Chapter 153: Can’t Tell Her
Kaden’s POV
Rebecca rushed backward, her heels hitting the carpet as she stared at me with wide, shocked eyes. She swallowed hard, trying to find her voice. "Alpha Kaden... what are you doing here?"
"I can be wherever I want to be," I told her flatly. My voice sounded a lot calmer than my heart, which was currently racing.
She swallowed hard again, looking at me for a long moment before she slowly sat down on the edge of the bed. She didn’t say another word. I just stood there by the locked door, staring at her, my soul tearing apart under her quiet gaze.
I opened my mouth to speak, the truth burning like fire in my throat.
I know you are innocent, Rebecca. I am here to free you. The words were right on the tip of my tongue. I wanted to spill everything, to tell her about the real killers, to scream that I was completely in love with her and beg for her forgiveness on my knees.
But as I took one more step toward the bed, a heavy, familiar scent suddenly hit my nose.
It was Kane.
His scent was fresh, thick, and wrapped all over her skin. A dark, ugly thought instantly exploded in my brain, setting my wolf on fire. Did Kane just touch her? Did he... were they having sex right before I got here?
The thought made me completely snap. A blind, wild anger rushed through my veins. I stormed toward her, closed the distance in three long strides, and grabbed her firmly by the arms, pulling her up.
"Rebecca, are you fucking my brother?!" I roared, my grip tight as I stared fiercely into her face.
She swallowed hard, her eyes stretching wide with terror, but I was too far gone to care.
"Tell me!" I demanded, my chest heaving up and down. "Tell me right now before I go downstairs and paint this wall with his blood! Rebecca, you are mine. You are still mine!"
She looked completely frightened, her lips trembling as she tried to pull away from my tight grip. "No!" she gasped out. "No, we didn’t have sex!"
"Lies!" I shouted back, the jealousy choking me. "Then why is his smell all over you?!"
"Because of this!" she spat back, her voice suddenly rising with a flash of angry defiance. She pointed down at her left leg.
I froze.
Her leg looked completely red and badly swollen around the ankle.
"I missed my steps earlier and dislocated my leg," she said, her voice trembling. "Alpha Kane just finished massaging it with balm before you arrived."
My anger vanished instantly, leaving only guilt... and jealousy. My wolf calmed down, realizing she was telling the truth. She hadn’t betrayed me. But even though the fury was gone, the heavy, ugly jealousy was still burning deep inside me. Kane had touched her. He had taken care of her while she was hurt—a job that should have been mine.
"Next time, tell him to get the healers," I muttered, my voice rough and tight.
I let go of her arms and took a slow step away from her, sucking in a deep, shaky breath to clear Kane’s scent from my nose.
I looked back at her face. She wasn’t just angry anymore; she looked completely done with me. The wall she had put up against me was so high, so cold, and so completely unbreakable.
The reality of the situation hit me like a physical blow. If I told her the truth right now—if I told her she was free—she would take that freedom and run straight into Kane’s waiting arms. She would stay here, in his pack, and she would hate me for the rest of her life. My chest tightened with a sudden, sharp panic. Cowardly or not, the terrifying fear of losing her forever choked the confession right back down into my throat.
The words died in my mouth. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t let her go yet.
I forced my face to harden, pulling the cold Alpha mask back over my eyes even though my heart was breaking into a million pieces. I couldn’t show her my weakness.
So, instead of freeing her, I used her own past words to cover up my fear.
"Due to your words," I said coldly, looking down at her, "I have arrested Monica and Brandon. But they keep saying you are lying."
Rebecca let out a bitter scoff, her eyes flashing with a mix of anger and absolute disbelief. "Of course they won’t tell the truth, Alpha Kaden! They are the ones who set me up! What about the CCTV camera from the hallway? What about the footage?"
I shifted my weight, trying to keep my posture stiff. "Your father can’t find it. My men are searching the entire estate, but the files are gone."
She scoffed again, a mocking, painful laugh leaving her lips as she looked away. "Of course it went missing. How convenient for them." She snapped her head back toward me, her eyes drilling straight into my soul. "I am innocent! I did not kill your wife, Alpha Kaden! I didn’t do it!"
Of course, baby, I know that, my mind screamed out instantly. I know you are innocent. I know you are completely clean.
I wished so desperately that I could just say the words out loud. I wished I could hold her, pull her into my chest, and tell her that I finally knew everything. But I was too terrified. If I cleared her name right now, she would take her freedom and walk away from me.
"So what next, Alpha Kaden?" she asked, her voice dropping into an annoyed, quiet tone. Her eyes demanded an answer.
"I will keep interrogating them," I replied flatly, forcing my voice to sound calm and unbothered. "I will make them talk."
Rebecca stared at me, her jaw tightening as she stood up from the bed, ignoring the pain in her swollen ankle. She took a step closer to me, her breathing shallow.
"Why?" she challenged, her voice echoing through the silence of the room. "Why waste time interrogating them? Why don’t you just use your Alpha command?"
I swallowed hard, a sudden lump forming in my throat. The Alpha command was powerful. No wolf could lie under its weight.
"Use it on me right now," she demanded, taking another step until she was standing right in front of me, her chest nearly touching mine. "Use it on them, and use it on me. Command us to tell the truth, King Kaden, and see for yourself who is really lying!"
