Chapter 5

SAGE

Changing the past meant changing the future as well.

I glanced down at the empty drug bottle in my hand, the same one Fren had used to force her heat and drag Rain into her bed. The proof made everything clear. As long as I refused to accept the same ending as before, these unexpected changes would keep occurring.

However…

“What are you doing here?”

Rain’s husky voice cut through the quiet.

Still squatting beneath the banyan tree, I lifted my head and found him standing only an arm’s length away, his dark eyes locked on mine.

A small smile touched my lips. He still carried the lingering scent of Fren’s heat… yet he had not slept with her. Instead, he had come looking for me.

Did he dislike the idea that I might one day find my own soulmate?

“I’m feeding the cat,” I replied.

Only then did his gaze flicker to the small stray and the open meal box in my hand. The cat was eagerly devouring the meat.

“I came out here to eat in peace,” I continued, gently ruffling the cat’s fur, “but I found this little one instead.” I looked up at him. “It’s so cute, isn’t it?”

Rain glanced down at the cat with an expressionless face. “It’s dirty.”

I blinked in surprise. “Dirty?”

The cat was clearly a stray, but calling it dirty felt a little bit too harsh. No one with a heart could overlook how adorable it was. I pursed my lips and said, “They are not dirty. Touch them and you’ll see.”

“I’m fine,” he refused at once.

I tilted my head. “Are you scared of pets?”

His expression shifted almost instantly. “Who said I’m scared? I simply hate pets.”

I raised my brows. “Oh…”

He frowned deeper. “What is that look? You think I’m scared?” He crouched down across from me, the cat sitting between us. “Here…”

He slowly reached out and touched the top of the cat’s head.

I found myself smiling at the careful hesitation in his fingers. But gradually his hand moved more freely over the soft fur, and a rare, gentle smile softened his usually cold features.

“It really is soft,” he murmured.

My heart quickened.

“Have you really never touched a cat before?” I couldn’t help asking.

Thinking about it, Rain was always impeccably dressed and meticulously clean. His days were filled with business, meetings, and important matters. I had once heard he carried royal blood. Perhaps that noble upbringing had kept him far from simple things like this.

He locked eyes with me and replied evenly, “I prefer to live alone. Without any distraction or interruption, whether it’s a pet… or a person.”

“Strange,” I chuckled softly.

“What’s strange?” he asked.

“I hate being alone and you love being alone. Yet we ended up married to each other.”

A heated silence settled between us. Neither of us looked away.

“Are you still alone?” he quietly asked.

At the same moment, both of our hands brushed over the cat’s soft back. My wolf stirred restlessly under the weight of his intense gaze, as though my answer was something he truly needed to hear. Neither of us pulled our hands away. Seconds stretched between us before I finally spoke.

“No,” I said. “With you here right now… I’m not lonely.”

His gaze shifted slightly. For the briefest fraction of a second, I saw his wolf flash in his eyes before it disappeared again.

That’s when thunder rolled across the sky, shattering the quiet moment. The cat startled and darted off into the undergrowth.

We both blinked, the spell broken.

“It’s going to rain. Let’s go back,” Rain stated.

I nodded and followed him, carefully balancing the long dress against the uneven forest floor. My high heels made every step precarious, forcing me to walk far slower than usual. The sky, however, was not willing to wait.

“You can go back to the packhouse first,” I offered.

“The forest is dangerous at night. Come with me,” he replied, deliberately slowing his pace to match mine.

I glanced up at him. It was the first time we had walked side by side, alone. Another crack of thunder split the sky, followed by a flash of lightning. Then the rain began to fall.

“Uh…” Rain groaned under his breath.

He clearly disliked getting wet. I didn’t want to ruin my gown either.

“Let’s—” He started to turn toward me, only to pause when he saw me bending down to slip off my heels. “What are you doing?”

I held the heels in one hand and took his hand with the other. “I know a place where we can take shelter.”

“There is no such place…” He blinked, about to say something, but I was already pulling him into a run. His gaze dropped to our joined hands, then to my bare feet as we hurried through the rising storm. Moments later we reached the porch of the old, abandoned quarter just as the downpour turned heavy.

“We made it in time,” I smiled to myself, unaware that Rain was watching my expression closely.

“How do you know about this place?”

I stilled at the question.

How could I not know it? This was the very quarter where I had been forced to rot and die during my previous life. But in this life I had only arrived at the pack two days ago. I should not have known the paths or hidden places here. But I just ran here without forgetting the path even in such rainy darkness.

I did not let my expression waver, “I noticed it earlier when I was taking a stroll, looking for a quiet spot,” I lied, slowly looking away.

Still, I could feel his gaze lingering on me for a long moment. To distract him, I even busied myself by slipping into my sandals but still his gaze bore into me as if staring into my soul.

In an attempt to distract him again, I turned to face him with a small smirk.

“By the way… why did you come out looking for me in the first place? Were you worried I’d left the pack to search for my soulmate?”

His expression shifted instantly. He took a sudden step closer. My smirk vanished as the distance between us disappeared. Instinctively I stepped back, only to feel the wooden wall press against my spine. Did I push him a little too much? Even though he spoke less, and showed less expression his aura was undeniably way too dominating and lethal.

