KADEN’S P.O.V

I was shocked by Amelia’s interest in the rogues and it completely threw me off balance. I had not planned to tell her so much about it but she was too adamant and I ended up spilling much more than I planned. Whenever I tried to give her a half truth, she would call me out and remind me of our deal. It was shocking how well she knew me that she could tell when I was lying to her.


I reluctantly ended up telling her how we were not the only pack being attacked by the rogues and how I hunted them down and killed everyone but I didn’t tell her why I did it. The last thing I wanted was to think about that boy and her. By the time I was done telling her everything, she just sat there staring at me in silence. I hated her silence because somewhere along the line, she had learned to hide her emotions and I couldn’t tell what she was thinking.

“Amelia,” I called out and she raised a brow. “I would prefer words.”

“I don’t know what to say. It is weird for rogues to just attack. What if one of theother Alpha’s is doing this to try and throw you off guard so they can attack.”


“I thought about that but we don’t have any proof to back up our claims. Almost everyone is affected and we have been meeting to try and get to the bottom of it,” I explained and she nodded in understanding. “I need to make sure that you do not repeat a word of this to anyone. If it gets out, the pack will be in chaos.”

“I understand.”


“I need you to promise, Amelia,” she must have seen how serious I was because she was quick to promise. I let out a sigh of relief after that.

“I should go, you look like you have a lot of work to do,” she began but I held out a hand to stop her.

“You’re here now and it is lunch time. Would you like to go out for lunch with me?” her cheeks heated and I couldn’t help but think about how much I loved seeing that red flush on her. I took her hand and led her out of the office.

I didn’t have a defined plan in mindbut I remembered how she had spoken about her friend’s family restaurant and I figured it was as good a place as any.It also served a double purpose of painting over the bad memories of that place with a good one of both of us.

When we got to the front of the store, she turned to me in shock. It was a beautiful place;it wasn’t the kind I would have visited on my own but she seemed to like it so I didn’t mind. People stared and whispered as they saw us going in and I could see a few people want to come in as well but I signaledto the owners and they came over to us.

“I need this place empty while we are here. Name your price and I will pay it,” I saw their eyes widen and it was clear that no one had ever given that offer to thembefore.The man immediately went to handle the growing crown while the woman took our order. As soon as she left, Amelia turned to me.

“Thank you for choosing here,” she whispered and I shot her a confused look. “People saw you walk in here, you may have just turned business around for them. I don’t think you realize how influential you are.”

“That wasn’t my intention.”

“That’s what makes it better.”

Our food returned and we ate in silence. The owners were at the back and they had givenus a seat that was hidden away from the doors. No one could see us unless we stood. It felt like we were the only two people in the entire world. Amelia made small comments here and there and everything was perfect until my phone buzzed with an incomig message.I was going to ignore it but Amelia encouraged me to check it.

“You’re the Alpha,” she reminded me. “it could be important.”

I glanced at it and muttered a curse when I read the message. It was from Caleb and he was giving me updates on Blake. Ever since I heard that Blake had mated with Amelia’s sister, I couldnt help but feel like there was more at play than what we knew. I had him keeping an eye on everything he did and his message was telling me that Blake was gathering a form of followership in the pack.

Immediately I read it, I was in a bad mood. I tried to hide it because I didn’t want to push it onto Amelia but it wasn’t hard to spot. I quickly paid for her meal and drove us home. I didn’t want to ask her any questions but I couldn’t stop the burning need within me to know if she truly had feelings for the guy or if she would take him backif he asked.

By the time we got to the house, she turned to me. “You have beenquiet since dinner, what is it?”

“It doesn’t matter,” I cut her off. “I have some work, I have to get back to the office.”

I leaned over and opened the car door but she made n9 move to get out. “I’m not leaving until you tell me what the problem is.”

“Blake!” I all but yelled. “He is the problem because you haven’t said anything about whether or not you still have feelings for him.”

Her brows scrunched in confusion. “I thought we were over this.”

“You dated him and had plans to mate with him. How can we be over it?”

“You know that two can play this game, right?” she asked and I cocked my head to the side in confusion. “You were going to mate with Lucy and your mother likes her. I could be throwing a hissy fit over it but I chose to believe you. Why can’t you afford me the same decency?”

“It is not the same.”

“Yes it is!” she exclaimed. “Oh my gosh, why can’t you see that? I can trust you so why can’t you trust me?”

“I never had any feelings for Lucy. You loved that boy and you kissed himtwice.”

She scoffed and unbuckled her seatbelt. “I’m not doing this with you right now. Find me when you’re a lot calmer then we can talk.”

I wanted to follow her but I knew it as a bad idea. I watched her disappear into the house and I muttered acurse as I slammed my fist onto the steering wheel. I was getting antsy and I knew if I didn’t find a way to get rid of the anger building up¸I was going to do something drastic. I got out of my car and once I was by the edge of the woods, I stripped off all my clothes and went for a run.

The cool breeze whipping through my fur soothed my edges and it gave my wolf enough space to work through his anger because he was more frustrated than I was. I don’t know how far I ran but I kept going until I couldn’t feel my legs again. I paused for a drink of water at a lake and I couldn’t help but realize how much I had overreacted. She was right- it was the same thing I was crucifying her for that she forgave me over. I felt so stupid and I felt like the worst mate in the world.

“You pissed off our mate,” my wolf whined and I rolled my eyes at him.

“You were an active participant in that conversation,” I reminded him. “Youwere more upset than I was. Don’t put the blame on me.”

“You were the one who spoke to her like that. Go and apologize.You would be lucky if she forgives you.”

He didn’t wait for me to respond before putting up the wall between us. I did a slight jog back to the house and by the time I arrived, the sun had set. I couldn’t help the fear that Amelia had left in anger but when I saw her car, I let out a sigh of relief. I quickly put on my clothes and rushed up to our room but fear seized me when I realized she was not there.

“Amelia!” I called out into the silence of the house. “Baby, I’m sorry, where are you?”

I checked the kitchen and the dining room but she was nowhere to be seen. I decided to check the spare rooms and I found her seated cross legged on the bed. It was clear that she heard me when I called out earlier but I didn’t blame her for not responding.

“Baby,” I began slowly but she held out a hand to stop me.

“You don’t just get to apologize and pretend like everything is fine. This can’t keep happening, Kaden. I understand that you’re jealous but you need to learn to communicate with me. If I wanted to be with him then nothing would keep me here. I have had at leasttwo chances to go with him but I didn’t.”

“I know that.”

“Do you?” she asked. “If you did then you wouldn’t have behaved the way you did. Why can’t you realize that I chose you? Why can’t you process your jealousy without pouring it out on me?”

“I was wrong and Iwill work on that, I swear, justallow me apologize now. You were rightand I am sorry. Please come back to our room,” I could see her resolve wavering. “I cannot promise that I won’t get jealous again but I can promise that I will handle it better.”

She sighed. “I just need you to trust me, Kaden.Can you do that?” I nodded and she looked like she wanted to say more but she quickly shookher head.

“What is it?”

She gave me a soft smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes as she clasped her hands in mine. “It doesn’t matter, I forgive you.”

“Amelia, if something is wrong.”

“Nothing is wrong, I just want to pretend like the last few hours didn’t happen. Can you do that?” I figured it was the least I could doafter everything so I nodded. “Thank you, I promise it will all make sense soon.”

“What are you planning, Amelia?”

“Nothing,” her smile was too cheery. “You have nothing to worry about, I promise.”

I wasn’t sure if those words comforted or scared me more.