ALPHA KAEL'S BREEDER

chapter 18

Aria’s POV

The sound of the alarm bells clung to my skin like cold rain.

Three short strikes. One long.

Even locked in this room, I understood what that signified—danger was near.

And Kael…

My heart raced, pounding in my throat. I moved away from the window, my fingers gripping the bedframe until my knuckles turned white.

Through the gap in the curtains, I had seen him—Kael—shift mid-step, his wolf charging into the courtyard as if the walls themselves couldn’t hold him back.

He was quick. Savage. Alive.

For now.

Something deep within me twisted. I reminded myself it was not my concern, that he had made it clear I was merely a vessel, not someone worth saving, let alone worrying about.

But my feet didn’t obey.

I flung the door open and stepped into the hallway.

The stone floor felt cool against my bare feet, but the air was heavy—sounds rolling through the corridors from the courtyard below. Shouts. Clashing steel. Wolves growling.

I moved swiftly, my hair falling forward, trying not to dwell on how foolish this was. Yet, my body leaned into the motion, the pull toward him as sharp and irrational as a wound that wouldn’t stop bleeding.

Halfway down the corridor, I accelerated. If I could just reach the east wing stairs, I might—

A hand slammed into my shoulder. The jolt sent me stumbling into the wall, my palm scraping the rough stone. I spun around. It was her, the crazy b***h I have hated. Elena.

She stood in the middle of the hall, dressed like she’d stepped out of a portrait, silk draped perfectly over her frame, not a hair out of place. Her lips curved into something that could pass for polite, but her eyes… her eyes felt like frost biting into my skin.

“Careful,” she said lightly, as if she’d just caught me tripping over my own feet. “You’re always running, I wonder what's chasing you.”

I straightened, pulling my shoulder back. “I need to—”

“Go somewhere?” She tilted her head, the question sweet on her tongue but edged in steel. “How interesting.”

“I was—”

“Going to the courtyard?” she guessed, as if she’d just uncovered a scandal worth framing. She stepped closer, the faint scent of jasmine drifting from her skin. “That’s where the fighting is.”

My jaw tightened. “I know.”

She laughed softly. “Of course you do. You’ve been watching from your window, haven’t you?”

I said nothing.

Her gaze slid down to my bare feet, loose clothes, hair still tangled from where I’d been curled on the bed. She didn’t look disgusted. That would have been too obvious. Instead, her expression carried the kind of soft pity that cuts deeper than outright insult.

“You should go back,” she said, voice calm, almost kind. “It’s safer there. You’re not… part of the family, after all.”

The words landed with the precision of a blade sliding between ribs.

“I didn’t say I was,” I replied, keeping my voice level.

“No, you didn’t.” She smiled faintly, like I’d proven her point. “But sometimes, people forget where they belong when they start… feeling invested.”

My throat tightened. “I’m just making sure no one needs help.”

“Oh,” she said, her tone dripping with mock surprise, “how noble. But there are warriors for that. Real warriors, not a common, lose breeder like you”

She let her gaze linger on me a second longer before adding, “People trained to fight. People who matter in situations like this, don't you get it?.”

My hands curled at my sides, nails biting into my palms. “I didn’t realize watching from a window counted as mattering more.”

Her lips twitched—almost a laugh, almost a sneer. “When you watch from the right window, it does.”

I forced my shoulders to stay loose, my voice neutral. “I wasn’t going to get in anyone’s way.”

She took a slow step toward me until I could see the faint glint of satisfaction in her eyes. “You’d be in his way, though. You know that, don’t you?”

My heart skipped. “In his way?”

Elena nodded, her tone still casual, as though discussing the weather. “He doesn’t need distractions when he’s fighting. And you…” She let the pause stretch. “You’re a distraction. Not because you mean to be. Just because you’re here. Breathing.”

I bit back the urge to tell her she was wrong. That Kael wasn’t the type to lose focus over me. But the truth was, I didn’t know if that was true anymore he already said something that got me thinking.

She seemed to read the silence in my face. Her smile warmed, though it didn’t reach her eyes. “See? You understand. You’re clever enough to know where your presence helps and where it… doesn’t.”

I breathed out slowly, keeping my tone even. “You’re very protective of him, that's fine, you should also find a way to make sure he is safe, not gallivanting around, looking for a situation to steer.”

“Of course I am.” Her gaze sharpened, a predator’s flicker beneath the polite mask. “Alpha Kael is… important. To this pack. To me. To everything we’ve built.”

“And anyone else is a threat?”

“Anyone who could change him is a threat,” she corrected softly, her voice almost gentle. “Even if they don’t mean to.”

For a moment, we just stood there, the hall quiet except for the distant, muffled sounds of battle.

Finally, I stepped to the side, enough to give her the path past me. “Then I’ll stay out of the way.”

“Good.” She moved forward, brushing my shoulder as she passed. Her voice followed me like smoke. “It’s always easier when people know their place.”

I walked back toward my room, my feet silent on the stone floor.

But the moment the door shut behind me, I pressed my palm flat against it, leaning into the wood as my breath came shallow.

The courtyard was still a blur of movement below, Kael’s wolf tearing through enemies like they were nothing but shadows. He didn’t need me there.

But that didn’t stop the urge,the ache to go anyway. I suddenly felt my wolf steered, she wasn't staying one place, she kept pacing, mumbling, the pain was too much.

“What's happening? Is my baby okay?”

Suddenly, I remembered kael, maybe something might have happened to him, my heart ached, I rushed to the window, opened it, I looked out. Then I saw the disaster, they was fire in the court yard, then I heard Daniel's voice screamed.

“alpha keal!”

My eyes widened. “Kael?”