CHAPTER FIFTEEN

‘Little cat?’

'Sleep...with him?' 

The words lingered in the air far longer than they should have.

My face burned so fast it felt unreal, like heat rushing straight to the surface of my skin without warning. I could feel it in my cheeks, my ears, even down my neck. I did not know where to look.

Alpha Kael’s eyes were on me.

Not casually.

Not in passing.

He looked at me as if he could see through everything I was trying to hold together. As if my thoughts were not thoughts at all, but something thin and visible, stretched too close to the surface.

My breath caught.

For a second, I truly thought I could not breathe.

My chest tightened, not with the sharp pressure from before, but with something warmer. Denser. My heart stumbled, then began to pound so loudly I was certain he could hear it.

‘Is he treating me like a…pet?’

I swallowed.

I dared to look at his face.

Just for a moment.

And then I was lost.

Alpha Kael was devastatingly handsome.

Not in a way that invited softness. Not in a way that asked to be admired. His face was cut with intent, strong lines and sharp planes that spoke of command rather than beauty. His jaw was firm, his mouth set in a way that suggested he rarely wasted words. His nose was straight, his brow heavy enough to cast faint shadows over his eyes even in lamplight.

Those eyes.

Gold. Deep. Too aware.

They held mine with unsettling focus, and for a heartbeat I thought I saw something shift there. Not amusement exactly. Something quieter. Something fleeting.

A smile.

So faint I could not be sure it had been real.

Then his lashes lowered.

He closed his eyes.

Just like that.

As if nothing had happened.

As if he had not undone me with two words.

My heart kept racing.

It refused to slow.

I could hear his breathing now, close and steady, the sound brushing faintly against my temple. Each inhale deep. Each exhale warm. The rhythm of it settled into me, slow and unhurried, grounding in a way that made my thoughts blur.

I could smell him.

Clean. Warm. Something deep beneath it that felt solid and old, like stone warmed by the sun. It wrapped around my senses until everything else faded.

It was too much.

Too close.

‘This is ridiculous.’

I was sitting like this, held against a man who had just called me a pet, my body reacting as if it did not care about logic or dignity or sense.

And yet.

My body felt safe.

The realization came quietly, without drama.

For the first time since I had woken in this palace, my chest did not ache. My breathing stayed even. The strange energy inside me moved calmly, no longer pressing or clawing, just flowing outward in a way that felt… right.

‘Why?’

He had not touched me improperly. He had not whispered comfort. He had not promised anything at all.

And yet, here I was.

Safe.

My eyelids grew heavy before I noticed them closing.

The warmth of his body surrounded me, his arm steady and secure, his presence unyielding in a way that did not demand anything from me.

My thoughts slowed.

The last thing I registered was the rise and fall of his chest beneath my cheek.

Then sleep took me.

x x x x

Moonlight.

It found me immediately.

I was standing high above everything again, the world below erased by mist and pale glow. There was no edge, no ground, only height and light and the quiet certainty that falling was not a question of if, but when. The air brushed my skin, cool and thin, carrying a low hum I could feel more than hear, like something ancient vibrating through my bones.

The moon hung impossibly large in the sky.

Closer than before.

Brighter.

It filled my vision, luminous and heavy, as if it were leaning toward me. Watching. Waiting.

I did not panic.

That frightened me more than fear ever could.

‘I know this place.’

My bare feet rested on nothing solid, and yet I stood. Light gathered beneath me, soft and responsive, pulsing faintly as if it recognized me. As if it remembered something I did not.

Then I felt it.

A pull.

Not downward.

Inward.

It reached into my chest and curled around something fragile and hidden, drawing it forward with quiet insistence. My breath caught.

I turned.

...He was there.

The man from before.

Clearer now. Close enough that I could see the tension in his jaw, the way his shoulders were drawn tight as if holding himself together took effort. His hands were clenched at his sides, knuckles pale.

He was watching me.

Not with command.

Not with control.

...With devastation.

The sight of it struck me harder than any fall ever could. My heart twisted painfully, a sharp ache spreading through my chest.

‘Why do you look like that?’

'Like your heart was torn open, and your soul bleeding?' 

The question rose soundlessly, unanswered.

The light beneath my feet wavered.

It did not shatter.

It simply withdrew.

I began to fall.

Wind rushed past me, cold and sharp, threading through my hair, tugging at my clothes, stripping sensation away until I was nothing but motion and awareness. The fall was endless, weightless, consuming.

I did not scream.

I looked at him instead... The beautiful man who was breaking without tears. 

His eyes widened.

He stepped forward...his restraint breaking, reaching for me with sudden desperation. His hand cut through the space where I had been.

But...it was empty.

The pain on his face destroyed me.

It hurt more than the fall. More than the pull. More than the vastness opening beneath me. My heart felt like it shattered into a million pieces, each one tearing loose at once, scattering through my chest until I could not tell where the ache ended and I began.

And I realized...my soul was also crying.

Not loudly.

Not desperately.

Just breaking, slow and deep, like something ancient splitting apart under too much weight.

‘Don’t look at me like that.’

The thought tore free, raw and useless.

The moonlight pulsed.

Once.

Twice.

The hum deepened, thickening until it wrapped around me completely.

And then I heard it.

A sound beneath everything else.

Low.

Ancient.

It filled my lungs, pressed against my ribs, burned through my chest with recognition so fierce it stole my breath. Tears stung my eyes, hot and helpless, even as I continued to fall.

The moon was not watching me.

It was…calling for me.