CHAPTER TEN: YOU DON'T GET TO CLAIM WHAT YOU REJECTED

Kael had faced armed enemies without flinching.

He had watched rival Alphas challenge his authority, negotiated dangerous alliances, and fought through battles that left blood soaking into the earth.

None of those moments had prepared him for the sight of Aria standing before him with one hand protectively resting on her stomach.

His child.

He was going to be a father.

The realization should have filled him with joy.

Instead, it came wrapped in a suffocating mixture of disbelief, fear, and regret.

"How far along are you?" he asked.

Aria's expression remained guarded.

"Far enough."

"Aria—"

"I have a name, Kael. You don't have to keep saying it as though that gives you a right to stand here."

He closed his mouth.

She looked exhausted.

Not merely physically tired, but worn down in a way that made something twist painfully inside him.

Her cheeks were thinner than he remembered. Her clothes were simple, and there was a faint crease between her brows that hadn't been there before.

She looked like someone who had been forced to learn how to survive without anyone's help.

He hated that thought.

He hated even more that he was responsible for it.

"Have you been taking care of yourself?" he asked.

A humorless smile touched her lips.

"What do you think?"

"You're carrying my child."

"And I was your mate."

The words silenced him.

Aria drew a slow breath.

"Do you remember the night you rejected me?"

Kael's jaw tightened.

"Of course."

"Do you remember how I looked at you?"

He said nothing.

"I kept waiting for you to take it back," she continued. "Even after you said the words, I thought you might change your mind. I thought perhaps you were angry, or frightened, or simply having a terrible day."

Her eyes glistened.

"I kept looking for a reason that would make what you did hurt less."

Kael felt the mate bond pull painfully inside his chest.

He had always believed that rejecting Aria would sever their connection enough for him to move forward.

But standing here, watching her struggle to keep her voice steady, he realized that the bond had never made him understand her pain.

He had simply ignored it.

"I made a mistake," he said.

Aria stared at him.

Then she laughed.

It was a small, broken sound.

"A mistake?"

"I shouldn't have rejected you."

"You're right."

The agreement surprised him.

For one foolish moment, hope flickered in his chest.

Then she continued.

"But you did."

His hope died.

"You made that decision when I was standing right in front of you. You had time to look me in the eyes. You had time to say the words. You had time to watch me fall apart."

She wiped beneath one eye.

"So don't stand here and tell me it was a mistake as though you accidentally dropped a glass."

Kael lowered his gaze.

He had no defense.

No excuse.

Nothing he could say would change the memory of that night.

"I want to help you," he said finally.

Aria's expression hardened.

"I don't need your help."

"You're carrying a child. You shouldn't have to struggle alone."

"I wasn't alone."

She placed her palm over her stomach.

"I had myself."

The words were quiet, but they cut deeper than any insult.

Kael looked at her hand.

"Let me take care of you."

"No."

"Aria, I'm not asking you to return to the pack. I'm asking you to let me provide for my child."

"Our child," she corrected automatically.

The words hung in the air.

For the first time, she seemed to realize what she had said.

Kael's eyes lifted to hers.

"Our child," he repeated softly.

She immediately stepped back.

"That doesn't mean you get to come back into my life."

"I understand."

"No, you don't."

She shook her head.

"You think because you found me, you can fix everything. You think you can arrive here, say you're sorry, and suddenly become the man I needed you to be six months ago."

His throat tightened.

"I know I can't undo what happened."

"Then stop trying to rush me into forgiving you."

"I won't."

She studied him suspiciously, as though she expected him to turn the conversation into another command.

He didn't.

For once, Kael stood before her without demanding anything.

But Aria had learned that promises were easy.

She had learned that a person could say beautiful things and still destroy you.

"I have an appointment next week," she said eventually. "I'll be going with Mrs. Hart."

Kael nodded slowly.

"Would you allow me to accompany you?"

"No."

He looked down.

"All right."

The immediate acceptance unsettled her more than an argument would have.

She had expected him to insist.

To remind her that he was an Alpha, that the child belonged to him, that his wishes carried weight.

Instead, he stepped aside.

Aria walked past him.

She had taken only a few steps when he spoke again.

"Aria?"

She stopped but didn't turn.

"I am sorry."

Her eyes closed.

For a moment, she was back in the ceremonial hall, standing before the man she loved while an entire pack watched him reject her.

She remembered the shame.

The pain.

The horrible certainty that something inside her had broken beyond repair.

She had waited months to hear those words.

