CHAPTER 8 THE PULL BETWEEN THEM
845 Words
The training arena was silent after everyone left.
Only Aria and Kael remained.
The scent of blood still lingered in the air, driving something wild beneath her skin. Her heartbeat pounded violently, every sense painfully sharp.
She could hear the torches crackling.
The distant footsteps outside the arena.
Kael’s slow, steady breathing directly in front of her.
It was too much.
Her silver eyes flashed brighter.
“Aria,” Kael said calmly, “look at me.”
She tried.
But another wave of instinct slammed into her.
Hunger.
Power.
A dangerous urge she didn’t understand.
She stumbled backward, gripping the edge of a stone pillar. “Make it stop…”
Kael moved closer slowly, careful not to startle her.
“You are not losing control,” he said. “Your senses are awakening faster than your body can adjust.”
“It feels like I’m becoming a monster.”
At that, Kael’s expression darkened.
“You are not a monster.”
The certainty in his voice shook something inside her.
Aria squeezed her eyes shut. “You don’t understand. I can feel everything. The blood. The movement. Even your heartbeat.”
Silence.
Then—
“That is because your instincts recognize me.”
Her eyes opened slowly.
Kael stood only inches away now.
Too close.
Close enough for her to notice every detail she had been trying not to see these past few days.
The sharp line of his jaw.
The faint scar near his throat.
The silver glow hidden beneath his calm eyes.
Power radiated from him naturally, but beneath it…
There was restraint.
Control.
He was holding something back around her.
And somehow, she knew it instinctively.
“What does that mean?” she whispered.
Kael studied her face carefully before answering.
“It means your blood trusts mine.”
Her pulse skipped.
The air between them suddenly felt heavier.
Warmer.
Dangerously intimate.
Aria stepped back quickly.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
Kael didn’t move. “Your body is reacting to its true nature.”
“No,” she said too quickly. “I already had a mate.”
Pain flickered across her face at the word.
Kael noticed instantly.
His expression hardened slightly.
“The Alpha rejected the bond.”
“That doesn’t erase it completely,” she whispered.
Kael was quiet for a moment.
Then he spoke carefully.
“There are different kinds of bonds, Aria.”
Her brows furrowed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Instead of answering, Kael extended his hand toward her.
“Come here.”
Aria stared at his hand suspiciously. “Why?”
“Trust me.”
That was dangerous.
No one had ever asked for her trust before.
Most people simply expected obedience.
And yet…
Slowly, hesitantly, she placed her hand in his.
The moment their skin touched—
A surge of warmth rushed through her body.
Aria gasped.
Her silver eyes widened as strange images flashed through her mind.
Moonlight.
Ancient stone thrones.
Silver wolves bowing.
Kael standing beside her.
Not as strangers.
As equals.
The vision vanished instantly.
Aria yanked her hand away, breathing hard.
“What was that?!”
Kael’s jaw tightened.
Interesting.
“You saw something.”
It wasn’t a question.
Aria stared at him. “How do you know?”
“Because I felt it too.”
Fear crept into her chest.
“What’s happening to me?”
Kael looked at her with an intensity that made her heart race.
“The bond between us is awakening.”
Her breath caught.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“That’s impossible,” she argued. “I already had a mate!”
Kael’s voice lowered.
“A rejected bond is damaged. Broken. Weak.”
He stepped closer again.
“But this…”
His silver eyes locked onto hers.
“…this is something older.”
Aria’s pulse thundered painfully.
She should move away.
She should stop this conversation.
Instead, she found herself frozen beneath his gaze.
“What are you saying?” she whispered.
Kael reached up slowly, brushing a strand of dark hair away from her face.
The gentle touch sent heat rushing through her body.
“I am saying,” he murmured, “that fate may not have made a mistake after all.”
Before Aria could respond—
A loud horn echoed through the kingdom.
Kael’s expression changed instantly.
Cold.
Alert.
Dangerous.
Another horn sounded.
Then shouting.
Aria stepped back nervously. “What’s happening?”
A warrior burst into the arena.
“My King!”
Kael turned sharply. “Report.”
The warrior bowed quickly, breathing heavily.
“Wolf scouts crossed the northern border.”
Silence fell.
Aria’s stomach tightened.
Wolves?
Kael’s eyes darkened.
“How many?”
“Only a small group,” the warrior answered. “But they carry the Moonfang scent.”
Aria’s heart nearly stopped.
Moonfang.
Her pack.
Damon’s pack.
Kael slowly looked back at her.
And for the first time since meeting him—
She saw pure territorial fury in his silver eyes.
“They are searching for you,” he said quietly.
- Writer
