Sold to Bastard Alpha after My Divorce! novel Chapter 136

Chapter 136: Chapter 136

Kael’s POV

The Pit was exactly where I needed to be.

Dark. Loud. Violent.

I pushed through the back entrance like a man possessed. My knuckles were still raw from earlier. Still stained with blood.

Good.

I wanted to hit something else. Wanted to feel bones crack under my fists. Wanted to lose myself in the chaos until I couldn’t think anymore.

Until I couldn’t see HER face every time I closed my eyes.

The warm-up area was nearly empty. A few fighters stretching. A few more wrapping their hands.

They all froze when they saw me.

Whispers started immediately.

"Is that...?"

"Holy shit, the Alpha..."

"What’s wrong with his face?"

I ignored them. Found an empty punching bag. Started hitting.

Left. Right. Left. Right.

Each impact sent shockwaves up my arms. Each thud echoed through the concrete space.

Not enough.

I hit harder.

Her face flashed in my mind. Those silver-gray eyes filled with fear. The way she’d stepped back from me like I was a monster.

HARDER.

The way she’d looked at that man. That Cassius. With trust. With warmth. With everything she used to give ME.

The punching bag groaned under my assault.

"Whoa, whoa, WHOA!"

A familiar voice cut through my rage.

I didn’t stop.

"Kael! HEY!"

Hands grabbed my shoulders. Yanked me backward.

I spun around. Fist already raised.

Damon ducked.

"Moon Goddess!" He held up his hands. "It’s ME, you psycho!"

I froze. Blinked. Let my fist drop.

Damon.

My beta. My friend. The one person in this territory who could get away with calling me a psycho.

He was staring at me like I’d grown a second head.

"What the hell happened to YOU?" His eyes traveled over my face. My clothes. The blood on my knuckles. "You look like you lost a fight with a garbage truck. And the garbage truck won."

"Leave me alone."

I turned back to the punching bag.

Damon grabbed my arm.

"Nope. Not happening." He planted himself between me and the bag. Arms crossed. That stubborn expression I knew too well. "Talk to me. What’s going on?"

"Nothing."

"Bullshit." He pointed at my face. "You’ve got a red mark on your cheek. Someone SLAPPED you. The Alpha. Got slapped. By someone who’s apparently still alive." His eyebrows shot up. "That’s not nothing. That’s SOMETHING."

I clenched my jaw.

"Fine." I stalked past him. Found a bench. Dropped onto it. "Get me a drink."

He rolled his eyes. But he went. Came back a minute later with two bottles of whiskey.

"This better be good." He sat down beside me. Cracked open his own bottle. "Start talking."

I took a long drink. Let the burn spread through my chest.

Where did I even begin?

"I found her."

Damon choked on his whiskey.

"WHAT?" He sputtered. Coughed. "You found Aria? When? How? Why didn’t you LEAD with that?"

"Tonight."

"And you’re HERE? Getting drunk? Looking like death?" His face scrunched up in confusion. "Shouldn’t you be... I don’t know... HAPPY? Celebrating? Doing literally anything other than THIS?"

I laughed.

The sound was bitter. Hollow.

"And I found her with another man."

The whiskey bottle slammed down on the bench.

"WHAT?"

The word tasted like poison. "Silver hair. Gray eyes. Standing outside her apartment like he BELONGED there. Carrying shopping bags. Playing with her daughter."

Damon’s jaw dropped.

"Hold on. Back up." He held up his hand. "Aria has a DAUGHTER?"

"A little girl. Maybe three or four years old." The image burned in my mind. Dark hair. No scent.

"Holy shit."

"Yeah."

We sat in silence for a moment. The sounds of The Pit echoed around us. Distant cheers. Muffled music. The constant thrum of violence.

"So what did you do?" Damon asked carefully. "When you saw them together?"

"I wasn’t trying to scare her."

"Doesn’t matter what you were TRYING to do." He grabbed my bottle. Took a swig. "What matters is what you DID. And what you did was terrifying."

The words hit harder than any punch.

Because he was right.

I’d been so consumed by my own emotions. My own need. My own desperate relief at finally finding her. That I hadn’t stopped to think about how SHE was feeling.

About what she’d been through.

About why she’d run in the first place.

"What am I supposed to do?" The question came out broken. "I can’t lose her again, Damon. I can’t. Three years of nothing. Three years of not knowing if she was alive or dead. I can’t go through that again."

"Then stop acting like a possessive maniac."

"I don’t know HOW."

Damon was quiet for a moment.

Then he pulled out his phone. Typed something. Showed me the screen.

"What’s this?"

"Aria’s employee file." He pointed at a specific line. "Look. Marital status."

My eyes found the word.

UNMARRIED.

"She’s not married." Damon pulled the phone back. "That man? He’s not her husband. Which means you still have a chance."

"A chance at what? She won’t even look at me."

"Because you haven’t given her a reason to!" He threw his hands up. "You keep showing up and demanding things. Forcing things. Taking what you want without asking."

"That’s not—"

"That’s EXACTLY what you did." His voice softened slightly. "Look. I get it. You love her. You’ve been going crazy without her. But Kael... you can’t FORCE someone to love you back. That’s not how it works."

"Then how DOES it work?"

Damon looked at me. Really looked at me.

"You need to actually listen to her." He spoke slowly. Like he was explaining something to a child. "Ask her questions. Let her talk. Find out what happened during those three years. Why she left. What she’s been through."

"And if she won’t tell me?"

"Then you give her time. Space. You show her that you’ve changed. That you’re not the same man who drove her away."

I stared at the floor. At the blood still staining my knuckles.

"Rebecca likes your aggression. Your dominance. She gets off on it." He shrugged. "But Aria’s different. You can’t win her the same way. You need to actually be... I don’t know... tender? Patient? Like a normal person?"

Damon was watching me. Waiting.

"You’re thinking," he observed. "That’s good. Thinking is better than hitting."

"Shut up."

"There he is." He grinned. "The charming Alpha we all know and love."