The Alpha’s Secret
787 Words
The walls of Kael’s mansion were colder than stone, yet Nina swore they pulsed with secrets. The silence was never silence; it was filled with whispers, with footsteps that stopped when she turned her head, with the weight of a hundred golden eyes that weren’t hers pressing down on her shoulders.
She had thought being forced here was the worst of it. But tonight, she realized—this place breathed with a life of its own. A hostile, suffocating one.
Nina pulled her thin shawl tighter around her arms as she crept down the hall, her bare feet brushing the icy wood. She hadn’t meant to leave her room. She had told herself she’d never go snooping through enemy territory. And yet, here she was, drawn by voices that cut through the silence like blades.
A door was ajar near the end of the corridor. Torchlight spilled from the crack, flickering and alive. She froze, golden eyes narrowing. Kael’s voice slid out, sharp and low, carrying more than words. Command. Regret. Frustration.
Her heart thudded.
She shouldn’t listen. She should turn back. But something in her gut whispered—This matters.
So Nina pressed her back against the wall and leaned, just enough to let the words reach her.
“…you think I wanted this union?” Kael’s tone was low, but the edge in it was sharper than steel. “You think I chose her, Kane?”
Nina’s breath caught. Kane. So that was the Beta’s name.
The second voice was rougher, older perhaps, carrying the calm of someone who had walked through storms and survived. “Then why accept it? Why let the Elders trap you? If you didn’t want her, you should’ve rejected the decree outright.”
Kael’s reply came after a beat of silence, and for the first time since she’d met him, his voice trembled—barely, but enough. “You think I don’t wish I had? Every damn day, Kane. But the bond…” His voice cracked, before hardening again. “The bond doesn’t give me a choice.”
Nina pressed a hand to her mouth, her chest twisting. The mate bond. He felt it too.
Her wolf stirred inside her, restless, I told you so.
Kael continued, quieter now. “If I fight it, I lose myself. You know what happens when a bond is broken. You’ve seen it before.”
Kane didn’t answer right away. The silence stretched, thick and heavy. Then, finally: “And she doesn’t know.”
“No,” Kael said. “She mustn’t.”
Nina’s breath stilled in her throat.
She mustn’t know? Know what? That he didn’t want her? That he felt chained to her? Or something worse—something he wasn’t saying?
Her nails dug crescents into her palms, fury rising hot against her ribs. He could stand in front of her, cold as stone, arrogant as hell, pretending none of this meant anything—while secretly he was being torn apart by the very same bond strangling her?
Her mind spun, emotions tangled and ugly. Part of her wanted to storm into that room, throw his words back in his face, demand the truth. Another part of her—darker, quieter—whispered to wait, to listen, to learn more.
Kane’s voice cut through her thoughts. “Then what happens when she finds out? You can’t keep it hidden forever, Kael.”
Kael’s reply came sharp and final. “She can never find out. Not until it’s too late to matter.”
Nina’s chest caved in on itself.
Her wolf snarled, pacing inside her like fire. He’s lying to you. He’s keeping something buried.
Her legs trembled as she pushed back from the wall, retreating soundlessly into the dark corridor. She didn’t know where she was going, didn’t care. Her pulse pounded like drums in her ears. Her breaths came short and broken.
She hated him. She hated him for binding her to this prison, for pretending to be untouchable, for hiding whatever ugly secret chained him to her.
And worst of all—she hated herself for caring.
⸻
The night stretched long, but sleep never came. Nina lay on her bed staring at the ceiling, every word echoing back like poison. She mustn’t know. Not until it’s too late.
Too late for what?
By dawn, her resolve was set like iron. If Kael thought he could keep secrets, he was wrong. She would find out what he was hiding, no matter what it cost.
Because if there was one thing Nina had learned from being forced into this mess—it was that the worst enemy wasn’t always outside the walls.
Sometimes, it was the man you were fated to.
- Writer
