CHAPTER FOUR 'Blood on The Threshold.
1201 Words
*Aria’s POV*
“Is that the bad man?”
Kai’s voice from the closet sliced through me. Roman’s smile went feral.
“Oh, he’s smart,” Roman said, rolling his shoulders. The two shadows behind him stepped into my kitchen. Betas. Big. Scarred. “Hears like an Alpha already. Shame he won’t live to see his first shift.”
Kieran moved. One second he was in front of me. The next he was a blur of claws and rage, slamming Roman back through the broken window. Glass and blood hit the fire escape.
“Run!” Kieran roared at me without looking back. “Take them and RUN!”
I didn’t run. I dove for the closet.
Kai had Kade pinned behind him, both of them pressed to the back wall. Kade was shaking, eyes flickering silver-to-blue-to-silver. He was trying to shift. At _five_. If he did, his heart would stop.
“Hey. Hey, baby, look at me,” I cupped Kade’s face. “No wolf. Not yet. You’re okay. Mommy’s got you.”
“But the bad man smells like Daddy,” Kai whispered. He was staring at the door, not scared. _Furious_. “Why does he smell like Daddy but wrong?”
Because they were both Lycans. Because Roman was Kieran’s cousin. Because blood meant nothing to thrones.
The apartment shook. A body hit the wall in the living room. Kieran’s growl vibrated the floorboards.
“Kai, listen,” I said, fast. “You remember the plan? The bad-dream plan?”
Both boys nodded. We’d practiced. Fire drills. Intruder drills. _Alpha drills_. I hated myself for it.
“Bathroom window. Alley. Mrs. Chen’s bakery. Code word ‘midnight’. Go.”
“What about you?” Kade’s lip wobbled.
“Mommy will be right behind you.” The lie tasted like ash.
Another crash. Then silence.
Too much silence.
“Kieran?” I called before I could stop myself.
He stumbled back into the hallway. Blood on his shirt. His, not Roman’s. One of the Betas was down behind him, neck at a wrong angle. The other one and Roman were gone.
“Windows,” Kieran panted. “They went for the—”
The bathroom window exploded inward.
Roman came through like a bullet, heading straight for the closet. For my sons.
Time slowed.
I threw myself between him and the door. No claws. No wolf. Just 120 pounds of human doctor and five years of rage.
“You don’t touch them,” I screamed.
Roman backhanded me. I flew into the dresser. Pain burst behind my eyes.
“MOMMY!” Kade shrieked.
That’s when it happened.
The air pressure dropped. The lightbulbs blew. And Kai stepped out of the closet.
He wasn’t five anymore.
Not really.
His eyes were solid silver. His baby canines were half an inch longer. And the growl that came out of his chest wasn’t a child’s. It was _Lycan_.
“Don’t. Touch. My. Mom.”
Roman froze. Even he knew what he was seeing.
“Impossible,” he breathed. “Full Alpha manifestation at five. The Grid was right. He’s not just an heir. He’s—”
“MINE,” Kieran snarled, materializing between Roman and Kai.
He didn’t attack. He did something worse.
He _released_ his power.
The King’s Aura hit the room like a bomb. My knees hit the carpet. Roman staggered. The Beta at the window collapsed, choking on air.
Even Kai whimpered and dropped to his knees, hands over his ears.
Kieran looked down at him. And for one second, the King vanished. There was just a father watching his son in pain because of _him_.
He reeled the Aura back in.
“Sorry, pup,” he whispered. It was wrecked. “Daddy didn’t mean to.”
_Daddy._
Kai looked up, silver fading back to ice-blue. “You… you are my daddy?”
Kieran dropped to his knees too. Blood, glass, and death all around. But he only had eyes for Kai. He reached out, hand shaking. Stopped an inch from Kai’s cheek. Like he was afraid to touch.
“Yeah,” he said. Voice broken. “Yeah, Kai. I’m your daddy. I’m sorry I’m late.”
Kade peeked from the closet, still clutching his stuffed wolf. “Do… do we both have a daddy now?”
That’s what did it. What broke the Lycan King of North America.
A tear cut through the blood on Kieran’s face. “You’ve always had a daddy, Kade. He was just too stupid to be here.”
Roman used the moment. He lunged, claws out, not for Kieran. For _Kade_.
I screamed.
Kieran moved. But he wasn’t going to be fast enough.
Kai was.
Kai threw himself at Roman’s legs with a snarl. No training. No sense. Just pure, suicidal Alpha instinct to protect pack.
Roman went down. Kai went with him.
“NO!” Kieran and I screamed together.
Kieran got there first. He grabbed Roman by the throat and _squeezed_. Bones crunched. “You touched my son,” he said, quiet. Deadly. “No one touches my sons.”
He broke Roman Volkov’s neck.
The Beta at the window bolted.
Silence. Then Kade crying. Then Kai, scrambling up, hands bloody. Not his blood. Roman’s.
“Did I do good, Daddy?” Kai asked, looking up at Kieran. Blood on his Spider-Man pajamas. “Did I protect Mom and Kade?”
Kieran pulled him into his chest and held him. Just held him. “You did perfect, Kai. You’re the bravest Alpha I’ve ever seen.”
He looked at me over Kai’s head. “But we need to go. Now. That Beta will bring the whole Volkov line. And the Council.”
I couldn’t move. Adrenaline crash. Pain. Shock. My five-year-old just _manifested_ and _attacked a rogue King_.
Kieran was in front of me. He wiped blood off my cheek with his thumb. Gentle. So gentle it hurt worse than Roman’s hit.
“I know you hate me,” he said. “I know I deserve it. But right now, you’re my fated mate. They’re my heirs. And I’m the only thing between you and a Council execution order.”
He pulled out his phone. Dialed one number. “Ready the jet,” he told whoever answered. “Full pack lockdown. Protocol Alpha-Mate. I’m bringing her home.”
He hung up and looked at me. Not a King. Not an Alpha. Just… desperate.
“Aria. Five years ago I rejected you to save my pack. Today I’m choosing you to save my _family_.” His eyes burned. “Come back to Wyoming. Let me mark you. Let me make you Luna. It’s the only way the Council can’t take the boys from us.”
He held out his hand. Covered in his enemies’ blood.
“But you have to choose,” he said. “Right now. Because if you don’t, Roman’s death is on me, and they’ll execute me for treason. And if I die, the boys die an hour later. That’s the law.”
From the closet, Kade whispered: “Mommy? Are we gonna die?”
Kieran’s hand didn’t shake.
“Choose, Aria. Hate me later. But choose now.
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