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Alpha Kieran didn't move from the chair he was sitting on, but he still had his attention hooked on her. She, on the other hand, wanted nothing more than to reach for his face and rake her fingers (or claws, if she could manage it) down those perfect features, to ruin him or cause pain to him in some way that would make him hurt.

It was petty, she thought, but so was his decision to reject her all those years ago.

"Really?"

She spared him a side glance and he looked amused. "Five years away and you're still holding on to all that? Don't give me that look, your thoughts keep writing themselves all over your face."

"I want to go home."

"But you are home," he said, "Moon Gold, isn't that where you were headed?"

"Yeah, lemme rephrase that. I want to be as far away from you as possible."

"I saved your life, you know."

She scoffed. "Congrats, you win a teddy bear."

"Same sarcasm. I miss that part, at least." He unfolded his fingers and leaned back in the chair, eyes still hooked on her. "Did you miss me?"

Hazel couldn't resist a smirk. He made a good choice to keep his distance that far. And wasn't it perfectly convenient, that the night that things crashed around her ears, she had to meet the person who knocked down the first domino?

"I heard you got settled up in Seattle."

"Oh, did you?"

"I've got ears everywhere."

"What, you're stalking me? Don't worry, I'm doing bad enough without you."

"I'm just curious, that's all," Kieran said, "Why'd you come back?"

"How is that any of your business?" She snarled. "You certainly didn't care much when I left your presence five years ago!" She sat up and swung her legs over the bed again, a fire in her eyes.

"You can't leave," he told her, voice firm and commanding.

"Watch me."

The pain took jabs at her body again, but she gritted her teeth and faced the door. Which was closed shut as far as she could see.

"They don't open until I ask them to," he informed her, "And you're in no state to be out there. Come on. Rest back.

"I want to go home."

"Where is that exactly?"

Hazel closed her eyes, trying not to recall the events of the day. She would rather die than tell him that she'd heard voices telling her to come back, and pushed by a blinding rage, she'd obeyed those voices.

Kieran would laugh in mockery if she said all that. Hazel knew that much about him.

His face floated into her vision though, and she muttered a curse.

"Fuck you," she said and collapsed into the bed.

He chuckled as he got to his feet. He was tall, not as tall as most men she had met, but enough to make a difference.

"Here. You need your strength."

Hazel sat up slightly, lured by the smell of butter and something equally enticing. He was bringing a breakfast tray over, and her first instinct was to reject it. But there was, among other things, coffee and scrambled eggs. She gritted her teeth silently as he set it down on the cabinet next to her, then retired to his distant position.

"Let me guess, you poisoned them?"

His brows furrowed almost immediately. "Haha. Very funny."

She reached for an apple and took a tentative bite. It tasted bitter and sour. They did not mention this as part of what to expect after being knocked out.

"Why'd you come back?"

"Just leave me alone, already."

"We've been down this road already, Hazel…"

"Yeah, and this time one of us should take an exit before it gets too late."

"Tell me why you came back!" He growled suddenly, and the hair on the back of her neck stood straight.

If there was anything Hazel had learned after five years of being away, it was to never take shit from anybody, no matter who they were.

Hazel sprang to her feet again, knocking the breakfast tray down. Kieran shot to his own feet and stood in her way before she could go any further. Her eyes bored into his, as her chest rose and fell with rage.

"You have no right—" She started.

"I have every right!" He clapped back.

They were inches apart from each other now, almost breathing the same air, even. Her body tensed, and she fought the surprising urge to cover the distance between the both of them.

"You're holding me against my own will!" She roared.

His eyes darkened. "And for good reason too."

When he leaned back, Hazel let out a breath of relief. Kieran continued. "My father told you to leave and never come back, did he not?"

"You were the one who did!" Hazel snapped. "And it was a terrible mistake coming here, anyway. I'm leaving."

She tried to push past him, but he reached out and grabbed her hand, stopping her.

And that single touch from him re-ignited a dozen different emotions that she'd thought were dead.

She heard Kieran suck in a sharp breath, and she knew that he'd felt what she'd felt too. His jade-green eyes darkened until they were pitch black, and his hand began to run up and down her arm.

"You're not going anywhere, Hazel." He growled, his breath warming her face. "This is my territory, my fucking pack. And no matter how far you think you'll run, you'll always run back to me."

Hazel gasped softly, her eyelids fluttering in reaction to his words. Slowly, she felt her resolve breaking apart under his gaze his presence, and his breath.

His sweet, intoxicating breath.

Only Kieran had the power to render her powerless this way.

She had to leave before it was too late for her.

Gathering all her strength, Hazel pushed Kieran aside and moved towards the exit. She heard him chuckle as she reached the door, hands slipping around the cold doorknob as she opened it.

"You can leave, Hazel." He called out to her. "But no matter where you go, I will always find you"