Chapter Five - The Alpha kings Visit
549 Words
The sound of footsteps in the dungeon was different this time.
Not the lazy drag of guards. Not Lucien’s careful, stealthy approach. These were heavier, measured, deliberate each one echoing authority.
Aria’s head lifted, her breath catching even before the scent hit her.
Power. Smoke and storm.
The Alpha King.
Kael Blackthorn stepped into view, flanked by two warriors whose eyes never wavered from her chained form. His presence filled the corridor, dominance rolling off him in suffocating waves. Even in the dim torchlight, his dark gaze burned, sharp enough to slice through her.
Aria forced herself to sit straighter against the wall, though her body trembled from poison and bruises. She would not bow. Not to him.
For a long moment, Kael simply looked at her. His expression was carved stone, unreadable. Then his lips curved into something dangerously close to a sneer.
“So,” he said at last, his voice low, velvet over steel. “The insolent Omega still breathes.”
Aria’s throat tightened, but she refused to drop her gaze. “I told the truth.”
His eyes narrowed. “You accused my mate of treachery. Do you expect me to forgive that?”
Her chains rattled as she shifted forward, every movement agony. “I expect you to see what’s right in front of you. She isn’t yours. She never was.”
A ripple of his aura lashed the air, forcing her wolf to cower. Pain pressed against her chest, but she clenched her teeth, refusing to look away.
Kael stepped closer, crouching before the bars. His face was inches from hers, his eyes burning with something dark anger, yes, but also… confusion.
“Do you think I didn’t feel it?” he murmured. “When I first looked at you?”
Her heart stuttered. She swallowed hard. “Then why—”
“Because it vanished the moment I touched her,” he cut in, his voice sharp. “Because my wolf recognizes her. Not you.”
Aria’s chest ached, but she pressed on. “She stole it from me. She used magic.”
A humorless laugh escaped him. “Magic? You expect me to believe that the Moon Goddess herself can be deceived?”
“I don’t care what you believe,” she snapped, fire breaking through her pain. “I know what I felt. And so do you.”
For a heartbeat, silence hung heavy between them. His eyes flickered conflict, brief and raw but then his expression hardened again.
“You’re bold for an Omega,” he said softly, almost admiringly. Then his tone dropped to ice. “But boldness doesn’t erase lies.”
He stood, towering over her once more. “You’ll rot here until you learn your place. And when you finally beg for mercy, perhaps I’ll grant it.”
Her breath came harsh, her body trembling. But as his footsteps echoed away, she whispered to the shadows:
“I’ll never beg.”
After Kael’s departure, silence wrapped around her once more. But her pulse thundered in her ears.
He had felt it too. He had admitted it.
No matter how he tried to bury it, no matter how Elara’s stolen scent clouded his senses the truth wasn’t gone.
And Aria would make sure he never forgot it.
- Writer
