CHAPTER 3:The Enemy’s Blood

Aria did not like the way the stranger was looking at her.

His expression had changed the moment their eyes met. At first he looked surprised. Now he looked like someone trying to solve a problem that had suddenly become dangerous.

“You’re staring,” she said.

Kael blinked slowly as though remembering where he was.

“Yes,” he replied calmly.

“That usually means someone has a reason.”

Aria leaned against the doorframe.

“Well?”

Kael studied her again.

His wolf was restless, pacing beneath the surface like a storm waiting to break.

Mate.

The word refused to quiet.

But something else in her scent disturbed him.

A memory.

A scent he had known for years.

One he had fought against on the borders of his territory more than once.

The scent of Alpha Darius Hale.

Kael forced the thought aside.

“That house belongs to the pack,” he said.

Aria frowned.

“The pack.”

“The people who live here.”

She glanced past him toward the dark forest.

“I thought no one lived out here.”

“Most don’t.”

“That’s reassuring.”

Kael ignored the sarcasm.

“You shouldn’t stay here tonight,” he continued.

“And why not?”

Kael hesitated.

Because my wolf thinks you belong to me.

Because your scent carries the blood of my greatest enemy.

Because if the wrong wolves find you here, they will start a war.

Instead he said simply,

“This forest is not safe for humans.”

Aria crossed her arms.

“I grew up around forests.”

“Not this one.”

The quiet certainty in his voice made her pause.

“Look,” she said after a moment, “I just came here to deal with my mother’s property. I’ll be gone in a day or two.”

Kael’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“Your mother.”

“Yes.”

“What was her name?”

Aria frowned.

“That’s a strange question.”

Kael did not look away.

“Answer it.”

Something about the way he spoke made the air feel heavier.

“Lena Hale,” she said slowly.

Kael went completely still.

The name hit him like a sudden blow.

Lena Hale.

He had not heard that name in years.

Not since the last time Alpha Darius had crossed into his territory looking for someone he claimed had betrayed him.

Kael felt his wolf growl low in his chest.

Mate.

The realization forming in his mind felt impossible.

“Where is your father?” he asked.

Aria’s expression tightened.

“I wouldn’t know.”

“You’ve never met him?”

“No.”

The answer only deepened Kael’s suspicion.

“My mother never talked about him,” she added quietly.

Kael looked at her carefully.

The shape of her face.

The color of her eyes.

The scent in her blood.

All of it pointed toward the same conclusion.

One that should not exist.

“You should come with me,” he said.

Aria blinked.

“I’m sorry?”

“You shouldn’t stay here tonight.”

“And I should go where exactly?”

“My house.”

She stared at him.

“You’re serious.”

“Yes.”

Aria laughed once in disbelief.

“I don’t even know your name.”

“Kael Blackwood.”

The moment he said it, something shifted in the air between them.

Aria recognized the name instantly.

The people in town had whispered it earlier when they thought she wasn’t listening.

Blackwood.

The Alpha.

“You’re serious about the whole Alpha thing,” she said slowly.

Kael did not react.

“That’s because it isn’t a joke.”

Aria studied him again.

The confidence in his posture.

The quiet authority in his voice.

And the strange way the forest had gone silent since he arrived.

“You’re not joking,” she murmured.

“No.”

A strange sensation stirred inside her chest again. That same warmth she had felt when she first opened the door.

It spread slowly through her veins.

Kael noticed immediately.

His wolf surged forward again.

Mate.

He clenched his jaw.

“You feel that,” he said quietly.

Aria frowned.

“Feel what?”

Kael stepped closer.

The distance between them closed until he could clearly smell her again.

Human.

But not only human.

“Something about you is changing,” he said.

“That sounds dramatic.”

“It’s the truth.”

Aria opened her mouth to respond when a sudden howl echoed through the forest.

The sound froze both of them.

It was not distant.

It was close.

Very close.

Kael’s head snapped toward the trees.

“That shouldn’t be happening yet,” he muttered.

Aria’s stomach tightened.

“What was that?”

Kael’s voice turned cold.

“Wolves.”

Aria laughed nervously.

“There are wolves in every forest.”

Kael looked back at her.

“Yes,” he said.

“But these wolves are coming for you.”

Another howl cut through the night.

Closer this time.

Kael’s expression hardened instantly.

“They found you faster than I expected.”

Aria’s pulse jumped.

“Who found me?”

Kael grabbed her wrist and pulled her inside the house.

“Your father’s pack.”