CHAPTER FIVE HIS TRUTH
1124 Words
Kael stood on the balcony of the penthouse he had rented across from her college, hands gripping the railing so tightly his knuckles whitened. The city lights glimmered below, but he didn’t see them.
He felt only the ache of lost years, the weight of every day he had spent wondering if she had survived, if their child had survived, if they had ever known how much he had loved them.
He remembered the night he had left.
The pack had cornered him, teeth bared, eyes blazing with hatred. “Human mate. Omega. Punishable,” they had said.
And he had chosen survival. He had chosen life. But the cost he was made to pay had been unbearable, too unbearable.
He clenched his jaw. He had returned stronger, wealthier, more dangerous, a terror to those who sent him away. But that had never been enough to erase the guilt that had festered inside him for years.
And now she was here. Safe. Alive. But angry. Hurt. Wary. And still, she was his mate.
The wolf inside him howled, a deep, feral echo of longing.
He knew he had to speak. He had to explain.
Rachel sat at a small table in the college café, her notebook open but untouched. Her son had gone with Tara to run an errand, leaving her a sliver of quiet she could barely enjoy.
Her thoughts, as always, wandered to him. Kael. The man who had waltzed back into her life and refused to leave her alone, no matter how she pushed.
Why couldn’t she forget him?
Her chest tightened at the memory of his words on her doorstep, the vow to spend his life earning the right to love her again. The wolf-mark burned faintly at her pulse, a reminder of the bond that refused to die. She hated it. She hated him. She hated how much she still felt for him.
And yet, her curiosity won. She wanted answers. Needed them badly.
She found herself dialing the number Kael had left in Tara’s care, her fingers trembling. When he answered, his voice was low, calm, but with an edge of tension she had never heard before.
“Rachel,” he said softly. “We need to talk. Tonight. Just me and you, please.”
Her heart thumped. “Why?”
“Because there are things you don’t know. Things you need to hear, from me.”
She swallowed. “Fine. Where?”
“The old warehouse by the river. Midnight.”
Her stomach twisted, but she agreed.
The warehouse smelled of rust, dust and old engine oil. Kael leaned against a steel beam, eyes fixed on her as she approached, every step tentative and wary.
“You could’ve stayed home,” he said softly, almost pleading.
“And miss this? Not a chance,” she replied, folding her arms. “Just tell me what you want, Kael.”
He exhaled, shoulders sagging. “I left because I had no choice, Rachel. Our pack... they would have killed you. They would have killed our child.”
Her eyes widened. “You think I didn’t know that?” Her tone was of annoyance.
“You don’t understand.” His voice broke. “I couldn’t protect you as I was. I had to survive. I had to become someone powerful enough to come back for you. Every day I left, I died a little inside.”
Tears pricked her eyes. “You left anyway. You left me. You left all your promises and vows and your child!”
He stepped closer, his presence overwhelming. “I couldn’t stay and fight as an Omega. I would have died and taken you and the baby with me. Leaving was the only way I could come back alive to save you both.”
Her chest tightened. She wanted to hate him. She wanted to walk out of this warehouse, convinced she was right and he was a terrible person. But her wolf stirred, aching. Her own heart had betrayed her.
“I… I don’t know if I can forgive you,” she whispered.
“I don’t deserve forgiveness,” he said quietly. “I only deserve the chance to make it right.”
Kael reached for her hand, hesitant. She didn’t pull away but didn’t take it either.
“I have haunted every dream you didn’t know I haunted,” he admitted, voice low, ragged with emotion. “Every day you survived without me, I felt every second as a wound. I am not perfect. I am… broken. And I know you are too. But together… maybe we can be whole again.”
Her breath hitched. “Do you even know what it’s like to survive alone? To fear for your life and your child’s life every single day?”
“I do,” he whispered. “Every night I dreamed of being strong enough to come back for you. And now I am. And I will protect you until my last breath.”
The intensity of his gaze pinned her to the spot. His wolf growled low, almost imperceptibly, but it vibrated through her chest. Her body knew the truth before her mind did: she was his mate. Always had been. Always would be.
Her knees weakened. She swallowed, heart hammering. “Kael… I don’t know if I can go through this again. I don’t think I...”
He stepped closer, close enough that his breath brushed her ear. “Then don’t think. Feel. Let me show you. Please"
Kael’s hands found her shoulders, trembling slightly, not with fear, but with the sheer weight of holding everything he had lost and hoped to reclaim.
“I am not asking you to love me again tonight,” he said softly, eyes burning into hers. “I am asking you to believe in me. To believe I will never leave you again. That I will give my life for you and our child… because I have already given you my soul.”
Her wolf surged. The pull was undeniable. The mark throbbed. Her breath quickened.
“I… I can’t promise anything,” she said, voice breaking. “Not yet.”
He lowered his forehead to hers. “Then I’ll wait. I’ll wait a lifetime if I have to. Because losing you once was enough to kill me. I will never survive losing you again.”
The air around them seemed to hum with tension, wolf, human, heart, and soul interwoven in a silent plea.
She closed her eyes, leaning into him just enough to feel the warmth, the strength, the unbearable longing.
And for the first time in six years, Kael felt hope bloom like a flower in his chest. Real, fragile, breathtaking hope.
- Writer
