Chapter 4
1978 Words
By the time Lila reached the Alpha's residence, the sun had climbed high enough to warm the stone road beneath her boots, and she had imagined this moment all morning, but standing before the tall iron gates, she found herself less afraid than angry.
Two guards crossed their spears in front of her, and the older guard didn't move.
“I'm here to see Kael.”
“The Alpha isn't receiving visitors,” the older guard said, and Lila stared at him without stepping back.
“He'll receive me.”
“Lila, you need to leave.”
“Did he tell you that?”
The guard's silence answered her, and Lila stepped closer to the gate, her voice turning colder as she said, “Then let me ask him myself.”
The younger guard shifted uncomfortably. “We can't let you through.”
“Why?”
Neither guard answered, so Lila's patience thinned as she said, “Yesterday, your Alpha rejected me in front of the entire pack, and today, I'm asking for five minutes of his time, if he doesn't want to speak to me, he can say it himself.”
The older guard looked away, and that small movement told her enough.
Kael had known she would come, he simply didn't want to see her.
The realization should have hurt, but instead, it made something inside her harden.
“Fine,” Lila said, “then tell him I came.”
“We will.”
She turned away from the gates, and she had taken only three steps when a burst of laughter came from beyond the stone wall.
Lila stopped.
She knew that laugh, Kael.
Her body reacted before her mind did, her wolf lifted its head, and the damaged bond pulled sharply against her chest.
He's there.
Lila slowly turned back, but the gates were still closed, and the laughter came again, followed by a woman's voice.
It wasn't a voice Lila recognized, the sound was light and warm, and Kael answered with another quiet laugh.
Lila's fingers tightened.
“He's not alone,” she said.
The guards said nothing.
She looked at them. “Who is with him?”
The younger guard opened his mouth, then stopped, while the older one sighed.
“Lila, just go home.”
That was all she needed.
She walked along the outer wall until she found a narrow opening between the trees, and from there, she could see part of the private courtyard beyond the residence.
Kael stood near the stone fountain, having changed out of his training clothes into a dark shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows, his posture relaxed and nothing like the rigid Alpha who had stood before the pack the night before.
A woman stood beside him, and Lila had never seen her before.
She was beautiful, with long dark hair falling over her shoulders and a pale dress fitted perfectly to her slender figure, while a silver Beta crest rested at her collar, marking her rank clearly.
The woman said something, and Kael smiled.
Lila's breath caught.
She had spent years collecting every rare smile Kael gave her, remembering each one as if it were something precious, and she had never seen him smile at her like that.
Her wolf went quiet.
Lila stayed behind the trees, watching, and the woman reached out and brushed a leaf from Kael's shoulder.
He didn't move away.
Lila's stomach twisted.
She should leave, she knew she should, but instead she stood there, unable to tear her eyes away.
The woman said, “You should have told me sooner.”
Kael's expression changed slightly. “I didn't want you involved.”
“You always say that.”
There was familiarity between them, too much familiarity.
Lila's chest tightened, and she remembered Kael's words from the night before.
You're too weak.
She remembered the way he had looked at her, as if the bond meant nothing, and now she understood one thing clearly.
He hadn't been struggling because he didn't know what to do, he had already made his choice.
The Beta woman glanced toward the trees, and Lila stepped back quickly.
A branch snapped beneath her heel.
Kael's head turned, and their eyes met through the gap in the leaves.
Lila froze.
For a second, neither of them moved, then Kael's smile disappeared.
“Lila?”
The Beta woman followed his gaze.
Kael took one step toward the trees, but Lila didn't wait.
She turned and walked away.
“Lila, wait.”
His voice followed her, but she kept going.
The bond tugged violently at her chest when he came closer, but she refused to turn around, her wolf wanting to stop and run back toward him while Lila forced herself forward.
“Lila.”
This time, Kael sounded sharper, and she stopped.
Slowly, she turned around, finding Kael standing several feet away with the Beta woman behind him.
“What are you doing here?”
Lila almost laughed. “I came to see you.”
“You should have stayed away.”
Her expression changed. “That's what you wanted?”
“Yes.”
The answer came too quickly, and Lila looked at the woman behind him.
“Who is she?”
Kael's jaw tightened. “That's none of your business.”
Lila stared at him, remembering how yesterday he had told her she wasn't worthy, while today he was standing beside another woman and refusing to explain.
Something about the whole situation felt wrong, but she couldn't prove anything.
The Beta woman stepped forward. “Kael, I'll leave.”
“No.”
The single word came from him immediately.
Lila's eyes dropped to his hand, and the Beta woman smiled faintly.
“It's fine, I'll see you tonight.”
Tonight.
The word lodged in Lila's chest.
Kael looked at her. “Don't misunderstand.”
