Chapter Forty-One- A Promise Beneath The Moon

Kael’s POV

Dinner had never felt so uncomfortable.

I sat at the head of the table, pretending to pay attention to the meal before me while my thoughts remained fixed on the woman seated beside me.

Aria had barely spoken since she arrived.

She answered when I asked her questions, offered a polite smile when one of the servants brought us more water, and occasionally glanced in my direction. But there was a distance in her eyes that hadn’t been there before, and I knew why.

My words from the previous night still hung between us, and no amount of pretending could make them disappear.

I had told myself that I was under pressure. The elders wanted an heir, my responsibilities as Alpha were growing, and Damon’s visit had unsettled me more than I cared to admit.

But none of those things justified what I had said to my wife.

I had promised to earn her trust, yet I had threatened to bring another woman into our marriage because she wasn’t ready to give me a child.

I could still remember the look on her face when I turned away from her.

It was the look of someone who had begun to wonder whether trusting me had been a mistake and I hated myself for putting it there.

“Kael?” Aria’s voice pulled me from my thoughts.

I turned toward her. “Yes?”

“Could we talk after dinner?” She asked.

My fingers tightened slightly around my fork.

“Of course.”

“I thought we could take a walk in the garden while we talk.”

I studied her face, searching for any hint of what she intended to say.

She looked nervous, but determined.

“All right,” I answered. “We can do that.”

She nodded and returned her attention to her meal.

I tried to do the same, but the rest of dinner passed in a blur.

Whatever Aria wanted to tell me, I had a feeling it would determine whether the distance between us grew or finally began to close.

*************

The moon was already high above Ironcrest when we stepped into the garden.

A cool breeze moved through the trees, carrying the scent of damp earth and the flowers that bloomed along the stone path. Lamps illuminated the walkways, but their light seemed insignificant beneath the silver glow of the moon.

Aria walked beside me with her hands clasped in front of her.

For several minutes, neither of us spoke.

I resisted the urge to fill the silence. If she had asked for this conversation, I would let her begin it in her own time.

Eventually, she stopped beside a bed of white roses.

“Kael, I want you to understand something before we talk about anything else.”

I turned to face her. “I’m listening.”

She took a deep breath. “What you said to me last night hurt me.”

The directness of her words made my chest tighten.

“I know.”

“No, I don’t think you do.” She looked down at her hands before meeting my eyes again. “When you told me you might take a breeder if I continued refusing to have pups with you, I felt as though everything we had been building meant nothing.”

I opened my mouth, but she lifted a hand.

“Please let me finish.”

I closed it again and nodded.

“I know the elders are pressuring you. I know they expect you to produce an heir, and I understand that being Alpha comes with responsibilities neither of us can simply ignore.” She swallowed. “But I thought you understood why I needed time.”

“I do.” I nodded.

“Then why did you say it?”

The question was quiet, but it struck deeper than any accusation could have.

I looked away briefly because I had been jealous.

Damon had made me feel like a stranger in my own marriage and I was tired of wondering whether I would ever be enough for the woman I had loved for most of my life.

None of those reasons would excuse what I had done.

“I was angry,” I admitted. “And I let that anger make me say something I had no right to use against you.”

Aria’s expression remained guarded.

“Was it only anger?”

I hesitated. “No. I am under pressure, Aria. The elders remind me constantly that Ironcrest needs an heir. They speak about the Nightshade bloodline, about the future of the pack, and about what your father wanted for us.” I exhaled slowly. “Sometimes it feels as though every decision I make is being measured against what Alpha Lucien would have done.”

Her eyes softened slightly at the mention of her father.

“I know he wanted us to be together,” she said. “But I don’t think he would have wanted me to feel trapped in this marriage.”

“Neither do I.” I cut in immediately.

“Then you have to understand that I cannot simply make myself ready because everyone expects me to be.”

She studied me as if trying to determine whether I truly meant it.

I couldn’t blame her for being cautious. I had given her reasons to question my promises before, and I knew one apology wouldn’t erase them.

“I am sorry,” I said.

Her lips parted slightly. I stepped closer, though I made sure to leave enough space between us that she wouldn’t feel cornered.

“I am sorry for what I said last night. I was wrong to threaten you with another woman, especially when I know how hard you’ve been trying to trust me.” I held her gaze. “You should never have to wonder whether I’ll replace you because you’re not ready to give me something.”

Her eyes glistened beneath the moonlight.

“I don’t want another woman, Aria. I want you.”

“Then please stop making me feel as though I have to compete for my place beside you.” She whimpered.

The words settled between us.

I thought of Selena and the way she had spoken about becoming my breeder. I thought of Damon laughing at the gate, convinced that his history with Aria gave him some advantage over me.

I had allowed both of them to get inside my head but neither of them was responsible for the way I had treated my wife.

