CHAPTER 5 When Hearts Start to Shift
304 Words
Ariel woke before sunrise. The room was quiet, filled with the smell of pine and moon herbs. She sat up slowly, trying to make sense of everything that had happened.
A prophecy.
A dangerous Alpha.
A strange bond forming between them.
It felt unreal.
She walked outside and found Kael training alone in a clearing. His movements were sharp and powerful. Every strike, every shift of muscle, looked controlled and deadly. But there was something else too. A sadness in the way he breathed. A weight on his shoulders.
She stepped closer. You always train this early?
He didn’t turn around. It helps keep my thoughts quiet.
Ariel hesitated. Is it because of me?
This time, he did turn, and the look in his eyes made her stomach flip.
Partly. But not in the way you think.
Before she could ask what he meant, a loud crack echoed from the forest. Kael stiffened instantly.
Rogues, he said. They’re testing our borders again.
Ariel’s pulse quickened. What do we do?
We don’t do anything. You stay inside. He stepped closer to her. Ariel, rogues won’t follow rules. They’ll kill you just for being near me.
He reached out as if to grab her shoulder but stopped halfway, his hand trembling before he pulled it back.
Stay here. Please.
It was the second time he’d used that word with her. It made her chest warm in a way she didn’t expect.
Kael shifted into his wolf form and ran off with terrifying speed, disappearing into the trees.
Ariel watched him go, worry twisting inside her. She had only known him for a short time, but the thought of him getting hurt made her stomach ache.
She didn’t understand why.
But she knew something was changing between them. And soon, she wouldn’t be able to ignore it.
- Writer