Lila gave him a flat look. “I'm not misunderstanding anything.”
“You're assuming.”
“Then explain.”
He went silent, and Lila waited.
The Beta woman glanced between them, then quietly walked toward the residence.
Kael didn't stop her this time.
Lila watched her disappear through the doors before looking back at him.
“Is she the reason you rejected me?”
Kael's face hardened. “No.”
“Then what is?”
“Lila.”
“Don't say my name like that.”
He stopped.
She took a breath. “I've known you since we were children, yesterday, you told the entire pack you didn't want me, you said I was too weak, then I come here today and find you laughing with another woman.”
Kael's expression remained controlled.
“You don't understand the situation.”
“Then make me understand.”
“I can't.”
Lila stared at him.
“Can't?”
He looked away.
That hurt more than she wanted it to.
“Or you won't?”
Kael didn't answer, and Lila nodded slowly.
“Right.”
She turned.
“Where are you going?”
“Home.”
“You came here for an answer.”
“I did.”
“And?”
Lila looked over her shoulder. “And you just gave me one.”
Kael frowned.
“You don't want me to know the truth,” she said, “so I'll stop asking.”
She started walking again, but Kael caught her wrist.
Lila stopped instantly.
His hand was warm around her skin, and the bond surged, her wolf reacting so strongly that her knees almost weakened.
Kael felt it too.
His grip loosened.
Lila looked down at his hand.
“Let go.”
He didn't.
“Lila…”
“Let go.”
Something in her voice made him release her, and she pulled her wrist back before stepping away.
For the first time, Kael looked uncertain.
Lila noticed, and so did her wolf.
He feels it.
She refused to listen.
“What?”
Kael stared at her.
“You shouldn't have come here.”
Lila's eyes burned. “I know.”
She turned and walked away before he could say anything else.
This time, he didn't follow.
She didn't look back.
The farther she walked from the residence, the more the bond settled into a dull ache, and the pain was still there, but she could breathe again.
She reached the edge of the forest before stopping, her hands shaking as she pressed them against her sides.
Why had seeing him with another woman hurt so much?
She had been rejected, and she should have expected him to have someone else.
Yet the image of that woman touching his shoulder wouldn't leave her mind, neither would Kael's smile.
Lila closed her eyes, and her wolf shifted restlessly.
She wants him.
“I don't know that.”
You saw her.
“I saw them talking.”
He let her touch him.
Lila's jaw tightened. “That doesn't mean anything.”
But even as she said it, she knew she didn't believe herself.
She returned to the cottage before dark, and she didn't light the lamp, instead sitting beside the window and watching the last light disappear over the trees.
The wooden wolf from the night before was still inside the chest beneath her bed, and Lila thought about taking it out.
She didn't.
She had spent too many years holding onto things that belonged to a version of Kael who no longer existed, the boy who stole apples with her, the boy who carried her home, the boy who promised he would always come back.
Maybe that boy had never promised her anything at all.
Maybe she had simply built a future around memories that Kael had already left behind.
A knock sounded at the door, and Lila didn't move.
Another knock came.
She stood reluctantly and opened it.
Mara was there again, holding a bowl of soup, and Lila's face tightened when Mara said, “I heard you went to the Alpha's residence.”
“People talk fast.”
“They always do.”
Mara handed her the bowl, and Lila accepted it.
“Did you see him?”
“Yes.”
Mara studied her expression. “And?”
Lila looked down at the soup.
“He doesn't want me.”
Mara was quiet for a moment. “Did he say that?”
Lila remembered his hand around her wrist, his hesitation, and the way his expression had changed when the bond reacted.
“No,” she said softly, “he didn't.”
Mara frowned. “Then don't decide what he feels for him.”
Lila looked up. “He already decided what I am.”
“And what did he decide?”
Lila swallowed. “That I'm too weak.”
Mara's expression softened, but Lila shook her head before she could speak.
“Don't tell me he's wrong.”
“Why?”
“Because I don't know if he is.”
Mara sighed. “You're allowed to be hurt, Lila, just don't turn his words into your identity.”
Lila lowered her eyes.
After Mara left, she carried the soup to the table and ate in silence, and that night, she made a decision.
She wouldn't go back to the Alpha's residence.
She wouldn't chase Kael through the pack.
She wouldn't ask about the beautiful Beta beside him.
If Kael wanted her out of his life, she would give him exactly that.
But before she could sleep, the bond suddenly tightened.
Lila sat upright, a sharp pulse running through her chest as her wolf raised its head.
He's close.
Lila froze.
Outside her cottage, footsteps stopped, then came a knock.
Three slow knocks.
Lila stared at the door.
A man's voice came from the other side.
“Lila. Open the door.”
She knew that voice.
Kael had come to her cottage.
And this time, he was alone.
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