“I won’t do that again,” I promised. “I cannot promise that the elders will stop asking questions, but I can promise that I won’t use their expectations to pressure you.”

Aria looked down at the path.

For a moment, I thought that would be the end of our conversation. I thought she might thank me for the apology and return to our chambers without giving me anything more.

Instead, she took a slow breath.

“There is something I’ve been thinking about.” She sighed. “I spoke to Martha this morning. I told her everything that has been happening between us.”

I stiffened slightly. “Everything?”

“From Selena’s behavior to what happened with Damon. And what you said to me last night.”

I felt a pang of embarrassment.

I had no desire to become the subject of a conversation between my wife and her closest confidante, especially when I knew I had given her reason to be upset.

“What did she say?” I raised a brow.

“She reminded me that you are under pressure, too. That this marriage comes with responsibilities for both of us, and that I cannot keep avoiding difficult conversations because I’m afraid of what might happen.”

I listened carefully.

“She also reminded me that I have to decide what I want, rather than allowing my fear to make every decision for me.” She explained.

“And what do you want?” I asked her.

The question escaped before I could stop it.

Aria looked at me for a long moment.

“I want to keep building what we have,” she said. “I want to learn how to trust you without constantly worrying that you’ll hurt me again. And I want us to have a future that belongs to us, not one decided entirely by the elders.”

Hope stirred inside me, but I remained silent.

“I’ve thought about what you said concerning an heir,” she continued. “I understand that you want children. I understand that you want to fulfill your responsibilities as Alpha, and I don’t want you to feel as though you have to choose between your marriage and your duty.”

I nodded immediately.

She drew a breath. “I am willing to try to have a pup with you when I am in heat.”

For a moment, I couldn’t quite process her words.

I stared at her, making sure I had heard correctly.

“When you’re in heat?” I asked quietly.

She nodded. “Only then. I don’t want to feel as though I have to force myself to be ready at other times. When my heat comes, I’ll consider it the right time for us to try for a child.”

My heart began to beat faster.

It wasn’t the answer I had imagined when the elders first began pressuring me. It wasn’t a promise that we would have an heir immediately, nor was it a declaration that all her fears had disappeared, but it was a step.

A step she had chosen to take herself and after everything I had done to make her question whether she could trust me, that choice meant more than I could explain.

“Are you certain?” I asked.

She looked surprised by the question.“Yes.”

“I don’t want you agreeing to this because you think I’ll take another woman if you don’t.”

Her expression grew serious.

“That is exactly why I needed to talk to you. I won’t agree to something because I’m afraid of losing my place in this marriage. I am agreeing because I want us to move forward, and because I want to give us a chance to build a family when I feel ready.”

I nodded slowly. “I understand.”

“And I need you to understand something else.” She stepped closer, her voice steady. “When my heat comes, I don’t want you to treat it as an obligation. I want us to make that decision together. If I become frightened or uncertain, I need to know you’ll listen to me.”

I remembered the night I had marked her without her consent. The memory still filled me with shame, because no matter how much I regretted it, I couldn’t undo what I had done.

I would not repeat that mistake.

“Your choice will always matter,” I told her. “Even when we’re married. Even when the elders are demanding an heir. Even when my wolf wants something I cannot explain.”

Her shoulders relaxed slightly. “Thank you.”

I wanted to reach for her hand, but I waited until she offered it.

When her fingers slipped into mine, the small gesture filled me with a warmth I hadn’t realized I was missing.

I closed my hand around hers gently.

“Thank you for giving us a chance, Aria.”

She offered me a faint smile. “Don’t make me regret it.”

“I won’t.” I smiled back.

For the first time since Damon’s visit, the knot in my chest began to loosen. The thought of having a child with Aria no longer felt like an impossible dream, and the prospect of our marriage growing into something real seemed closer than it had been the night before.

I was elated, though I tried not to let my excitement overwhelm the moment.

Aria hadn’t promised me a child immediately. She hadn’t promised that her fears would vanish or that our marriage would suddenly become easy.

She had offered me trust. Though it was a fragile, cautious trust.

And I knew I had to handle it more carefully than anything I had ever been given.

We resumed our walk, our hands still joined.

The moon shone above us, casting our shadows across the stone path. For once, I didn’t think about Damon or Selena, and I didn’t hear the elders demanding an heir.

I thought about the woman beside me.

The woman who had come home after losing almost everything, who was still learning to forgive herself, and who had somehow found the courage to offer me a future despite the mistakes I had made.

It was progress and it was ours.

And as we walked beneath the moonlight, I made myself a promise.

When Aria’s heat came, I would not see it as my opportunity to claim what I wanted.

I would see it as another chance to prove that she could trust me with her heart, her body, and whatever future we chose to build together.