Kael’s POV
The room was suffocating. My father’s words still echoed in my mind, sharp and cruel as a blade. “Finally, I will have a son who isn’t satisfied with being an ordinary Beta.” His disdain for me had always been clear, but this… This was a new low. My gaze fell on the girl before me, the so-called "breeder" he’d dragged into our home like a prized possession. She was trembling, her wide, frightened eyes fixed on the floor, too scared to meet my gaze. Her vulnerability twisted something deep inside me.
I took a deep breath, willing myself to calm down. “Hey,” I said softly, holding out my hand. “Come with me. I won’t hurt you. Trust me.”
She didn’t move at first. Her eyes flickered to my hand and then back to the floor, a silent war waging within her. The hesitation was palpable. I couldn’t blame her, after everything she must have been through, trust wouldn’t come easily.
“It’s okay,” I said, keeping my voice gentle. “I’m not like him. You are safe with me, trust me please”
Finally, she lifted her hand, trembling as her fingers brushed mine. The moment our hands connected, a strange sensation rippled through me, warm, electric, and entirely unexpected. I forced myself to ignore it, focusing instead on leading her down the hall.
“This is your room,” I said, pushing open the door to one of the guest rooms. It wasn’t much, but it was a far cry from whatever hellhole my father had plucked her from. “You can stay here. If you need anything, anything at all just let me know, okay?”
She nodded, still silent, her arms wrapped around herself like a shield. Her silence was unnerving. I wanted to hear her voice, to know more about her beyond the fear that clung to her like a second skin.
“What’s your name?” I asked, trying to keep my tone light.
For a moment, I thought she wouldn’t answer. Then, in the softest, sweetest voice I'd ever heard, she said, “Amara.”
“Amara.” The name rolled off her tongue like music, and I couldn’t stop myself from repeating it in my head. It suited her, delicate yet strong.
“That’s a beautiful name,” I said, offering her a small smile.
She didn’t smile back, but her eyes softened, just a fraction. Progress.
I noticed her hair, a tangled mess cascading over her shoulders. Without thinking, I stepped closer, reaching out to brush a lock behind her ear. Her breath hitched, and I froze, realizing too late how close we were. Her scent was warm and floral, it filled the space between us, and for a moment, all I could see was her.
The sharp trill of my phone shattered the moment. I jerked back, fumbling for the device in my pocket. The name on the screen made my stomach drop. “Trina.”
“Uhh, Amara,” I said, stepping back. “Settle in. I’ll check on you later.”
She nodded, retreating into herself once more. I hesitated, wanting to say something, anything to reassure her but the incessant ringing forced me to leave.
Once outside, I answered the call, my voice clipped. “Hello?”
“Hello, baby,” Trina’s overly sweet voice cooed on the other end.
I suppressed a groan. “Trina, what’s up?”
There was a beat of silence before she said, “That’s no way to speak to your fiancée, Kael.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Trina, I’m tired. Can you just get to the point?”
Her tone turned icy. “Fine. I was calling to tell you I’ll be coming over tomorrow to spend a few weeks with you.”
“No, Trina,” I started, but she cut me off.
“I already spoke to your father. He said it’s fine. So, I’ll see you tomorrow. Goodnight, Kael.”
The line went dead before I could argue. I stared at the phone, a mix of frustration and dread boiling in my chest. Trina wasn’t just entitled, she was manipulative, always finding ways to insert herself into my life.
I stormed to my room, slamming the door shut behind me. Tossing my phone onto the bed, I sank into the mattress, rubbing a hand over my face. “A week of problems ahead,” I muttered to myself.
Despite my irritation, my thoughts drifted back to Amara. Her wide, frightened eyes. The way her voice had sent shivers down my spine. I shouldn’t be thinking about her, not like this. She wasn’t just another girl, she was my father’s twisted obsession.
“No,” I said aloud, shaking my head. “I can’t go there. She’s off-limits.”
But no matter how hard I tried, her image lingered. Her name echoed in my mind, and the memory of her touch sent my heart racing all over again.
With a resigned sigh, I closed my eyes, hoping sleep would take me quickly. But as I drifted off, all I could see was her face, and for the first time in a long time, I felt something I couldn’t quite name. Something dangerous.