Now that they had finally arrived, they offered her no comfort.

"Your apology doesn't change what happened," she whispered.

"I know."

"And it doesn't mean I forgive you."

"I know."

She turned to face him one final time.

"Then remember this, Kael. You don't get to claim what you rejected simply because you finally understand its value."

He stood perfectly still.

Aria walked away.

And this time, he didn't follow her.

That evening, Kael returned to his hotel room alone.

He sat beside the window, staring at the lights scattered across Ashbourne.

He could still hear Aria's voice.

You don't get to claim what you rejected.

He had spent his entire life believing that strength meant making difficult decisions without hesitation.

His father had taught him that an Alpha couldn't afford to be sentimental.

Feelings made a leader vulnerable.

Love created weaknesses.

And a mate who could be hurt was a liability.

Kael had believed those lessons.

He had built his entire life around them.

But Aria had never asked him to surrender his strength.

She had only wanted him to stop treating her love as a weakness.

He pressed his fingers against his temples.

"Idiot," he muttered.

A knock sounded at the door.

Darius entered a moment later, his expression unusually serious.

"You found her?"

Kael nodded.

"And?"

Kael stared at the floor.

"She's pregnant."

Darius went silent.

For once, the usually talkative Beta appeared unable to find the right words.

"Your child?" he finally asked.

"Yes."

Darius exhaled slowly.

"Does she know how to contact the pack if something happens?"

"She has a place to stay. A woman named Evelyn is looking after her."

"Good."

Darius hesitated.

"Are you going to bring her home?"

Kael's head snapped up.

"No."

The answer surprised them both.

He looked toward the window.

"Not unless she wants to come."

Darius studied him.

"That's new."

Kael ignored the remark.

"I want you to arrange financial support for the child. Medical expenses, anything she needs. But it must be done in a way that doesn't make her feel obligated to return."

Darius nodded.

"I can arrange that."

"And no one is to approach her without her permission."

"Understood."

Darius started toward the door, then paused.

"Kael?"

"What?"

"You're going to have to do more than regret what you did."

Kael's jaw tightened.

"I know."

"Do you? Because loving someone after you've hurt them is easy when you don't have to face the consequences. Earning their trust back is different."

Kael looked away.

"I said I know."

Darius left without another word.

Kael remained by the window long after the room had gone quiet.

For the first time, he wasn't thinking about how to make Aria return.

He was thinking about how to become someone she could trust.

He had no idea where to begin.

But he knew one thing.

He would never again mistake her forgiveness for something he was entitled to receive.

Miles away, Aria sat on the edge of her bed with a cup of warm tea between her hands.

Mrs. Hart had noticed her silence at dinner but hadn't pushed her to explain.

Now, alone in her room, Aria could finally admit how badly seeing Kael had shaken her.

Part of her still loved him.

That was the cruelest part.

The love hadn't disappeared just because he had hurt her. It lingered in the smallest corners of her heart, waiting for a kindness she had once believed would come naturally.

But she couldn't let that love make her forget herself again.

She rested a hand on her stomach.

"We're going to be all right," she whispered.

A sudden pulse of warmth moved through her body.

Then her wolf stirred.

Not the frightened, silent creature she had felt during the first weeks after her rejection.

Something stronger.

Something awake.

Aria inhaled sharply as a strange sensation spread through her veins. The room seemed to brighten, though the lamp beside her bed hadn't changed.

For one impossible second, she could hear the distant rustling of leaves outside.

She could smell the earth beneath the street.

And somewhere beyond the town, she sensed a presence moving through the forest.

A presence that felt familiar.

Dangerously familiar.

Her eyes widened.

"What is that?"

The warmth inside her intensified.

Then came a whisper, soft as the wind.

Remember.

Aria gripped the edge of the bed.

"Remember what?"

The whisper faded.

A sharp pain flickered behind her eyes, followed by a flash of an unfamiliar place: towering trees beneath a silver moon, a circle of wolves kneeling before a woman whose face she couldn't see.

Then darkness.

Aria gasped and pressed both hands against her temples.

When the sensation passed, she was trembling.

Her wolf was no longer silent.

It was awake.

And for the first time, Aria understood that something about her was different.

Something that had existed long before Kael rejected her.

Something that might have been waiting for this moment all along.

Outside, the wind rose.

Far beyond Ashbourne, deep within the ancient forest, a howl echoed beneath the moon.

It wasn't the howl of an ordinary wolf.

And somewhere in the darkness, another creature lifted its head in response.