Page 18 of The Alpha's Crimson Vow (Eternal Oath Saga #2)

Katherine

The restaurant is beautiful. The kind of place with dim golden lighting, soft jazz humming in the background, and waiters who move like they’re floating. The scent of freshly baked bread lingers in the air, mixing with the subtle, expensive cologne of the well-dressed patrons around us. The walls are lined with dark mahogany, giving the space a cozy, intimate feel. It’s the kind of restaurant people bring dates they actually want to impress.

And I’m here, on a date with Jimmy.

I glance across the table at him, letting my gaze settle on his features for a moment. I won’t deny it—he’s incredibly handsome.

Jet-black hair, thick and striking, slightly tousled but still neat in a way that looks intentional. Strong jawline, high cheekbones, a well-trimmed beard that gives him an edge of ruggedness while still being clean-cut. And his eyes—deep, steel gray, sharp and observant. They give nothing away, but there’s something intense about them, something that suggests he’s seen a lot.

Alice really went all out with this setup.

This is only our second date. Second date in just a few days.

The thought makes something tighten in my chest. I don’t know what it is—maybe the pace of it all, how fast everything seems to be moving. Or maybe it’s the simple fact that I’m here, sitting across from a man who is, by all accounts, a perfect match.

And yet—

Jimmy looks up just then, catching me staring at him. His lips pull into a slow, easy smile. “Are you checking me out?”

I blink, caught. My lips twitch into something polite. “You wish,” I shoot back lightly, picking up my wine glass and taking a sip.

His grin lingers as he leans back in his seat, fork twirling lazily in his fingers. “And here I was, thinking I was making a strong impression.”

I let a small smirk form on my lips. “Oh, you are. The jury’s just still out on what kind of impression.”

He chuckles, low and deep. “Fair enough.”

I move my gaze back to my plate, refocusing on my meal. But my mind won’t let me breathe.

Because I’ve sat across a table like this before.

With him.

I remember the way Alex used to eat—so calm, so assured. Like nothing in the world could ever rattle him. He never rushed, never hesitated. Just this quiet confidence, like he owned every space he walked into. And he did it so effortlessly.

I remember the way he’d sometimes watch me eat, with that deeply intense look that made me shudder whenever I saw it.

And I remember how much I loved that.

I inhale slowly, forcing the memory down, locking it away. I try to focus on the man in front of me instead. Jimmy is charming. He’s kind. He has this easy presence, like nothing really fazes him. He’s attentive, present. He’s everything a woman should want.

So why does it feel like every moment I spend with him only deepens my memories of Alex?

Jimmy watches me for a beat, and then tilts his head slightly. “Alright,” he says, setting his fork down. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”

I glance up at him. “Nothing,” I say automatically.

He gives me a knowing look. “See, that answer? That’s the number one lie women tell when everything is going on in their heads.”

A small, reluctant smile tugs at my lips. “That so?”

“Oh, yeah,” he nods, leaning forward, resting his arms on the table. “That, and ‘I’m fine.’ Classic.”

I huff out a small laugh, shaking my head. “Well, lucky for me, I haven’t used the ‘I’m fine’ card yet.”

“Yeah, and I’m terrified for when you do.” His eyes gleam with amusement, but there’s something else beneath it. A quiet sharpness, a perceptiveness. He knows a little about Alex, I had told him about the shifter who turned out to be a Prince during our first date. And suddenly I feel bad that it’s obvious I’m thinking about him.

I move in my seat, glancing down at my plate, pushing the food around with my fork. I should say something. Change the subject. Steer this conversation anywhere else.

But I can’t. Because the truth is, my mind is still stuck in the past, tangled in golden threads I don’t understand, haunted by a pair of piercing eyes that still have a hold on me, no matter how much I try to ignore it.

I shouldn’t be thinking about Alex, not when Jimmy is sitting right here in front of me. Not when he’s trying. And yet, he’s all I can think of.

The rest of the dinner passes quickly, and soon Jimmy and I are walking arm in arm out of the restaurant. I grip my clutch a little tighter, shaking my head slightly, as if the motion alone can force my mind to focus on the moment and stop wondering back to Alex.

Jimmy nudges me playfully with his elbow, pulling me back into the moment. “I can’t wait to get a peek into what goes on in that mind of yours,” he says, his voice light, teasing.

I blink at him, then let out a small smile, though it feels more polite than genuine. “Oh, trust me, you’d be bored in no time.”

