Unbound from the BeastChapter 2

The pressure is suffocating.

My legs ache again.

I drop my head. "Thank you, Alpha. I don't need anything."

A quiet laugh.

I don't have to look up. I heard that laugh ten thousand times last life. Cold, with mockery underneath.

That life was too heavy. Whatever happens this time, I'm done with this male.

But I can't avoid him. Because of Vanessa, he's here all the time. Honey cakes. Romance novels. Little gifts to make a she-wolf smile.

She's falling for him too. I can see it.

Good. Without me in the way, they were always meant for each other.

"Cara, do you think it's pretty?"

Vanessa holds something up. A wolf-tooth pendant, two wolves curled around each other, tied to a leather cord.

I nod. "It's beautiful. Your hands are the best in our pack. He'll love it."

She lowers her head, smiling. "You always know what to say."

Then her smile thins. "There are so many high-ranked she-wolves here. I don't know if Alpha Killian would even —"

"He will."

I say it too fast. Because I remember.

Last life, after Vanessa came back, after Killian and I were already mated, I was desperate. A she-wolf told me — males can't resist a handmade token. Carve one. Put your scent on it.

My hands are clumsy. The two wolves I carved looked like drowned rats. I kept cutting my own fingers. There was blood on the cord by the time I finished.

That same week, I saw Killian walk out of Vanessa's wing, smiling. A wolf-tooth pendant on his belt.

Hers. Of course.

The she-wolf wasn't wrong. Males do melt for tokens. She forgot to add — only from the female they actually love.

For a few days after that, Killian was almost kind. Even brought me cakes from the bakery on the east side. I never gave him my ugly pendant. It disappeared. Someone probably thought it was trash.

A maid calls Vanessa out. She sets the pendant down and goes.

I stare at it.

If I could carve like that, would someone love me too?

A shadow falls over the table. I think it's Vanessa. I pick the pendant up to hand it back.

I look up.

Black eyes. Right in front of me.

Killian's mouth twists. "Cara. What are you trying now?"

The disgust hits me before the words do.

"You're really that cheap? Crawling into my bed again?"

"I told you. I will never take you as my mate. Get it through your head."

The old fear rolls through me. He smells like that winter — pine, frost, blood. My hands shake. It takes forever to find my voice.

"Alpha. This isn't mine. Vanessa carved it for you."

He freezes. Something twists across his face. Half a second. Gone.

"Alpha?" Vanessa, in the doorway.

He steps back. His face smooths out. Soft again.

"Cara was showing me something. Said it was yours."

Vanessa goes red. But she stands tall.

"Forgive me, Alpha. I don't have much to offer. But my hands are decent. I made it for you."

I shove the pendant into her hand and run.

My legs are still shaking outside.

I wipe sweat off my forehead.

Spring in this territory. Why is it still so cold.