Chapter Four

CHAPTER FOUR: The Secret He Forced Me to Keep

Kiara’s POv 

I woke up a little bit exhausted. I was alone on the bed . The forest was quiet. I could hear the birds singing . My body hurts  in a way I didn’t fully understand, and my wolf was restless inside me. It hadn’t been a dream.

The bond was still there.Alpha Liam is my mate and my stepfather. The memories rushed back.   The way he had held me like letting go was impossible, even while his eyes were full of denial.

I sat up quickly, looking around.He was gone.

For one wild moment, my hope failed . Maybe he had rejected the bond. Maybe he doesn’t want me .

Then I felt his presence in the room . He was close. “Get dressed.” His voice came from behind me, cold and controlled.

I turned around. He stood a few steps away, fully dressed now, Alpha mask firmly back in place. No trace of weakness. No sign of what had happened between us.

“You shouldn’t be here,” he said those words hurt me .

“Then reject me,” I said.His eyes darkened instantly.

“No.”

The word was final.

I stared at him. “Why?”

“Because rejection would break you,” he said flatly. “And I will not weaken the pack further.”

My chest tightened. “So what am I to you then?”

He stepped closer, his presence crushing.

“You are my mate,” he said quietly. “And that is exactly why this must stay a secret.”

The word hit harder than rejection.

“A secret?” I whispered.

“If the pack finds out,” he continued, “they will destroy you. They will call you a curse. A manipulation. A threat to my rule.”

“You’re the Alpha,” I said. “You could protect me.”

His jaw tightened. “You don’t understand this pack.”

“I understand you hate me,” I shot back.

Something dangerous flashed in his eyes.

“This is not about hate,” he said. “This is about survival.”

“You will say nothing,” he ordered. “To anyone. Not your mother. Not the elders. Not a single wolf.”

My heart sank. “And if I don’t?”

His voice dropped. “Then I will be forced to choose the pack over you.”

The bond pulsed painfully at his words.

Tears burned my eyes. “So I stay trapped.”

“You stay alive,” he corrected.

I laughed softly, broken. “You said turning eighteen would free me.”

He didn’t answer.

That silence told me everything.

“You will return to the pack house,” he said. “Nothing changes. You follow the rules. You stay invisible.”

“And you?” I asked.

His gaze locked onto mine, intense and unreadable.

“I will fight this bond every day,” he said. “Dont make any  mistake, Kiara “ 

He stepped back, putting distance between us like a wall.

“This should have never happened,” he said.

The bond screamed in protest.

I nodded slowly, even though my chest felt like it was caving in.

“Yes, Alpha.”He flinched at the title.

Then he turned and walked away, leaving me standing there with a bond I wasn’t allowed to claim, a mate who refused to let me go, and a secret that could destroy us both. My eighteenth birthday was supposed to bring freedom.