don’t trust you.” I also didn’t want his hands on me. Later, I was going to make him pay for this. The longer he held on, the more confused my body was getting. Warmth crawled up my arms, and into my chest. My stomach fluttered. My mind objected, but my body remembered Owen’s touch as welcome, and not a threat.

“I give you my word. Whatever you’re worried about, I won’t do it.”

I nodded my head toward my wrists, still held in his grip. “That means nothing to me,” I spat at him.

His word had meant everything to me, at one time. Until I learned that he wanted what was best for the clan, and not for me.

Owen

Stung, I let go of her wrists. My word meant nothing to her? My word, and my vows to protect, was what I valued the most. “You don’t mean that.”

She crossed her arms and fixed me with a withering glare. I was glad I wasn’t being cross-examined by her. “Now who’s dramatic?” she asked with a lilt to her voice.

“This isn’t like you. Please be reasonable.” I couldn’t let her get away. Bull’s men would end up killing her when she didn’t act like a perfect omega.

“This is very much like me. The girl you knew wasn’t really me; it was a sad version of who I could have been. I learned to be human. I learned to survive. And I learned to have a life of my own. One that I’m in charge of.”

She should be terrified of Bull, but it’s me she’s scared of. I had loved her. I had thought we’d spend our lives together. Even now, I couldn’t get enough of staring at her creamy skin and her full pink lips. “Why do you hate me?”

“I don’t hate you. This has very little to do with you,” she said.

It was hard to keep looking directly at her face. She was even prettier than she’d been at eighteen, and I wanted her. My stomach churned. I wanted her to want me back, which meant I was setting myself up for another harsh rejection. “I have no idea what you mean.”

“Our clan. Our kind. They want me to be locked away, good for one thing only,” she said. Her green eyes shone in the light. “They wanted me owned, like a possession,” she continued. Her voice shook as she spoke.

I hated seeing her in pain, but I didn’t appreciate that she thought I wanted her treated so badly. “You were going to marry me. I didn’t treat you like that.”

“Why are you so dense?” Her voice rose. “You were part of the system. I tried to talk to you about it. I tried to make you understand.”

Why had she rewritten our past to make me a villain? “You never said a word.”

“I asked you to leave with me. I told you I’d found us a place in Canada, where we could go and be free.” She looked away. “You laughed. You said no.”

She was holding one conversation against me. At eighteen, I hadn’t understood what she meant. Had I understood, would I have acted? Would I have left with her? I wasn’t sure. “I didn’t think you were serious.”

“No one ever thinks an omega is serious.”

My bear grumbled. I stared at her. I’d tried to give her everything an omega could want. I’d have done anything for her, and she’d thrown it away. It didn’t matter. Those days were long gone. “We need to get moving. We’re going to get in the patrol car, drive to a motel, and check in.” I held out my hand. “Give me your cell phone.”

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