CHAPTER 115: OVERREACTED-ALPHA KAITO.

They walked toward the West House together. Samuel kept watching Kaito closely, expecting at any moment that he would break down, complain about his chest aching or how hurt he was, but none of that came. Kaito was quiet, calm, almost too calm, moving like nothing had happened at all. It unsettled Samuel more than an outburst would have.

"Why are you even following me?" Kaito finally stopped and asked, suspicion flickering in his eyes.

"I was supposed to calm you down, but unfortunately you’re already calm," Samuel replied, frowning as he studied him, trying to figure out if this was normal.

"You want me to yell? You want me to scream and throw things?" Kaito asked sharply.

"Something like that... but I thought at least you would want to talk about what happened," Samuel said carefully.

"No, Samuel. There’s nothing to talk about," Kaito answered flatly as they stepped inside the West House. He took a deep breath, his chest rising slowly before he let it out again. His eyes moved over the hall, remembering this was the very spot where he had first been pulled in by a scent. If only he had thought deeper back then, he might have guessed it was Angela. Instead, she had hidden behind the disguise of a boy, twisting his senses and confusing him. To make matters worse, she had lied, and he had believed every word like a fool.

"So much has happened. You can’t keep it all inside," Samuel pressed on. He knew it would not be easy to stand by Kaito through this.

There was a reason he and Alex had switched places. Alex had admitted that he too had hidden the truth from his Alpha and could not bring himself to face him now. Being the one to comfort Kaito would only make things worse between them.

"I said there’s no use," Kaito snapped as he climbed the stairs. At the door of his room, he turned to face Samuel, his eyes steady. "I’ve been down this path before. I told Angela I hated lies, that there should be no lies between us. Yet not even two days later, here I am discovering another one."

"You’ve been through this before?" Samuel asked, surprised. He finally understood the calmness, the cold way Kaito was reacting. It wasn’t that he didn’t feel—he felt too much. But he had already lived through betrayal before, and now he was simply too worn down to show it. Samuel found himself at a loss for words.

"Do you expect me to congratulate Angela?" Kaito asked, pain flashing across his face. "Should I clap for her and tell her well done for playing with people’s feelings? I don’t know what you all expect from me or from my brothers, but at least they reacted the way they felt. Their hearts were played with. Angela needs to learn how to tell the truth."

"You don’t expect her to walk up to you and say she’s your mate, do you? The same person she’s been running from?" Samuel said quietly. He pushed the door open wider for Kaito to enter, then followed him inside and shut it behind them. "Angela was scared, Kaito. It wasn’t easy for her."

"A lie is a lie. It doesn’t matter if you call it white or black," Kaito said as he removed his jacket and hung it on the wall. He walked to the fridge, pulled out two cans of Wolfsdrink, and set them on the table. "I know she was scared of me, but what about Taros? If she had told us the truth from the start, I would have seen that everything happening between her and us was nothing more than one of the goddess’s games."

"Her games?" Samuel asked quietly.

"Yes. What else would you call it?" Kaito sighed as he opened both cans and handed one to Samuel. "If I had known, I would have handled Evan’s case better. And Hiro’s too. Now that she has finally spilled the truth, I can see there’s a link between all of it."

"I see," Samuel said, taking a sip of his drink. "But it only makes things harder. What are you going to do now? You can’t be too hard on her, Kaito. If you or your brothers are hurting because of this, remember that Angela is hurting four times more. The pain she carries is worse than anything you feel."

Kaito’s chest tightened when Samuel said that. He suddenly realized how badly she must be suffering right now. He should have thought of that earlier. "Did we leave her alone? Stales is with her, right?"

"I’m sure he is," Samuel answered, and Kaito let out a deep breath of relief.

"You see," Samuel went on, "you care about her more than you want to admit. So stop saying you won’t claim her."

"It’s Angela," Kaito muttered. "I never once thought she would turn out to be the one."

"I know," Samuel said with a small chuckle, "but not claiming her? I’ve seen you during your shifts, brother. If you keep fighting it, you’ll end up destroying yourself and maybe the world along with you. If you love her, then don’t run. Just face it and continue from where you stopped."

Kaito sank into the couch, his mind heavy. Maybe he had overreacted by leaving her in the woods, but at least her friends had been with her. It was better to walk away than to stay and risk losing control. His powers were still difficult to manage, and when anger consumed him, he could hurt anyone near him. That was the part that scared him the most.

Pulling out his phone, he dialed Alex’s number. After a few seconds, Alex picked up. "Hey, are you with Angel?" Kaito asked immediately.

"No, Alpha," Alex replied. "I left her with Stales. He texted me that they’re together."

"Forget whatever you’re doing and stay with her," Kaito ordered before ending the call.

"You don’t have to worry," Samuel said gently. "She’s fine. She’ll calm down. And you need to do the same, so that when she comes back here, the two of you can finally talk and make things right."