THE ALPHA WHO HATED ME - Chapter 31: Chapter 31

**Evangeline's POV**
I freeze behind the oak tree, my breath caught in my throat like a trapped bird. Ronan's voice echoes through the forest, calling my name again, and every muscle in my body screams at me to run. But there's nowhere to go. The trees are too thick here, and he's standing right on the path that leads back to town.
My wolf cowers deep in my chest, whimpering like a kicked dog. She can feel his presence, the weight of his power pressing against us even from a distance. The binding stone around his neck pulls at something inside me, making my stomach twist with nausea.
"Evangeline, I know you're here." His voice is closer now, maybe twenty feet away. But there's no gentleness in it. Only cold command.
But there's something strange in his tone. Confusion. Like he's not entirely sure where the scent is coming from.
The charm Maeve gave me grows warm against my skin. It's working, masking my scent just enough to confuse him. But not enough to hide me completely.
A branch snaps under his foot, and I press myself harder against the tree bark, feeling it scrape against my back through my thin shirt. My heart pounds so loud I'm sure he can hear it. Sure the whole forest can hear it.
"Come out, Omega." His voice is sharper now, irritated. "You're wasting my time."
The words make my chest burn with anger. Even here, even when he's the one who followed me, I'm somehow inconveniencing him.
I bite my lip so hard I taste blood, trying to keep quiet. Trying to disappear into the tree like I'm part of it.
But then he steps into my line of sight, and I see his face in the moonlight. His expression is cold, annoyed, like I'm a problem he needs to solve. The binding stone hangs around his neck, black as coal against his white shirt, and it pulses with a rhythm that doesn't match his heartbeat.
His eyes scan the trees, searching. When they pass over my hiding spot, I hold my breath, willing myself to be invisible.
"Your scent," he says, more to himself than to me. "It's wrong. Fainter. How is that possible?"
I stay silent, counting my heartbeats. One. Two. Three. Waiting for him to give up and leave.
But Ronan doesn't give up. He never has.
He takes another step closer, his head tilted like he's listening for something only he can hear. "I don't have time for games, Evangeline. Come out now, or I'll drag you out myself."
The threat in his voice makes my hands shake. I press them flat against the tree to stop the trembling.
"The binding stone should be keeping you weak," he continues, touching the pendant at his throat. "But something's interfering with it. Something's helping you hide from me."
Hide from him. Like I'm his property that's trying to escape.
Anger builds in my chest like a fire catching kindling. Hot and bright and impossible to ignore.
"Whoever's helping you is making a mistake," Ronan says, his voice carrying easily through the trees. "You belong to me, whether you want to admit it or not. And I don't share what's mine."
That's when I snap.
I step out from behind the tree, my hands clenched into fists at my sides. "Belong to you?"
Ronan spins around, his eyes flashing with satisfaction when he sees me. "There you are. Finally decided to stop hiding like a coward?"
"What are you doing here?" I demand, my voice shaking with rage. "Following me like some kind of stalker?"
"Following what's mine," he says coldly. "You missed school on Friday. And your scent has been getting weaker every day. Someone's interfering with my bond, and I want to know who."
"Your bond?" The words taste like poison in my mouth. "You rejected me, remember?"
"I rejected a public claim. Not the bond itself." He steps forward, and I take a step back. "The moon made you mine, Evangeline. That doesn't just disappear because I don't want to parade you around in front of everyone."
The casual cruelty in his words hits me like a physical blow. "Mind your own business," I spit, backing up until I hit another tree. "You don't get to follow me. You don't get to track me. You don't get to pretend you own me."
His face hardens, irritation flashing in his eyes. "You are my business."
The words hit me like a slap. "What did you just say?"
"You heard me." Ronan steps closer, his expression dark and threatening. "You are my business. You're my mate, which means everything you do reflects on me. Every pathetic thing you do makes me look weak."
"There is no bond!" I scream, my voice echoing through the trees. "You rejected me in front of everyone! You made it very clear that I'm nothing to you!"
"You're nothing to my reputation," he snarls. "But you're still mine. Still connected to me whether I like it or not. And right now, someone's helping you hide from me, which makes me look like I can't control my own mate."
"Control?" My voice breaks with fury. "You think you control me?"
"I should." His eyes are cold as winter. "Any other Omega would know their place by now. Would understand that causing me problems has consequences."
"Like locking me in a storage room for sixteen hours?" The words explode out of me.
Ronan's expression doesn't change. No surprise. No guilt. Just cold calculation. "You needed to learn a lesson. Apparently, it didn't take."
The casual way he admits it, like it was nothing, makes my vision blur with rage. "You knew. You knew they locked me in there."
"I told them to teach you some manners," he says with a shrug. "I didn't specify how. Madison gets creative when she's motivated."
I stare at him in horror. All this time, I thought maybe his friends had acted without his knowledge. Maybe he would have stopped them if he'd known. But he planned it. He wanted me to suffer.
"You're a monster," I whisper.
"I'm an Alpha," he corrects coldly. "And you're an Omega who's forgotten her place. The sooner you remember that, the easier this will be for both of us."
"I don't have a place with you." Tears burn my eyes, but I refuse to let them fall. "I'm nothing to you, remember? Just an embarrassment."
"You're my embarrassment," he says, stepping closer until I can smell his scent, pine and winter air and something cruel. "Which means I get to decide what to do with you."
"You don't get to decide anything about me anymore." I step closer to him, close enough to see the cold satisfaction in his dark eyes. "I'm done being your victim."
