Chapter Five

 

Kaels POV

“Where are you going?” Kaiden asked as I turned back.

“I forgot my history manual,” I muttered.

Kaiden raised an eyebrow. “You? Forget?”

I didn’t answer. He wasn’t wrong. I never forgot. Maybe I was losing it. Maybe Ironclaw was in my head more than I wanted to admit.

Kaiden sighed but followed me anyway. “Fine. I’ll wait outside.”

When I pushed the door open, I wasn’t ready for what I saw.

Ironclaw…. no. Aiden was standing in the middle of the room, shirt gone and chest bare. A chest that wasn’t flat. My eyes locked instantly on the curve of it, the bandages lying discarded on the floor.

Boobs.

Big ones.

For a second, my brain stalled. Everything I thought I knew about him, every suspicion, every twisted thought, snapped into something else entirely.

He jerked around, face pale, and rushed for the blanket. “Don’t…!” he shouted, wrapping it around his chest.

“Aiden….”

“Kael?” Kaiden’s voice carried from the hall, closer now. The handle rattled.

Panic shot through me. Without thinking, I slammed the door shut before Kaiden could step in. My back pressed against it, blocking the way.

“What the hell is going on in there?” Kaiden demanded.

“Nothing,” I said quickly, eyes still locked on the figure across from me.

Ironclaw? Whoever he was, clutched the blanket like a lifeline, chest heaving, eyes wide with fear.

And I finally understood.

He wasn’t a he at all.

I stared at him…no, at her, trying to make sense of it. The blanket clutched to her chest wasn’t hiding the obvious.

Ironclaw wasn’t a male.

I opened my mouth but nothing came out at first. My wolf clawed at me, restless, howling like it had finally understood something I didn’t.

Kaiden’s voice pressed from the other side.

“Kael? Open the door. What’s going on?”

I snapped out of it, shoving my shoulder harder against the wood. “I said it’s nothing. Wait outside.”

Kaiden didn’t sound convinced. “You’re acting strange. Move.”

“Not now!” I barked.

Silence. Heavy silence. Then Kaiden muttered something under his breath and his footsteps moved away down the hall. 

My eyes snapped back to the person in front of me. Ironclaw…. no, that name felt wrong now. Whoever she was, she wasn’t who she pretended to be.

“What the hell are you?” I said, my voice low and sharp.

She flinched but didn’t answer, gripping the blanket tighter like it was armor.

“Aiden Ironclaw,” I said slowly, tasting the name, “isn’t a boy at all, is he?”

Her lips pressed together, silent, her gaze locked on the floor.

I took a step closer, my pulse hammering, my thoughts a mess.

“You’ve been lying. To me. To the whole damn Academy.”

Still nothing. Just her breathing quick and shallow.

Part of me wanted to demand answers. Part of me wanted to drag her secret into the light. But another part, the louder part, was reeling with something else. 

Relief. Because everything I’d been feeling, everything that had twisted in my chest since the duel, suddenly made sense.

She wasn’t a male and thank the goddess I wasn’t gay. 

She snapped her head up, eyes blazing.

“You didn’t see anything.”

I barked out a laugh, sharper than I meant. “Yeah, sure. Because guys suddenly grow humongous boobs overnight.”

Her face went red, and she clutched the blanket tighter. “It’s not what you think.”

“Oh, it’s exactly what I think.” I leaned against the door, folding my arms. “Ironclaw isn’t a guy at all. Makes sense now. The way you fight, the way you hold back, the way you can’t even breathe right half the time.”

“I said you’re wrong.” Her voice cracked, too defensive, too fast.

I tilted my head. “So what, you expect me to believe you’re just binding your ribs for fun? That you’re still ‘Aiden,’ the great heir of Ironclaw?”

She glared, silent, and for a second the room felt like it was going to snap in half from the tension.

“You’re insane,” she muttered finally, turning away.

“Maybe.” My smirk came back, though my chest still felt tight. “But at least I’m not the one pretending to be a boy.”

She turned toward me, chin lifted, eyes hard. “So now what? You going to run out there and tell everyone? Expose me to the whole Academy?”

The way she said it, flat and steady, told me she’d stopped pretending. She wasn’t hiding behind the ‘Aiden’ mask anymore.

She pulled the blanket tighter, not across her chest like a bandage, but draped around her shoulders, flowing down her frame. For the first time, she stood like what she was, a female.

And damn.

My wolf stirred instantly, a deep growl of approval rolling through me. Curves where I hadn’t expected them, fire in her stance that made it worse. 

I caught myself staring longer than I should have, and the heat in my chest almost startled me.

She noticed. Of course she noticed.

Her eyes narrowed instantly. “You creep. You stalker. What the hell are you looking at?”

Heat hit the back of my neck, but I forced a cough and dragged my gaze back to her face. “Relax. I’ve seen worse.”

“Keep staring and you won’t be seeing at all,” she shot back, sharp as a blade.

I coughed again and snapped my gaze back up. “What’s your real name?”

Her grip on the blanket tightened, but after a moment she said, quiet but firm, “Aria.”

Aria. The name settled into my head like it had always been there.

I leaned back against the door, exhaling slowly. “Alright, Aria. I’ll keep your secret.”

Her eyes widened a little, suspicious. “Why?”

A slow grin tugged at my mouth as I licked my lips . “On one condition.”