Kael’s POV
The silence in my chambers was absolute, yet deafening.
I had spent the last three nights pacing between the hearth and the tall windows that overlooked the silver-lit forest beyond the palace. The moon bathed everything in its soft glow, mocking me with the reminder of what I was—what we were.
Fated. Bonded. Doomed.
Her scent lingered even when she wasn’t around. That light wildflower and spice mix that didn’t belong to any perfume or luxury. It was her. Raw. Unfiltered. And it was driving me insane.
Alera.
The girl who should never have mattered.
The girl I couldn’t stop thinking about.
Each day, the bond pressed harder against my ribs, crawling under my skin, demanding to be acknowledged. She wasn’t even trying. That was what drove me mad the most—her silence, her dis