“Doubt that.” He grins, his eyes gleaming with amusement.

As we walk toward the parking lot, I glance up at him. Objectively speaking, he’s a beautiful man. And yet, standing here, my arm looped around his, there’s no spark. No fire. No ache.

And then I notice a tiny spot of sauce at the corner of his mouth. Without thinking, I reach up, brushing my thumb across his lower lip to wipe it away. It’s an innocent gesture, one I don’t even register.

“Careful, Katherine,” Jimmy murmurs, a teasing edge in his voice. “Looks like I’m starting to grow on you.”

But before I can respond, a voice cuts through the night air, sharp, low, and familiar.

“Katherine?”

My body tenses instantly. Every nerve in my system goes on high alert.

Slowly, I turn around, and Alex is right there.

He stands a few feet away, his stance tense, his broad shoulders rigid, and his eyes—sharp and burning with something unreadable. But it’s the way he’s looking at us—at Jimmy—that really makes my pulse spike.

I take a breath, forcing the shock down. “Alex, what are you doing here?”

My voice comes out steadier than I feel, but the anger is bubbling beneath the surface now as my mind starts to piece together what’s happening. He followed me here.

Alex doesn’t answer me. Not right away. His entire focus is locked onto Jimmy, his expression dark, unreadable. His hands are curled into fists at his sides, but he doesn’t move.

Then, after a beat of silence, his voice cuts through the air again. “Who the hell are you?”

Jimmy stays quiet for a moment, then, in an utterly relaxed manner, he smirks. “I’m just a guy on a date with a beautiful woman.”

And then, he pulls me closer.

The motion is subtle, casual, but deliberate. And I feel Alex’s reaction before I even see it.

His entire body goes rigid, his expression darkening in a way that sends a jolt of tension straight through me. He takes a single step forward, and for a second, I swear he’s about to do something. His muscles coil like a predator about to strike, but then—he stops.

He inhales sharply, his chest rising and falling, and when he finally moves his eyes to me, there’s something there that makes my stomach drop.

Pain. Disappointment.

“Why are you doing this?” he says, his voice quieter now, but no less intense.

I blink, my body locking up. “Doing what?”

His eyes bore into mine. “Why are you wasting your time?”

Something in me snaps.

The audacity. The sheer nerve of him.

I step forward, untangling myself from Jimmy’s hold, my own anger rising like wildfire. “You don’t get to ask me that, Alex.” My voice is firm, louder than I intend. “You don’t get to question my choices.”

His jaw tightens, his expression unreadable, but I see the flicker of something in his eyes—something raw, something real.

Jimmy simply chuckles. “Man, you’ve got some nerve.” He steps forward, his presence calm but not backing down. “But I get it. Must be tough, seeing what you let go of.”

Alex’s gaze cuts to him so fast I almost flinch.

Jimmy lets out another low chuckle, shaking his head as he takes a step forward, his confidence practically dripping from his every movement. He tilts his head slightly, his smirk deepening as he looks Alex over like he’s already won whatever silent war is brewing between them.

“You know, Alex, I almost feel bad for you,” Jimmy muses, his voice laced with amusement. “Standing here, watching another guy take your place. Must be eating you up inside.”

Alex doesn’t move, doesn’t even blink, but I see the tension ripple through him. His fingers twitch at his sides, and his eyes burn with something dark, something controlled—but barely.

He inhales deeply, his nostrils flaring, and then, slowly, he exhales, regaining his ironclad composure. When he finally speaks, his voice is eerily calm, smooth like velvet but sharp as a knife.

“You think this is a game?” Alex says, tilting his head slightly, eyes narrowing on Jimmy. “You think because she’s standing next to you right now that it means something?”

Jimmy raises a brow, looking amused. “Pretty sure that’s exactly what it means.”

Alex smirks, but it isn’t friendly. It’s lethal.

“No,” he says simply. “It means she’s trying to make me jealous. And I’ll admit, Katherine, it’s a solid effort.” His gaze flicks to me, sharp and knowing. “Almost convincing.”

A surge of irritation flares up inside me, hot and electric.

The audacity.

My fingers curl into fists at my sides as I glare at him. “You seriously think everything revolves around you, don’t you?”

Alex doesn’t even hesitate. “No. Just you.”

My breath catches for half a second before I push past it. I shake my head, exhaling sharply. “Unbelievable.”

Alex goes on, his attention fixed solely on me. “I don’t know why you’re wasting your time, Katherine.” His voice dips, steadier now, more certain. “He’s not me. He never will be.”