"You'll always be my victim," he says quietly, like he's stating a fact. "Because you're weak. Because you're pathetic. Because you'll never be strong enough to fight me."
The words are meant to break me. To make me crumble like I always have before. But something's different now. The charm around my neck pulses with warmth, and my wolf stirs with something that isn't fear.
"My scent is fainter because I'm not yours anymore," I say, my voice getting stronger with every word. "I found someone who actually protects me instead of torturing me."
For the first time, something flickers in his eyes. Not fear, but anger. "Who?"
"None of your business." I cross my arms over my chest, feeling more powerful than I have in months. "Someone who thinks I'm worth protecting instead of controlling."
"Everything about you is my business," he snarls, and I see his wolf flickering behind his eyes. "Tell me who's helping you, or I'll make you tell me."
The threat makes my wolf snarl in response. "Try it."
"Don't tempt me." His voice is low and dangerous. "I've been patient with you because you're young and stupid. But my patience has limits."
"Good." I take another step closer, close enough that I have to tilt my head back to look him in the eyes. "I'm tired of your patience. I'm tired of your control. I'm tired of you."
Ronan stares at me like he's never seen me before. Like the girl standing in front of him is a stranger wearing Evangeline's face.
"You think whoever's helping you can protect you from me?" he asks, his voice deadly quiet.
"I know they can."
He laughs, but it's not a pleasant sound. "No one can protect you from me, Evangeline. I'm your mate. I'm in your blood, in your bones, in every breath you take. You can run to whoever you want, but you'll always come back to me."
"Watch me stay away."
"You can't." He reaches up and touches the binding stone around his neck, his fingers tracing its dark surface. "This stone connects us. It lets me find you, track you, know when you're lying. And right now, it's telling me you're terrified."
I am terrified. But not of him anymore. I'm terrified of what I might do to him if he doesn't leave me alone.
"The only thing I'm afraid of," I say slowly, "is what will happen to you if you don't walk away right now."
Something dangerous flickers in his expression. "Is that a threat?"
"It's a promise."
We stand there in the moonlight, facing each other like enemies. The air between us crackles with tension, with all the things we've said and all the things we want to do to each other.
Then Ronan does something that surprises me. He smiles. But it's not a nice smile. It's the smile of a predator who's cornered his prey.
"You want to know what I think?" he says quietly. "I think whoever's helping you filled your head with lies. Made you think you're stronger than you are. But you're still the same weak, pathetic Omega you've always been."
"Am I?" I tilt my head, studying his face. "Then why are you here, Ronan? If I'm so weak and pathetic, why did you follow me into the woods? Why do you care where I go or who I see?"
His smile falters slightly. "Because you belong to me."
"No," I say, and my voice is calm now. Steady. "I think you're here because you're scared. You're scared that I'm changing. You're scared that your little binding stone isn't working anymore. You're scared that I might actually be strong enough to break free of you."
"You'll never be free of me," he snarls, shaking out his hand.
"We'll see."
I turn away from him, heading for the path that leads back to town. "This conversation is over."
"We're done when I say we're done." He grabs my arm, and the moment his skin touches mine, something explodes between us.
Pain shoots through my arm where he's holding me, but not the kind of pain I expect. It's like fire and ice at the same time, and Ronan jerks his hand back with a sharp intake of breath.
"What the hell—" He stares at his palm, flexing his fingers like they're stinging.
I stare too, my heart racing. Something happened when he touched me, something that hurt him but left me feeling stronger. My wolf stirs deep inside me, more alert than she's been in weeks.
"How is that possible?" Ronan whispers, looking from his hand to my face. For just a moment, his mask slips. I see something in his eyes that might be confusion. Or maybe fear. "You think I wanted this?" he mutters, barely audible. "I didn't ask for a bond with someone like you."
The raw honesty in those words hits harder than any insult. He didn't choose this either. But unlike me, he's choosing to make it a weapon.
"Then let me go," I say quietly.
The vulnerability disappears from his face like it was never there. "Never."
I spin around and slap him hard across the face.
The sound echoes through the forest like a gunshot. Ronan staggers back, his hand flying to his cheek, his eyes wide with shock and rage.
"Don't touch me," I whisper, my palm stinging from the impact. "Don't follow me. Don't track me. Just... stay away from me."
For a moment, neither of us moves. We just stare at each other, the red mark on his cheek standing out stark against his pale skin.
Then his expression turns murderous. "You're going to regret that. And so will whoever's been helping you."
The threat sends ice through my veins. Not for myself, but for Maeve. If he hurts her because of me...
"No," I say, turning my back on him. "I regret not doing it sooner."
I walk away, my head held high, my heart pounding with adrenaline instead of fear.
Behind me, I hear him call out, his voice filled with cold fury. "Run all you want, Evangeline. Hide behind whoever's protecting you. But I'll find them. And when I do, you'll both pay."
The words make my skin crawl, but I don't let him see my fear.
I don't turn around. I don't look back.
But as I reach the edge of the forest, I find something that makes my blood freeze.
A dead rabbit lies across the path, its white fur stained with blood. Around its neck is a thin chain, and hanging from it is a pendant exactly like the one Ronan wears. The binding stone.
Someone else is watching. Someone else knows about the bond between us.
And they're sending a message.
I walk out of the forest and into the night, carrying the sting of my palm and the image of that burned rabbit seared into my mind.
The hunt isn't just closing in anymore. It's already here, leaving messages in the dark.
And for the first time in months, I feel like I might actually be strong enough to survive it.