Chapter 5

EIRA VALE

I continued running down the road, trying to get as far away as possible from him, from the gruesome images that flashed in my mind.

Branches clawed at my arms, the forest closing in as I stumbled blindly through the trees. My lungs burned, each breath harsh and shallow. I didn’t stop to think, didn’t look back. The image was carved too deep into my mind—Kael, soaked in red, standing over the broken body of a man he’d killed without hesitation. His eyes had been inhuman. Cold. Feral.

The stories hadn’t prepared me for the truth. Seeing it… watching him rip that man apart as if he were nothing…

What if the man is guilty? My inner voice debated but, I didn't care. There was no justification for murder.

I couldn’t breathe.

The trail twisted underfoot, but I kept moving. Thorns scratched my legs, my dress caught on brambles, but I didn’t care. I just needed to get away. From him. From what I’d seen. From what I was starting to feel.

Something wet slid down my cheek—I didn’t know if it was a tear or sweat.

A branch snapped behind me, and I turned sharply—too sharply. My foot caught on a root. I hit the ground hard, the shock of it rattling through my bones. Pain flared in my knees, but I forced myself back up.

That’s when I realized I had no idea where I was.

The forest loomed all around me. Dusk had thickened into something darker, colder. Trees I didn’t recognize crowded in, their trunks tall and unmoving like sentinels. I turned in a slow circle, breath catching. No lights. No voices. Just silence.

I was lost.

Panic clawed at me, and I moved again—faster, more frantic. I barely registered the sound of water until it was too late. My foot slipped on wet stone, and then I was falling.

The pond swallowed me whole.

I surfaced gasping, the water like ice through my skin and bones. My dress tangled around my legs, heavy and dragging me under. I kicked, flailed, my limbs already numbing from the cold. The more I struggled, the less I could breathe.

Was this how I was going to die? How was that possible? Who else but me could find the cure to the illness? What of the details concerning Brawn's death? I had yet to put his soul to rest. What of my mate?

As the image of Kael flashed through my mind, I stopped struggling. He was in fact the very reason I was in this mess.

Then I heard it—a growl, low and unmistakable.

“Eira.”

His voice.

Before I could turn, strong arms plunged into the water and closed around me. One moment I was sinking, the next I was lifted into the air, against the heat of his chest. My head lolled back as I shivered violently. Everything was spinning.

“I’ve got you,” Kael muttered. His voice shook. “I’ve got you.”

I think I blacked out.

***

When I opened my eyes, warmth had replaced the cold.

I was on something soft—furs, thick and plush—and light flickered somewhere nearby. The sharp scent of pine and cedar filled my lungs, grounded me. I blinked up at a ceiling of dark wood.

Kael’s room.

I didn’t need to look to know. It felt like him. Stark and quiet and entirely too close.

I tried to sit up, but a firm hand pressed gently against my shoulder.

“Don’t move.”

His voice was lower than usual, rougher. I turned my head to find him crouched beside the bed, bare from the waist up, dark hair damp and curling slightly at the ends. His eyes were fixed on me with a strange intensity—relief, maybe. Or frustration.

“You’re freezing. ” He said. “You could’ve gone into shock.”

“You killed him.” My voice came out hoarse, brittle.

His expression didn’t change. “Yes.”

“You didn’t even hesitate.”

“He was a rogue. He would’ve slaughtered the scouting party if I hadn’t stopped him.”

“But the way you…” I shivered, remembering the way his claws had torn through flesh like paper. “It didn’t look like protection. It looked like rage.”

“I won’t apologize for protecting my people,” he said, calm and terrifyingly steady. “But I didn’t want you to see that.”

I swallowed hard. “Why not?”

“Because I didn’t want you to be afraid of me.”

Too late.

He must’ve seen the truth in my face, because his shoulders stiffened.

“I smelled it on you,” he said quietly. “Even before you ran.”

"What did you smell?"

"Fear. You're afraid of me."

There was a rawness in his voice I hadn’t heard before. Not just anger—something deeper. Shame, maybe. Regret. He looked away, jaw tight.

“I didn’t come here for this.” I whispered. “I just wanted answers. I didn’t want to get pulled into whatever this is.”

“I didn’t ask for it either,” he said. “But here we are.”

His gaze flicked back to me, searching. There was something in it that made my breath catch.

“You’re injured.” he said after a pause. “Your knee’s torn. I stitched it, but it won’t be enough. You’re still bleeding.”

“I’ll be fine.” I muttered.

“No, you won’t. Not unless I help.”

I hesitated. I knew what he meant—what “help” looked like for them.

"Why? It'll heal soon."

"Eira, you're my mate which means that I can heal your wounds within minutes."

I scoffed as he broke our unspoken silence rule. For some reason, even though we knew we had a bond, we had never voiced it out. Maybe it was because a part of us, didn't want to admit it.

Still, I nodded.

Kael moved with slow, deliberate care, pulling back the fur just enough to expose my leg. I hissed as the cold air hit the bandaged skin. He unwrapped it gently. My breath hitched as I watched him lower his head and, without a word, run his tongue along the wound.

Warmth bloomed through me like fire.

I wasn’t prepared for how intimate it felt. Each slow stroke of his tongue wasn’t just a healing ritual—it was something else. Something ancient and primal, and so unbearably tender it left me trembling.

My eyes locked on the ceiling, heart thudding.

When he finished, the pain had vanished. The wound had closed.

“You didn’t have to do that.” I whispered.

“I did,” he said. “Because I couldn’t bear it if you didn’t wake up.”

I looked at him then—really looked. The hardened Alpha who tore rogues apart with his bare hands… was the same man who now stared at me like I was something breakable.

“I don’t know what to think about you,” I admitted. “You terrify me. And yet…”

“You’re drawn to me.” His voice dropped lower. “Even though you don’t want to be.”

I nodded.

“So am I,” he said.

My breath stuttered.

He was close now. Closer than he’d ever been. His hand brushed mine, fingers rough with calluses but gentle as they slipped between my own. He raised my knuckles to his lips but didn’t kiss them—just breathed against them.

“I won’t hurt you,” he said quietly. “Even if you never want me near you again.”

Our eyes met. Heat pulsed between us, thick and unspoken.

His hand cupped my cheek, thumb tracing lightly across my skin. My lips parted. He leaned in.

The space between us vanished.

And still… he didn’t kiss me.

We hovered there, breaths mingling, the air crackling. My heart beat so hard I thought it might give me away.

But then he pulled back.

“You need rest,” he said, voice strained.

I didn’t argue. I was shaking again—not from fear this time, but from whatever nearly passed between us. My body ached with exhaustion. The blankets were warm. His scent, cedar and smoke and something wild, surrounded me.

He stood and settled into the chair by the hearth, arms folded across his chest.

I closed my eyes, and before sleep took me, I felt him still watching me.

Not with hunger.

But with something I didn’t yet have a name for.

***