Chapter 4

EIRA VALE

The sun had only just begun to lift over the horizon, casting a sleepy gold glow through the wide windows of the infirmary.

I sat perched on the stool beside the long metal table, sleeves rolled up, latex gloves snug on her hands. The scent of antiseptic clung to the air, and beside her, Maura sorted the vials she had requested, labeling each one in her tidy, blocky handwriting.

“So,” Maura began, her voice lilting with curiosity as she capped a blood sample, “what did you do for fun back home? Before all this?”

I blinked, caught off guard. My fingers paused mid-motion over a sealed test tube as I tried to understand her question.

I had the urge to ignore the question, the lady probably wanted to use it for gossip.

Gosh, why do I always have to be so negative? I scolded myself.What if she's genuinely curious and what's to know me better and I'm having all these thoughts?

“For fun?” I echoed, trying to remember the last time I had done anything just for the sake of joy. “I used to garden. Wildflowers mostly. I liked watching something grow where there had been nothing.”

Maura smiled. “That sounds nice. Therapeutic.”

I offered a slight smile. “It was. I also read a lot. Old books. The kind that smelled like time.”

Maura gave a small laugh. “You sound like an old soul.”

“Maybe I am. I also enjoyed being outdoors, I loved swimming."

"Swimming? That's impressive. It I were to swim, I'd drown to death." Maura snorted and shook her head.

I laughed at the thought of her crying for help if she ever attempted to swim but stopped when I realized that i could be seen as a psychopath. "With eight practices you'll be able to swim like a professional. Personally it took me time to learn the basics of swimming, if not for my brother..." My voice trailed off as his memory flashed in my mind. The excitement I felt began to fade away and I laughed awkwardly, trying to clear the air.

I could see Maura staring at me from my side vision. She looked concerned but didn't ask me anything.

What was I thinking bringing the conversation to an awkward close like that?!

We worked quietly for a few moments before Maura asked, “If you don't mind me asking, how has it been since Bram?”

My gloved hands faltered. My breath caught, just for a beat, and my eyes darkened with a shadow that pulled me back into a memory too heavy to carry in the open.

I once had a twin, Brawn.

We had been inseparable, born in the same minute, always told we shared one soul in two bodies. He had been loud where I was quiet, bold where I was gentle. He had laughed like the world couldn’t touch them, and I had believed him. Even after our parents died, Brawn made it seem like they could make it. Just the two of them.

But then came the sickness. The mysterious fever that spread through their village, the strange behavior in the infected—the eyes that glowed too bright, the bodies that changed. And Brawn, stubborn and selfless, had gone to help. He’d gone into the woods after one of the infected children wandered off. He never came back.

A letter was sent to me two days later— the death of my brother.

I had refused to come back to the town, I didn't bare to see the place he'd spent his last memories or maybe it was guilt.

I had left six years ago to travel around the world, in search of new potions and herbs. He'd begged me to come home but I thought we...I had time —I didn't.

I asked for his belongings to be sent to me and I swore I'd never come back here again. But the burning desire to know what killed my brother...this strange illness that had driven him to his death, brought me back to this town.

The memory was a gaping wound—one I stitched up every morning only for it to reopen again at night.

I blinked away the image of his lifeless body which often haunted my dreams. Cursing me and screaming eternal curses.

“It's better now.” she said softly. "It used to be so hard but time makes everything better.”

Maura glanced at me but didn’t press. There was a knowing look in her eyes—an understanding that some silences were sacred.

We returned to their work.

“So, what’s life like here?” I asked, trying to steer the conversation into lighter waters.

Maura perked up. “It’s… loud sometimes. Messy. But it’s home. Everyone knows everyone, and we all sort of look out for one another. It’s busy, but not in a bad way. You’ll see it more once you’ve spent time in the square. Kids running around, people setting up for dinner markets. You’ll get used to it.”

I nodded. “It sounds… warm.”

“It is. Mostly.” Maura’s tone shifted ever so slightly. She busied her hands again, though there wasn’t much left to sort. “There are parts of it that takes getting used to. And people.”

I tilted my head. “People?”

“Kael,” Maura said, barely above a whisper, as if his name itself carried a weight. “He’s… complicated.”

I didn’t say anything, it wasn’t news.

“He protects this place. Fiercely. But sometimes he forgets to be gentle. He’s had to do a lot of ugly things. Seen worse.”

I had a feeling that there was more, but Maura clammed up after that, giving a rueful smile and moving on to discussing the logistics of sample testing.

I flowed with the conversation, not bothering to ask. Some things were best left unknown. Besides, there was something that Maura didn't know — no one but us knew.

Alpha Kael, is my mate.

***

Later that afternoon,I found myself alone in the corridor leading back to the main hall. I had left my satchel in the council room and decided to retrieve it.

Today's research had been beyond draining, adding to the fact that Maura is extremely bubbly, she basically wore me out with her endless talk..

The hallway was quiet, save for the distant murmur of voices. My footsteps were soft, padded against the wooden floor. The last thing I wanted was to run into anyone and exchange unnecessary pleasantries.

Then the air changed.

A sharp scent—metallic, primal, feral—hit my nose, and my feet slowed. Just ahead, the door to the courtyard was cracked open.

Every part of my being screamed to turn back, but for some reason, I felt a strong pull. I inched forward, drawn by something I couldn’t name, and peeked through the gap.

Kael stood in the center of the stone courtyard. His long black hair was damp with sweat, stuck to his cheek. His green eyes burned like twin flames. And beneath him, a man lay writhing, snarling, blood trailing from his mouth.

“Speak.” Kael growled, his voice so low it vibrated through the air.

The man spat blood. “You’ll get nothing from me.”

Kael laughed as though the man had said the funniest thing. "I had hoped you won't speak so I'd be able to have a good time. You see, these days I have a lot of unreleased tension. "

Kael didn’t hesitate. He drew a long blade from his belt and, with a clean, brutal motion, drove it into the man's chest. The scream that followed was animalistic.

"I'm just starting, why are you screaming?"

Kael's claws grew from his fingers and he dug deep into the man's chest, tearing through his organs like a hungry beast.

The man kept screaming till his heart fell beside him.

I stumbled back, heart pounding. My lungs forgot how to work.

Fear gripped my heart at what I had seen. But what scared me the most was the smile on Kael's face as he killed him.

This could be me.

I shook at the thought of dying by his hands so I fled. Down the hallway, through the infirmary, past the quiet murmurs of warriors, until I was outside, chest heaving.

He was a monster. Or he could be.

I pressed a hand to my chest, willing myself to breathe.

This is not my world. These people are not my people. I had come here for one reason—to heal.

Kael Thorne was not part of that purpose.

Even though he is my mate and I am drawn to him, I cannot risk it. I didn't come here to find love, much less follow a path that the Destinies had drawn for me.

Thank heavens he has not marked me so it would make it easier to reject him.

I have to stay away from him, destroy every positive feeling that was blooming for him. I'll would bury myself in my work and keep my distance.

Because whatever flicker of connection had sparked between us… I could not afford to let it grow.

Not when he could become the very nightmare I once lost everything to.

***