Chapter 5: Intense Feeling

Kael’s Point of View

Just a week in the Alpha's Den and all I could think of was her, I shouldn’t be thinking about her. It was wrong.

And yet, here I was, staring at her face… again.

My fingers were smudged with charcoal as I dragged the edge of the pencil across the page, shaping the delicate curve of her lips, the softness of her eyes. But no matter how many times I sketched them, I could never get them quite right. There was something about her gaze, something haunting and untouchable, that I couldn't seem to capture.

Frustration coiled in my chest like a snake. I had no business obsessing over her like this. Alina was nothing more than a pawn in my father’s twisted game… a girl brought here for one reason alone. She wasn’t meant to be anything more than a vessel, a baby factory for my father the Alpha.

So why the hell was she in my head?

I exhaled sharply, dragging a hand through my already disheveled hair. Maybe if I ripped the page out, it would erase the pull I felt toward her. Maybe if I stopped looking at her, stopped thinking about the way she looks at me when our gaze crosses paths, I could perhaps convince myself that she didn’t matter.

But I knew better.

I had known the moment our eyes locked in that dimly lit room a week ago.

There was something there. A thread tying us together, invisible yet unbreakable. And it scared the hell out of me.

"Is that… me?"

The soft voice sent a jolt through me.

I stiffened, fingers tightening around the sketchbook as I turned, my heart hammering hard against my ribs.

Alina stood just a few feet away, her arms wrapped around herself as if she were cold. Her gaze was fixed on the sketch, her expression unreadable. But there was no mistaking the curiosity in her eyes.

Shit.

She wasn’t supposed to see this.

I forced my face into an impassive mask, but my pulse was erratic, my thoughts spinning.

I should lie. Say it wasn’t her. Say it was just a random face, one I had drawn absentmindedly. But the words wouldn’t come.

Instead, I just stared at her, the air between us thickening with something unspoken.

Alina took a hesitant step forward. "It is me," she murmured, more to herself than to me. Her fingers twitched at her sides, like she wanted to reach for the sketchbook but didn’t quite dare. "Why would you…?"

Before she could finish the question, I moved.

It wasn’t intentional. It was instinct.

One second, she was staring at the sketch. The next, I had her pinned against the desk.

Not forcefully. Not violently. But close enough that I could feel the warmth radiating from her body.

Alina gasped softly, her wide eyes locked on mine.

I felt it then… the pull.

A raw, electric sensation that made my wolf snarl inside me, restless and hungry. My breath hitched, my pulse erratic. I wasn’t even touching her, but it felt like I was.

Her scent clouded my mind, intoxicating, overwhelming.

I should step back.

I should let go.

But I didn’t.

"What the hell are you doing?" she whispered, her voice barely audible, but it sent a shiver down my spine.

I didn’t know.

I didn’t have an answer.

I had spent my entire life avoiding connections, keeping my emotions buried so deep that even I couldn’t reach them. And yet, here she was, this girl who had been thrust into my world against her will… unraveling something inside me that I didn’t even know existed.

I opened my mouth, searching for words, but before I could say anything..

The door slammed open.

A cold, familiar voice sliced through the air like a blade.

"What is going on here?"

I ripped myself away from Alina so fast it felt like I had been burned. My entire body tensed as I turned to face him.

My father.

Alpha Thorne stood in the doorway, his gaze sweeping over the scene before him. His expression was unreadable, but the air in the room shifted, thickening with something dangerous.

I had seen that look before.

And it never ended well.

Alina was frozen in place, her breathing uneven, her fingers curled into fists at her sides. I fought the urge to reach for her, to pull her behind me, to shield her from my father’s scrutiny.

Thorne’s eyes flicked to her, and in that instant, something dark and cruel twisted in his gaze.

"You," he muttered coldly. "Get out."

Alina hesitated, just for a moment.

But my father was not a man to be tested.

Lowering her gaze, she obeyed, slipping past him without another word.

The moment she was gone, something in me twisted violently.

A primal, territorial feeling clawed at my insides.

But I didn't understand why I had those feelings.

I clenched my fists, shoving the thought away. She wasn’t mine. She couldn’t be.

Thorne turned his full attention to me now, his lips curling into a sneer.

"You forget your place, boy," he muttered, voice dripping with quiet menace. "Do not make me remind you."

I stood there, unmoving, my jaw clenched so tightly it ached.

I wanted to say something. Wanted to tell him to go to hell.

But that would be a mistake.

Because my father didn’t make threats. He made promises.

And when Alpha Thorne made a promise, blood always followed.

He held my gaze for a long, tense moment. Then, without another word, he turned and stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

The sound echoed through the room, but it wasn’t enough to drown out the roar in my chest.

I exhaled slowly, my hands still shaking.

Something was happening to me.

And I had no idea how to stop it.