Chapter Seven - The promise I Made

Kael’s POV

The room smelled of medicine and death.

I stood beside the window, staring out at the Ironcrest grounds below, but my attention wasn’t really on what was happening outside.

The pack was quieter than usual.

Even the warriors seemed to move with caution, as if the silence hanging over the packhouse had seeped into every corner of the territory.

Behind me, I heard a faint cough.

I turned immediately. Alpha Lucien shifted beneath the blankets, his face pale and drawn.

He looked nothing like the powerful Alpha I had grown up respecting.

The man who had once commanded hundreds of wolves with nothing more than a look now struggled to sit upright.

I crossed the room and helped him adjust himself against the pillows.

“You should rest, Alpha.”

He shook his head.

“I’ve rested enough.” His voice was weak.

Far too weak.

“You haven’t eaten properly either.” I persisted.

“I don’t have much of an appetite.” He smiled.

I didn’t answer. There was no point arguing with him.

We both knew what had brought him to this state. It was Aria.

It had been weeks since she disappeared.

Weeks since she walked out of Ironcrest and never returned. Weeks since she chose that fugitive Damon over everything her father had spent years building.

Alpha Lucien had barely been himself since that night.

He had searched for her, sent warriors beyond our borders, questioned travelers, and contacted neighboring packs, and still nothing.

No trace, no message, not even a word, and every day, the Alpha seemed to grow weaker.

I hated seeing him like this not only because he was my Alpha, but because I knew exactly what his daughter’s disappearance had done to him.

“Kael.” His voice pulled me from my thoughts.

“Yes, Alpha?”

He looked toward me. “Come closer.”

I stepped beside the bed.

He reached for my hand. His grip was surprisingly weak.

“I need you to promise me something.”

I frowned. “You don’t need to ask.”

“Yes, I do.” His eyes remained fixed on mine. “You need to hear me first.”

I nodded. “I’m listening.”

He took a slow breath. “If something happens to me…”

“Alpha—” I stopped him from speaking.

“Let me finish.” His voice was firmer this time.

I fell silent.

He looked toward the window. “I don’t know how much time I have left.”

“You’re going to recover.”

He gave me a faint smile. “You sound very certain.”

“Because I am.” I squeezed his hand.

“You’re lying.” He mouthed but I didn’t respond.

He looked back at me. “I know my own body, Kael.”

The words settled heavily between us.

I clenched my jaw as he continued.

“Aria has broken something inside me that medicine cannot fix.”

I looked away as I didn’t know what to say.

What could I possibly say? That she would come back? That everything would be fine?

I didn’t know if either was true.

“She was always stubborn,” Alpha Lucien murmured.

A faint smile touched his lips. “Even as a child.”

I couldn’t help remembering her. Aria with dirt on her face after sneaking into the training grounds.

Aria refusing to admit she was tired.

Aria challenging warriors twice her size just to prove she could defeat them.

She had always been difficult, proud, strong-willed, and impossible to control until Damon came along.

My expression hardened.

Lucien noticed. “You blame him.”

“I blame her.” I scoffed.

His eyes narrowed slightly. “For leaving?”

“For choosing to leave.” I bowed my head.

“She knew what was expected of her.” I stared at the floor. “She knew what the pack needed. She knew what you had planned for her. She knew what her position meant.”

My voice became quieter. “And she still left.”

Alpha Lucien sighed. “She is young.”

“She is your heir.” I spat.

“She is both.” He smiled.

I looked at him. “Then she should have acted like it.”

The words came out harsher than I intended. But I didn’t take them back.

Alpha Lucien was quiet for a long moment.

Then he said, “Do not make the same mistake she did.”

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

His gaze sharpened despite his weakness. “You have spent your entire life preparing to serve this pack.”

I nodded.

“You were raised as the Beta’s son. You understand loyalty. Duty. Sacrifice.” He tightened his fingers around mine. “When the time comes, I need you to remember those things.”

I knew what he was saying.

“You think you’re dying.” I asked sadly.

“I know I am.”

My chest tightened. “Don’t say that.”

“Kael.” His voice softened. “Listen to me.”

I forced myself to meet his eyes.

“If I am no longer here, you must not allow Ironcrest to fall apart.” He warned.

“You won’t be gone.” I shook my head violently.

“If I am.” He paused. “You must protect this pack.”

I nodded slowly. “I will.”

“You must preserve its dignity and you must never abandon your responsibilities because of your feelings.”

His words struck deeper than he knew. My mind immediately went to Aria.

I wondered if he was asking me to do what she had refused to do.

“Yes, Alpha.”

He studied me. “Promise me.”

“I promise.” I kissed his hand.

His shoulders relaxed slightly. “There is something else. Aria will come back.”

I blinked. “You believe that?”

“I know my daughter.” His lips curved into the faintest smile. “She may be stubborn. She may be foolish. She may believe she knows what is best for herself.”

He paused. “But Iron crest is in her blood.”

His eyes became distant. “She will return.”

I wasn’t so sure, but I didn’t say it.

Instead, I asked, “And when she does?”

His gaze returned to me. “I want you to marry her.”

My entire body went still. “Alpha…”

“I am serious.” He grinned.

“After what she has done?” My brows furrowed.

Lucien’s expression hardened. “Yes.”

I stared at him.

“She rejected me, she chose another man, and she left the pack without looking back.”

“I know that too.” He frowned.

“Then why?”

His eyes softened. “Because I believe she will regret it. And because I still believe you are the man who can stand beside her.”

I swallowed. “You don’t know if she’ll want me when she comes back.”

“No.” He gave a tired smile. “But I know you.”

His gaze held mine. “You loved my daughter long before either of you understood what that meant.”

My chest tightened.

I looked away. “I don’t know if I can forgive her.”

“I am not asking you to forgive her today.” He said bitterly

“Then what are you asking?”

“That you don’t close the door completely.” He muttered.

He looked at me again. “Keep your heart open enough to see the woman she becomes.”

I was silent.

The room felt suddenly smaller. I had spent weeks telling myself that Aria’s choice had ended whatever existed between us.

That she had made her decision, and that I needed to accept it. Yet here was her father, lying sick in bed, asking me to wait for her.

Not because she deserved it, but because he believed she would eventually find her way home.

“Promise me,” he whispered.

I stared at him for several seconds.

Then I lowered my head. “I promise.”

His eyes closed briefly.

Relief crossed his face. “Thank you.”

I squeezed his hand. “I will protect Iron crest.”

He nodded. “And when Aria returns?”

I hesitated. Then I said the words I wasn’t sure I believed.

“I’ll marry her and keep the crown in the family.”

Lucien smiled. For the first time in weeks, there was something resembling peace on his face.

“Good.”

I remained beside him as his breathing slowly became steadier.

Outside the room, the sounds of Ironcrest continued.

Warriors trained, servants moved through the halls, guards changed shifts, and life continued.

But something had changed. I had made a promise to my Alpha, to the pack, and perhaps, despite everything, to the woman who had walked away from me.

I didn’t know when Aria would return, I didn’t know what she would become before she did, and I didn’t know whether I would still be capable of loving her when that day came.

But I had given my word and I had never broken a promise to my Alpha.

Not once, and I wouldn’t start now.