Haunted by the alpha king

Bound by fire

~Aria ~

The fire is still alive in the hearth when I wake, though the logs have collapsed into glowing embers. My whole body aches, every muscle tender, every nerve still thrumming with the bond. The furs stick to my damp skin, and his scent clings to me even more.

For a moment, I stay still, eyes half-closed, pretending it was only a dream—that I’m not in the Alpha King’s bed, not lying bare beneath these furs, claimed in every way a woman can be.

But the weight across my waist is no illusion. His arm lies heavy, possessive, holding me captive against his chest. I can feel the slow, steady rhythm of his breathing, utterly at ease. As though claiming me, breaking me and binding me last night was nothing more than his rightful due.

Heat creeps up my neck as the memories return—the firelight, his growl at my ear, my own betraying cries. Shame coils in my stomach, battling the maddening pull of the bond. My wolf is quiet now, curled deep within me, purring in contentment at his closeness.

I shift carefully beneath his arm, testing for freedom. But his grip only tightens, pulling me flush against him.

“Where do you think you’re going?” His voice rumbles low, thick with sleep yet sharp as a blade.

My heart leaps. f**k! he’s awake.

I keep my eyes locked on the fading embers. “Away from you.”

He chuckles, the sound vibrating through my spine. “Bold words for someone who can’t even slip from my bed without me noticing.”

He drifts his hands lower, spreading wide over my stomach, as if to remind me he owns every part of me. Heat sparks where his palm rests, my treacherous body responding before I can shove the feeling down.

I grit my teeth. “I am not yours.”

“Lies,” he growls softly, pressing his lips to the curve of my shoulder. His stubble scrapes my skin, sending an involuntary shiver racing down my arms. “I heard you last night. The word helpless from your pretty little mouth…Yours!” A smirk forming on his lips.

My cheeks burn. Rage simmers in my chest, tangled with humiliation and something far worse. Need. The bond twists inside me, tightening whenever he touches me, like a leash around my heart.

I shove at his arm, but he doesn’t budge. His chest rumbles with another low laugh, maddeningly calm. “You’ll learn quickly, little mate. Fighting me only excites me more.”

I snap my head toward him, meeting those storm-grey eyes. “You’re a monster.”

He smiles—slow, dangerous. “And you’re mine.”

In an instant, he flips me onto my back, pinning me beneath him again. My breath catches as his weight presses me into the furs, his gaze devouring me like he hasn’t already spent the night thrusting in me.

The firelight gilds him in molten bronze, every line of muscle sculpted from power and dominance. His hair falls wild around his face, his jaw shadowed, his lips curved in that cruel, knowing smirk.

“You look beautiful like this,” he murmurs, his finger tracing down my cheek, along my jaw, and resting at my throat. He doesn’t squeeze, but the weight of his touch is reminder enough that he could end me with a breath, yet chooses to keep me.

“Stop looking at me like that,” I whisper, ashamed of the heat blooming low in my belly under his gaze.

He leans close, lips brushing my ear. “Why? Does it make you wet?”

A strangled sound slips out—half protest, half something I can’t name. My thighs press together instinctively, and his eyes gleam with wicked satisfaction.

“You can deny me with words all you like,” he says, his voice like smoke seeping into every corner of me. “But your body doesn’t lie. And neither does your wolf.”

His hand slides between my thighs , finding proof of my betrayal. I gasp, arching against my will, fury and shame tearing me apart.

“See?” he whispers, his mouth brushing mine. “Still mine. Always mine.”

Tears sting my eyes. “I hate you.”

His lips crush against mine, swallowing the words, twisting them into a whimper. The kiss is brutal, consuming—leaving no room to breathe, no room to think. His tongue claims mine, his teeth nip until I taste blood.

When he finally pulls back, his eyes burn wild, glowing with his wolf. “Hate me all you want. You’ll still spread for me when I command it.”

And then he proves it, dragging me back into a storm of heat and fire until I’m lost again, until the embers blaze to life, until every protest burns to ash in his hands.

By the time he releases me, my body is limp, my throat raw from cries I swore I’d never make again. He reclines against the furs, satisfied, one arm hooked around my waist, tethering me to him.

I stare up at the ceiling beams, chest heaving, tears slipping silently down my temples. My body is sore, marked, ruined. Yet the bond hums inside me, pulsing in rhythm with his heartbeat, binding me tighter with every breath.

“You’ll grow used to it,” he says lazily, as if reading my thoughts. “Soon, you’ll crave it more than air.”

“Never,” I whisper.

His hand cups my chin, forcing my gaze back to his. “You already do.”

I want to scream, to claw his face, to tear free from the bond strangling me. But my wolf only sighs contentedly, curling deeper into his hold.

The door creaks open, and I jolt, clutching the furs tighter to my chest. A servant slips in, eyes lowered, carrying a tray of food and wine. She sets it on the table, never once daring to look up, then backs out in silence.

Kael doesn’t move, but his smirk deepens. “Even the servants know. No one dares look at what belongs to the Alpha King.”

Humiliation scorches me. “I am not some trophy to be displayed.”

“No,” he says, his voice dropping into something darker, almost reverent. “You are my Queen. Whether you accept it or not, the bond has sealed your fate. The throne beside mine is yours.”

The word slams into me. My breath stutters, my mind spinning with disbelief and dread.

“I don’t want your throne,” I hiss.

His thumb strokes along my jaw, both tender and ruthless. “You’ll learn to want what I give you.”

Silence settles heavy between us, thick with heat and smoke. Outside, a wolf howls—long, mournful, echoing through the night. My chest aches with longing for freedom, for escape, for anything but this bed and this man.

But when his arm tightens around me, drawing me closer, my wolf only presses into him, betraying me again.

I close my eyes, hating myself almost as much as I hate him.

Because deep down, I already know—no matter how hard I fight, no matter how much I deny, there is no escape.

I belong to him.

And he will never let me go.