CHAPTER FOUR - HIS NAME IS KADE

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Chapter Four: His Name Is Kade

Aria couldn’t move.

She stood on the steps of the library, her heart hammering against her ribcage as her eyes locked with his across the street. Every sound faded—the wind, the rustling leaves, the murmurs of the town—until the only thing that existed was him.

He didn’t blink. Didn’t flinch. Just watched her like he had all the time in the world and no intention of leaving.

Her skin prickled. Her breath came faster.

It was him. The man from the woods. The figure from her dream. The one her body had recognized before her mind ever caught up.

He’s real.

With slow, deliberate steps, he pushed off the tree and began to cross the street toward her. His gaze never wavered, and Aria felt frozen—like prey caught in the eyes of a predator.

Except she didn’t want to run.

She wanted to know him.

To touch him.

To feel that pull again, stronger this time, deeper.

When he reached her, he didn’t speak at first. He just stood there, towering over her with a quiet intensity that made her feel small, fragile… claimed.

“You shouldn’t be here,” he said at last, voice deep and rough, like gravel wrapped in silk.

Aria’s throat tightened. “Why?”

His jaw clenched, and she caught the faintest glimpse of something wild behind those golden eyes. “Because you’re not safe in this town. And I can’t protect you if you keep wandering alone.”

The words should have scared her. Instead, they made her blood heat and her thighs clench.

She lifted her chin. “You’ve been watching me.”

“I had to.”

“Why?”

A pause. Then, softer: “Because the moment I caught your scent, I knew you were mine.”

Her breath hitched.

Mine.

Her pulse pounded in her ears. “What are you?”

A bitter smile tugged at his lips. “Something you’ve been taught to fear.”

Before she could ask more, a voice cut through the air behind her.

“There you are.”

Damon.

She turned to see him standing at the base of the library steps, eyes narrowed, posture tense. The calm, cocky grin from the night before was gone.

“Thought I’d warned you to keep to the main roads,” he said, gaze flicking from her to the man beside her.

The tension between the two was immediate—hot, sharp, dangerous. Damon’s energy was aggressive, territorial. The man beside her radiated calm power, but it was the kind that threatened to explode if provoked.

“Leave,” her protector said, his voice low and deadly.

Damon snorted. “Still playing Alpha, Kade? Thought you’d given up the throne.”

Aria’s stomach dropped. Alpha?

So she was right.

Werewolves weren’t just stories in Crescent Ridge.

And this man—Kade—wasn’t just one of them.

He was their leader.

Or… had been.

“I don’t want trouble,” she said quickly, stepping between them, her hands up. “I just came here to learn more. That’s all.”

Kade’s hand brushed hers, firm and grounding. “You’re not the one causing trouble.”

His golden gaze locked with Damon’s once more. “Go. Now.”

For a second, it looked like Damon might challenge him. But something in Kade’s eyes made him pause. Then he gave a mocking bow and stalked off down the street.

Kade exhaled slowly, like he was holding back the beast inside.

“I shouldn’t have let him get that close to you,” he muttered.

Aria stepped closer, heart pounding. “You know him?”

“He used to be in my pack. Before he tried to take what wasn’t his.”

She frowned. “You mean… leadership?”

Kade’s eyes darkened. “I mean a mate.”

Silence fell between them.

The weight of those words lingered. Unspoken questions filled the air—danger, betrayal, forbidden bonds.

“You still haven’t told me what you are,” Aria whispered.

Kade looked at her then, really looked at her. Not with hunger. Not with anger. But with something vulnerable, almost reverent.

“I’m a wolf,” he said. “Not just a shifter. Not just a man who turns under the moon. I am the wolf. Every breath, every bone, every instinct. I feel it all.”

She swallowed. “And me?”

He stepped closer, the space between them thick with heat.

“You…” His voice dropped, rough with restraint. “You’re human. You shouldn’t be part of this world. But fate doesn’t care about what’s right. When I saw you in the woods, I felt the bond snap into place like lightning finding its mark.”

Her lips parted. “The bond?”

Kade nodded. “You’re my mate, Aria.”

The world tilted.

Her knees weakened, and she gripped the railing of the steps.

This wasn’t just lust or fear or curiosity. This was something ancient, something primal—threaded through her soul like vines around a heart.

“But I don’t even know you,” she whispered.

“You don’t have to,” he said. “The bond does.”

He stepped back, like the space was becoming too dangerous. Like he was.

“I can’t stay,” he said. “Not yet. But I’ll be watching.”

And then, without another word, Kade turned and disappeared into the shadows at the edge of town, leaving her breathless and burning.

Aria clutched the railing, trembling.

She had so many questions.

But one thing was clear.

The Alpha had found her.

And nothing would ever be the same again.

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