A second later his hands braced on either side of my head, caging me in. His body pressed fully against mine. I held my breath, acutely aware of the firm bulge against my lower stomach. His wolf flickered in his eyes as he looked down at me.

“Don’t ever think about your soulmate again,” he murmured, his hot breath brushing across my face.

He locked his eyes with mine, refusing to let me look away even for a blink. It was the first time we had ever been this close. My wolf stirred restlessly under the intensity of his presence.

“Why?” I asked quietly.

“Because you have a husband,” he answered without hesitation.

“And my husband has a soulmate as well,” I replied.

He stared deeper into my eyes, the silence stretching between us.

“But my wife is you.”

My heart slammed against my ribs at those words. The hard length pressing against my stomach grew even thicker. I held my breath tighter as the soft sound of his zipper filled the space between us. Then he took my hand and guided it inside, wrapping my fingers around his thick, hot cock.

“So you better not look at any other man but me,” he whispered, his voice low and rough as he moved my hand slowly up and down his length.

My lips parted slightly at the feeling of him throb heavily against my palm. He was already so hard. My gaze dropped, and a soft hitch escaped me at the sight of him, thick, flushed, and larger than any man I had known before. I tightened my grip and stroked him a little faster, watching the way he hardened even further under my touch.

A low groan rumbled from his chest. I lifted my eyes to his face. A faint flush had colored his sharp features. His breathing was ragged, and his wolf stared back at me through his eyes with an intensity that made my pulse race even harder.

I tightened my fingers around him, stroking with my skill as I watched the way his jaw tightened. His cock felt heavy and hot in my hand, the skin silky over the rigid hardness beneath. Every slow drag of my hand drew another low sound from his throat.

Rain’s breathing grew heavier. One of his hands left the wall and slid into my hair, gripping lightly at the back of my head as if he needed something to hold onto. His hips shifted forward once, pushing deeper into my fist.

“Faster,” he murmured, voice rough.

I twisted my wrist slightly on the upstroke. The head of his cock was already slick, and the wet sound of my hand moving over him filled the small space between us, beneath the heavy rain. His wolf was fully in his eyes now dark, possessive, and hungry.

A sharp breath escaped him. He leaned in closer until his forehead nearly touched mine, his free hand still braced beside my head. The heat of his body pressed against me, trapping me completely against the wooden wall.

“Just like that…” he groaned, the words almost a growl as his eyes lingered on my parted lips hungrily.

I could feel him throbbing harder, the veins along his shaft pulsing against my fingers. My own breathing had turned uneven. Watching the usually cold, controlled Alpha come undone under my hand sent a dangerous thrill through me. His ears were faintly flushed, his lips slightly parted, and every stroke seemed to pull him further from that rigid control he always wore like armor.

Suddenly his hips jerked. He caught my wrist, slowing my movements just enough to keep himself from tipping over too soon. His eyes locked onto mine, intense, dark, and burning, before he brushed our lips together, the lightest, watching my reaction.

I did not move instead, brushing my lips against his.

The contact lasted only a second.

Then he crushed his mouth against mine. I closed my eyes. It was my first kiss with Rain.

His tongue slid against mine as a rough groan tore from his chest. At the same moment his cock throbbed hard in my fist. His hips snapped forward, and hot release spilled over my fingers in thick pulses. He kept kissing me through every wave, gripping the back of my neck, breathing raggedly into my mouth while his body shuddered against mine.

Even as he came, he didn’t pull away. He only kissed me harder, claiming, consuming, while the rain poured around us and his release coated my hand.

Hooking a finger into the deep neckline of my dress, he slowly dragged the fabric down until both of my breasts were fully exposed to his gaze. His thumb brushed over one tight nipple, and he watched the way my lips parted and my body reacted to the simple touch. Then he lowered his head, burying his face between my breasts, about to take the stiffened peak into his mouth—

A howl cut through the rain.

The patrolling wolves were approaching.

I stiffened at once. Rain lifted his head from my chest and turned toward the sound just as one of the wolves stepped into view. I quickly covered myself with my hand, but Rain had already moved in front of me, shielding me completely with his tall frame. I used the moment to hastily fix my dress.

“Alpha, we caught a wolf trying to trespass,” the patrol reported. “Beta Dex is requesting your presence.”

Rain stepped out from under the porch without hesitation. “Let’s go.”

I remained frozen in place. Was he simply leaving like that?

Halfway down the steps, however, he paused and looked back at me.

“Let’s go.”

I blinked. He had been speaking to me, not the wolf.

I nodded and fell into step beside him. Thankfully the rain had slowed down. In silence, he walked me all the way back to the doors of the packhouse. But I had caught a shadow lingering on the ground floor bedroom. Fren was watching. “He left me in my heat to go to her?” she stood furiously.

Rain turned to me, “Go inside,” he said.

I pursed my lips and turned to leave, only for his hand to catch mine and pull me firmly against his chest.

His voice was low and lethal next to my ear.

“Don’t wander outside again looking for your soulmate. Even if you find him… I will kill him.”