Jimmy scoffs, but I barely register it because Alex takes a step forward, his presence wrapping around me like a force field.

“You know that,” Alex continues, his voice even lower now, softer but no less intense. “Deep down, you know he’s just a distraction. Because what we have?” He exhales sharply, shaking his head. “It’s not something you can replace. Not with him. Not with anyone.”

I should walk away. But I don’t.

Because my body is frozen, locked in place by his words, the truth in them that I don’t want to acknowledge.

Because part of me knows he’s right.

And I hate that.

I hate that no matter how angry I am, no matter how much I want to erase him from my life, he still knows me. Still sees me in a way no one else does. And he knows I feel it too.

Which only makes my anger spike higher.

I straighten my shoulders, lifting my chin defiantly. “Wow. You really are that full of yourself, aren’t you?”

Alex’s expression doesn’t change, but there’s something in his eyes—something fierce and unrelenting. “We’re fated, Katherine.”

Something in my chest tightens at the mention of the word.

Like this is some kind of destiny I have no control over. Like I don’t have a choice.

I let out a sharp breath, my patience officially snapping. I shake my head and grab Jimmy’s hand, lacing my fingers through his without even thinking.

Jimmy squeezes my hand back instantly, playing along like it’s second nature.

Alex’s eyes drop to our joined hands and for the first time since this conversation started, I see something vulnerable across his face.

My grip tightens around Jimmy’s hand, my nails digging into his skin as I take a step toward Alex, my blood boiling, my heart aching.

“You really think you’re that important, don’t you?” My voice shakes, not with fear, but with a rage that’s been simmering for far too long. “You think you get to decide who I want? Who I choose?” I scoff. “Let me make something very clear, Alex—I don’t care about this whole ‘fated mates’ thing. I don’t want it. I can be with whoever the hell I want. And right now? That’s not you.”

Alex doesn’t move. But his jaw clenches, his breathing sharpens, and in the dim glow of the streetlights, I see something in his eyes. A flicker of hurt.

Good.

Because he deserves to hurt.

“You have no right to follow me everywhere,” I spit out, my voice cracking, my emotions bubbling over. “You don’t get to track me down, show up at my dates, act like you own me! You don’t own me, Alex!”

I swallow hard, forcing myself to keep going, to say the thing that will end this once and for all.

“I don’t want you in my life,” I say, and the words hurt—God, they hurt—but I need to say them. I need to push past this, past him. “I want you to leave me alone. Just let me go, Alex.”

For a fraction of a second, he just stares at me, his face unreadable, his expression carefully blank. But his eyes are screaming.

Without another word, I grab Jimmy’s hand tighter, pulling him with me, my pulse hammering as we walk past Alex, as I fight the urge to turn back, to look at him one last time.

But just then, he speaks again.

“I know who tried to kill you.”

The words are barely above a breath, but they stop me cold.

My heart slams against my ribs. I turn slowly, my pulse a chaotic rhythm in my chest.

“What did you just say?” My voice is barely above a whisper, but it cuts through the thick, charged air between us.

Alex inhales deeply, then turns to Jack with a look that makes it clear—whatever he’s about to say next, it’s meant for me alone.

My anger still burns, and for a moment, I consider refusing him outright. But his words linger in the air, too heavy to ignore. My mind flashes back to the crash—to how close I came to dying. And if Alex knows who was behind it, I need to hear what he has to say.

I turn to Jimmy. He meets my gaze, a silent question in his eyes.

I nod. “It’s okay, Jimmy. Give us a minute, please.”

He studies me for a beat, then nods slowly before stepping away, deeper into the parking lot, putting enough distance between us.

The moment he’s far enough, Alex doesn’t hesitate. He speaks.

“The car crash,” he says, his voice low, firm. “It wasn’t your cousin or anyone on your board.” He steps forward. “It was my uncle.”

The world tilts.

I narrow my eyes, confusion clouding my mind.

“It’s what I’ve been trying to tell you,” he says, his voice low, urgent. There’s an earnestness there that I can feel deep in my chest, no matter how much I want to fight it.

He takes a step closer. “I told you who I was, but I never told you why I was here. What I was doing, acting like a janitor in your company.”

His voice is steady, but there’s something heavy underneath it, something weighted with the kind of truth that shakes the ground beneath you.

“I told you I was the Prince of the European Wolf Kingdom,” he continues, and then his expression hardens. “And now, I stand before you as the King. But I had to fight for it, Katherine. I had to fight my uncle.”

