chapter 15
793 Words
Chapter 15
Aria pov
I didn’t cry again,not right away, I walked back to my room like I was floating, like my bones weren’t quite mine anymore. Like my lungs had forgotten how to breathe.
Kael said I was everything, that was what he said to me.
But he’d also ignored me, I felt hurt. Shut me out like I was nothing more than a footnote in his carefully curated life.
My bare feet padded over the cold stone as I reached my door. I closed it behind me with a soft click and leaned against it, staring into the silence like it might give me answers.
Why would he need new breeders?
He said I was his legacy. That I was the beginning, the middle, everything.
So why did his pack need seven girls, all listed under that disgusting title? Why did that contract exist?
I started pacing back and forth in my room.
My silk robe whispered against my legs, but I didn’t feel elegant. I felt like a firework with the fuse lit and no direction to explode. My stomach was churning, my head pounding with the weight of all the things left unsaid.
Why now, Kael?
He just looked at me like I was a miracle he thought he’d lost and it scared the hell out of me.
I moved to the window, pressing my hand to the cool glass, watching the moonlight spread across the trees like spilled milk.
The soft knock at the door didn’t startle me.
I’d heard the footsteps coming long before the knock landed.
“Come in,” I said without turning.
The door creaked open,I didn’t have to see his face to know it was Daniel.
The air shifted when he entered. Always too composed. Too quiet. Like he was made from something steadier than the rest of us.
“aria,” he greeted softly.
I didn’t correct him. Didn’t remind him that Kael hadn’t marked me. That I wasn’t anything official in this pack.
I was tired of that reminder.
“You shouldn’t be here,” I said without venom.
“I was asked to come,” he replied. “By Alpha Kael.”
I turned at that, brows furrowed. “What does he want now? Another apology laced with justifications?”
Daniel gave a half-shrug. “He wants you to prepare.”
“Prepare?” My voice cracked. “For what?”He hesitated.
“Company.” he said softly,I blinked.
“What kind of company?”
He cleared his throat, gaze dipping slightly. “The breeders. From West Reign. They’ll be arriving soon.”
I stared at him, unblinking, The room suddenly felt too small.
“Breeders?” I repeated, voice sharp enough to cut stone. “I thought he burned that contract.”
Daniel raised a brow. “He did. But politics have consequences. The West Reign Alpha wants compensation. The girls are en route regardless.”
I stepped forward, heat rising in my throat.
“I don’t want company,” I snapped. “I don’t need company. And I sure as hell won’t be smiling at seven women meant to lie in the same bed I haven’t even been welcomed into.”
Daniel tilted his head.
“It doesn’t have to be that way.”
“Then how is it supposed to be, Daniel?” I barked. “Do I braid their hair? Feed them breakfast? Help them pick lingerie for the Alpha?”
His expression remained unreadable.
“If you don’t want him shared,” he said quietly, “then give him a reason not to.”
“I’m not going to trap a man with a child,” I snapped, even though my voice wobbled. “That’s not who I am.”
He nodded once. “Then claim him.”
I opened my mouth to respond, to tear into him for the sheer audacity of putting the weight of Kael’s loyalty on my womb—
But my stomach rolled.
I bolted past him, one hand clutching my mouth, the other fumbling for the bathroom door.
I heaved until my knees hit the cold tiles and my fingers gripped the porcelain like it was the only thing tethering me to the world.
Eventually, when the wave passed, I turned the faucet on and splashed water onto my face, trembling.
He was still there,watching.
“Don’t say it,” I whispered, my voice hoarse.
He raised his hands in mock surrender. “Didn’t say anything.”
“You were thinking about it.”
He didn’t deny that.
“Should I call a medic?” he asked instead.
I shook my head.
“If you are,” he said, “then tell him. Don’t keep it from him.”
- Writer
