Page 73 of The Alpha's Crimson Vow

My breath catches for half a second before I push past it. I shake my head, exhaling sharply. “Unbelievable.”

Alex goes on, his attention fixed solely on me. “I don’t know why you’re wasting your time, Katherine.” His voice dips, steadier now, more certain. “He’s not me. He never will be.”

Jimmy scoffs, but I barely register it because Alex takes a step forward, his presence wrapping around me like a force field.

“You know that,” Alex continues, his voice even lower now, softer but no less intense. “Deep down, you know he’s just a distraction. Because what we have?” He exhales sharply, shaking his head. “It’s not something you can replace. Not with him. Not with anyone.”

I should walk away. But I don’t.

Because my body is frozen, locked in place by his words, the truth in them that I don’t want to acknowledge.

Because part of me knows he’s right.

And I hate that.

I hate that no matter how angry I am, no matter how much I want to erase him from my life, he still knows me. Still sees me in a way no one else does. And he knows I feel it too.

Which only makes my anger spike higher.

I straighten my shoulders, lifting my chin defiantly. “Wow. You really are that full of yourself, aren’t you?”

Alex’s expression doesn’t change, but there’s something in his eyes—something fierce and unrelenting. “We’re fated, Katherine.”

Something in my chest tightens at the mention of the word.

Like this is some kind of destiny I have no control over. Like I don’t have a choice.

I let out a sharp breath, my patience officially snapping. I shake my head and grab Jimmy’s hand, lacing my fingers through his without even thinking.

Jimmy squeezes my hand back instantly, playing along like it’s second nature.

Alex’s eyes drop to our joined hands and for the first time since this conversation started, I see something vulnerable across his face.

My grip tightens around Jimmy’s hand, my nails digging into his skin as I take a step toward Alex, my blood boiling, my heart aching.

“You really think you’re that important, don’t you?” My voice shakes, not with fear, but with a rage that’s been simmering for far too long. “You think you get to decide who I want? Who I choose?” I scoff. “Let me make something very clear, Alex—I don’t care about this whole ‘fated mates’ thing. I don’t want it. I can be with whoever the hell I want. And right now? That’s not you.”

Alex doesn’t move. But his jaw clenches, his breathing sharpens, and in the dim glow of the streetlights, I see something in his eyes. A flicker of hurt.

Good.

Because he deserves to hurt.

“You have no right to follow me everywhere,” I spit out, my voice cracking, my emotions bubbling over. “You don’t get to track me down, show up at my dates, act like you own me! You don’t own me, Alex!”

I swallow hard, forcing myself to keep going, to say the thing that will end this once and for all.

“I don’t want you in my life,” I say, and the words hurt—God, they hurt—but I need to say them. I need to push past this, past him. “I want you to leave me alone. Just let me go, Alex.”

For a fraction of a second, he just stares at me, his face unreadable, his expression carefully blank. But his eyes are screaming.

Without another word, I grab Jimmy’s hand tighter, pulling him with me, my pulse hammering as we walk past Alex, as I fight the urge to turn back, to look at him one last time.

But just then, he speaks again.

“I know who tried to kill you.”

The words are barely above a breath, but they stop me cold.

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