Chapter 5 Chapitre 5

Caleb stopped suddenly, tight fists, stretched muscles. The freezing wind was blowing on his face, but it was not the cold bit that made her body tremble. She was. Mia. This fragile omega which, against all odds, aroused in him a feeling that he had sworn to ignore: a need, a desire that he could not understand or accept. He forced himself to look away, but he knew it was useless. His image, his gestures, his words, everything was engraved in his mind. He was losing it, without even having completely had it.

Since he had met her, something had changed in him, something he could not explain. He had believed that his pain, the loss of his partner, would be a burden that he would carry alone until the end of his days. But Mia came to upset all of this. She hadn't asked for anything. She was only an injured omega, a woman fleeing a past that she could not forget. And yet, she had taken a place that he had not planned. The softness of her eyes, the brilliance of her hair under the light, the way she sometimes looked at him as if she knew what he was carrying in him, all that disturbed him.

He was Alpha, an alpha without compromise. He could not afford to give in to feelings that were only weakening his authority. He had not tried to love again. The death of his partner had left him emptied, broken. She had been his strength, his anchor, and since his departure, he had folded up on himself, in an icy solitude, without place for another. He had sworn that he would never let someone enter his heart. But Mia, with his shy gaze and his hesitant gestures, had awakened in him a part of him that he had believed dead.

The nights were the worst. At night, the memories of his former partner returned, like ghosts that he could not hunt. He woke up in sweat, his heart beating, with a devastated soul. He remembered her laughs, the warmth of her body near his, the way she had occupied all her existence, until she was torn from him. And then there was Mia. His face haunted his thoughts at every moment of the day. Why is she? Why had she taken this role so easily? Why, when he swore to never love it again, did his body react to his simple presence?

The questions turned in his head like sharp claws, searching his thoughts, digging caves of doubts. If he gave in to his desires, this need for proximity, this irrational desire to be close to her, he would betray himself. He would betray the memory of his partner. And yet, whenever he saw her, whenever she looked at him with this palpable vulnerability, he felt his control vacillating. He knew he couldn't ignore him any longer.

Their exchanges have become more frequent in recent days. She was not yet ready to reveal everything to her, but he saw that she was wearing a heavy burden, a secret that she could not share. He was the alpha. He had a duty to protect his pack, to maintain order, to never fail. He had no room for weaknesses. And yet, Mia put him to the test. She forced him to look beyond his walls, beyond his defenses, in a place he did not want to see.

He remembered this precise moment, when she approached him after an argument with another member of the pack. She had been held a few steps from him, her eyes fleeing her family, as if she feared that he rejects her. But instead of pushing her away, he had let her speak, listening to her words, seeing her reveal himself a little more every minute. And at that moment, he understood that she was not just an omega. She was much more than that. She was carrying in her a silent force that he could not ignore.

But what frightened him the most was this part of him that had awakened, the one who wanted to protect her, take her in his arms, tell her that everything was fine, that he would watch over her. He had never felt this need in another, not even for his deceased partner. He had always seen himself as a chef, a leader, a detached person, capable of guiding his pack without getting emotionally involved. And now ? Now Mia torn him away, forcing him to see everything he had always thought to be true. He was no longer an inflexible alpha. He was a man who was fighting against his own desires.

He got up suddenly, chasing these thoughts, but they always returned, relentless. He had no answers. And yet he knew he had to fight. He couldn't afford to succumb. Not yet. Not now.

The next day, they found themselves again, as if destiny attracted them inexorably. Caleb could feel the tension between them. Mia, usually so distant, was a little closer to him today. He saw the inner struggle in his eyes, the mixture of fear and desire. She was trying to fight what she felt, like him. But their souls were linked, in one way or another. Destiny did not matter for them. They were too human, too marked by life to ignore what was going on.

Mia approached slowly, her hesitant steps. Caleb fixed it, not knowing what to say. Each word he pronounced seemed to be an attempt to protect himself, a barrier he raised so as not to get carried away. But he couldn't repel it. He looked at her, his eyes filled with a desire that he could not repress. It was as if each fiber of her being was shouting to touch her, to protect her. But the voice of reason, that of the pack of pack, shouted to him to move away, not to fall into this trap.

"Caleb ..." she said gently, breaking the silence between them. He looked at her, her heart beating faster than ever.

"Mia, you know I can't ..." His voice broke, but he didn't have time to continue. She approached a little more, her gaze plunged into hers, her eyes filled with the same struggle, of the same pain.

