CHAPTER 2

Aria’s POV

I waited all morning, then all afternoon, by nightfall, the ache in my chest had turned into a storm.

He didn’t come back.

I hadn’t moved from the bed, not because I wanted to wallow, but because I didn’t know what else I was supposed to do. I didn’t belong here, in this grand, cold west wing of the packhouse. The air smelled too clean, the sheets were too soft, and everything reminded me that I didn’t fit.

Suddenly, a gentle knock on the door broke the silence.

I bolted upright. My heart skipped. “Kael?”

The door creaked open, it was Lilith.

 "Are you disappointed?” she asked, stepping inside without waiting for an invitation. She looked around like she was trying to memorize every luxurious inch of my temporary prison.

“I thought you were someone else.”

“Clearly.” She sat on the edge of the chaise lounge, smoothing her perfect curls behind one shoulder. “You know, Aria, I used to pity you. Now I think you might be the most dangerous girl I’ve ever met.”

I blinked. “Dangerous?”

She smiled. Not kindly. “You made the Alpha weak. He hesitated. He questioned Astrid’s will. That’s not just dangerous. That’s… lethal.”

“I didn’t ask for this,” I snapped. “You think I wanted to be mated to someone who rejected me in front of the entire pack?”

“Oh, I believe that part,” she said, standing now, eyes narrowing. “But what I don’t understand is how someone like you got chosen at all.”

“I don’t know!” I threw my hands in the air. “I never asked the goddess to make him my mate.”

Lilith stepped closer. Her voice dropped. “Maybe not but your wolf did, and you better start controlling her, before she gets you killed.”

A chill crept up my spine. “Is that a threat?”

“No.” She leaned in, her breath brushing my cheek. “That’s a warning.”

She turned and left, leaving behind the silence that pressed into me like a second skin.

****************************

Later that evening, just when I’d given up on him again, the door opened and he walked in.

Kael.

He stepped in, wearing his usual dark attire. His expression was unreadable and for a second, I wondered if last night had been some vivid delusion, but then I caught the brief flicker in his eyes—the same heat, quickly buried.

“You waited,” he said.

“I didn’t know I had a choice.”

He exhaled sharply. “Don’t do that.”

“What?”

“Speak like that. Like you’re already broken.”

I crossed my arms. “I am broken, Alpha or did you forget how you shattered me in front of the entire pack?”

Silence, he said nothing as he walked to the window and stared out into the dark woods.

“They wanted me to accept the bond,” he said. “They still do.”

“And you don’t?”

“It’s not about you.”

I barked a bitter laugh. “Oh, that’s comforting.”

Kael turned to me then, jaw tight. “I have responsibilities. There are politics involved—alliances, expectations, mating with an Omega…” he shook his head. “It wasn’t part of the plan.”

“I’m not sick, Kael.” I said, voice trembling. “You act like I ruined your life just by existing.”

“You didn’t ruin my life,” he said quietly. “You complicated it.”

I looked away. “I didn’t ask for this. I would’ve been content stirring stew for the rest of my life. But the goddess had other ideas.”

His eyes darkened. “Do you really believe in the goddess’s will?”

“Yes, and I believe she makes no mistakes. Even when the people she chooses do.”

Kael walked toward me then, slow and steady. “What happened last night—”

“Was it a mistake?” I asked bitterly.

“No.” He paused. “It was real. Too real.”

My breath caught.

“But it can’t happen again,” he finished, voice tight.

“Why not?” I whispered. “Because I’m not good enough? Because I’m an Omega?”

“Because I can’t afford to feel like that again.” He reached out and brushed a strand of hair behind my ear. “You make me forget who I am and that… is dangerous.”

I slapped his hand away. “Then maybe you need to figure out who really you are.”

He stared at me, stunned for a moment. Then he turned and walked to the door.

“You’ll stay here for now. Some people might use you against me. I need to keep you safe.”

“I don’t need your protection.”

“You might. Soon.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Don’t trust Lilith.”

And with that, he was gone again.

********************************

The next morning, I woke up to shouting, voices in the hallway—raised, angry.

I crept to the door and cracked it open.

“—She’s a threat, Kael! You don’t know what she might become!”

“She’s my mate,” Kael growled.

“Then why did you reject her?” That voice was unfamiliar. Male, rough. “You can’t have it both ways!”

“I didn’t ask for this either but I won’t let her be harmed.”

“Prophecy or not, the council’s watching, closely, If you show weakness—”

“I’ll deal with the council.”

“You better, before they do.”

Footsteps thundered away and Silence fell. I opened the door wider and saw Kael standing there, fists clenched, shoulders rigid.

His eyes met mine.

“You heard that?” he asked.

“Enough.”

He exhaled, then walked toward me.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

I blinked. “What?”

“I said I’m sorry.” His voice was low. “For the way I treated you. For last night, for everything.”

“Why now?”

“Because I don’t think the goddess made a mistake.” He hesitated. “And maybe… I did.”

For the first time, I saw something break through his icy facade—regret.  I stepped out into the hallway with him. “What is the council so afraid of?”

“You.” He said it like a fact. “The prophecy. If you’re the girl it speaks of… everything changes.”

“I’m just a kitchen Omega.”

He smirked. “Not anymore.”

“I didn’t ask for power. Or danger. Or—” I swallowed. “Or you.”

He stepped closer. “But you have all three.” 

This was getting scary and it wasn't what I ever. 

He crossed over to me, and I could feel my heart beating hard against my chest. I couldn't tell right from wrong. Just then we heard a sound coming from the door.

Kael and I paused, turning to the direction of the noise as we held our breath in anticipation.