Reborn Hybrid: I Tame the Ruthless Alpha King

Chapter 3: The Summons

Elara’s POV

Three days passed and nothing happened.

Then four. Then five.

I kept my face calm and my voice light. I counted every day in my head like a woman watching a wound that wasn’t healing the way it should. In my past life Kael had summoned me almost immediately after the ceremony and I had been terrified and unprepared, but it didn't matter because Jaxon had already decided everything without me.

But this time the days kept passing and nothing came, no invitation, no Jaxon begging me to say yes to the ruthless Alpha king because that is going to save us a lot.

But what if I miscalculated? What if I was just a day closer to my death day? What if the moon Goddess just decided to flash me this second chance?

I was standing at the bedroom window that morning with Nia in my arms, and she was pointing at the birds on the garden wall, naming them with words she had mostly invented herself.

"That one," she said, very seriously, pressing her small finger against the glass.

She turned to look up at me, checking if I was paying attention, and I was, completely, in a way I hadn't allowed myself to be in my past life, when I was always too tired being the trophy wife to a greedy and cruel monster.

I pressed my lips to the top of her head and held her a little tighter. That was when I heard footsteps in the hall, which stopped right in front of my door and something in me tells me it’s Jaxon, trying to fix his face perfectly before he showed it to me.

I was still trying to piece it together when the door bust opened.

He stepped in, his expression was already assembled, troubled, a little pale, the devoted husband carrying a burden he didn’t want to carry. His face changed a little bit, I knew he was not expecting to see Nia with me.

"Nia." He called out warmly, the public voice he uses when he wanted to look like a devoted father. "Go find Mira, sweetheart. I need to speak with your mother."

Nia looked at me. I smoothed her curls back and set her down gently.

"Go on, baby."

She went, and the moment her small footsteps disappeared down the hall, Jaxon closed the door but I already turned to the window and waited, because I already knew exactly what he had come to say.

“Elara,” he said, and even his voice had the right weight to it, heavy with reluctant concern.

I turned from the window and looked at him, letting worriedness flash across my face for just a moment.

“Jaxon, what happened? You look stressed, is there something bothering you?”

He paused, and I watched him select the right expression the way a man picks a coat, settling into something that looked like reluctance. Expertly, just like a husband carrying news he wished he didn't have to carry.

"Not really, I just…" He stopped. I watched him exhale in the act. Ran a hand through his hair and looked at the floor for a moment like the words were difficult to find, the acting made me chuckle within me. "The Alpha King. He's been asking about you." He finally looked up, and his eyes were troubled in exactly the right way.

He let that sit, let me absorb it, let the silence do the work he didn't want to appear to be doing himself.

I also let the silence sit for a moment and then I asked, “Me? Why would the King notice me? We never spoke before” With a raised eyebrow, acting completely oblivious to everything.

“He noticed you at the ceremony that day and asked to see you.” Jaxon moved into the room and lowered his voice like the walls might be listening. “I don’t know what he wants but we can’t ignore a summons from King Kael. Nobody ignores his calls without getting calls.”

I watched his face and behind my eyes I was watching a performance, every gesture and pause perfectly placed, I almost wanted to applaud him for being a great actor.

“I know King Kael might be ruthless but I promise, I won’t let anything happen to you,” he said and he reached out, took both my hands in his and looked at me with those honest, devoted eyes that had fooled me for three years. “I would give my own life before I let him hurt you. You know that.”

I know exactly what you are, but I manage to fix my face properly, looking exactly like the fool he wants. I let my shoulders slump, my eyes filling with fake tears, my voice trembling as I spoke. “But I’m your wife, Jaxon. If I go to him… what will people say? What will they think of us?”

“But,” he continued, and there it was, the word I had been waiting for, soft and apologetic that loaded with fake promises, “offending a man like Kael doesn’t just affect us. It affects our families, Elara. Both our families. If we refuse him or anger him….” he shook his head slowly like the thought was too painful to finish.

There it was. His words, wrapped in love and delivered like a knife to my back.

In my past life I had crumbled at that part. I had thought he was protecting me and I had felt guilty for even hesitating, I had walked into that mansion carrying his fear on top of my own and called it sacrifice. Sacrificed to the man who never for once considered me his.

I looked at him now and let my eyes go soft, a little frightened, the way he expected them to, “I understand.”

His shoulders dropped with relief.

“I know you will protect me in any situation.” I stopped, letting my voice dragged on for a while. “I know how much you love me.” I held his gaze and he nodded.

““I’ll go,” I said, and I squeezed his hands like I was drawing strength from them and added, “If it protects our families then I’ll go. I’ll be fine for you Jaxon.” I added the exact words I said in my last life.

He pulled me into a hug and said something about how brave I was and I stood inside his arms, stared at the wall over his shoulder and felt nothing except the slow, certain patience of a woman who already knew the end of the story.

——

Kael guard came for me that evening just after dark, two men in black who said nothing and needed to say nothing, and I was taken by car through roads I recognised to a property outside the main city, a private mansion set back from the gate behind old trees.

I was led by the guard to a room in the left wing. The two guards stared at me for some second before they opened the door.

I took a deep breath before stepping inside the room. Kael stood a mile away, his eyes bore into mine the moment I stepped inside, I held his gaze before staring at the floor.

“You can go.” He gestured to the guard.

They bowed, closed the door and their footsteps faded away.

We were alone.

He finally turned to face me, his eyes cold and unreadable, a faint scowl on his face, the Alpha King’s power radiating from him in waves, heavy and oppressive, enough to make even the bravest man cower. I’d felt this power before, in my past life, and it had scared me half to death. This time, I held my ground, my back straight, my hands loose at my sides, my face open and unafraid. I wouldn’t show him fear. Fear was weakness, and weakness was death.

He studied me for a long moment, his eyes traveling over every inch of me, from my messy hair to my trembling hands, and I let him, calm and unyielding.

“Were you told why you are here?” He raised a brow, looking unbothered.

“No one told me, but I supposed I know.” I reply unfazed by his dead glare.

He set the glass on his down slowly like it might break if dropped hurriedly, maybe yes.

“If you suppose you know,” he said, taking a step closer, his tall frame towering over me, his breath fanning my forehead, cold and minty, “then you must also understand that nothing happens here unless you agree to it. No one forces me to do anything, Elara. And no one forces you to do anything, either.”

He paused, his eyes locking with mine, cold and intense, and spoke the words that had changed my life in my past life, the words that had made me think there was a shred of decency in him, even then.

“If you want to leave,” he said, his voice softening, just a little, “say so now. My men will take you home tonight, no questions asked, no consequences. This conversation never happened. You’ll never see me again. Go back to your husband. Go back to your life.”

A choice. He was giving me a choice.

In my past life, I’d wanted to scream yes. I’d wanted to run, to flee, to never see him again, to go back to the life I’d known, even if it was a lie. But fear had held me back. Fear of Kael, fear of Jaxon, fear of what would happen to my family if I refused.

This time, I didn’t hesitate.

I looked up at him, my eyes bright, my lips curving into a faint, determined smile, and shook my head.

“I’m not leaving.”