Chapter 5: Experiments

LENA

“Lena.” His voice cut through the dining hall like a final verdict.

I froze mid-step, my fork still half-raised from the plate I had been aggressively eating out of sheer frustration. Kael’s earlier words still echoed in my head—experiments in the bedroom—and my brain refused to decide whether I was supposed to be furious, terrified, or just insulted.

I turned slowly, glaring at him. “If you’re about to say something insane again, I would prefer you keep it to yourself.”

A faint amusement flickered across his face as he leaned back in his chair, completely unbothered by the way every maid in the room suddenly pretended the air itself was fascinating.

“I already said it,” he replied calmly.

My grip tightened on the fork. “Yes. And I’m still trying to decide whether I should stab you with this or throw it at your head.”

One corner of his mouth lifted. “You’re very creative for someone who hasn’t eaten properly in days.”

“That’s not an answer,” I snapped, pushing my chair back. “What exactly do you mean by experiments?”

Silence followed my question like a held breath.

Kael rose slowly from his seat, and I hated how every instinct in my body tracked him as he moved. He walked around the table with unhurried confidence, stopping just close enough that I had to tilt my chin up to meet his gaze.

“You assume the worst immediately,” he said softly, as though I’d personally offended him by existing incorrectly.

“Because you make it very easy,” I shot back.

He exhaled lightly, not quite a laugh. “If I wanted to harm you, Lena, you would already know.”

“That is not comforting.”

“It wasn’t meant to be.”

My jaw clenched. “Then what is it meant to be?”

His gaze held mine for a long moment, steady and unreadable, before he spoke again. “Bond strengthening.”

I blinked once. “Excuse me?”

Kael’s expression didn’t change. “Your mate bond was forcibly severed, but it didn’t disappear. It never fully disappears. It lingers, unstable. If left untreated, it becomes painful, unpredictable.”

I frowned despite myself. “So your solution is… experiments?”

His eyes flickered with something close to patience, though I could tell it wasn’t something he practiced often. “The bond responds to proximity. Shared space. Emotional regulation. Controlled exposure.”

I stared at him. “You sound like a lecture.”

“I am simplifying for you.”

“That’s insulting.”

“It’s accurate.”

My hands curled into fists at my sides. “You could’ve just said ‘stay close.’”

“I could have,” he agreed easily. “But then you would have assumed I meant something else entirely and started stabbing people again.”

I opened my mouth, then shut it again because infuriatingly, he wasn’t wrong.

Still, I refused to let that show. “So let me get this straight,” I said slowly. “You dragged me here, declared ownership over my life, and now you want me to… what? Hang around you like a lost dog so my broken soul glue sticks back together?”

A faint pause, then Kael stepped forward.

Before I could react, his arm slid under my legs and the other behind my back and I barely had time to inhale before I was lifted clean off the ground.

“What are you doing!?” I snapped immediately, flailing in his grip as embarrassment and fury collided in my chest. “Put me down!”

“No,” he said simply, already walking.

“I am not an object you can just… just stop moving like I weigh nothing!”

“You don’t,” he replied, completely unfazed as he carried me out of the dining hall.

The maids collectively lowered their heads as if witnessing something they absolutely did not want to be involved in, and I felt my face burn hotter.

“Kael!” I kicked lightly against his arm. “I swear I will bite you.”

“I’d prefer you didn’t damage my property.”

“I am not your property!”

He looked down at me briefly, silver eyes calm. “Then stop behaving like you can refuse basic instruction in my house.”

“That is not basic instruction, that is kidnapping with extra steps!”

He didn’t even respond to that. Just kept walking.

I struggled again, trying to wriggle free, but his hold didn’t tighten or loosen, it simply remained absolute, as if my resistance was an inconvenience he had already accounted for.

“You’re enjoying this,” I accused breathlessly.

“I’m observing you,” he corrected.

“That is worse!”

We reached the stairs before I could form another argument. He climbed them effortlessly, still carrying me as though I weighed nothing at all, while I continued my very dignified attempt at escape by hitting his shoulder repeatedly.

