Safety.
Pack.
Home.
My Alpha rumbled in satisfaction, every instinct screaming to keep her here, to never let her go, to eliminate every threat and lock her away somewhere only I could reach her.
Then she pushed against my chest.
"I have to finish work," she said, but her voice was shaky.
I let her go because forcing her to stay would break something fragile between us. But I didn't step back.
"I'm not done with you, Pretty Girl."
"Jaxon, please." She looked up at me and I saw the fear there, raw and real. "I can't do this. Not with you. Not with Luca. I can't..."
"Can't what?"
"I can't be what you need me to be."
The words hit like a physical blow.
"You think I need you to be something other than what you are?" I reached out, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "I don't need you to be anything, Reina. I just need you to stop running."
Her eyes filled with something that looked like tears but she blinked them back.
"I have to go," she whispered.
This time, I let her.
She slipped past me, grabbed her camera bag, and was out the door before I could find the right words to make her stay.
I stood there in the equipment room, surrounded by her lingering scent, my hands shaking with the effort of not following her.
She was breaking down.
The suppressants were failing.
And whether she admitted it or not, her body was calling out for the pack bond that had been severed twelve years ago.
I pulled out my phone and checked the time.
Her work day would be over in a few hours.
Perfect.
I had a motorcycle and a plan, and Reina was about to learn that I was just as stubborn as she was.
Maybe more.
I waited in the parking lot for two hours.
The sun had already set by the time the last of the media staff started trickling out of Iron Stadium. I leaned against my motorcycle, arms crossed, watching the employee exit like a predator waiting for prey.
Finally, she emerged.
Reina had her camera bag slung over one shoulder, her head down as she fumbled with her keys. She looked exhausted, her shoulders curved inward like she was trying to make herself smaller.
