Chapter 5: The Reunion in the Entry Hall
1341 Words
“Tell me it’s not her,” Kael muttered as he stormed through the corridor, his boots striking the marble like war drums. “Tell me Thorne’s playing a sick joke.”
“She’s here,” Thorne had said, voice flat and eyes unreadable.
He wasn’t joking. He never did.
Kael’s hands flexed at his sides, every muscle tight with anticipation. The scent hit him before the sight. Lavender and stormwinds. Memory-laced, venom-laced. Seraphina.
He rounded the corner into the main entryway, where a gust from the open doors chilled the already-tensed air.
She stood there, guarded, poised like a stray queen stripped of her crown. Hair damp from the rain, eyes too bright, lips too still. The world shrank to the hollow echo between their breaths.
Kael stopped mid-step. One look. That was all it took.
“You’ve got a lot of nerve,” he said.
Seraphina didn’t flinch. “Hello, Kael.”
His jaw tightened. His voice came low, more growl than greeting. “You were supposed to be dead.”
“Sorry to disappoint.”
He stepped closer, slow, lethal. “You disappear without a word. For five years. Then show up at my gates like it’s a casual visit?”
She said nothing.
“I searched for your body. Burned half the damned territory looking for you.”
Still, she didn’t speak.
Kael laughed once. It wasn’t joy. “And you’re standing here now. With that same look in your eyes. Like none of it happened.”
“It did happen,” she whispered.
His face twisted, fury rising. “Don’t you dare, ”
“I never wanted to leave.”
“You ran. "You left me when I,” his voice cracked, just for a breath. “You made a fool of me, Seraphina.”
“I made a choice.”
Kael closed the distance between them with one step. “Wrong one.”
She looked up into the eyes of the Alpha she once knew. Gone was the man who held her with reverence. This was a ruler carved by betrayal.
“I didn’t come for forgiveness,” she said.
“Good. Because I have none.”
Silence stretched. Then the echo of guards shifting outside snapped it.
Kael turned his head slightly, gesturing to the sentries. “Leave us.”
The guards hesitated. One looked to Thorne, who gave a tight nod.
When the room emptied, Kael leaned in. “Tell me why you’re really here.”
Seraphina swallowed. The knot in her throat had taken hours to form, years to swallow. “I need something.”
He gave a cold smile. “Of course you do.”
“I wouldn’t have come otherwise.”
“You think that makes it better?” His voice dropped to a whisper, venom curling in each word. “That I was your last resort?”
Seraphina breathed and spoke, barely above a whisper, “I need your blood.”
Kael’s expression didn’t change.
“What did you say?”
She stepped forward, her voice steadier now. “I need your blood. It’s the only match for my sister’s transfusion.”
He laughed, sharp, hollow. “You’re unbelievable.”
“She’s dying, Kael.”
“Everyone’s dying, Seraphina.”
“Not like this.”
He walked away from her, pacing the marble. “You vanish. Ghost me for half a decade. And now you need my blood. What a fateful joke.”
“I’m not here to dig up the past.”
“No,” he snapped, spinning to face her. “You’re here to exploit it.”
She flinched, but didn’t deny it.
Kael studied her for a beat. Her coat clung to her form, rain-slicked and heavy. Her eyes, though… those hadn’t changed. Still full of war. And something worse, hope.
“Where is she?” he asked.
“In Arizona,” Seraphina said, “A remote clinic. We’re out of time.”
He exhaled through his nose. The edge in his posture didn’t soften. “Why me?”
“Because no other bloodline works. She’s rare. You’re rarer.”
“And how do you know that?”
Her mouth clamped shut.
Kael stepped closer. “Who told you about my blood compatibility?”
Seraphina’s silence screamed louder than any lie.
Kael’s nostrils flared. “You’ve been watching me.”
“I had no choice.”
“No choice?” His hand slammed into the wall beside her, cracking the plaster. “You chose a hundred things. You chose to run. You chose silence. You chose to watch from the shadows like a coward.”
“I chose to protect something you didn’t know about,” she shot back.
His brows drew tight. “What are you talking about?”
“Nothing,” she said too quickly.
Kael’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t lie to me again.”
They stood like that, breath for breath, inches apart. Lightning flashed beyond the doors, casting their shadows long on the floor.
Finally, he stepped back. “You’ll stay here.”
“No,” she said.
“Yes,” he growled. “You want my blood? You stay. My rules.”
“I have to go back.”
“Then the deal’s off.”
“You can’t, ”
“I can. And I am.”
Seraphina clenched her fists. “She doesn’t have time for this.”
Kael crossed his arms. “Then I guess you’ll have to decide who matters more, her life, or your pride.”
Tears threatened, but she blinked them away.
Kael’s voice dropped. “Don’t test me, Seraphina. You won’t win.”
She stared at him, the ache in her chest eclipsed only by the fury in her blood. “Fine.”
“Good. I’ll draw the sample tomorrow. Until then, Thorne will escort you to the guest wing.”
“I’m not a prisoner.”
He turned away. “No. You’re a memory.”
That stung more than it should have.
She turned to leave, but his voice stopped her.
“Tell me one thing before you go.”
She paused.
“Did you ever love me?” His tone was quiet, deadly still.
Seraphina turned her head. “Yes.”
He didn’t respond.
He just stared at the place where she’d stood as the door closed behind her.
Alone, Kael stood in the vast silence of the hall.
Outside, the rain thickened.
In the west wing, Thorne was waiting.
“She’s changed,” he said.
Kael didn’t look at him. “They always do.”
“What if she’s not lying?”
“She is.”
“You can’t be sure.”
Kael’s voice turned cold. “She left me to rot in the dark," Thorne. There’s nothing left to be sure of.”
But he wasn’t sure at all.
And that was the problem.
Back in her room, Seraphina sat on the edge of the bed, staring at her trembling hands.
This place reeked of memories. Every inch of it. The cold floors, the dim sconces, even the distant howls from the surrounding woods, all reminded her of what they’d been, and what they’d lost.
A whisper broke the silence.
“Mom?”
Her breath caught.
No.
She turned sharply, heart pounding.
But the room was empty.
Just her mind playing tricks. Or guilt rising like a phantom.
She got up, paced to the window, and pressed her forehead against the cool glass. “Just a few days,” she whispered to herself. “Just get what you need and go.”
Then a rustle outside.
She squinted into the night.
A figure moved near the treeline. Fast. Too fast.
Not a guard.
Something watching.
A flicker of gold eyes, then nothing.
She stepped back, startled, her heart racing again. Her hand instinctively went to the locket hidden beneath her collar. Inside it, a picture, a name, a vow.
“I won’t let them take you,” she whispered.
She didn’t sleep.
And outside, the eyes returned.
This time, they didn’t blink.
- Writer
