Word Count: 1773

~Hunter

I find Kaan around the other side of the house. Just like I expected.

He's training on his own, his back facing me as I stomp across the lawn toward him. Azura has returned back to the bedroom after I made an excuse.

In reality, I have something very pressing to deal with.

As he leans down to grab something, I pick my cane and swing it at him, banging it against his arm. He whirls around, looking ready to retaliate until he realises it's me.

"What the fuck-"

Dropping my cane into my left hand, I rear my right one back and slap him straight across the face. My palm immediately stings and his face doesn't move much, but the surge of anger that has possessed me doesn't care.

"You hurt her, don't you?" I snap.

All I can see in my infuriated mind is Azura tying to pretend like someone here isn't harming her. She's been living in his place for years and can't escape. I can only imagine her pain.

Kaan stares at me, his bare chest rising and falling with simmering rage.

"Hurt who?" He seethes.

"Azura."

My fingers tighten into fists. His body portrays calm, but his eyes tell me another story. They have shifted from a deep forest green to almost black.

"My sister? Of course not, what are you talking about?" He questions, shaking his head in confusion, some dark brown strands sticking to his damp forehead.

All of a sudden, my anger dampens a little as I consider genuine disgust at my accusation that's on Kaan's face. He looks as though I've just thrown the worst possible insult at him...

I suppose I just did.

"She...She made it seem-"

"Azura can't even speak. Why would you think that?" He demands, adjusting the tape around his hand as he stares me down.

I swallow uncomfortably. I made a mistake. "I asked her if any of you hurt her, and she didn't make any believable indication toward no."

Kaan closes his eyes for a moment, a frustrated sigh spilling past his lips. He's restraining himself awfully well, especially for an Alpha. Usually they are charged up on anger, ready to unleash it on the nearest person.

He leans slightly colder, his gaze so chilled I almost shiver. "And you assumed it was me?"

"It's not Tay," I stutter.

"What about my useless fucking parents who would rather be at their holiday home then look after their daughter who can't even speak," he snaps, leaning so close now that I can practically taste his anger.

"I-"

"I love my sister. I would kill for her." He backs away from me now, unable to stand being in my presence suddenly.

Regret pools in my stomach like ice, chilling me to the bone.

That was foolish of me to assume. I got so angry thinking about Azura being harmed here, intimidated. My mind went to Kaan, which was unfair of me. He hasn't given me any indication that he is a violent, terrible person.

I got so used to my life at home that I assumed all Alpha's I come across would be just like the Alpha I grew up with.

"I'm sorry. I just got so angry..." I breathe, rubbing my face that burns with shameless heat.

Kaan turns away, sweeping a hand through his hair. "Whatever."

"My leg feels better. I think I can go home in a couple of days," I tell him, leaning my weight against it.

"Good."

I ignore the bite to his tone. I deserve it. Now I don't have to worry about any semblance of attraction between us that may have made it hard to walk away.

I can leave here with only one regret...I fucked everything up, and I'm better off leaving.

"Alright...I'm going to go," I mumble, turning.

"No you're not."

I pause, slowly sweeping my attention back to Kaan. He's busying himself by shifting some weights around that he was using before showed up and slapped him.

"What?"

His gaze is sharp as it focuses on me. "You're going to stay here and make it up to me."

"No way."

"If you're feeling so good, join in on this training. You need more strength," he says, raising his brows.

Guilt guides me into nodding. I could just walk away and not worry about him. It's not like he will matter to me in a week's time, when I've left this place behind. Yet, I feel the need to make it up to him, so he won't resent me when I leave.

"Alright fine. But only because I'm getting as far away from this cursed Kingdom as I can," I lie through my teeth.

"Laps as a warm up, stretches, and then we get into it."

I nod, dropping my cane, obliging him.

After an hour of following his every instruction, holding back any sassy remark that I would usually make during training, I decide I'm tired of this silence.

I need to know that Azura will be safe here when I leave.

"I'm worried about Azura. I want to get her out of here," I tell him, pulling my shirt off my skin. I didn't dress for working out, and now I'm regretting it, because I'm sweating under this mid-afternoon sun.

