Chapter Thirteen - The Princess Returns

Aria’s POV

I barely slept that night.

Every time I closed my eyes, memories came rushing back of my father’s face, his voice, the training grounds, the packhouse, Kael, and then the image of myself walking away from all of it.

I turned beneath the blanket, staring at the ceiling of Mario’s spare room.

Tomorrow, I had told myself I was ready but now that morning was approaching, fear was slowly replacing the confidence I had pretended to have.

What would happen when I returned?Would they welcome me? Would they hate me? Would they look at me as the daughter of their late Alpha or as the selfish girl who had abandoned him?

I already knew the answer wouldn’t be simple.

I had left Ironcrest willingly. No one had forced me, and no one had pushed me out.

I had chosen Damon and I had chosen a life away from my responsibilities. While I was busy believing I had finally found freedom, my father had been dying.

I squeezed my eyes shut. “I’m sorry, Father.”

The words came out as a whisper for perhaps the hundredth time but apologies couldn’t bring him back.

Eventually, I forced myself out of bed.

Mario was already awake when I entered the small kitchen.

He looked up from the cup in his hand.

“You’re awake early.”

“I couldn’t sleep.” I yawned.

He studied me for a moment.“Nervous?”

I smiled weakly. “Very nervous.”

He chuckled. “You have nothing to fear from your own people.”

“I’m not so sure about that.” I said bitterly.

Mario placed his cup down. “You’re Alpha Lucien’s daughter. They loved him.”

I looked at him. “Exactly.”

He understood immediately and sighed. “You think they will blame you.”

I nodded.

Mario was quiet for a moment.

“Some might, but that doesn’t mean everyone will.”

I appreciated his honesty. He wasn’t trying to give me false comfort, but he was simply telling me the truth.

I went back to the room and opened my bag.

I had brought very little with me, but I still had a few dresses.

I chose a simple dark blue one.

It wasn’t extravagant, It wasn’t the kind of dress a princess would normally wear, but I didn’t want to look like I was returning to demand anything.

I wanted to look like myself.

I stood before the mirror and brushed my hair. For months, I had hidden beneath that black veil.

Today, I wouldn’t.

I wanted them to see me. I wanted Ironcrest to know that Aria Nightshade had returned.

When I stepped out of the room, Mario looked at me.

He smiled. “You look like your father would be proud.”

I looked at him. “Don’t say things like that.”

“Why?” He froze.

“Because I’ll cry.” I whimpered.

He laughed softly. “Then cry. There is no shame in missing someone.”

I looked away. “I’ve done enough crying.”

Mario picked up his coat. “Come. I’ll walk you there.”

We left his house shortly afterward.

The morning air was cool, and a faint mist hovered above the ground.

As we walked, I could see the familiar walls of Ironcrest packhouse in the distance.

My steps slowed as I recognized the stone towers, the tall wooden gate, and the flags hanging from the walls.

My heart began pounding. I had dreamed of this place so many times, but seeing it again was different.

This wasn’t the Ironcrest I had left.

My father was gone, everything had changed, and even I had changed.

We reached the outer gates.

The guards immediately noticed Mario.

They raised their hands in greeting.

“Morning, Mario.”

“Morning.” Mario greeted back.

Then one of them looked at me and his expression changed.

He stared at my face as I stopped walking.

The guard’s eyes widened. He looked at Mario, then back at me.

“No…” He gasped.

The second guard turned toward us.“What is it?”

The first guard couldn’t speak, he simply stared then his weapon slipped slightly from his hand.

“Princess?” He shrieked. The word echoed through me.

Mario smiled. “Yes.”

The guard’s mouth fell open. “Princess Aria?”

I nodded and the second guard stepped forward. “Is it really you?”

“Yes.” I replied.

For several seconds, neither of the men moved. Then both guards dropped to one knee.

My chest tightened.

“Please, stand up.” I ordered them but they didn’t move.

The first guard bowed his head.“Welcome home, Princess.”

A strange sensation spread through my body. I hadn’t realized how badly I needed to hear that word.

The guards eventually stood, and one of them hurried toward the inside of the territory.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Informing the pack.” He said gladly.

My heart dropped. “Wait.”

But it was too late as he was already running. Within minutes, people began appearing.

First a few, then dozens.

Wolves gathered near the gate, whispering among themselves.

I recognized some faces. They were people I had grown up with, women who had served my father, warriors who had trained under him, and older wolves who had watched me grow from a child into the young woman who eventually ran away.

