Page 26 of The Alpha's Broken Oath

The only assurance I have here is that this elevator provides me all the room to corner her without her running off and without anyone interfering with us.

I eat away the distance between us, and Winter steels herself against the steel wall, ready for me.

“A long time ago, you reminded me of one thing, Winter. That we are fated and that, come what may, this pull between us would never cease to exist.”

Her eyes pool with tears, but with her tough-as-nails exterior and the ire she has for me, she doesn’t let those tears fall. She would rather jump off a building than let me see her cry. And I don’t know whether to clap at her strength or to be offended by the fact that she’ll never allow herself to be vulnerable toward me ever again.

“The girl who told you that was young, dumb, and naive. She should have seen your betrayal from a mile away. You didn’t acknowledge me as your Luna in front of the pack because I was the same girl who would have opened her legs for you anytime because I had a crush on you. You were never going to admit I was your Luna, nor were you ever going to mark me, and I should have seen it coming, Deacon. Goddess, was I stupid.”

My ears peak at the word “mark.” She thinks I didn’t mark her because I wasn’t planning to make her my Luna after I took her virginity? She was eighteen. She had just had her wolf. I had just made her bleed on my cock, and I thought that marking her would come at another time. I thought we had time to explore our bond and get to the marking when she was at least comfortable to be fully mine. I had been wrong about that, though.

Plus, I might have been an asshole back then, but even with that, I wouldn’t have marked her and increased her pain all in the same night. I couldn’t have handled seeing my mate in that much pain, no matter what me and my wolf wanted.

“Is that what it’ll take, Winter? My mark? Because I’ll mark you right here right now if you want, baby. I’ll put my mark on that graceful little neck so that men like Kieran Vega understand you are not up for grabs. I didn’t mark you then because you’d just bled for me, but you are stronger now. Say the word, Winter.”

I corner her, caging my arms against her and the wall. Winter opens her mouth, her hands slapping my chest, ready to push me away, but we are both startled by the red light that flicks inside the elevator. I’ve seen enough elevator malfunctions to know what comes next.

One minute later, stark darkness fills the whole elevator. One second in the darkness, Winter shrieks.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

WINTER

This is all his fault.

This would have never happened if he let me walk out of here when everyone did.

He kept me here.

He made some shocking accusations that riled me up and caused me to react when I said I wouldn’t bat an eyelid to anything he did today.

And now, we are trapped in an elevator with both our phones having no signal service to call for help.

A streak of white-hot fear blazes across my face as I try to make out everything in front of me, only to fail disastrously at it. I can’t see a thing. Pitch darkness surrounds us and eats us up without mercy, and I can’t move because I’m afraid if I do so, the elevator might give in to my and Deacon’s weight and drop us.

I can’t die like this. I can’t die trapped within four solid walls of steel with him, no less. I can’t leave Asher and Adrian without telling them how much I love them. I'm not yet ready to leave them in the first place!

Deacon’s hand cups my cheek in the darkness, and I grab the lapel of his jacket as if I need a tether to prevent me from plunging to death. Whether I like it or not, his scent and the feel of his touch on my skin is the only thing that makes sense right now, and without it, I don’t think I’m going to survive being locked in an elevator that’s probably dangling above thirty floors from the ground.

“Breathe, baby. I need you to take a breath for me. In. Out.”

I hate this.

I hate him.

And I pay heed to his words like I’m his dainty loyal omega and he’s my Alpha, almost like Deja vu.

One gulp of fresh air through my nostrils and all the way to my lungs feels like I’m inhaling liquid fire. It burns, and it fails to take the uneasiness away.

“Turn,” my voice cracks, and I swallow past the feel of nausea, dizziness, and crippling fear before I correct myself. ” Turn the lights…on. Please.”

His hand slides down from my cheek to the column of my neck, and I would be lying if I said the feel of his thumb applying pressure to my throbbing pulse isn’t doing a thing in calming my frayed nerves.

Like a damsel in distress who needs saving, I lean into his palm all the more, needing him more than I can admit.

“Wish I could do just that, Winter, but the lights will be back anytime now. Give it a few seconds.”

I can’t survive a few seconds in here.

---