Chapter 3 - You Rejected Me

POV: Ava

"Touch her again."

The growl shook the wooden panels of the wall as Kael slammed Rowan against the plaster. The force of the impact made a  portrait frame rattle and slide off its hook, crashing onto the floorboards with a loud smash of breaking glass. Kael’s forearm was jammed right against Rowan’s throat, his knuckles turning white as his eyes flashed with a dangerous, unstable light.

Rowan's storm-focused features stayed completely calm, his boots sliding back just an inch as he used his weight to balance against the pressure.

Anyone looking into the room would think Kael was acting out of jealousy. They would think the Alpha Prince had suddenly realized his mistake and was rushing back to save the girl he loved from being carried away by a stranger.

But they would be completely wrong.

There was no love in Kael’s scent. There was only a dark, suffocating fury because another man had dared to put a finger on his property. He had rejected me. He had thrown our bond into the dirt and kissed another woman in front of the entire pack.

Yet here he was, acting like a rabid beast because a transfer soldier wanted to clear my father's ledger. The contradiction of it was enough to drive anyone insane.

"Kael, stop this!" my father yelled from the hearth, his hands shaking so hard he spilled his whiskey onto the rug. "The transfer student is clearing the debt! If you interfere, Alpha Vance will take our outer sectors by morning!"

Alpha Vance didn't even move from his spot by the sofa. He just leaned his shoulder against the doorframe, a dark, amused smirk crossing his scarred face as he watched the two younger Alphas face off. He treated the entire display like a free comedy show.

Kael didn't look back at my father. He kept his forearm locked against Rowan’s throat, his fangs scraping his bottom lip.

"I don't care about Vance's ledger," Kael hissed, his voice dropping into that royal frequency that made the lower-ranking wolves in the hallway drop their heads. "Ava belongs to the Silvercrest registry. If her family owes money, the palace will manage the funds. But she stays where I can see her."

Rowan slowly lifted his hands, his fingers open as he looked Kael dead in the eye. "Your words would be pretty much empty the minute the transfer registry gets signed though, Prince Kael. The law doesn't really care about your visibility preferences."

Kael didn't answer him with words. He just let out a guttural roar, wrenched his arm away from Rowan’s neck, and turned around. Before I could even track his movement, his large hand wrapped tightly around my wrist. His grip was like a steel handcuff, his cold alpha sparks stinging my skin through the fabric of my black hoodie as he violently dragged me out of the parlor.

My travel bag was left lying in the dirt by the bench, but he didn't care. He hauled me down the long, dark corridor of the estate, his  boots thudding against the floorboards as he marched toward the empty eastern terrace.

My heels dragged against the wood, my breathing getting ragged as the fresh pain from the broken bond flared up again. Nyx was thrashing inside my skull, her teeth bared as she demanded to be let out to chew through his fingers.

He threw the glass doors of the terrace open, shoving me out into the freezing northern air before slamming the panels shut behind us to lock out the rest of the house. The wind was howling off the ridge, cutting straight through my clothes, but the heat radiating off Kael’s chest was so overwhelming.

I finally exploded.

I wrenched my wrist out of his grip with everything I had, stepping back until my shoulder hit the stone railing of the balcony.

"YOU REJECTED ME!" I screamed right into his face.

The words tore out of my throat, shattering the silence of the empty terrace. My eyes were glowing with a bright, furious gold, the energy of my wolf finally leaking through my pupils.

"You stood on that dais in front of everyone and called me a fatass!" I choked out, my chest heaving as five years of hidden humiliation finally boiled over. "You broke the bond! You kissed Lyra right in front of my face! So why the hell are you chasing me into my house? Why do you care where I go?"

Kael said nothing.

He just stood there in the dark, the moonlight hitting his sun-bleached hair, his eyes fixed on my face. His face didn't carry that mocking smirk anymore. It was tight, rigid, and dark with a strange possessiveness that didn't make any sense. He stared at my thick dark curls blowing in the wind, his nostrils flaring.

He took a slow step forward, his large shadow completely covering my body against the stone railing.

"That doesn't change the fact that you're mine, Ava," he whispered.

His voice was a low, steady purr that ran straight down my spine.

I stared at him, my mind completely short-circuiting. The arrogance of his words left me breathless. He wanted the crown, he wanted Lyra, and he wanted the perfect political match for his father's council—but he still wanted me locked in a cage at the edge of his vision just because the Moon Goddess had once matched our blood. He wanted to ruin my life and still keep the keys.

Before he could even blink, my hand flew out of my pocket.

SLAP.

The sound cracked through the freezing air like a gunshot. I hit him with everything I had, the force of my palm snapping his handsome face to the side, a bright red mark instantly rising against his pale cheekbone. My fingers stung from the impact, my breathing ragged as I stared at his head.

Kael stayed perfectly still for three long seconds, his face turned away, his hair falling over his eyes.

Then, he slowly turned his head back to look at me.

The red mark on his skin was darkening, but his eyes were gleaming with a wild, unpredictable light. The cruel smirk slowly returned to his lips, his white teeth flashing in the moonlight as he reached up and touched the corner of his mouth with his thumb.

He smiled.

"Impressive," Kael whispered, his voice smooth and too dark. "At least your wolf still has some teeth.”