CHAPTER 6: UNDER HIS EYES

CHAPTER 6: THE WOMAN HE REACHED FOR

The atmosphere in the room changed instantly.

One second earlier, Kael's hand had been inches away from Aurora's face.

The next everything shattered.

Selene stood at the doorway completely still.

Moonlight from the corridor spilled around her silver dress, making her look almost unreal beneath the soft glow.

Beautiful, elegant, perfect but her smile was gone, completely gone.

Her eyes remained fixed on Kael's hand gripping Aurora's arm on the distance between them or rather the lack of distance silence swallowed the room whole.

Aurora felt her heartbeat stumble painfully inside her chest.

Kael released her immediately, instantly like touching her had been a mistake.

A terrible mistake.

Warmth disappeared from her skin so quickly it almost hurt.

Aurora lowered her gaze at once.

Of course this was how it would always be.

The moment Selene appeared, Kael stepped away.

The moment another woman entered the room, reality returned.

Aurora hated the sharp ache that rose inside her chest.

Not the bond pain, something worse, humiliation.

Again.

Selene recovered first.

Her smile returned slowly.

Softly.

Too perfectly.

"I hope I'm not interrupting something."

Aurora almost laughed at the sentence.

Almost.

Because the tension in the room was impossible to miss.

Kael's expression returned to its usual cold calm frighteningly fast.

"No."

Just one word.

Simple.

Controlled.

As though moments ago he hadn't been staring at Aurora like he was terrified something might happen to her.

Aurora looked away quickly.

She must have imagined it.

Obviously.

Selene stepped fully into the room.

Her eyes drifted briefly toward Aurora before returning to Kael.

"The servants said you came here."

Kael nodded once.

Silence followed again.

Uncomfortable silence.

Aurora suddenly felt exhausted.

Deeply exhausted.

She wanted them both to leave.

Wanted the room empty again.

Wanted tonight to end already.

Selene's gaze moved around the room slowly before landing on the wooden box behind Aurora.

Then her eyes narrowed almost invisibly.

Interesting.

Very interesting.

Aurora noticed immediately.

Selene noticed things too.

Maybe not the same way Kael did.

But she noticed enough.

Aurora stepped slightly sideways, blocking the box from view without thinking.

Selene's smile sharpened for one brief second.

Then disappeared again.

"I came because Elder Thomas arrived earlier than expected."

Kael frowned slightly.

"The southern Alpha?"

"Yes."

Selene walked closer naturally.

Comfortably.

As though standing beside Kael already belonged to her.

"He wants to discuss tomorrow's ceremony arrangements tonight."

Aurora remained silent near the bookshelf.

Trying very hard to pretend she wasn't there.

Trying even harder to ignore the strange heaviness in her chest.

Kael glanced toward Aurora again briefly.

Too briefly.

Then looked back at Selene.

"I'll come shortly."

Selene nodded.

But she didn't leave immediately.

Instead, her gaze returned toward Aurora again.

Careful.

Thoughtful.

Studying.

Then softly,

"You don't look well tonight, Aurora."

Aurora stiffened slightly.

Because the words sounded kind.

Concerned even.

But something beneath them felt strange.

Sharp.

Like hidden thorns beneath silk.

"I'm alright."

Selene smiled faintly.

"Are you?"

Silence.

Aurora met her eyes properly then.

And for one brief second something cold passed between them.

Not open hatred.

Not yet.

Something quieter.

Something more dangerous.

Selene tilted her head slightly.

"The festival tomorrow may become overwhelming for you."

Aurora understood the meaning immediately.

Poor rejected Luna.

Poor unwanted mate.

Poor Aurora forced to stand beside a man who loved someone else.

Aurora folded her arms slowly.

"I'll survive."

Selene's smile deepened slightly.

"I'm glad."

Kael suddenly spoke.

"Selene."

The warning in his voice was subtle.

Very subtle.

But Aurora heard it.

So did Selene.

Because her expression softened instantly.

"My apologies."

Yet somehow the apology felt worse.

Aurora suddenly realized something uncomfortable.

Kael had noticed the tension too.

Which meant he had been paying attention closely enough to notice changes in her expression.

Her reactions.

Her discomfort.

That realization unsettled her more than it should have.

Selene finally turned back toward Kael.

"Elder Thomas is waiting downstairs."

Kael nodded once again.

