Chapter 2 Chapitre 2

Mia was not used to linger. Everything in his life had been a constant flight, a series of fast trips, masks and lies. But every night, when she fell asleep in a dark corner of the city, the echoes of the past returned to haunt her, hitting her thoughts with the brutality of a slap. She couldn't forget what she had experienced, what other Alpha had inflicted on her. His injuries were invisible, but they were stayed in every corner of his being, invisible but devastating.

That morning, she felt a strange sensation, almost a warmth, wake up in her. A desire to flee, to leave even further, encountered another more persistent thought: Caleb. There was something about him, something that attracted him despite herself. Something that seemed to understand her pain without having to tell him. It was not a simple physical attraction, not a thoughtless drive. It was a strange connivance, a link that crossed it without it being able to grasp its nature. This link scared him. But he also fascinated her.

Once again, she found herself to observe her from afar. Caleb was there, closer than she wanted, closer than she had dared to imagine it. Her eyes seemed to look for something in her, as if he pressed that behind this mask of coldness, something more complex was hiding. She was haired on tiptoe, trying to blend in the shadows, but this gesture was useless. He saw her. He always saw her.

It was not just a question of look. It was much more than that. When their eyes crossed, there was a silent recognition, a tacit respect for the pain they both wore. But Caleb was unaware of her injuries, all of the Alpha who had marked her, everything she had to endure to survive. And Mia didn't know how to admit it all. How to tell her that she was carrying in her a much deeper brand than that of a simple bite.

She approached him slowly, each step weighing in her chest. She knew what she was doing was not reasonable. She knew she was getting closer to a man of whom she could not afford to become too close. He was not just any Alpha. And she was not just any omega. But his gaze, his aura, irretrievably attracted him. When he looked at her, he didn't seem to judge her. He seemed to understand in a way that no other had been able.

He greeted her with a simple nod, but her gaze lingered longer than usual. She felt her heart getting carried away and looked away before he could read in hers. A shiver traveled his skin to the idea that he could discover his secrets. Everything in her tense. He did not have to know. He shouldn't know.

"You are different," he whispered, in a hoarse voice that made her shiver. "There is something about you that I don't understand."

She felt a heavy breath sit on her shoulders, but she straightened up. She couldn't crack. She couldn't give in to this strange feeling of being understood. "Everyone has secrets," she replied, her more trembling voice than she would have liked. She cursed herself internally. Why had she answered like this?

He stared at her for a moment, as if he weighed his words. Then, with a smile that did not reach his eyes, he walked slowly. He hadn't insisted. But Mia knew he would come back. He would still come back, and maybe by dint of persevere, he would end up discovering something she had not planned.

But this thought did not reassure it. On the contrary. She felt more vulnerable than ever. Caleb did not know anything about his past, but all in him he said he had seen more than what she was ready to show. He reminded her of what she had fled for so long. He reminded her of the alpha that she had feared, the one who had marked her, the one who had left her invisible but deeper scars than she could have imagined.

She turned away, her quick steps, her heart beating even stronger. His hands were barely trembling. She had always kept her emotions under control, but here, with him, it was different. She felt exposed, vulnerable. And every look he put on her, every word he whispered, seemed to break the walls she had erected around her heart. But that was not what she wanted. She had learned to never trust an alpha, never abandoning herself. And yet, something in it resisted this instinct of fleeing. Something that didn't want to repel him.

Several days passed, and Mia found herself again and again to meet Caleb, to meet her eyes. Each meeting, each exchange seemed to bring them together, as if the universe pushed them to confront each other. But each time, she hung up on her mask, to her silence. She couldn't offer him the truth. Not yet. Not now.

Then one evening, when she thought she had managed to stand away from him, she found him around a dark street. Caleb was there, leaning against a wall, arms crossed, an almost defensive posture. But he looked at her, again. Always. And for the first time since she had met her, she was not afraid. She felt almost... soothed.

"You know, I'm tired of playing this game," he said, his lower voice, almost intimate. "I saw you flee. I saw you fight against something you don't want to admit. But what do you know? I'm tired of lying to me. I think you and me, we have more in common than what we want to admit."

Mia froze. These words, this truth that he seemed to have perceived in spite of herself ... It made her vacillate. She didn't know what to answer. She didn't even know if she wanted to answer.

"I am not like him," she whispered, the broken voice, almost inaudible. "I have nothing to do with what you think."

Caleb approached slowly. He had not yet grabbed the extent of what she hid, but he felt it. He felt it deeper than anything. Her eyes scored her face, looking for signs, clues of this pain she was wearing.

And then, without even thinking about it, he took his hand in his. A simple contact. But it was enough. She does not shy away. Because at this moment, everything there was between them was a fragile but real connection. A link that, without them wanting it, had already started to wove.