Kaan shakes his head. "This break isn't long enough for that conversation."

"Make it long enough."

Kaan pauses, surrpised at my sudden outburst.

"I learnt a long time ago that you can't make Azura do anything she doesn't want to," he tells me in a soft exhale, wiping the sweat from his brow with a cloth.

I doubt don't that, but still...

"So none of you have considered getting out of here? You're all adults," I remind him.

"My mother and father would follow us to the end of the earth and hurt my sisters for defying them," he tells me, his words frosted with frustration. "I am the Alpha, they would protect me. But they won't be so generous with Tay and Azura."

I'm not entirely certain what he means by that, but the way his tone shifts implies something I'm very familiar with...

Only Alpha's are important in families like these. Anyone else exists only to ensure the Alpha is happier, and some are willing to cause a lot of pain to preserve this.

"That doesn't mean you shouldn't try," I insist.

He looks down at his hands, jaw tightening. "Maybe."

I approach him cautiously, trying to draw his attention back to me again. "Promise me you'll do right by her. When I leave, I mean."

"No harm will come to Azura," he assures me.

I stare down at the weights, knowing I'm going to have to pick those up if I don't keep distracting Kaan with conversation.

"You seem stressed recently. What's going on?" I ask.

I may not care about Kaan all that much, but everyone who has crossed his path would notice how tense he's been. He's been at the manor less often these days, dealing with who knows what in his Pack.

"Huh? Oh, no, I'm fine," he exclaims dismissively.

I shift uncomfortably. "It's not about last night, is it?"

"No, although that has been on my mind." For the first time today, his mouth tilts up in the softest smile. It doesn't match his eyes, which have a wicked glint to it.

"I was hoping you were too drunk to remember." I rub the back of my neck.

The memory of being pressed against the wall, of this powerful Alpha sinking to his knees in front of me stains my mind. I turn away for a moment, squeezing my eyes shut, trying to force the thoughts away.

"There's no chance I'm forgetting that," he says breathily.

I clear my throat, knowing I need to change the subject to slice through this tension between us. "So, you're stressed. Tell me what's going on."

His gaze traces my face for a moment before he sighs. "There are tensions in this Pack. Things aren't good."

"Why not?"

"People are getting restless. They are worried about a nearby Pack trying to expand into our outer reaches," he explains.

He settles down on the grass, stretching his legs out in front of him. I follow suit, genuienly curious about what's going on in a Pack I know nothing about.

I know how stressful it can be to be an Alpha. I don't like this man very much, but I'll hear him out.

"You need a united front. You need troops at the perimeter, and you need your civilians strong and ready," I tell him. I've heard my brother tell my father that many times before, and it's how we had the strongest, most fortified Pack in the land.

I realise as I say it that I have no excuse for knowing enough to give him advice on this issue. My cheeks flush as I hold back my grimace, hoping I didn't just shoot myself in the foot.

Thankfully, he doesn't seem to notice. "My family is a mess. They can see it. And they expect me to marry soon."

I laugh under my breath, ignoring the strange sting between my ribs. "Any candidates?"

"Only who my parents have chosen for me. And most are elsewhere, in other Pack's. They can't get in at the moment, due the border concerns." He tilts his head back, exhaling.

"You must be grateful to continue living the bachelor life."

He bites his lower lip. "I enjoy not being tied to someone who doesn't want me. I fear my parents will force a poor girl onto me who doesn't want it."

I swallow tightly. That's a very real possibility, and it's sickening.

Still, my mind wanders to who this poor woman may be. I don't think she will complain about being paired with someone as attractive, and honestly as kind as Kaan.

I shake my head. What am I thinking? Kaan shot me in the back...I hate him.

And yet, a haunting thought echoes in the back of my mind. Why do I feel uncomfortable at the thought of Kaan marrying someone? I may be attracted to him, but I don't have any connection to him.

I'm leaving soon, I can't forget that.

I just can't help but wonder what it would be like if I stayed.

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~Midika 💜🐼