Chapter 4: Forbidden Meeting

I waited until midnight, when the pack house settled into its nighttime rhythms. The warriors changed shifts. The servants retired to their quarters. The hallways emptied of everyone except the occasional patrol.

Kaden’s room was in the heir’s wing, a place I’d only been twice before. Both times under the cover of darkness. Both times risking everything.

Tonight felt different. Heavier. Like the air before a storm.

I took the servant’s passages, the narrow corridors built into the walls for staff to move unseen. My heart hammered against my ribs as I counted doors,找ing the hidden panel that led to his private quarters.

Three soft knocks. Our signal.

The panel slid open immediately. Kaden pulled me inside, his face breaking into a relieved smile.

“I was hoping you’d come. I haven’t seen you all day.” He tried to kiss me, but I stepped back.

His smile faltered. “Aria? What’s wrong?”

“Seraphina Blackthorn is what’s wrong.” The words came out harder than I intended.

He ran a hand through his hair, looking genuinely confused. “I know. My father just told me this morning that they’d be visiting. Some kind of diplomatic thing before the ceremony. I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to warn you.”

“Diplomatic thing.” I laughed, the sound bitter. “Is that what he called it?”

“What else would it be?” Kaden reached for me again, but I moved away, putting distance between us. His room suddenly felt too small, too intimate. The massive bed dominated the space, a reminder of all the promises he’d made in it.

“Kaden, how long is she staying?”

“A couple of weeks, I think? I don’t know the exact details. My father handles the diplomatic schedules.” He was watching me now with growing concern. “Why does it matter?”

“Three weeks,” I said flatly. “She’s staying three weeks. Until your ceremony.”

“Okay, so three weeks. Aria, what’s going on? You’re acting strange.”

I wanted to scream. To shake him. To make him see what was happening right in front of his face.

“What did your father tell you about this visit?”

“That Alpha Blackthorn wanted to strengthen ties between our packs before I transitioned to Alpha. Standard political courtesy.” He moved closer, his voice dropping. “Baby, I know you’re worried, but this changes nothing. You and me, we’re still…”

“She thinks she’s going to marry you.”

The words hung in the air like a guillotine blade.

Kaden went very still. “What?”

“Seraphina. She spent an hour today talking about redecorating Luna’s quarters. About your wedding. About the children you’ll have together.” My voice cracked. “She talked about it like it was already decided.”

“That’s insane.” But uncertainty flickered across his face. “She’s delusional. I’ve never even met her before today.”

“Haven’t you?” I pulled out the ace I’d been holding. “Your father met with Alpha Blackthorn three days ago. In his study. I served them breakfast. They discussed the alliance. The engagement. How Seraphina would be announced as your Luna immediately after your ceremony.”

Kaden’s face drained of colour. “No. He wouldn’t. Not without talking to me first.”

“Wouldn’t he?” I stepped closer now, needing him to hear me. Really hear me. “Kaden, your father threatened me two nights ago. Told me to end whatever we have or he’d make me disappear. The next day, she arrives. This isn’t a coincidence. This is a plan.”

“He threatened you?” Anger flashed in his eyes, his Alpha dominance leaking out. “He had no right…”

“He had every right. He’s the Alpha. I’m nobody.” The admission hurt, but it was true. “And you’re his son. His heir. You think he’s going to let you throw away a strategic alliance for an orphan omega with no connections?”

“I don’t care about strategy!” Kaden’s voice rose. “You’re my mate. My fated mate. The Moon Goddess herself chose us for each other. That trumps any political arrangement.”

“Does it?” I wanted to believe him. Goddess, how I wanted to believe him. “Then go downstairs right now. Wake up your father and Alpha Blackthorn. Tell them there’s been a mistake. That you’re already spoken for. That Seraphina needs to leave.”

The silence stretched between us like a chasm.

“Aria, I can’t do that.” His voice was pained. “Not yet. I don’t have the authority. Until I take the Alpha oath, I’m still just the heir. If I challenge my father now, he could”

“He could what? Discipline you? Punish you?” I laughed bitterly. “He’s going to trap you, Kaden. Can’t you see that? The moment you take that oath, he’ll announce the engagement. In front of the entire pack, all the allied Alphas, everyone. And you’ll have to choose. Your mate or your pack.”

“It won’t come to that.”

“It already has!” My voice broke. “I’m her personal attendant now. She requested me specifically. I have to watch her plan your future together while pretending I’m nothing. While being nothing.”