"You don't have to flee," whispered Caleb. "I know you are doing scars, Mia. But I promise you that I won't hurt you."

Mia closed her eyes for a moment, feeling the warmth of her hand in hers. She didn't know if she could believe it. But, in this suspended moment, something changed in her. She had always run. But maybe it's time to stop. Maybe it's time to face what she had been running out for so long.

But the secret she was carrying in her, the one she had sworn to keep buried, was not yet ready to be revealed.

Caleb, although deeply attracted by Mia, could not get rid of the distrust that inhabited him. He knew too well that omegas, despite their beauty and their apparent sweetness, were often simple pawns in a dangerous game between Alphas. His partner, formerly his strength and his refuge, had perished because of a trap set by an alpha rival, and this loss had marked him forever. Since that day, he had learned to be wary of omegas, never abandoning himself to their fragility, because he knew how fatal this vulnerability could be.

But Mia was different. He felt it, although his mind rebelled against this idea. He had seen her defend himself, even in the moments when his pain overwhelmed her. He had seen her smile, hide his injuries under carefully chosen clothes and words. But every look he was on her, every gesture she made, told her that she was not like the other omega. Something in her, a glow in her eyes, fascinated him. And yet, an inner voice continued to whisper to him that he had to be careful. That his weakness could destroy them both.

Then, one evening, everything changed. Mia let herself go. They were alone, in a quiet corner out of sight. Caleb had perceived that something was wrong, that the distance she had always maintained between them was starting to dissolve. He had followed it, this time without ulterior motive, simply because he wanted to understand.

She was there, near fire, her arms crossed, standing away, but in a more fragile way than usual. He approached her, his instinct pushing him to take one more step. He looked at her without really seeing her, and this silence between them seemed heavy, carrying a thousand unspoken.

"Why are you still hiding behind this mask, Mia?" Asked Caleb, his sweet voice than he had wanted. "You don't have to be alone in this. »»

She turned her head slowly to him. He then noticed the glow of pain that passed in his eyes, a fleeting but so powerful radiance that he pierced him. Without a word, she got up suddenly, but her body was shaking. She was not trying to hide it this time. She let her arms fall along her body, her pale face, marked by months of repressed suffering.

"I can't," she whispered, almost inaudible. "You have no idea what it is, to live with that. He marked me. Not only here ... "She put her hand on her heart, then on her throat, where the Alpha Rival had marked her, left like an indelible shadow in his skin and in his soul. "I'm broken, Caleb. And I don't know if I have the strength to repair what was destroyed. »»

Caleb felt a heavy goods vehicle land on his chest. He had always believed that Mia, behind his mysterious tunes and his apparent calm, was simply an omega lost in an Alpha world that had not known how to accept it. But he was wrong. The truth that she had just revealed to her was much more complex, much more cruel. She was not just broken, she was marked, much more intimately than he had imagined.

He slowly approached her, her muscles stretched by the effort not to repel her, not to go away for fear of what he could feel. However, something reacts to him in despair in his voice. He had never imagined that an omega could wear such a heavy, so desperate burden. Guilt and anger were bubbling in him, not against her, but against the fate that had condemned him to this role of victim. Against this Alpha who had irreversibly injured her.

He put a soft hand on his shoulder, a simple but full of promises that he could not understand yet. "You are not alone," he said, his words more sincere than anything he had said so far. "I know you wear a heavy burden, Mia, but you don't have to wear it alone. And me ... I'm not going to let you flee. »»

She looked at him, her eyes filled with doubts and fear. She seemed to want to turn away, go again to avoid this too raw truth. But she stopped. He felt his resistance weaken. Slowly, she turned to him, and this time it was a look of pure vulnerability. "I don't know if I can trust you, Caleb. I have been betrayed too many times to believe that an alpha could understand the pain of an omega. »»

He gently hugged his shoulder, his gaze plunged into his. "I'm not like those who hurt you. And I'm not going to ask you to believe me right away. But I will prove to you that you can trust me. »»

She closed her eyes, a deep sigh escaped from her lips. "You don't know what you say." Pain, it never disappears. She stays there, lurking, ready to resurface at the slightest misstep. »»

"I know," he replied, his low, serious voice. "But if you leave me, I will help you face this pain. I will help you heal. »»

Mia slowly looks up at him, a luster of uncertainty in his gaze. She looked at him as if, for the first time, she really saw him. And in this suspended moment, Caleb felt something change between them. It was not love, not yet, but it was something much more fragile, more authentic: the promise of shared healing, emerging confidence.

She took a deep inspiration before gently laying her hand on hers. "Okay," she whispered, almost imperceptible. "But ... you have an interest in being patient, Alpha. »»

Caleb smiles slightly, a smile that did not reach his eyes, but which bore the certainty that, in one way or another, they would cross this storm together.