Chapter 5: One Hour to Trust

The chill of the outside air hit her as she pushed open the doors, and she took a deep breath, the suffocating feeling in her chest finally easing.

She wrapped her arms around herself for warmth as she made her way to the street. ~It’s over. It’s finally over. The alpha is gone for good~. She wouldn’t see him again.

Her gaze was fixed on the ground, barely noticing the cars pulling out of the parking lot or the people heading towards the emergency room.

“Alexander.”

The sound of that voice made her freeze.

Her eyes remained glued to her shoes, her heartbeat pounding in her ears. She’d barely heard the voice, but she recognized it. Her entire body recognized it.

A shiver ran down her spine, her lower lip trembling as she became oblivious to the sounds around her.

She was frozen—she forgot how to breathe. Her grip on her arms loosened, and they fell to her sides.

Her eyes darted from side to side as she willed herself to look up. She took a few quick breaths, vaguely aware of the sweat on her palms and the tingling sensation in her fingers and toes.

Then, she looked up.

It was him; there was no mistaking it.

He stood tall, his arms folded across his chest.

His stance stretched the fabric of his long-sleeved shirt, the blue material outlining the impressive muscles beneath.

~She remembered how they felt~—but now wasn’t the time for that.

~He was here~. The room had been dark and his face was the last thing she remembered, but now in the sunlight, his features were clear.

His brown hair was tousled by the wind, his blue eyes sparkling, a smirk on his face. He was leaning against a car, one leg crossed over the other, forcing her to meet his gaze.

The wide grin on his face suggested he found this situation far more amusing than she did.

~He thought this was funny?~

It was one thing to corner her in a dark room during her heat, but to stalk her in broad daylight with ~no excuse~?

“W-what?”

“Alexander. That’s my name,” he said, pushing off from his car.

“I assume that’s why you’re here.” He took a step forward, each footfall echoing ominously. He looked like a predator stalking its prey, waiting for it to bolt at the slightest sound.

There was only ~one~ reason he’d be at the hospital at the ~same~ time as her. She doubted he’d been waiting all day. “You were at my apartment,” she accused, pointing a finger at him.

She hadn’t imagined it; she had been right.

He raised an eyebrow, recoiling slightly as if her tone had taken him by surprise. “You left quite a trail. I thought it was an invitation.”

Olivia scoffed. “An invitation? Are you serious? Why would I invite a creepy stalker to follow me?” she retorted.

“Then why did you make it so easy to follow you?”

She cocked her head and puckered her lips. “What are you saying? What path? Why would I want you to find me?”

He bit the inside of his cheek, a hand coming up to hide the grin that was threatening to break free.

Despite his amusement, she noticed the strain in his jawline, as if he was gritting his teeth. ~He was a puzzle she couldn’t solve.~

“Hop in the car.”

She blinked, as if trying to comprehend his demand. Her hand flew to her chest, her eyes wide with disbelief. “Pardon?”

“I said, get in the car.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you. I’m certainly not getting into your car.” Her voice quivered more than she would have liked, but he didn’t seem to notice. “Now, leave me be.”

She spun around, intending to put some space between them, but a firm grip halted her.

She looked down to see his fingers encircling her wrist. He wasn’t holding her tightly enough to bruise, but his grip was strong enough to keep her from moving.

A shiver ran down her spine, her shoulders tensing. “Release me,” she murmured.

“I just want to talk, nothing more.”

His tone had changed.

He had been so forceful, so assertive—the exact image of an alpha that Will had described. But now, his voice was…gentler? As if he was nursing a heartache. But that didn’t make sense. Besides, it didn’t matter what ~he~ desired.

Their wants were not aligned and nothing good could come from trusting an alpha.

“I don’t want to talk to you. I don’t even know you.”

“Liv…”

His voice held a hint of a growl as he used the nickname, but she brushed it off; she barely noticed it. Hearing him call her ~that~? She took a deep breath but didn’t exhale. She couldn’t breathe out.

He couldn’t have guessed it, he couldn’t have known her name…

So why was he calling her ~that~?

“That’s what he used to call you, right?”

How could he be so nonchalant about this? How could he stand there and pretend this was ~normal~?

“What’s your name?”

She remained silent. He seemed to know everything, so why was he asking her?

“I asked you a question.”

The gentleness in his voice was gone, replaced by a more commanding tone—one that didn’t leave much room for negotiation.

“Olivia. My name is Olivia.” She hadn’t intended to respond, but the compulsion was stronger than her willpower.

Perhaps it was the recent heat wave. Her mind wasn’t functioning properly. She needed to snap out of it.

“Olivia,” he echoed, as if trying out how it sounded. “Olivia, I want to talk.”

“And I don’t.”

She attempted to pull her arm away, but to no avail.

“Whatever happened yesterday, it was a mistake. I didn’t mean for it to happen.” She was losing control, much like he had lost control.

“Please go away.”

Once he realized the error of his ways, once the thrill of the chase wore off, he would come to his senses and understand that he didn’t want this either.

“Alright. I’ll let you go if you answer one question.”

“I’ve already answered one of your questions. I don’t owe you anything.”

But he disregarded her protest. It seemed to be a habit of his. “Why don’t you have an alpha?”

“Because I don’t need a self-centered, murderous, power-hungry alpha dictating my life.” That should be enough to show him how little she wanted to do with him.

As an alpha, he was probably unaccustomed to defiance or rejection. Will had warned her about the severe consequences of defying one’s alpha. Luckily, they had nothing to do with each other.

He chuckled, the sound resonating through her. “That’s quite a viewpoint you have. Who was your alpha, darling?”

Why did he automatically assume she had allowed someone to harm her?

