All Chapters of Behind His Mask: My Hockey Alpha: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

(Kaelan’s POV)The air inside the car grew heavier. Outside, neon lights reflected off the windows, stretching shadows across everyone’s faces. My grip on the steering wheel tightened as I tried to sync my heartbeat with the engine’s rhythm.Every kilometer we drove toward the gallery felt like walking backward into the abyss I’d once left behind.I knew the Elders must’ve already sensed us. The wolfsbane those hunters used earlier wasn’t some cheap brew. That mix could only be obtained through very specific channels. And if they dared to use it in an open area, it meant someone inside the pack circle had purposely leaked the access.I shifted my gaze to the rearview mirror. Rhea sat silently in the back seat after our earlier conversation, clutching that bag so tightly the heat from it was slowly raising the temperature inside the car. Damn it. Even from here I could feel it prickling against my skin.She looked restless. Her eyes were glossy, but there was a small fire in them—an un

(Kaelan’s POV)I had no idea what exactly Rhea saw up ahead. But right when she slowly walked toward the Moon Painting, she suddenly collapsed, unconscious, before she could even touch it.Her small body hit the cold floor, hair spilling over her pale face. The bag she’d been clutching so tightly slipped to the side, still within her reach, throbbing like a second heart about to burst.I didn’t even get the chance to call her name. The first creature lunged at me from the left, its mouth dripping with black blood, joints cracking like rotten wood forced to move. I met it with my claws, slashing its jaw clean off. Black blood splattered across my face, hot and reeking of foul metal.Callum was right beside me. His telescopic staff spun fast, holding off two creatures at once. He smashed the knee of one, struck the temple of another—but these monsters weren’t like any enemy we’d fought before. They didn’t groan, didn’t scream. Even when bones shattered, they just kept moving, as if pain

(Kaelan’s POV)I stood in the dark corridor of the apartment, my back pressed against the cold wall. Rhea’s voice—“don’t come closer”—still echoed in my ears. Those words were sharper than any enemy’s claw, cutting deeper than any wound I’d ever received in battle.For the first time in far too long, I felt fragile.Not because of an enemy’s attack. Not because of the Elders. But because of one simple sentence from a girl who didn’t even know who I really was.Behind that door, Rhea was crying in fear after seeing me—my true form. And out here, I had to stand tall, keep the pride of an Alpha, pretend I was unshaken. The cruelest irony: I could terrify enemy soldiers with a single growl, but I couldn’t ease the fear of one girl.My fists clenched so hard my nails nearly pierced skin. My breath slipped through clenched teeth, holding back the growl threatening to break free. There was a primal urge in me to smash that door down, drag her into my arms, force her to know I wasn’t a threat

(Rhea’s POV)I sat on the edge of the bed for too long, until the morning light crept in through the apartment’s tall window. Elaria’s sun usually felt warm, but today the light only highlighted how unfamiliar this room felt to me.My eyes were swollen from lack of sleep. Every time I closed them, Kaelan’s stretched jaw came back to me — the fangs slicing his lip, those golden eyes glowing in the dark. The image clung to me, like an ink stain that wouldn’t come off.My hands were still shaking. I gripped the cool satin sheet, hoping the texture would calm me down. It didn’t.Eventually I forced myself up. My legs were wobbly, but I pushed toward the bedroom door. The metal handle was cold under my palm and my heart hammered so fast it felt like my body was warning me not to leave.I almost stepped back — almost hid again.But I couldn’t stay like that. I needed answers.I took a long breath and opened the door.The apartment corridor was quiet, dimly lit by a single hanging lamp. I wa

(Rhea's POV)For some reason… this room feels smaller than before, like I'm trapped inside a glass box holding its breath. Morning crawls through the window, but its light can’t shake the lump of fear stuck in my throat. My eyes are still puffy; last night’s sounds keep looping in my head like a broken recording, especially after seeing and talking to Kaelan a few minutes ago.I sit on the edge of the bed, pull the blanket closer, hoping the fabric can stop the shaking that won’t go away. The simplest wish returns—wanting to go home. Really… I want to go back to my studio, back to things I enjoy: the canvas, the oil-smelling paint that calms me, the paintings. To a place where the scariest things are a broken brush, the wrong shade of paint, or restoring a faded canvas. Not growls and monstrous figures like last night.In the room’s silence and the noise in my head, I suddenly hear footsteps outside—steps I can’t tell if they’re caring or watching. Their voices aren’t unfamiliar: Kael