" I know. She replied gently. " But... "

But what? Caleb did not have time to answer. He had no response to give him. Her heart was torn between the desire to protect her and that of keeping her away forever. He knew he was about to cross a line that he could no longer erase. But at the same time, something in him he said it was the only possible outcome.

Mia stood in front of Caleb, her tense body, her fleeting eyes. She could feel her gaze weighing on her, an imposing presence, like a weight that weighed her more. He was so close, too close, and each fiber of his being shouted to go back. No matter how it was attracted to him, to feel this strange connection, there was something in her, a visceral fear, which pushed her to repel him. It was not distrust, not exactly. It was an invisible, deep and painful scar that prevented him from letting go. She couldn't. Not yet.

Her past, what she had lived on the cruel hand of her former Alpha, marked her more deeply than she showed him. Caleb, as alpha as it was, could not understand. No man could. The omegas were only pawns in power games, and it was only a painful memory for those who had abandoned it, used and then thrown away. Her past was screaming her again, whenever her eyes met those of Caleb. She felt that she could get lost if she opened to him, if she let this proximity become more than a simple contact.

Caleb said nothing, he did nothing. He observed, as if he expected an invitation that she was not ready to give him. But deep down, Mia knew there was more than attraction between them. It felt the same heat, the same tension. However, the idea of opening his heart to him, showing her his vulnerability, terrified her. She couldn't afford to become a dependent. She never wanted to be a prey, a weakness, a toy in the hands of an alpha.

The silence between them was heavy, almost suffocating. But everything exploded when one of the members of the pack, a wolf at the arrogant attitude, approached them laughing, as if to break this moment of palpable tension.

"So, Caleb, is that your new little protégé? "He said in a mocking tone, his eyes fixed on Mia.

MIA stretched immediately. She didn't like these guys. She did not like the way some members of the pack behaved with omega, as if they were objects. She could see in the eyes of this man a condescension disguised as fun, and that was enough to rekindle her fears.

Caleb, visibly irritated, straightened up, his imposing figure standing between Mia and Man. "This is my pack, and I will not tolerate such behaviors," he rumbled, threats in his voice.

But Mia couldn't help but react. She had never been protected, never defended, even less seen as someone valid. Everything she had experienced had taught her to defend herself alone. Never depend on anyone. She moved away from Caleb with a quick step, a new tension in her gestures.

"Don't do it," she whispered, the weak but determined voice. "I don't need your protection. »»

Her words were like a cold, and cared, surprised, watched her move away. He wanted to hold it back, but he felt that there was more behind this reaction than a simple rejection. She didn't want him to be his Savior. She didn't want him to be the man who protects her as a weakness. He understood, in his own way, but it hurt him.

"Mia is not what I mean," he tried, her sweet voice, but she didn't let him finish.

"You don't know anything about me," she said suddenly, her trembling voice. "You know nothing about what I have experienced, what I wear. So don't come and tell me what I have to do. I don't need anyone. »»

These words resonated in Caleb as a stab. He thought he understood it. He thought he could approach her without forcing her, without pushing her. But she was far from the woman he had hoped to find. She was not broken in the way he had imagined. She was more complex, stronger, more lonely than anything he had known. And that disturbed him.

He walked towards her, but this time he was more prudent. He looked her in the eye, looking for the answer to her own questions. Why was she fighting so much against him? Why did she reject this connection that he felt between them, as deeply rooted in him as she should be in her?

"I'm not going to force you to do anything," he said finally, the voice full of understanding but also a form of frustration. "But I can't let you do this alone. Not yet. »»

She looked away, her eyes filled with a whirlwind of contradictory thoughts and emotions. "And I don't want to be a burden," she whispered almost for herself, but strong enough for him to hear it.

"You are not a burden," he replied, his voice calmer, but full of conviction. "You have never been a burden, Mia. »»

The words escaped from her mouth without being able to hold them back. "I don't even know what it means," not a burden ". I have never been anything other than an error in someone else's life. I don't want you to look at me like that. Her voice broke on the last sentence, and she turned her head, a brightness of pain crossing her gaze.

Caleb approached again, this time without hesitation. He knew that everything she had experienced had forged him much harder than he could have imagined. But he was not there to judge her. He was there to understand it. To support her.

"I don't see you as an error," he said in a low voice. "I see you as someone who deserves to find peace. And if you want to move forward, even at your own pace, I will be there. Because I believe in you. »»

Heavy silence settled together. Mia stood there, her eyes lowered, unable to face him. She felt lost, like a puzzle whose pieces never seemed to fit. And yet, in this fragility that she tried to hide, something in her was starting to break, to open, although she is afraid of what could come out.