Chapter 3: The Alpha’s Eyes
935 Words
Aria hadn’t seen him since that first day.
It had been five days five full days of waking up in a clean, warm room, of eating food without being mocked, of walking through a packhouse where no one shoved her into walls or whispered cruel names behind her back.
But still, she hadn’t seen him.
Alpha Kael.
She could feel him though. Like a current in the air, brushing against her skin. A presence lingering just out of sight.
Every time she passed a window, her eyes searched for storm-gray eyes in the distance. But he never came.
Instead, it was Jace who stayed close. He brought her books. Helped her stretch out her muscles. Told terrible jokes that actually made her smile.
Still, Aria couldn’t stop wondering.
Why had Kael come to see her only once? Why did it feel like he’d looked into her soul… and then walked away?
Was it pity?
Or something else?
On the sixth morning, Jace found her in the training field.
She was a blur of movement bare feet thudding against dirt, fists striking the padded dummy with surprising force. Her hair stuck to her face with sweat. Her eyes were pure fire.
Jace whistled. “Damn. Remind me not to piss you off.”
Aria turned, panting. “I asked the healer if I could train again. I need… I need to feel strong.”
“You already are,” he said, stepping into the ring. “But I’ll help you prove it.”
They sparred until the sun climbed high above the trees, until Aria's arms ached and her body felt lighter than it had in weeks.
She was finally starting to feel like herself again.
That night, Kael watched her from the shadows of the balcony above the courtyard.
She was laughing.
Jace had said something dumb, and Aria had tilted her head back, her laugh spilling into the night air like music.
Kael’s jaw tightened.
He told himself he was just making sure the newcomer was adjusting. That he was being cautious. Responsible.
But the truth was… he couldn’t stop thinking about her.
Her scent.
Her eyes.
That broken, silent strength she carried like a blade.
And the mate pull.
He’d felt it the second he saw her.
His wolf had gone completely still then surged with a low growl that had shaken him to his core.
Mate.
But Kael didn’t want a Luna. He never had.
His pack didn’t need softness. They needed power. Control. Obedience.
And Aria? She was chaos wrapped in a fragile shell.
She’d been rejected.
She was damaged.
But gods help him, he couldn’t look away.
Down in the training yard, Aria suddenly stopped laughing.
She felt it.
A chill.
A prickling at the back of her neck.
She turned slowly her eyes scanning the darkened balconies of the packhouse.
No one was there.
But something in her chest tightened. A whisper from her wolf stirred.
"He's watching."
The next morning, Jace knocked on her door holding a simple black t-shirt.
“Alpha Kael wants to see you,” he said, eyebrows raised. “In his office. Now.”
Aria froze. “What for?”
Jace smirked. “Guess you made an impression.”
The walk through the Alpha Wing was long and silent. Cold, polished floors. Heavy walls. She felt eyes watching her from behind closed doors.
Jace opened a wide set of double doors, then stepped aside. “Good luck.”
Aria stepped in.
And there he was.
Kael stood behind his desk, arms crossed, that unreadable expression carved into his face like stone.
But his eyes
They burned.
For a moment, neither of them spoke. The air stretched tight between them.
Finally, Kael moved.
“Sit.”
She did, back straight, heart racing.
“I know who you are,” he said. “Aria of Bloodroot.”
Her heart nearly stopped. “How?”
“I asked.”
She swallowed hard. “Are you going to send me back?”
“No.”
Silence.
Then he stepped around the desk. Closer.
“Why did you reject your entire pack?” he asked.
She blinked. “Because they never accepted me. Not even my own mate.”
A flicker crossed his face pain, maybe. Or fury.
“I’ve heard stories about what happened to you,” he said. “And what your mate did.”
Her stomach twisted.
“He forced me,” she whispered. “To reject him. After cheating. After everything.”
Kael’s eyes narrowed, but not at her.
“I should’ve killed him the second I read that report.”
Her eyes widened.
Kael stepped closer—so close she could feel the heat of him. His scent wrapped around her like smoke and cedarwood.
“I need to know something, Aria,” he said quietly. “Have you felt it?”
She looked up slowly. “Felt… what?”
His gaze dropped to her lips, then back to her eyes.
“The bond.”
She stared at him, heart thudding.
Yes. She had.
It was subtle, but there.
A gentle tug.
A pulse beneath her skin.
But she couldn’t do it again. She couldn’t.
“I’m not ready,” she said, standing quickly. “I don’t want a mate.”
Kael didn’t move.
“I didn’t say I wanted one either,” he said, voice low. “But fate doesn’t care what we want.”
Aria turned and left before she said something stupid.
Before she admitted the truth
That the only thing scarier than being rejected…
Was letting herself be claimed again.
- Writer
