Chapter 25Aria POVI lay propped against the headboard, the sheets cool beneath me, the pillows stacked high enough to keep my body upright. My muscles ached with the kind of exhaustion that seeped bone-deep, but my mind refused to rest. The maids had helped me bathe, changed me into a soft gown, brushed my hair with careful strokes like I might shatter if they pressed too hard. Then they’d left, leaving behind a tray of soup untouched on the table, a glass of water, and the faint scent of lavender they’d tucked into the linen.But none of it settled the storm inside me.The door opened without a knock. I lifted my head, and my chest tightened when Kael stepped through.He paused in the doorway, his tall frame dark against the hall’s glow. For a long breath, he didn’t move. His eyes found me on the bed, and something shifted in his face, not the stern Alpha, not the sharp commander. Just a man staring at someone he wasn’t sure how to approach.He finally crossed the room, his stride
Chapter 24Alpha Kael POVThe walk back from the clinic was slower than I wanted. Aria’s steps were careful, her head tipped slightly toward me, like even the weight of the air pressed too hard on her shoulders. I kept my arm at her back, close enough to catch her if she faltered, far enough not to make her feel caged.By the time we reached the pack house, the scent of herbs and antiseptic still clung to her, mingling with her own, softer scent. I hated it — the reminder that she’d been under someone else’s hands, in someone else’s care, because I hadn’t been fast enough.The maids were already waiting. I handed her over with a quiet order, my voice low enough that she wouldn’t catch the steel in it.“Get her cleaned up. Fresh clothes. I’ll be upstairs.”She glanced over her shoulder at me as they led her away. I caught her eyes for a heartbeat — tired, guarded, but steady.I didn’t like leaving her, but I needed a moment before I started breaking things.---My room was quiet when I
I left venessa at the hospital and walked lonely into the pack building, it was silent, but there’s still the low murmur of voices somewhere on the lower floor, the creak of boards as people move around. I take the stairs two at a time, my boots barely whispering against the worn wood. Kael’s still in the clinic. Vanessa’s probably pacing the corridors trying to figure out how to crawl her way back into his good graces. Which means I have the advantage. I needed to check aria's room. I reached her room door and noticed it isn’t locked. That’s my first mistake, I expected at least a little resistance, some barrier to make me feel like I was breaking into enemy territory. Instead, the handle turns easily, the door swings open, and I’m inside.It smells faintly of her, something clean but warm, like wildflowers left out in the sun. I wrinkle my nose.The room is neat, Bed was still arranged, Desk clear except for a closed journal and a single pen. No stray clothes, no clutter, no sign
Kael POVThe stone steps to the keep are slick with blood and soot, and my boots hit them hard enough to echo. Aria’s weight is light in my arms.She’s limp now. Head lolling against my chest, breath shallow.“Stay with me,” I growl under my breath, like I can hold her in this world by force of will alone.The smoke follows me inside, curling around the cold stone hallway. Vanessa and Elena suddenly block the damn doorway like they’ve got nowhere better to be.“Move,” I snap, voice low but sharp enough to cut glass.They didn't, Elena’s arms are crossed, her expression unreadable if you don’t know her, which I do. That flat look is pure venom she’s trying to hide.Vanessa tilts her head, her gaze darting from my face to Aria’s pale one and back again. Her mouth curves into something that might be a smirk if she weren’t so busy pretending to be concerned.“I said—” I take a step forward, my shadow stretching over them. “move.”Elena’s lips twitch like she’s fighting the urge to roll he
Chapter 21Kael povSmoke claws at my throat, every breath thick with ash. Wolves flash in and out of the haze, enemy and ally blurring together until you have to trust your instincts or die. My claws are slick, my fur heavy with sweat and blood.I keep moving. Always moving.My shoulder burns where a claw tore into it earlier, but I push through it. There’s no room for weakness. Not when the enemy is still pushing toward the heart of the courtyard.I rip through the last wolf in front of me and turn, searching for the next target,when movement at the edge of the chaos catches my eye.Bare feet,loose clothes, hair wild from running. It's Aria.For a second, my mind blanks. It doesn’t make sense. She should be locked in her room, sulking or glaring at me or both, not standing in the middle of the godsdamn battlefield like she’s looking for a fight she doesn’t know how to win.I swear, the blood in my veins goes cold.“What the hell are you doing here?” The words are a growl in my head
Chapter 20Aria’s POVThe courtyard was chaotic.Not the loud, clumsy kind of chaos you get when a crowd panics. This was the kind that had teeth and claws, the kind that didn’t care if you screamed because it was going to swallow the sound whole anyway.Smoke coiled upward from somewhere near the training pits, curling past the windows like dark fingers trying to pry their way inside. Flames snapped and spat, light dancing over stone walls now smeared with streaks of shadow. Wolves darted through the haze, their growls tearing at the air.And in the middle of it, Kael was gone.One second he’d been there, his wolf ripping through an enemy like they were made of paper, and now… nothing.My fingers were already at the latch before my mind caught up.Don’t!, The voice in my head wasn’t Elena’s this time. It was mine. The reasonable one. The one that knew Kael had told me, in his own way, that I was not someone he fought for. That my existence here was a technicality, a placeholder unti