Didn’t he realize their reputation preceded them? She didn’t need to be a victim to know he was a predator.

“I’ve never owned one,” she spat back. “And that’s two questions. Can I leave now?”

His fingers were warm, his entire body was emitting a heat she couldn’t evade. Each throb of her heart was agonizing. ~Why~ wasn’t he releasing her?

He didn’t respond to her question. He chose silence instead.

His hold on her arm intensified, and her thoughts were filled with Will’s warnings. ~Alphas were dangerous~. She should be attempting to escape him. She shouldn’t have landed herself in this predicament to begin with.

She should have heeded Will’s advice.

“My arm,” she reminded him, her face contorted in pain. His grip slackened, and the moment she felt that, she yanked her arm back.

“Then why do you despise alphas?”

“Because I know what you are,” she retorted, massaging the spot where his fingers had just been. There was no visible mark, no bruise, but she couldn’t shake off the sensation of his touch.

“And what’s that?”

“Monsters.”

Suddenly, a hand was on her waist, and she was whirled around. Her chest bumped into his, and she held her breath. His cheek was against hers, his warm lips brushing her ear. He was close—~too close~.

She kept telling herself to push him away, but she never did.

“And did your little friend tell you that, or did you come to that conclusion on your own?”

His fingertips lightly brushed against hers, barely exerting any pressure, as he held her still. He didn’t need to; she was frozen.

She wanted to respond, but any potential reply got stuck in her throat. Will had told her, and she trusted him. There was nothing more to it.

However, if she were to be honest with herself…he hadn’t harmed her or done anything yet. He wouldn’t leave her alone, and he asked too many questions, but apart from that…

“I must say, I’m a bit hurt. I believe I’ve been quite the gentleman.” His nose grazed the side of her face. “A bit out of control last night, but—I couldn’t resist.”

“You couldn’t resist assaulting me?” she managed to choke out, her eyes shut.

“Strong word from someone who consented.”

~Damn. Jerk.~

Even now. He was holding her, touching her, and she was letting him. What was wrong with her? She had attributed her initial reaction to her heat, but what about now?

What was stopping her? Why couldn’t she walk away from him? Why couldn’t she leave as she had originally planned?

“It’s not like that.”

“Then explain it to me, Olivia. I want to understand.”

“I want you to leave me alone. Please.”

The final word was a faint whisper on her lips, as if she’d used up all her energy to utter it. She could tell him off, she could scream at him, but in the end, he knew too much.

He could show up at her apartment, he could lurk around her workplace. She was powerless to stop it.

How could she get rid of him when he seemed to know everything about her?

She’d never be physically stronger than him, and she wouldn’t put Will in danger. He’d already suffered enough because of alphas, and she’d never put him in that position.

She knew all too well what it felt like to lose and to have your life stolen from you.

“How about this? You get in the car, you come with me. Two hours, and if you still want to leave, I’ll let you go.”

He must be out of his mind.

There was no other explanation for this. Could he hear himself when he spoke? Did she give him the impression that she wanted to be ~alone~ with him and completely at his mercy? Hadn’t she run away from him the night before?

“I’m not going to get in a car with you and go who knows where.”

“You don’t trust me?”

“No.”

“Are you saying that because I’m an alpha?” he asked, creating a small gap between their bodies. “Is that really how you feel?”

He raised his hand, took hers in it, and placed both of them on her chest. “If you think about it, really think about it…do you trust me?”

It was a ludicrous question. Of course, she didn’t. ~She couldn’t~.

He was a stranger, an alpha, a shadow in her life. Trusting him was out of the question, wasn’t it? She couldn’t possibly trust him. Why was he so stubbornly persistent? Hadn’t she made herself clear? What more did he want?

“I don’t.”

“You’re not being honest,” he retorted, letting go of her hands. Her arms dropped to her sides, and she resisted the impulse to fold her hands together.

“Alright, that café over there,” he suggested, his tongue clicking against his teeth.

“What?”

“It’s a public place, out in the open. Spend two hours with me. If you don’t like what you hear, you can leave and I’ll stop bothering you.”

He wouldn’t dare ~touch~ her there, he wouldn’t dare ~abduct~ her in broad daylight. What was he planning?

“Why do you want to talk to me?”

She was born human.

She was insignificant. She didn’t even live the werewolf lifestyle. She was as human as her transformed body allowed.

“Because I need to.”

“If you expect me to answer your questions, you have to answer mine too.”

“Fair enough,” he responded, a smirk playing on his lips.

“I usually have great self-control. Yesterday, I didn’t. That’s never happened before. I need to understand why.”

Her gaze darted between him and the quaint café a short distance away. Back and forth. Back and forth.

Was he being honest? Or was he just spinning a web of lies to manipulate her? But then again, this was a public place, right? A werewolf wouldn’t risk exposing his true nature. He had nothing to gain from that.

“You promise you’ll leave me alone?”

It seemed absurd to even ask; how could she trust his word? He’d followed her all the way here. Would a simple promise really deter him?

To keep a promise, one needed to possess honor and integrity, and from what she’d heard, alphas were devoid of both.

His lips were pressed together so tightly they turned pale, his gaze boring into her.

Wrinkles formed at the corners of his eyes, and she noticed his nose twitch. He was clearly displeased. “Yes,” he managed to say, the word sounding forced.

He didn’t utter another word, didn’t make a move. He simply waited for her response. No was the right answer.

But just like the night before, that word remained unspoken. Instead, she gave him a different answer, ignoring the pounding of her heart in her ears.

“One hour.”

“Shall we?” he proposed, extending his hand towards her.

She didn’t accept it. Instead, she walked past him.

One hour with a stranger—an alpha.

Had she completely lost her sanity?