Chapter 164: Never intended To Feel This Way
Chapter 164: Never intended To Feel This Way
Rebecca’s POV
I lay awake in my bed, staring up at the white ceiling. My mind was a complete mess, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t sleep. My thoughts kept going back to Alpha Kaden, and a cold chill of fear ran down my spine.
How could a man change so much in just a few days? Only a short time ago, he was the monster who had brutally hurt me, starved me, and dragged my bleeding, tired body through the dirt. He showed me no mercy at all, treating me worse than an animal. The physical pain he caused still ached deep in my bones, a constant reminder of the nights he hurt me until I was screaming for death.
Yet today...
Those same hands had carefully held a plate while he fed me pieces of toast, one bite at a time. Those same green eyes that had once looked at me with nothing but hatred had softened in a way I never thought possible.
It didn’t comfort me. It frightened me.
A man like Kaden didn’t simply become gentle overnight. Men like him didn’t just wake up with a conscience. Every unexpected kindness felt like another trap waiting to spring shut around me.
Was this another game? Did he think a few careful gestures could erase the nightmares he had carved into my mind? That feeding me would somehow make me forget the hunger, the pain, and the humiliation?
The uncertainty terrified me more than his anger ever had. At least when Kaden hated me, I knew exactly where I stood.
Now... I never knew which version of him I would face. The cruel Alpha who wanted me broken, or the strangely gentle man who looked at me so tenderly.
Knock. Knock.
The quiet, soft sound at my door made me freeze.
I sat up quickly, pulling the bedsheets tight against my chest as fear gripped me. My heart beat rapidly against my ribs as I stared at the heavy wooden door. It was late. Nobody should be visiting me at this hour—and if it was Kaden coming back to find a new way to touch me, I didn’t know if I could survive it.
Slipping out of bed, I walked across the cold floor and carefully unlocked the door, opening it just a little bit.
My breath caught in my throat.
Alpha Kane stood in the dark hallway. The soft light illuminated his sharp jaw. He looked exactly like Kaden, but his brown eyes were dark, intense, and filled with a strange, wild energy.
"Alpha Kane?" I whispered, my voice shaking.
Without a word, he stepped past me into the room. I quickly closed the door behind him, turning around to press my back against the wood. My hands gripped the handle tightly behind me, as if trying to lock out the rest of the world.
"Is there something wrong?" I asked, looking at him nervously, praying Kaden wasn’t walking the halls.
"I couldn’t sleep," Kane said, his voice deep and a little rough.
He took a slow step toward me. The comforting, warm scent of wood and pine washed over me, completely different from Kaden’s intimidating, heavy scent of mint and rain. There was a strong pull to him tonight, something heavy and sad that made it hard to breathe in the room.
Before I could even think of stepping back, Kane closed the distance between us. His warm, rough hand gently cupped my cheek, his thumb rubbing softly over my skin. The moment his bare skin touched mine, a sudden, powerful spark shot straight through my body. A soft gasp escaped my lips, my eyes growing wide in the darkness.
Kane’s breath hitched. His eyes dropped down to my mouth.
And then, he leaned down and kissed me.
His touch wasn’t like Kaden’s rough, cruel hands. It was soft, sad, and filled with a deep, aching love that seemed to pull at my very heart. For a split second, I was so exhausted by everything in my life that my mind went completely blank, and my body wanted to melt into the warmth of someone who wasn’t trying to hurt me.
But as the first shock faded, reality came crashing back like a wave.
This is Alpha Kaden’s brother.
I raised my hands, pressing them hard against Kane’s broad chest, and pushed him back.
"No! Stop!" I gasped, pulling my face away as I breathed heavily, my heart racing. "Alpha Kane, please... you can’t do this."
Kane didn’t force me. He let his hand drop from my cheek, but he didn’t step back. He stood there, his chest rising and falling as he stared at me, his eyes filled with so much pain.
"I know," Kane whispered, his voice shaking a little in the quiet room. He ran a hand through his brown hair, looking completely beaten. "I know, Rebecca. This wasn’t the plan. None of this was supposed to happen."
"Then why are you here?" I whispered, my voice trembling as I held my hands over my chest.
He stared at me for a long moment before answering.
"Because I don’t understand it myself," Kane said, his brown eyes searching mine with an intensity that terrified me. "You’ve only been here for a few days. Just a few days, Rebecca. But ever since you came to this pack, I can’t think straight. I can’t sleep."
My breath stopped at his words.
Suddenly, the words of his mother came back to me. I remembered the secret conversation we had shared, and the warning she had given me.
So, his mother was right. She had seen it before any of us did. She knew what was happening to Kane, even when he was trying so hard to hide it.
"I didn’t plan on feeling this way," Kane muttered, his voice dropping to a low, sad whisper that broke the heavy silence of the room. "But I can’t stay away from you."
I stared at him in stunned silence, my hand going up to my throat as I nervously rubbed the silver collar around my neck.
What did this mean? Why was Kane looking at me with so much longing and desire, while Kaden treated me with so much cruelty? Were they both simply pulling me into another cruel game? Was this just another battle between brothers where I was nothing more than a prize caught in the middle?
Before I could say another word, Kane turned toward the door.
"Get some rest, Rebecca," he said softly, his voice heavy.
He opened the door and stepped out into the dark hallway, closing it quietly behind him. I stood there completely alone in the quiet room, my fingers shaking as I touched my lips, which still felt warm from his kiss.