Bronze

Chapter 17

Kane

I knew she was listening in. I could sense her the moment she walked into the hallway. I left the door open just on the off chance she would appear, so she could hear the danger that was coming. 

I was lucky she was a curious person. 

Katherine stopped me outside the conference room with a hand to my arm. "Kane?" She pulled at my shirt, taking me to a more secluded area where I suspected she wanted to talk. 

"I'm sorry," she said, hand still on my arm. 

My wolf grunted at her, warning me to get her hand away before he fought back. I pushed at him, fighting with even myself on this matter. It felt wrong to have Kate this close to me. 

"I'm sorry, too," I replied in the same tone. "I lashed out at you, and I shouldn't have. Will you forgive me?"

Her eyes lit up with a smile. "You know I will." Her hand traveled up my arm to my shoulder, gripping the nape of my neck with enough force to draw me close. "Will you forgive me?" Her voice grew husky. 

Her lips came upon mine in a flash of passion that was only one-sided. As much as my heart broke at the thought of hurting her, it also craved someone else. I longed for Leah, to have wrapped up in my arms, with our pups running around at our feet. I longed for a life with her, one that Katherine could never give me. 

I pushed her back. When Katherine opened her eyes, tears welled behind them, cascading down her red cheeks like small waterfalls. I wanted to wipe them away, but I didn't have the strength to move. Just like similar magnetic poles, my body repelled hers with a barrier I couldn't explain.

Giving her one last apologetic smile, I made my way up to my office, taking my time and carefully choosing where to step. The distraction was welcomed. I would stop occasionally, too, and stare into a painting, trying to determine any meaning to it, or watch people moving outside from a window. 

I opened the door to my office, loving the gust of cold air as I walked through, and paused. Leah's scent was everywhere, and strongest in my chair. 

She was there, peeking down at the scattered array of papers on my desk. One after the other, she moved them, making piles, and sorting through what she thought was important.

I closed the door behind me, smirking. 

Leah jumped, standing from my office chair when she realized I had caught her snooping through my things, her back slamming into the window behind her. The papers she was holding flew around the room, falling to unknown corners where I'd never find them. 

"H-Hi," she stuttered watching my feet as I moved toward her. In contrast to Katherine, like magnets, Leah and I were unavoidably inescapable. The instant we were put within a few feet of each other, it was like fireworks going off, and everyone around us could feel it. 

I sat down in the chair in front of the desk, allowing her, if she wished, to sit in the larger, more comfortable one that I used. 

"Find anything interesting?" I asked teasingly. 

"Kane," she said, her voice growing concerned. "Why are you allowing Alpha Markus to come here?"

I leaned forward, bracing myself on the desk with my hands. "I can't exactly deny an alpha, not without reason anyway. If there was any way I could keep him away from you without putting my pack in danger, you know I would do it without hesitation."

She sighed, defeated. "I know." Her face was one of resignation, one that masked her inner feelings and granting only the acceptance of the inevitable. "It would be better if-"

"No, Leah," I snapped before she could finish. Gripping her chin between my fingers, I forced her to look at me. "Along with the pack, you are my number one priority. I will not permit you to leave with him, do you understand me?"

"No, I don't!" She jerked her face away from me and scowled down at the floor. She was tapping her foot aggressively to the sound of her heartbeat. Thump...thump...thump...thump.  

Gripping her shoulders, I shook her lightly to make her stop. To make her understand. To show her that I wasn't going to give her up. I was here and willing whenever she was ready to join me.

I stopped when she started crying. She tightened the fabric of my shirt around her fingers and held me close. "Hide me, Kane," she begged between sobs. "Don't let him find me."

I shushed her while stroking her hair. It was soft against my fingers. Then, moving around the corner of the desk, I cradled her to my chest and held her, one hand cupping the back of her head, the other around her shoulders.

I couldn't promise her that she would be safe with me, no matter how much I wanted to. As long as Markus and his searchers were on my lands, she was in danger. I knew what would happen if he found her. I knew the consequences of rebellion. 

Death.

Despite holding in my anger at the thought, a tear escaped and landed on the top of her head. She looked up at me and a rare loving smile graced her lips when she saw my red eyes. She touched my cheek with her fingertips, wiping away the salty streak left behind. 

"Where can I hide?" she asked, still holding my face.

"There's a cabin a few miles south of here," I told her, leaning into her touch. I closed my eyes, feeling the calmness take over me, letting the warmth of her hand engulf me. Then a seed of doubt formed in my heart. As small and quick as it was, it still buried itself deep. 

Pulling away abruptly, I stared down at her. "Will you be there?"

She caught my meaning, stepping away to put distance between us, and frowned. The slight pause before her answer worsened the uncertainty inside me. 

"Yes."

"Leah, I mean it. Can I trust you to stay there?"

"Yes!" She yelled glaring daggers at me. "Alla! You don't have to chain me up like your wife did."

It was a slight aggressive comment, one I shouldn't have said let alone mumbled under my breath, but I let the words slip out before I could stop myself. "I might have to."

She leaned back, shocked, angry, and then she exploded. I could see the fire in her eyes, the way the flame followed the wick up to her awaiting bomb in her head. My own body went rigid as I waited. 

She opened her mouth the yell, her finger already suspended in the air and pointed at me, but a knock at the door thankfully burnt out the fuse before it reached its end. 

I relaxed my shoulders as I answered. Leah was still fuming behind me, but she was quiet, unmoving, and slowly losing her heat. 

I opened the door and peered out to my beta. He nodded his head, confirming what I already suspected. 

"He's here."