Kaden crossed to me in two strides, gripping my shoulders. “You are nothing. You are everything. And I will fix this.”

“How?”

“I’ll talk to my father tomorrow. Privately. I’ll make him understand that I won’t accept an arranged marriage. That I’ve already chosen my Luna.” His hands moved to cup my face. “I just need you to trust me for three more weeks. Once I have the Alpha power, no one can tell me what to do. Not even him.”

“And if he forces your hand before then?”

“He won’t.”

“But if he does?” I pressed. “If you have to choose right now, in this moment, between your pack and me. Between love and duty. What would you choose?”

Kaden’s hands dropped. The fact that he had to think about it told me everything.

“That’s not fair,” he said quietly. “You’re asking me to choose between two halves of myself.”

“No.” Tears burned my eyes. “I’m asking you to prove that what we have is real. That I’m not just something you’ll sacrifice the moment it becomes inconvenient.”

“Aria”

A sharp knock on the main door made us both freeze.

“Kaden.” Alpha Marcus’s voice, cold and commanding. “I know you’re awake. We need to talk. Now.”

Panic flashed across Kaden’s face. He looked at me, then at the secret panel, calculating.

“Go,” he whispered. “Quickly.”

“Kaden”

“Please. Just go. I’ll handle this.” He was already moving toward the door, toward his father. “Tomorrow. We’ll talk tomorrow. I promise.”

More promises. More tomorrows. More waiting.

I slipped back through the panel just as the main door opened. Through the crack, I saw Alpha Marcus enter, his expression thunderous.

“Explain to me,” his voice was deadly quiet, “why I just received word from the night patrol that they saw someone entering your quarters through the servant’s passages.”

My blood turned to ice.

“I couldn’t sleep,” Kaden said smoothly. “I went for a walk. Just got back.”

“Don’t lie to me, boy.” Alpha Marcus moved closer. “I can smell her. That omega. She was here.”

The silence was deafening.

“Father”

“Do you have any idea what you’re risking?” Alpha Marcus’s control finally cracked. “The Blackthorn alliance is worth millions. It secures our position for generations. And you’re jeopardising it for what? A nobody servant with delusions of adequacy?”

“She’s my mate.”

“She’s a distraction!” Alpha Marcus slammed his hand on the desk. “And distractions get people killed. Do you want to end up like your uncle? Like every other weak Alpha who chose their heart over their duty?”

“Uncle Stefan died in battle.”

“Uncle Stefan died because he was distracted. Because he’d rejected a strategic alliance to mate with some pretty face, and when war came, he didn’t have the allies he needed.” Alpha Marcus’s voice dropped dangerously. “He died screaming, torn apart by rogues, because he was too weak to do what was necessary. Is that what you want?”

Through the crack in the panel, I could see Kaden’s face. The conflict there. The pain.

“Seraphina Blackthorn will be announced as your Luna in three weeks,” Alpha Marcus continued, sensing victory. “You will court her appropriately during her stay. You will smile, charm her, and make her believe she’s getting a devoted mate. And you will end whatever juvenile attachment you have to that omega. Am I clear?”

“And if I refuse?”

“Then I’ll remove the problem myself.” The threat was explicit. “Omegas disappear all the time, Kaden. Tragic accidents. No one would even blink.”

My hand flew to my mouth, stifling a gasp.

“You wouldn’t,” Kaden breathed.

“Wouldn’t I?” Alpha Marcus moved toward the door. “You have three weeks to get your head straight, son. Use them wisely. Because after your ceremony, you will announce your engagement to Seraphina Blackthorn, or that omega won’t live to see sunrise the next day. The choice is yours.”

The door slammed shut.

I fled through the servant’s passages, tears streaming down my face, Alpha Marcus’s threat echoing in my mind. When I reached my room, I collapsed on the floor, my whole body shaking.

Maya found me there an hour later, still trembling.

“What happened?” She knelt beside me, gripping my shoulders.

“He’s going to kill me,” I whispered. “If Kaden doesn’t choose Seraphina, his father is going to kill me.”

“Oh, Aria.” Maya pulled me into her arms. “We need to get you out of here. Tonight. We can go to neutral territory, find another pack”

“No.” I pulled back, something cold and hard settling in my chest. “No running.”

“But if Alpha Marcus”

“Then I’ll die knowing I didn’t give up.” I wiped my eyes, forcing strength into my voice. “I have three weeks. Three weeks to either win or lose everything.”

Three weeks to discover if love was enough.

Or if I’d been a fool all along.