Kael’s POV
Something inside me shifted when I marked her.
I could taste her on my tongue—hot, sweet, addictive, and layered in magic I had no business in being able to sense. The world should have felt triumphant, but instead it seemed like it was trembling beneath my feet. The timid little girl who used to quake in my presence now bore the chains that bound my soul.
Avy.
Her name was a growl in my throat and a whisper in my chest.
I was in the war room, maps all around me and warriors in place, but all I could see was the cloth of fire in her eyes as she murmured the words, “You’ll never own me.” That wasn't fear. It was on fire. And it scared the living s**t out of me.
“Alpha Kael.” Beta Riven cut in, his voice uncertain. “The girl — your mate, she’s asking you to leave her alone.
