Chapter 12 - A Storm of Emotions

Kai looked down at her with hooded eyes, peering through the gap in his damp hair. He looked both dangerously dark and alluring at the same time. His wet clothes looked like they had been painted on to his hard body.

He looked like a judge that was ready to pass sentence. His arctic blue eyes had turned cool and steely and it was clear from his tight expression that he was losing an internal battle to try and control how wound up he was.

He was livid.

“What are you doing Adalyn?” he finally spoke. His voice sounded colder than usual.

Adalyn said nothing.

“Did you really think I wouldn’t notice what you were up to back in the room?”

Adalyn's eyes widened. He must have spotted what she had done when he came in to the room earlier to check on her and then guessed her intentions. He had simply been playing along to see what she would do next. Adalyn screwed up her lips annoyed. He always seemed to be one step ahead of her.

Kai huffed when he didn’t get a response from her. “Did everything I say to you earlier just go in one ear and out the other?”

Now Adalyn was pissed that he had the cheek to be annoyed with her when he was the one treating her like an object. She raged internally.

“You said I wasn’t a prisoner here right? So, I’m going home. I don’t care about your family dramas. I want nothing to do with it!” She continued to lower herself down the side of the building as the rain started to pick up.

Kai knelt down nearer to the edge to get closer to her.
“Whether you want anything to do with it or not, it's too late for that. I can't protect you if you leave.” His voice had softened a little.

Adalyn rolled her eyes. He was still keeping up this ‘knight in shining armor’ act and that wasn’t going down well with her.

“Well, I don't need *protection* I can take care of myself!"

As the rain and the wind started to pick up Adalyn’s foot slipped from under her on the cliff edge but she quickly regained her footing.

“And how is that working out for you?" Kai added sarcastically in response to her slipping. She didn’t appear to be in any immediate danger and Kai knew that he could quickly grab her if she slipped further down.

The look she gave him in response was pure venom.

Realizing his sarcastic comment probably wasn't the best approach Kai tried a different tact.

“Has something changed since this morning? As up until now I thought we were on the same page." His voice had really softened up now as he genuinely tried to understand her.

“Seriously, let me help you up, you’re gonna hurt yourself without your wolf to help you”

As Kai reached out his hand Adalyn slapped it away. Releasing one of her hands to do so caused her to slip again.

*'Oh my god, this woman is infuriating!'* he thought. Why wasn't she getting it?

He knew that if he wanted to, he could just take her against her will and keep her under lock and key in the manor, but that would only push her away in the long term. He was going to have to tread softly to get what he wanted.

“Listen to me. Do you really want to bring all of this home to your doorstep? If you go running back home now, you'll get them all caught up in this. Do you want your family to get hurt?”

“So now you're threatening my family?!” Adalyn snapped back “I guess the whole 'threatening' thing must run in yours”

Kai’s jaw dropped. “What? No! You're not listening to me!”

The rain was starting to pelt down now. Kai ran his both his hands through his hair in frustration. "I don't understand why you have me pegged as the bad guy here? I'm genuinely trying to keep you safe, safe from really dangerous people and I need you close to me in order to do that."

"Bullshit!" Adalyn shouted back at him. She had had enough of this act. "This has never been about me, it's only ever been about you, about you protecting yourself! All you're interested in is hiding me, your weakness, away from your enemies! Well, I see through you now Kaiden and I want nothing to do with it. I won't let you play with my feelings in order for you to manipulate me in to staying. I WON'T!" Tears were now free-falling down her face, mirroring the rainfall.

Kai was astounded. He watched in amazement as this hurricane of emotion poured out of her face. His chest tightened at her words. It was the first time that she had called him by his name and it was in pure resentment.

His mind was racing a mile a minute. *'Is that what she really thought this whole time?'* he thought to himself. She thought that he would abuse their bond in order to save himself? Kai just stared at her dumbfounded.

Her cries slowly turned in to pained sobs as she tried to hold back her emotions. Her outburst was starting to consume all of her strength and as her energy started to drain away, her grip loosened and she slipped further off the edge of the roof. Kai had always intended to help her back up but she was so emotional that she was no longer able to support herself. Without saying a word, he leant over and grabbed her by the top of her arm to try and hoist her up.

"Let go of me!" she shouted. She started slipping further causing one of her shoes to fall off her feet into the surf below. Kai had to jerk forward suddenly to grab her arm before she slipped completely out of his grasp. With the rain beating down heavily he was struggling to keep a firm hold of her one arm.

"Don't be ridiculous, give me your other hand or you'll fall!"

"No! Let go of me, I don't want your help!" she clawed at his arm, drawing blood in an attempt to wrench herself free but Kai refused to let go.

"Adalyn please!" In desperation he allowed some of his wolf to take over and tried to force her to comply by using his alpha tone
"Give me your other hand now!” he commanded, but it had no effect.

"No!" she yelled back.

Panic suddenly started to set in as Kai realized that he couldn’t get her up unless she cooperated with him and she was sliding further down his hand. "Stop this! Stop this now! Give me your hand! Do you want to die?!!"

"And I said let go!!" The pain in her chest was too much for her to bear and she felt like she’d much rather her chances trying to drop down instead of staying anywhere near him.

As she started to slip out of his grasp, Kai's eyes flared open as he shouted through the noise of the heavy rain to try and reach her.

"Do you really think that I don't care about you?! That I don’t have feelings for you?! All of this has NOTHING to do with me and EVERYTHING to do with you! I've been watching you for over a year just willing you to notice me, just wishing that could I be next to you! I tried to stay away from you but I can't. I just can't! Please Adalyn! I'm begging you, give me your hand! I'll do whatever you want after this just let me help you!" Kai had never begged for anything in his life, but he would give his life just to keep her safe.

In complete awe of his words Adalyn's resolve shattered and she gingerly offered him her other hand. He pounced on it before she could change her mind. Now that he had a good hold of her he hoisted her back up on to the roof.

As relief washed over them, they both collapsed in a heap on the roof, panting wildly at their own physical and emotional exhaustion.