The words hang between us, and I swear the air around me changes. There’s a tightness in my chest that I can’t explain, like something pressing in, forcing me to absorb every syllable.

“After my father died,” Alex says, his voice darkening, “my uncle Valerian usurped the throne that was rightfully mine. He did it through lies, through bribery—manipulating the council, convincing them that his claim was stronger than mine.” His jaw tightens. “He bought them out, one by one, until the people who were supposed to protect the throne handed it over to him instead.”

This is insane. This is beyond anything I could’ve imagined. And yet—I believe him.

I can see it in his face, in the way his hands clench at his sides when he talks about it. This isn’t a story. This isn’t some ploy to get me to forgive him. This is his life.

Alex keeps going.

“I was exiled from my own kingdom,” he says, his lips pressing together for a brief moment. “I knew I wouldn’t be able to return until I could prove that Valerian stole the throne. That’s what led me to Pinnacle Group.”

My brow furrows slightly. What does my company have to do with any of this?

Alex catches the flicker of confusion in my eyes and answers before I can even ask.

“Valerian knew he couldn’t make his bribes directly. It would’ve been too obvious, too easy to trace. So he used your company, Katherine. He used Pinnacle Group to facilitate the asset transfers, to move the money to the council members who were willing to betray their own king.”

The breath I finally managed to take in vanishes.

My head shakes slightly, my voice barely steady as I try to make sense of it all. “So you went undercover,” I murmur, piecing it together. “That’s why you were there.”

Alex nods. “I had to get the evidence, Katherine. I had to prove what he did. I spent months posing as a janitor, gathering every document, every financial record that could expose him. That was my mission.”

I shake my head, my mind struggling to keep up, to process everything he’s telling me. And yet, there’s one thing that still doesn’t make sense—one thing that terrifies me more than anything else.

“Why would your uncle want me dead?” I ask, and I hate how my voice sounds. Uncertain. Small.

Alex doesn’t hesitate. His answer is immediate.

“Because of me.”

His eyes don’t leave mine. They burn into me, pinning me in place, making it impossible to move.

“Because you matter to me,” he says.

My mind goes blank. Completely, terrifyingly blank.

There’s something in his voice—something that makes my stomach twist.

But Alex doesn’t stop.

“While I was at Pinnacle, Valerian discovered what I was doing,” he continues, his voice quieter now. “He tried to stop me. That’s why he came after you.” He swallows hard, like it physically hurts him to say this next part. “Because he knew that if anything happened to you…” His voice falters for just a second before he pulls it back together. “…I wouldn’t have been able to go on.”

It feels like a veil has been torn away in my mind, stripping everything bare, forcing me to see it all differently.

He… He did that to protect me? From his uncle?

Alex steps forward, closing the space between us. He’s close now—too close—closer than I’ve let him get in so long. And yet, I don’t move.

My head tilts back as I stare into his eyes, those piercing eyes that have haunted me every night since he walked out of my life.

“Katherine,” he says, his voice steady, low. “That day you heard me on the phone. The day I told you I was just using you… that was the hardest day of my life.”

A sharp breath catches in my throat.

“I’d seen how far Valerian would go,” he continues. “I came so close to losing you forever, and I knew he wouldn’t stop. He would keep coming after you, keep finding new ways to hurt you—because of me.” His jaw tightens, his entire body wound with tension. “So I did the only thing I could think of. I pushed you away.”

His voice drops lower, almost a whisper. “It was the only way I knew how.”

The words hit me like a physical blow, knocking the air right out of my lungs.

Alex takes another step forward, and I feel the warmth of his body, the sheer presence of him like gravity pulling me in.

“I’m sorry, Katherine,” he says, his voice breaking just slightly at the edges. “I haven’t stopped thinking about the look in your eyes that day. The way I hurt you. The way I made you doubt everything. I hated every single word I said to you.” He exhales, and I swear I see his hands clench like he’s physically holding himself back. “But I had to make sure you were safe.”

He pauses, his eyes searching mine. They’re unflinching, raw with emotion, with truth.

“I understand that you’re mad at me. And you have every right to be.” His voice is barely above a breath now. “But I need you to understand.”

My heart is thundering in my chest, each beat crashing into my ribs with unbearable force.

Alex did that… to protect me?

Everything I thought I knew—everything I convinced myself was true—has just been ripped apart at the seams.

I don’t know how to process this.