Their reactions were different.

Some smiled, Some covered their mouths in shock, some cried, while others simply stared.

“She really came back.” I heard someone whisper.

Another voice followed. “After all this time?”

“She missed Alpha Lucien’s funeral.” Said the first.

My heart sank as they continued to whisper.

I deserved their anger. At least, part of it.

An elderly woman stepped through the crowd and I recognized her immediately. She had been one of my father’s closest attendants.

Her eyes filled with tears when she saw me.

“Aria.” She gasped.

I swallowed. “I’m sorry.”

She approached me slowly, then she pulled me into her arms. I stiffened in surprise.

She held me tightly. “You’re alive.”

I closed my eyes. “I am.”

She pulled back and touched my face.“Your father would have wanted to see you.”

The tears I had been holding back finally escaped. “I know.”

She shook her head. “He waited for you and he believed you would come back.”

I covered my mouth as my tears fell harder. “I know.”

The woman hugged me again. Around us, the crowd had grown silent.

For a moment, no one spoke. Then a man’s voice broke the silence.

“You should have come sooner.”

I looked up. An older warrior stood several feet away. His expression wasn’t cruel, just a little disappointed.

“I should have,” I admitted.

He stared at me. “Alpha Lucien called your name before he died.”

My heart shattered.

I had heard it from Mario but hearing it from someone who might have actually been there made it real.

“I wasn’t there.” I looked away.

“No.” He looked away. “You weren’t.”

I lowered my head. There was nothing I could say, no excuse, no explanation, and no words that could undo those missed moments.

Then someone asked the question I had been avoiding.

“Why did you leave? Was it truly because of a man?”

The crowd grew quiet again.

I looked at them. “I thought I was in love.”

A few people exchanged glances.

“I thought leaving was the only way I could have the life I wanted.” My voice trembled. “ but I was wrong and I don’t expect anyone to forgive me.”

The words were difficult to say.

“But I am sorry.” I whispered.

The elderly woman took my hand. “You came back and that is all that matters.”

I looked at her. “That’s what matters now.”

Maybe she was right, coming back was the first thing I had done correctly in a very long time.

Mario gently touched my shoulder.“We should go.”

I nodded. As we moved toward the packhouse, people followed at a distance.

I could hear the whispers.

“She looks different.”

“She’s not the princess we used to know.”

“Do you think Alpha Kael knows?”

My stomach tightened at his name.

I hadn’t seen him yet, but knowing he was here made my heart beat faster.

I wasn’t sure whether it was fear, anger, embarrassment, or something else.

The packhouse finally came into view and we stopped.

It looked almost the same and yet, everything was different.

The large doors, the stone pillars, the gardens my father loved, and the balcony where he used to address the pack.

But above the entrance was a different symbol.

It was the Alpha’s crest which was now Kael’s crest.

I stared at it. Kael was no longer the Beta’s son, he was now Alpha, the position my father had prepared him for and the position I had once believed he wanted because of me.

My fingers curled.

Mario looked at me. “Are you alright?”

“Yes.” I replied but It was a lie.

I walked inside and the moment I entered, the conversations stopped.

Someone gasped, and another person whispered my name but I kept walking.

My eyes moved around the familiar hall.

There were new decorations, new portraits, and new arrangements.

Then I saw my father’s portrait.

He stood proudly in his Alpha robes, looking exactly as I remembered him.

My feet stopped moving as I stared at him.

For a moment, I was no longer an adult, but I was a little girl running through these halls.

I could remember screaming Father! and he’d laugh with his arms opening for me with his promise that no matter what happened, I would always have a home.

A sob nearly escaped me and I turned away.

I couldn’t fall apart here, not in front of everyone.

“Where is Alpha Kael?” I asked.

One of the guards stepped forward.“He is at the training grounds.”

I nodded. “Thank you.”

Mario looked surprised. “You’re going there now?”

“Yes.” I nodded.

“Are you sure?” He raised a brow.

I looked toward the doors.

“No.” Then I smiled faintly. “But I’m going anyway.”

The training grounds were only a short distance from the packhouse.

The closer I got, the louder the sounds became.

Weapons clashing, orders being shouted, and feet pounding against the ground.

I stopped just outside the entrance.

Hundreds of warriors filled the field and there kael was.

My breath caught. He stood in the middle of the training grounds wearing a black training shirt and dark trousers.

He looked different not because his face had changed, because It hadn’t.

But there was something in his posture that hadn’t been there before.

