Shattered by the Alpha Stronger Than Ever novel Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The next day, Kael’s pounding on the door hit like a thunderstorm rattling the frame.

Iyanked it open, and there he stood under the dim, flickering porch light, chest heaving, clutching that rain–soaked cardboard box I’d tossed in the trash.

“Talia!” His voice was raw, ragged. “What the hell’s gotten into you?

I tilted my head, letting him get a good look at the ugly handprint on my left cheek. The bruise had spread, purple finger marks blooming like a brand of shame seared into my sidn.

Kael’s eyes widened, his pupils shrinking to pinpoints.

“You…” His voice cracked, hand hovering near my face, fingers trembling before they froze midair. “I didn’t hit you that hard…”

I let out a cold, bitter laugh, stepping back from his touch.

Once upon a time, I’d hold up a paper cut to him, pouting, “Kael, kiss it better!”

He’d roll his eyes, call me a “drama queen,” then gently slap a Band–Aid on with exaggerated care.

That same buy gave me this bruise.

Kael stared, floored by the ice in my gaze–something he’d never seen before.

“I’m sorry, Talia, I didn’t mean it.” He stumbled over his words, desperate. “I thought you were picking on her on purpose, and I just. I lost it.”

I cut him off, my voice flat as steel. “Since you’re here, let’s make it clear: we’re done,”

“Kael, from now on, don’t speak to me like we still have something. We’re not. If we pass each other on the street, keep walking. And don’t ever show up at my door like this again.

His eyes flinched, like I’d slapped him. The night crept in between us, painting his silhouette in cold, jagged blue.

“Get lost, I said, leaning against the doorframe, voice barely above a whisper.

He blinked, confusion twisting his race. Is this about me sticking up for Riley? Or the slap?”

His eyes churned with something I couldn’t read hurt, maybe, or anger. “Since when did you get so damn cruel, Talia?”

“Kael,” I said, prying his fingers off the doorframe one by one, “it’s not just the slap. It’s you choosing the person who humiliated me over me”

The porch light flickered and went out, leaving us into darkness.

In that split second before the shadows swallowed us, I caught the red rimming his

eyes.

For a moment, he was that lod again–the one who’d take a punch for me, grin through the blood, and say, “Doesn’t even hurt.

Kael stood frozen, the box slipping from his grip and hitting the ground with a dull thud. A single glass star rolled out, catching the faint light in a fractured shimmer.

His face hardened, like he didn’t recognize the girl in front of him.

He’d seen me cry, seen me laugh, seen me whine and pout–but never like this. Cold as ice, my eyes sharp enough to

“Talia, I didn’t mean it,” he rasped, his throat bobbing. “I was pissed, I wasn’t thinking

I shook my head. “I don’t want to hear it.”

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