Under the Enemy's Protection
1978 Words
Under the Enemy's Protection
“If you want her, Ravencrest…”
Kael’s silver eyes flashed.
“…you’ll have to come through me.”
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Darius stood just beyond the boundary, his hands clenched at his sides. Kael stood in front of me while Nightfall wolves watched from the trees and Silvercrest warriors waited behind their Alpha.
“Move,” Darius said.
Kael didn’t.
“You crossed my border without permission,” Kael replied. “I could call that aggression.”
“I came for Aria.”
“She didn’t ask you to.”
Darius looked past him.
“Aria, come home.”
Home.
The word hurt more than it should have.
“I already answered you.”
“You’re angry.”
“I wonder why.”
“This is not the place for this conversation.”
“Then stop following me.”
Kael gave a quiet laugh.
Darius’s eyes snapped toward him.
“Stay out of our relationship.”
“What relationship?”
The words landed hard.
Darius stared at Kael.
Kael continued calmly.
“You rejected her.”
“That does not erase twenty-four years of belonging to Silvercrest.”
“I don’t belong to anyone.”
Both men looked at me.
Darius’s expression softened.
“Aria, please.”
For one dangerous second, I saw the man I had loved instead of the Alpha who had humiliated me.
Then I remembered Celeste wearing the pendant meant for me.
“I’m not going back.”
His face hardened.
“Then where are you going?”
I glanced at the dark forest around us.
I had no plan.
No allies.
And I had accidentally fled into enemy territory while carrying Darius’s child.
“I’ll decide.”
Darius stepped forward.
Kael growled.
He stopped.
“This isn’t over,” Darius said.
“For me, it is.”
Pain crossed his face before anger replaced it.
He looked at Kael.
“If anything happens to her—”
“You rejected her, chased her across my border and ignored her when she told you no,” Kael said. “You don’t get to threaten me in the name of protecting her.”
Darius’s eyes burned.
“This will have consequences.”
“I assumed so.”
Kael pointed toward Silvercrest.
“Go.”
For a moment, I thought Darius would refuse.
Then Gavin approached him.
“Alpha.”
The warning was obvious.
Wrong territory.
Too many Nightfall wolves.
One mistake could start a war.
Darius looked at me one last time.
His gaze dropped toward my stomach.
I crossed my arms.
Then he stepped backward over the boundary.
His warriors followed.
Before disappearing into the trees, he turned.
“I will speak to you tomorrow.”
“No.”
“We’ll see.”
Then he was gone.
I finally breathed.
Kael said, “That went well.”
I stared at him.
“Are you always this irritating?”
“Usually.”
I should have been terrified of him.
I was.
But irritation was beginning to compete with fear.
Kael turned toward his warriors.
“Rowan.”
A tall man with dark blond hair and a scar through one eyebrow emerged from the trees.
“Alpha?”
“Double the eastern patrol until dawn.”
“Silvercrest?”
“Ravencrest is emotional.”
Rowan smiled.
“That’s a diplomatic way to say stupid.”
Kael gave him a look.
“You pay me for honesty.”
“I don’t pay you.”
“That explains a lot.”
I stared between them.
Silvercrest warriors would never speak to Darius like that.
Kael noticed.
“Something wrong?”
“Your Beta just insulted you.”
“He does it regularly.”
“And he’s alive.”
“Most days,” Rowan said.
Kael started walking.
I stayed where I was.
He looked back.
“Are you coming?”
“Where?”
“Nightfall.”
“I never said I was staying.”
“No.”
“Then why would I follow you?”
“Because you’re pregnant, exhausted, recently rejected, and miles from the nearest human town.”
I hated that he had a point.
“You can leave in the morning if you still want to,” he added.
“Just like that?”
“Just like that.”
I narrowed my eyes.
“What do you want?”
“Tonight? To avoid explaining why I let a pregnant woman freeze on my border.”
“That’s all?”
“No.”
There it was.
Kael stepped closer.
“I also want to know why Darius rejected a woman whose wolf can force trained warriors to submit.”
“I didn’t force anyone.”
“You did.”
“I don’t know how.”
“I believe you.”
That worried me more.
“Why?”
“Because if you understood what you were capable of, you wouldn’t look frightened every time it happened.”
Nyra stirred inside me.
He watches too much.
For once, we agreed.
Kael gestured toward the forest.
“One night.”
I hesitated.
Silvercrest was behind me.
Nightfall was ahead.
Going back was impossible.
“One night,” I said.
“No chains. No commands. No obligations.”
I looked at him.
“Why say it like that?”
His expression hardened.
“Because Ravencrest spent the last hour acting as if your choices belonged to him.”
Something inside me loosened.
Just a little.
I followed Kael into Nightfall.
I expected a military camp.
Instead, nearly an hour later, the forest opened onto a small city.
Stone houses lined broad roads. Warm lights glowed through windows. A bakery, clinic and bookstore stood near a central square.
I stopped.
“This is Nightfall?”
Kael glanced at me.
“No. Paris.”
I glared at him.
Rowan laughed.
“I expected something different.”