Authority, confidence, and power.

He was no longer standing behind my father, he was now the one everyone was looking at.

“Again,” he ordered and two warriors attacked each other.

Kael watched carefully. “Your left side is exposed.”

The warrior corrected his stance.

“Better.” He nodded and moved through the warriors, correcting their movements and giving instructions.

Everyone listened. No one questioned him, and no one challenged him.

I watched silently.

This wasn’t the Kael I remembered, or perhaps it was. Perhaps I had simply never cared enough to look closely.

Mario stood beside me and whispered, “He’s become an excellent Alpha. He works harder than anyone, and spends most of his time here.”

I crossed my arms. “I’m sure he does.”

Mario glanced at me. “You don’t sound impressed.”

“I didn’t say that.” I snorted.

He smiled. Before I could respond, Kael turned.

His eyes swept across the training grounds as if he could perceive my scent, and then they stopped on me.

Everything seemed to freeze. Kael wasn’t the kind of man who showed everything he felt, but saw it.

He had a mixture of shock, disbelief, and something else I couldn’t identify on his face.

The warriors noticed that their Alpha had stopped moving so they followed his gaze.

One by one, they turned and whispers spread through the field.

Kael didn’t hear them, his eyes remained fixed on mine.

I suddenly felt nervous. After everything I had imagined about this moment, I had no idea what to say.

He took one step toward me. The entire training ground had suddenly gone silent.

He stopped several feet away. For a long moment, we simply stared at each other.

Then he spoke. “Aria?”

Hearing my name in his voice sent a strange ache through my chest.

I lifted my chin. “Hello, Kael.”

His jaw tightened. “You came back?”

“Yes.” I forced a smile.

His eyes moved over me as though trying to make sure I was actually standing there.

Then his expression hardened. “You missed your father’s funeral.”

The words struck harder than I expected.

I swallowed. “I didn’t know.”

His eyebrows pulled together. “What?”

“I didn’t know he had died.” I said bitterly.

Kael stared at me. “You didn’t know?”

I shook my head. “I never received any letter.”

Something changed in his expression.

“You didn’t receive the letter?” He asked in a shocked voice.

“No.” I replied.

He took a step closer. “I sent someone to deliver it.”

“I never got it.” I glared at him. The nerve him to assume that I was lying.

His eyes narrowed. “Are you saying you never knew your father was dead?”

My voice broke. “No.”

For the first time, Kael looked genuinely shaken.

I looked away. “I found out after he was already buried.”

The warriors around us watched carefully.

Kael’s expression became unreadable. Then he asked quietly,

“Who told you?”

I hesitated. “I found out after discovering the letter Damon had hidden from me.”

His eyes hardened at the name.“Damon.”

I nodded. Kael said nothing but something about the way he repeated that name told me he remembered exactly who Damon was.

The man I had chosen, the man I had defended, and the man I had left Ironcrest for.

I suddenly felt ashamed. Kael looked at me for several seconds then his gaze moved toward the packhouse.

“You should rest.”

I frowned. “That is all you have to say?”

“What do you expect me to say?” He frowned.

“I don’t know.” He gave a humorless smile. “You disappeared, you left your father, and you left me.”

He folded his hands gently in front of him and shook his head pitifully. “Then you didn’t return when he died.”

His voice remained calm and that somehow made it worse.

“I waited for you.” Kael looked away. “I waited because your father believed you would return.”

I swallowed. “And now?”

He looked back at me. “Now you’re here.”

I nodded slowly. “Yes.”

He studied me. There was anger in his eyes but beneath it, I thought I saw something else. He shook his head and stepped past me.

I turned. “Kael.”

He stopped but I didn’t know what I wanted to say.

I’m sorry? I missed ironcrest? Or I didn’t mean for any of this to happen?

None of the words came out of my mouth so I said the only thing I could.

“I came home.”

His back remained toward me and for several seconds, he didn’t respond.

Then he said quietly, “Welcome home, Aria.”

And he walked away. I stood there watching him disappear among the warriors.

I had imagined his reaction a hundred different ways.

I had expected anger, I had expected resentment, and perhaps even rejection. But I hadn’t expected the quiet pain in his voice and for the first time since returning to Ironcrest, I wondered if I had misunderstood Kael all along.

Because as I watched the man who was now Alpha walk away from me, one question refused to leave my mind.

If Kael had truly wanted me only for the throne….

Why had he looked at me like he had spent all these months grieving too?