“Put. Me. Down.”

“No.”

“I swear I will—”

“You will what?” he interrupted mildly.

That stopped me for half a second. I narrowed my eyes at him. “I will… annoy you until you regret ever breathing in my direction.”

And then, to my absolute horror, he smiled.

“I already do.”

That shut me up for exactly three seconds, which I hated myself for.

He carried me into my room and kicked the door shut behind him before I could attempt another escape. The sound echoed in the quiet space like a final decision.

“Let go of me,” I demanded immediately, wriggling again.

He walked straight to the bed and lowered me onto it with controlled ease.

For a brief second, I tried to sit up.

He didn’t let me with one hand pressed beside my head, the other steady at my waist, pinning me in place without effort.

My breath caught.

Kael leaned slightly closer, his gaze studying my face with infuriating calm.

“What do you think I want to do?” He asked quietly.

My throat tightened for reasons I absolutely refused to acknowledge. “Honestly? At this point I’m not ruling out anything insane.”

That earned me a soft exhale that might’ve been a laugh if he had been a different person. “You think too loudly,” he said.

“I don’t think at all, actually,” I snapped. “I panic. There’s a difference.”

His eyes lingered on mine for a moment longer than necessary before he finally shifted back slightly, releasing the pressure but not stepping away.

“Our bond will grow if we are close enough,” he said simply. “It stabilizes through proximity. Shared presence. Familiarity.”

I blinked. “That’s it?”

“Yes.”

I narrowed my eyes. “So there’s no… whatever nonsense you implied downstairs?”

His brow lifted slightly. “You mean your interpretation of it?”

“Yes,” I said immediately.

“No,” he replied calmly.

I exhaled sharply, somewhere between relief and irritation. “You really need to learn how to communicate like a normal person.”

“I am communicating correctly,” he said.

“That is debatable.”

A pause, then I pushed myself up slightly on my elbows, still glaring. “So your grand plan is just… proximity therapy?”

“Practicality,” he corrected.

“Right,” I muttered. “And my room being next to yours is part of this… bonding strategy?”

“Yes.”

I studied him for a moment, trying to find any hint that he was mocking me. There was none and that somehow made it worse.

“Fine,” I said finally, falling back onto the bed with a defeated sigh. “Whatever. Proximity. Bonding. Emotional whatever.”

His gaze remained steady. “Good.”

I pointed at the door. “Now get out.”

His eyes narrowed slightly. “You don’t speak to me like that.”

I blinked. “I just did.”

“That was a correction,” he said.

“Oh my god,” I muttered, dragging a hand down my face. “You are impossible.”

His expression didn’t change, but there was a faint edge of warning in his gaze now. “You will learn respect.”

“I will learn survival first,” I shot back. “Respect is optional.” That earned me a very slow, deliberate step closer to the bed.

My body tensed instantly as Kael stopped at the edge, looking down at me with an expression that made my stomach twist for reasons I refused to analyze.

“You will address me properly,” he said quietly.

I held his gaze stubbornly. “Or what?”

He leaned down slightly, just enough that I felt the weight of his attention fully. “Or I will teach you how,” he said.

My breath caught. Then he straightened again as if nothing had happened. “Sleep,” he ordered simply.

“I didn’t agree to that,” I muttered.

“I wasn’t asking.” And just like that, he left with the door shut softly behind him, but my pulse didn’t slow.

~~~

Morning came too fast.

I woke up to a sharp knocking on my door that pulled me out of sleep like a shock. “Miss Ashford,” a voice called from outside. “You are required in the east hall.”

I sat up instantly, hair falling into my face as confusion hit me full force. “Required?”

“Yes,” the voice replied. “Immediately.”

I swung my legs off the bed, heart already picking up pace. “For what?”

“Council assembly.”

My stomach dropped.

My fingers curled into the blanket instinctively as my mind raced. I had only just survived one gathering where my entire life had been dismantled in front of strangers.

And now they wanted me in front of more of them.

“Lena,” I whispered under my breath, forcing myself to breathe evenly. “What did you do this time?”