“Silvercrest tells children we eat intruders, doesn’t it?”
“Only disobedient ones.”
“Efficient parenting.”
We continued toward a large stone building on a hill. A silver wolf was carved above its entrance.
Guards bowed as Kael approached, then looked curiously at me.
I lowered my eyes.
“You don’t need to do that,” Kael said.
“Do what?”
“Hide.”
“I’m not hiding.”
“You are.”
Before I could answer, a woman in her fifties hurried toward us with a medical bag.
“Kael.”
“Mara.”
She looked at the blood on his ribs.
“You’re bleeding.”
“I noticed.”
Then she saw me.
“Who is she?”
“Aria Vale.”
Recognition appeared.
“Silvercrest?”
“Yes.”
Her attention shifted toward my stomach.
I sighed.
“Apparently everyone can tell.”
Mara smiled.
“Your scent changes.”
“Wonderful.”
“I’m the pack healer. You need to be examined.”
“I’m fine.”
“You ran through a forest after a mate rejection while pregnant.”
I looked at Kael.
He raised both hands.
“I said very little.”
Mara’s expression softened.
“A broken mate bond can affect pregnancy. Let me make sure you’re both safe.”
My hand moved to my stomach.
“All right.”
The examination took less than an hour.
The baby was alive.
Healthy.
That was all I cared about.
Mara asked about Nyra’s awakening, but I told her as little as possible.
She placed two fingers against my wrist and frowned.
“What?”
“Your pulse changes when your wolf becomes alert.”
“Is that unusual?”
“For a newly awakened wolf? Not impossible.”
She moved her hand toward my abdomen.
“But yours and the baby’s responses are unusually synchronized.”
My throat tightened.
“Is something wrong?”
“No. The heartbeat is strong.”
I exhaled.
She studied me.
“Did anyone ever explain why your wolf remained dormant?”
“No. Most healers eventually stopped trying.”
“And your parents?”
“My mother died when I was young. My father died five years ago.”
“I’m sorry.”
I looked away.
“Silvercrest decided I was simply defective.”
Mara’s mouth tightened.
“Whatever happened to you, I would not use that word again.”
The certainty in her voice unsettled me.
“Why?”
“Because dormant and absent are not the same thing.”
Before I could ask what she meant, someone knocked.
Rowan leaned into the room.
“Kael wants to know if she’s safe.”
Mara glanced at me.
“She is.”
Only after Rowan left did I realize Kael had sent his Beta to check on me.
I told myself it meant nothing.
When Mara finished, Rowan escorted me upstairs.
“You have a guest room.”
“Guest?”
“Kael’s word.”
“Not prisoner?”
Rowan stopped.
“If Kael says you can leave, you can leave.”
“You trust him that much?”
“With my life.”
He opened a door.
The room was larger than my bedroom in Silvercrest, with a fireplace and tall windows overlooking the town.
Fresh clothes rested on a chair.
“This is a guest room?”
“One of them.”
“Silvercrest really needs better propaganda.”
Rowan laughed and left.
I closed the door.
For the first time since the rejection, I was alone.
I sat on the bed and placed a hand over my stomach.
“We made it.”
Nyra stirred.
For tonight.
“You really know how to ruin a moment.”
A knock sounded.
“Who is it?”
“Kael.”
Of course.
I opened the door halfway.
He had changed into a black shirt and dark pants.
“What?”
He held out a folded paper.
“Something you should read.”
I took it.
Silvercrest’s official seal was stamped at the top.
My stomach dropped.
The message was short.
To Alpha Kael Blackthorn of Nightfall:
Aria Vale remains a registered member of the Silvercrest Pack. Her continued detention constitutes a violation of the Eastern Territory Accords. Silvercrest formally demands her return before sunrise.
Darius’s signature appeared below.
I read it twice.
“Detention?”
“I told them you came willingly.”
“He’s lying.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because a pack cannot legally demand the return of an adult who leaves voluntarily.”
I looked up.
“Then what happens?”
“At sunrise, Silvercrest will send representatives.”
“To take me?”
“To try.”
I stared at him.
“Can they?”
“That depends on whether you want to remain under Nightfall protection.”
“And if I do?”
“Tomorrow you stand before my council and request asylum.”
The word felt enormous.
“Asylum?”
“If granted, Silvercrest loses any legal claim to order your return.”
“And if your council refuses?”
Kael’s expression became unreadable.
“They won’t.”
“You sound certain.”
“I am.”
“Why?”
He straightened.
“Because I already told Ravencrest you were under my protection.”
His silver eyes held mine.
“And I don’t make promises I’m unwilling to defend.”
My heartbeat stumbled.
Kael turned away.
“Be ready at sunrise.”
“For what?”
He looked back.
“To decide whether you’re running from Silvercrest…”
His gaze dropped to the letter.
“…or choosing Nightfall.”
Then he walked away.
I closed the door slowly.
Nyra whispered inside me.
Choose carefully.
I stared at Darius’s demand.
At his signature.
At the words claiming I belonged to Silvercrest.
Then I tore the letter in half.
For the first time that night, my decision didn’t feel like escape.
It felt like war.
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