Chapter 5 (Kael)
1593 Words
I didn’t want her to go.
We stood outside the Apple Store, Annette clutching her new laptop like a lifeline, both of us pretending we had reasons to stay. The café had closed an hour ago. The sun was setting. Her sister was on the way.
And I still didn’t want her to go.
“Tomorrow,” she said again, like she was reminding herself as much as me.
“Tomorrow.” I stepped closer, close enough to catch her scent—wildflowers and something I couldn’t name. “I’ll text you.”
“Okay.”
She smiled, and something in my chest tightened. My wolf was restless, pacing, unhappy about letting her leave. But I couldn’t exactly tell her that. Couldn’t explain that every instinct I had was screaming at me to keep her close, keep her safe, keep her mine.
A car pulled up to the curb. Not hers—Alaric’s.
Alaric’s timing was terrible.
He got out, grinning. “Took you long enough. I’ve been circling for—”
He stopped mid-sentence.
I followed his gaze to the car pulling up across the street. The driver’s door opened, and a woman stepped out.
Lyanna.
Annette’s sister. The one who’d been so insistent about safety, about checking in, about—
Alaric went completely still. He was standing frozen in the middle of the sidewalk, staring at her sister like she’d just rewritten every law of physics.
And Lyanna—Annette’s protective, careful, cautious sister—looked back at him with the same stunned, terrified expression.
Oh.
Oh no.
I knew that look. I’d seen it before, in my parents’ wedding photos, in the way mated couples moved around each other like gravity had shifted. That look meant one thing.
Mate bond.
For a heartbeat, no one moved.
Alaric took a step forward. Then another. Like he was being pulled by an invisible string.
“Alaric,” I said quietly. Warning or encouragement, I wasn’t sure.
He didn’t hear me. Didn’t hear anything but whatever was calling him toward her.
Lyanna’s eyes went wide. She took a step back, shaking her head.
That’s when I realized—she knew too. She felt it. And she was terrified.
“No,” she whispered. Then louder, backing toward her car. “No. This can’t—”
Alaric stopped like he’d hit a wall. “Wait, please—”
“Stay away from me.” Her voice cracked.
Beside me, Annette was staring at her sister, confusion written across her face. “Lyanna? What’s—”
Lyanna grabbed Annette’s arm. “We’re leaving. Now.”
“What? Why?” Annette resisted, looking between her sister and Alaric. “Lyanna, what’s going on?”
“Annette, please.” Lyanna’s eyes met mine for the first time, and what I saw there made my blood run cold. Not just fear. Terror. Of us. Of me. “We have to go.”
Alaric took another step forward, hand outstretched. “I don’t understand. You’re my—”
“I said NO!” The word came out as a near-shout.
Alaric flinched like she’d struck him. And maybe, in a way, she had. I watched as his face went from confusion to pain, his hand dropping to his side.
“Lyanna—” Annette was pulling against her sister’s grip now, looking at me with wide, confused eyes. “What is happening?”
I wanted to go to her. Wanted to explain. But Lyanna was already dragging her toward the car.
“Kael?” Annette called back to me, and the uncertainty in her voice was a knife to the chest.
“It’s okay,” I lied. “Go. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
But I wasn’t sure we would.
Lyanna practically shoved Annette into the passenger seat and ran around to the driver’s side. The engine started, and they were gone.
I stood there, watching the taillights disappear, feeling like the ground had shifted beneath me.
“Kael.”
Alaric’s voice was barely a whisper. I turned.
He was on his knees.
I was at his side in seconds, hands on his shoulders. “Alaric, talk to me.”
“She—” He couldn’t finish the sentence. His breathing was ragged, hands pressed against his chest like he was trying to hold something in. Or keep something from tearing out.
“I know.” I’d never seen him like this. Alaric, who’d faced down rogues and rival packs without flinching, brought to his knees by a single word. “Come on. Let’s get you home.”