Kael’s POVThe ground shook as we charged toward the Vault. Smoke hung thick in the air, mixing the smell of blood and burnt wood. The night blazed around us, our hidden rebellion now out in the open. Fighters from the Blackthorn and Silvercrest packs battled together, swords flashing and claws tearing through the chaos, while the cries of the fallen were drowned out by the crackling magic in the air.Amara raced ahead of me, her hair streaming behind her. She held the old artifact—a black knife covered with strange symbols from her past. She wasn't just a victim anymore; she had become a force.We crashed through the last set of rusted gates into the Vault's core. The chamber loomed large, carved from solid rock centuries ago. Towering columns, inscribed with symbols we couldn't read but all feared, surrounded us. At the center stood Derrick, brimming with a twisted mix of authority and madness, fueled by his desire to dominate after Alpha Magnus's fall.I’ve waited for this, Derrick
Amara's POV We crossed into forgotten land before sunrise.Victor led us through twisted trees that bent away from the wind, past stones too old to bear names. The silence wasn’t natural. It was protective—like the world itself held its breath when it realized what was returning to its roots.No one spoke.Even Kael, walking beside me with fire pulsing beneath his skin, didn’t speak. But his presence was constant. A tether in the storm I’d become.The journey ended at a clearing carved by fire, long before our time. In its center stood a circle of blackened stone, scorched and sunken like the earth itself had once burned and never healed.I remembered it.Not from memory.From blood.“I was born here,” I whispered.Victor nodded. “This is where your mother lit the flame and hid you from the world.”And from him.From Derrick.From fate.Kael reached for my hand, fingers brushing mine like he wasn’t sure I’d still feel human.“I’m here,” I said, curling my fingers into his.“For now,”
Kael's POV She looked like Amara.But she wasn’t Amara—not completely.The woman who stepped from that pillar of flame moved like she remembered humanity, but had left it behind. Her feet didn’t touch the ground so much as command it. Her skin glowed faintly, each breath illuminating the mark over her heart, the one that pulsed in sync with the ruined sky.I wanted to run to her.Instead, I stayed still.Because I saw the hesitation in her eyes. The fear she didn’t want to name.“Kael,” she said, and even her voice had changed—layered, like two versions of her were speaking at once.“Tell me you’re still in there,” I whispered.Her lips trembled. “I don’t know.”The battlefield was silent. Wolves on both sides watched her with a reverence that bordered on worship—or fear. Even Alexander stood frozen, sword lowered, as if he too sensed the shift in the air. The storm had passed, but the aftermath wasn’t peace.It was rebirth.Victor approached slowly, eyeing Amara with a mix of awe an
Amara's POV I didn’t hear the world break.I felt it.The impact of Derrick’s first strike cracked the ground, sent rivers of heat splitting through stone, and pulled screams from the wolves behind us who hadn’t realized they were standing on the edge of annihilation. My feet didn’t move. I held.Because I wasn’t just fighting him.I was fighting what he made me feel.The anger. The betrayal. The hunger to burn back.“You can’t win this,” he called through the smoke and magic. “You don’t know what this power wants from you.”I stepped forward. Fire followed.“I know exactly what it wants.”Derrick launched another pulse of shadow-magic—slick and ancient, wound tight with stolen spirits. I raised both hands and met it with flame, silver and gold bursting from my palms. The collision roared like thunder, rattling the bones of the world.I didn’t care that my skin blistered.Or that every step I took scorched the earth.What I cared about was the way his voice cracked when he tried to s
Amara's POV I didn’t hear the world break.I felt it.The impact of Derrick’s first strike cracked the ground, sent rivers of heat splitting through stone, and pulled screams from the wolves behind us who hadn’t realized they were standing on the edge of annihilation. My feet didn’t move. I held.Because I wasn’t just fighting him.I was fighting what he made me feel.The anger. The betrayal. The hunger to burn back.“You can’t win this,” he called through the smoke and magic. “You don’t know what this power wants from you.”I stepped forward. Fire followed.“I know exactly what it wants.”Derrick launched another pulse of shadow-magic—slick and ancient, wound tight with stolen spirits. I raised both hands and met it with flame, silver and gold bursting from my palms. The collision roared like thunder, rattling the bones of the world.I didn’t care that my skin blistered.Or that every step I took scorched the earth.What I cared about was the way his voice cracked when he tried to s
Kael's POV I felt it the moment she did.The shift in the air. The weight behind Derrick’s stillness. The way his eyes didn’t blaze with rage but gleamed with satisfaction—like a man watching his trap snap closed. It wasn’t the look of someone defending power.It was the look of someone who had already won.Amara froze mid-step.“He’s not afraid of me,” she murmured. “He wanted me to come.”I moved in front of her instinctively, shielding her with my body even though I knew it wouldn’t matter. Whatever Derrick had become wasn’t something I could fight with claws and teeth.“You’re not going to him alone.”“I wasn’t meant to survive this,” she whispered, voice fraying like silk in flame.I turned to her, heart pounding harder than it had even during my fight with my father.“That’s not his choice. And it sure as hell isn’t fate’s.”Victor and Alexander moved to flank us as the wind howled through the valley, carrying with it a thick, metallic stench—blood, magic, and something older.