Chapter 4: Him

LENA

“You’re smiling like you didn’t just have a corpse in your room.”

The words slipped out before common sense could stop them, and for one dangerous second, the entire hallway went silent.

Alpha Kael stared at me.

Then he laughed.

My jaw tightened. “You’re insane.”

“I’ve heard that before.”

He stepped closer, and I refused to move. Even when every inch of him screamed danger, I stayed exactly where I was, chin lifted stubbornly as his silver eyes dragged slowly over my face.

“Most people cry after seeing what you saw,” he murmured as his smile slowly returned.

And somehow that was more unsettling than the blood still staining his hands.

“I think,” he said softly, “I’m going to enjoy you here.”

I let out a sharp breath, forcing my voice to stay steady. “You’re really not as intimidating as you think you are.”

That made something flicker in his eyes.

Interest, not anger.

“I’ve seen worse than you,” I added. “So don’t flatter yourself.”

A pause, then Kael simply looked at me like I hadn’t spoken at all.

That should’ve irritated me.

Instead, it unsettled me.

“Prepare her,” he said calmly.

The shift was instant as the maids behind him moved at once.

My stomach tightened. “Prepare me for what?”

No answer.

I stepped back instinctively. “I asked you a question.”

Still nothing.

Kael didn’t even look at me when he spoke again.

“I don’t repeat myself.”

That was the only warning I got.

“Maren,” he called.

The woman appeared immediately.

“Maren,” I snapped, sharper now, forcing confidence I didn’t feel. “What does he mean, prepare me for what?”

But Kael had already vanished.

Maren stepped forward, expression unreadable. “This way, Miss Ashford.”

They dragged me to a bath and it was larger than my entire room back at the Ashford estate.

I stood frozen near the doorway while the maids moved quietly around me, filling a massive stone tub with steaming water scented with oils I couldn’t even name.

“You can leave,” I muttered awkwardly.

None of them moved. One of the younger girls blinked nervously. “Alpha Kael instructed us to assist you.”

“I can bathe alone.”

Another uncomfortable silence.

Then Maren spoke carefully from behind me. “It would be best not to argue, Miss Ashford.”

I clenched my jaw hard enough to hurt. Even here, even now, he was controlling everything.

The thought should have terrified me more than it did. Instead, part of me hated how safe this house already felt compared to the one I came from.

That realization disgusted me enough that I stripped out of my clothes without another word and slid into the water.

The heat nearly made me moan.

I sank deeper before I could stop myself, exhaustion pulling heavily at my limbs as the maids washed my hair gently, careful around the uneven ends Cara had butchered.

Anger tightened my throat immediately at the memory and fingers curled beneath the water.

After the bath, they dressed me in soft black fabric that flowed against my skin like water. The dress hugged my waist before falling elegantly to my ankles, the sleeves sheer enough to reveal the faint silver remains of my rejected mate mark.

I stared at myself in the mirror for a long moment and I barely recognized the girl staring back, not because I looked beautiful, but because I looked cared for.

And by the time I reached the dining hall downstairs, my nerves had returned full force.

Kael sat at the far end of the table, now cleaned up and dressed entirely in black. His dark hair was still damp from a shower, pushed carelessly away from his forehead.

No blood.

Heat crawled up my neck immediately under the weight of his stare.

“Well,” he said after a long silence. “You clean up nicely.”

I frowned as I sat down across from him. “Do you insult everyone before feeding them?”

One corner of his mouth lifted slightly. “Only the difficult ones.”

A maid placed plates in front of us, the smell alone making my stomach twist painfully with hunger.

Kael noticed instantly. “Eat.”

“I know how food works.”

“Judging by your weight, I’m unconvinced.”

I glared at him before grabbing my fork aggressively. He watched me take the first bite with an expression far too satisfied for my liking.

“You’re enjoying this,” I accused.

“Yes.”

The food disappeared embarrassingly fast after that. I hadn’t realized how hungry I truly was until warmth spread through my stomach for the first time in days.

Kael leaned back slightly, watching me with open scrutiny.

“You were starving.”

“I was busy.”

His eyes narrowed. “Busy being neglected?”

I stiffened instantly.

“That’s none of your business.”

“You live in my house now. It became my business the moment you walked through my doors.”

“There you go again,” I snapped, dropping my fork. “Acting like you own every part of my life.”

“I do.”

The answer came so fast my breath caught.

Kael didn’t even blink.

“I decide what enters this house. What threatens it. What stays alive inside it.” His gaze swept over me slowly. “And currently, that includes you.”

My pulse stumbled painfully.

“You can’t control what I wear, what I eat, where I go—”

“I can.”

“You sound insane.”

“You sound surprised.”

Frustration boiled over inside me. “Why do you even care? You don’t know me.”

“No,” he agreed calmly. “But I know what they did to you.”

Silence fell heavily between us.

My throat tightened.

Kael’s gaze dropped briefly to my uneven hair before returning to my face. “You came into my house bruised, starving and terrified of loud noises.” His voice lowered slightly. “Should I pretend not to notice?”

The anger inside me faltered dangerously.

“I don’t need your pity.”

A cold look crossed his face instantly.

“Good,” he said. “Because pity is useless.”

Before I could respond, he rose from his chair slowly.

Every instinct inside me sharpened as he walked around the table toward me.

I stayed seated purely out of stubbornness even as my heartbeat climbed higher with every step he took.

Kael stopped directly beside my chair then he reached down and my breath caught sharply as his fingers tilted my chin upward.

“You confuse protection with control,” he said quietly.

I swallowed hard. “There’s a difference?”

“Yes.”

His thumb brushed lightly across my jaw, and the intimacy of it made my stomach twist violently.

“Control is forcing obedience,” he murmured.

“And protection?”

His eyes darkened as they held mine.

“Protection,” he said softly, “is what I'm doing with you.”

My breath hitched. Then his gaze flicked past me toward the doorway. “Finish up your food, we have experiments to try out in the bedroom.”