He didn’t resist as I hauled him to his feet and half-carried him to the car. His skin was pale, clammy. The mate bond rejection was taking its toll.
“Why?” he asked as I buckled him in. “Why would she—”
“I don’t know.” But I was going to find out.
I drove with one hand, the other holding my phone.
I called Annette.
It rang. And rang. And went to voicemail.
“Annette, it’s Kael. I don’t know what just happened, but—” I stopped. What could I even say? “Please call me back. Please.”
I texted: Are you okay?
Five minutes. Ten. Twenty.
Nothing.
Beside me, Alaric had his head back against the seat, eyes closed, breathing like he’d run a marathon.
“Does it hurt?” I asked quietly.
“Like someone’s ripping my chest open from the inside.” He laughed, but there was no humor in it. “She’s my mate, Kael. She’s my mate. And she looked at me like I was—”
“I know.”
“How can she not feel it?”
“She felt it.” I’d seen her face. She knew exactly what he was to her. “She’s just… scared.”
“Of me?”
“Of us. All of us.” Of course she was. She was a wolf and we were Lycans.
Sage met us at the door. One look at Alaric and her expression shifted from curiosity to concern.
“What happened?”
“He found his mate,” I said, helping Alaric inside.
Her eyes widened. “That’s— Wait. Then why does he look like—”
“She rejected him.”
Sage’s mouth fell open.
Mason and Maxwell appeared from the common room, took one look at Alaric, and immediately moved to help. We got him to the couch, Sage disappearing and returning with water and what looked like emergency medical supplies.
“Talk,” she ordered, crouching in front of Alaric. “What happened?”
I told them everything. The goodbye with Annette. Alaric arriving. Lyanna stepping out of her car. The mate bond snapping into place. And then—
“She looked terrified,” I finished. “Of him. Of me. She saw me and her whole demeanor changed.”
“Why?” Mason asked. “What did we do?”
“I don’t know.”
“Maybe someone told her something,” Maxwell suggested. “About Lycans. About us.”
Sage looked up sharply. “Darius.”
“Darius hurt Annette on that bus,” Sage continued. “I told you that. What if he told them—”
“Told them what?” I demanded. “That we’re dangerous? That they should stay away?”
“Maybe.” Sage’s eyes were dark. “Or maybe he told them something worse. Made them think you’re a threat.”
My hands curled into fists. “I’m going to talk to him.”
“Kael—”
“I need to know what he said to them, Sage. Annette won’t answer my calls. Lyanna dragged her away like we were going to hurt them. And Alaric—” I looked at my brother, still pale, still in pain. “Alaric is suffering because of whatever lies Darius told them.”
“So what’s your plan?” Mason asked. “Storm into MoonRiver territory and demand answers?”
“If I have to.”
“That’ll start a war.”
“I don’t care.”
“Yes, you do,” Sage said firmly. “And Annette will care. If you get her pack in trouble—”
I stopped. She was right. Damn it, she was right.
“She’s your mate, isn’t she?” Sage asked quietly.
I didn’t answer. Didn’t need to.
“Kael—”
“I just found her, Sage.” My voice cracked. “I just found her. And now—” I couldn’t finish.
Sage’s expression softened. “We’ll figure this out. All of us.”
“How? She thinks I’m dangerous. Her sister is terrified of us. And I don’t even know why.”
“Then we find out why,” Mason said. “Carefully. Strategically.”
“Starting with Darius,” Maxwell added.
I looked at Alaric. He’d opened his eyes, was watching us with a pain that went beyond physical.
“Do it,” he said hoarsely. “Find out what he told them. Find out why she—” He stopped, swallowed hard. “Just find out.”
“Mason, Maxwell, you’re with me,” I said, standing. “We’re going to MoonRiver territory.”
“Not to fight,” Sage warned.
“Not to fight,” I agreed. “Just to talk. To get answers.”
“And if Darius doesn’t want to talk?”
I looked at her, letting her see the cold determination in my eyes.
“Then I’ll make him.”
- Writer