This time Selene moved toward the door.

But before leaving, she paused briefly beside Aurora, very close.

Close enough for Aurora to catch the soft scent of jasmine perfume.

Then quietly, so quietly only Aurora could hear "You should rest tonight."

A pause.

Then:

"You look fragile."

Aurora's fingers curled instantly against her arms.

Selene smiled sweetly before finally walking away.

The door closed softly behind her.

Silence returned immediately.

Heavy silence.

Aurora kept staring toward the door long after Selene disappeared.

Fragile.

The word lingered unpleasantly inside her head.

Kael remained where he stood.

Watching her.

Aurora could feel it.

That stare again.

Heavy.

Focused.

Questioning.

She suddenly felt tired of it.

Tired of him looking at her like she was some puzzle he couldn't solve.

Aurora turned toward him slowly.

"You should go."

Kael didn't move.

"Elder Thomas is waiting."

Still silence.

Aurora frowned slightly.

"What?"

Kael studied her for several seconds before speaking quietly.

"What did Selene mean?"

Aurora blinked.

"What?"

"'You look fragile.'"

Aurora almost laughed.

Of all things, that was what caught his attention?

She looked away.

"It was nothing."

Kael's eyes narrowed slightly.

"You're lying again."

Something inside Aurora snapped slightly at the sentence.

Not anger exactly.

Exhaustion.

Frustration.

Pain.

Three years of silence suddenly felt unbearably heavy.

Aurora turned toward him fully.

"What exactly do you want from me tonight, Kael?"

Silence.

The question seemed to catch him off guard.

Aurora continued before she lost courage.

"You rejected me publicly."

Her voice remained calm.

Too calm.

"You announced another woman beside you."

Kael's jaw tightened slightly.

"And now suddenly you're questioning me like I matter."

Silence crashed heavily between them.

Aurora inhaled shakily.

Because saying it aloud hurt more than she expected.

Kael stared at her.

Long.

Steady.

Unreadable.

Then quietly "You do matter."

Aurora froze.

Completely froze.

The words struck somewhere deep inside her chest.

Dangerous words.

Cruel words.

Because after three years, after all this time, he couldn't say something like that now.

Not now.

Not when she had finally started trying to let him go.

Aurora laughed softly.

Brokenly.

"If I mattered, tonight would've never happened."

Silence.

Kael looked away first.

And somehow that hurt too.

Aurora swallowed hard before stepping back toward the bed.

Distance.

She needed distance again.

Her chest still ached faintly beneath her ribs.

The silver light had disappeared for now, but fear remained.

Because Kael saw it.

He knew something was wrong now.

And Kael wasn't stupid.

He would keep searching for answers.

Aurora carefully picked up the wooden box from the shelf.

Kael noticed immediately.

His eyes followed the movement.

Again.

Always watching.

Aurora held the box tightly against herself.

Then quietly asked,

"Did you ever hate me?"

The question escaped before she could stop it.

Silence filled the room instantly.

Kael frowned slightly.

Aurora stared down at the floor.

Because suddenly she needed to know.

Needed the truth.

"Sometimes I think you did."

The confession sounded small.

Painfully small.

Kael didn't answer immediately.

When he finally spoke, his voice sounded lower than before.

"I never hated you."

Aurora closed her eyes briefly.

Because somehow that answer hurt more.

If he hated her, at least there would've been emotion, passion.

Something.

But indifference?

Distance?

Polite coldness?

Those things destroyed people slowly.

Aurora looked back at him.

Then quietly whispered,

"That almost would've been easier."

Something changed in Kael's expression instantly.

Sharp.

Unexpected.

He took one step toward her then suddenly froze.

A loud howl echoed through the night outside.

Both of them looked toward the balcony instantly.

Another howl followed.

Then another.

Alarm howls.

Aurora's stomach dropped immediately.

Pack danger.

Kael moved toward the balcony doors fast before throwing them open.

Cold wind rushed inside violently.

Below them, chaos had erupted across the courtyard.

Guards running.

Wolves shifting.

Pack members shouting.

And right in the middle of the courtyard, beta Rowan staggered through the gates covered in blood.

Aurora's breath caught.

Because Rowan wasn't alone.

He was carrying someone.

A young female wolf.

Unconscious.

And judging by the deep claw marks across her body someone had tried very hard to kill her.