Chapter Five
1112 Words
The tension snapped like a drawn bowstring.
Before anyone could move, Kael stepped down from the dais. His presence was a storm, every movement deliberate, unhurried, terrifying in its calm.
“I do not fear death,” he said, voice low but carrying through the entire hall. “But you know as well as I do, my King, kill me, and the curse breaks loose. The Moon’s wrath will fall on your throne before my body even hits the ground.”
A hush fell.
The King’s expression shifted, not fear, exactly, but calculation. Behind him, his council stirred uneasily. Everyone knew the stories. The curse that chained Kael to the King’s bloodline. If one fell by the other’s hand, the Moon’s vengeance would destroy the pack.
Kael stopped a few steps from the throne, head bowed slightly, just enough to honor rank, not submission. “You would risk that,” he murmured, “over a servant who didn’t choose this?”
The King’s jaw tightened. His voice came out like ice. “Watch your tongue, Kael.”
“Then watch your threats,” Kael said. “Because I don’t take kindly to them.”
Every breath in the room held still. The wolves glanced between them, their king and his Blade, unsure which one to fear more.
Then, after what felt like forever, the King sank back into his throne. “Fine,” he bit out. “Let the Priestess finish her reading. But know this, Kael — you are walking a line that you cannot control.”
Kael gave a small, humorless smile. “Control was never my gift.”
The King waved a hand dismissively. “Take her away. I don’t want that human in my sight.”
Mistress Venn’s fingers clamped around my arm instantly, but before she could drag me off, Kael’s voice cut through the air again.
“She stays under my watch.”
Every head turned. Even the Priestess looked startled.
The King rose halfway, fury darkening his features. “You would keep her, here?”
“She’s my mate,” Kael said, each word slow and precise, like a blade sinking in. “If the Moon chose her, she belongs in my quarters until the truth is clear.”
My heart stopped.
His mate?
No, no, no, this couldn’t be happening.
Mistress Venn’s nails dug into my arm as if to warn me not to speak, but my body trembled so hard I thought my knees would give out.
The King’s voice thundered, echoing across the hall. “You bring shame on our kind! You’d bring a human into your den?”
Kael’s answer was quiet — far too quiet. “Would you defy the Moon twice in one day?”
The silence that followed felt endless.
Finally, the King exhaled sharply through his nose, his fury barely leashed. “Very well. Take her. But if she endangers this pack, if she’s even suspected of deceit, I will burn her where she stands.”
Kael inclined his head once. “Understood.”
His gaze flicked toward me then — not soft, not kind, but steady. “Come.”
I didn’t move. Couldn’t.
He turned back to the King. “She’s afraid,” he said flatly. “I’ll fix that.”
Something in his tone — low, rough, possessive — sent another chill racing down my spine.
The King’s voice rose one last time, sharp as a whip. “Do not forget your place, Kael. You serve me, curse or no curse. One more act of defiance, and I’ll have the Priestess unbind your soul myself.”
Kael didn’t answer. He simply turned and started walking away, his cloak sweeping behind him.
For a heartbeat, no one moved.
Then Mistress Venn shoved me forward. “Go,” she hissed. “Before you make it worse.”
I stumbled after him, legs weak, the echo of my footsteps too loud in the silent hall. I could feel the stares burning into my back, wolves glaring, whispering, hating.
Kael didn’t slow down. His strides were long, confident, like the entire world bowed to his shadow. I tried to keep up, clutching my torn apron to my chest, afraid to breathe too loudly.
When we finally stepped through the great doors, the cold night air hit my face, sharp and real.
The massive doors slammed shut behind us.
The noise made me flinch.
Kael stopped walking then. For the first time, he turned to look at me. The torchlight carved hard lines across his face, beautiful and cruel all at once.
“You shouldn’t be afraid,” he said, his voice low.
I didn’t believe him. My voice trembled. “Why… why did you defend me?”
His eyes darkened, unreadable. “Because the Moon doesn’t make mistakes.”
“I’m not your kind,” I whispered. “I’m not even—”
“I know what you are,” he cut in. “And that’s exactly why this bond shouldn’t exist.”
“Then why—”
He stepped closer, his shadow swallowing mine. “Because I can’t ignore it.”
The space between us crackled, the same invisible pull that had burned through the hall still humming faintly between our hearts.
I took a step back, breath shaking. “What’s going to happen to me?”
Kael looked away, toward the distant mountains beyond the castle walls. “That depends,” he said quietly, “on whether you survive what’s coming.”
Then he walked ahead, leaving me frozen beneath the torches, the words sinking into my bones like ice.
And for the first time, I realized this wasn’t just a bond.
It was a sentence.
My hands were cold, my palms clammy. I still didn’t understand what had happened. Hours ago, I was a servant, invisible, replaceable. Now, I was walking behind the most feared man in the kingdom, and everyone who saw us looked like they were staring at a ghost.
Kael stopped in front of a pair of tall black doors engraved with silver markings. He pushed them open without effort and stepped inside.
I hesitated at the threshold.
The room was vast, larger than the servant quarters, ten times over. There was a fireplace at one end, the flames low and blue. Weapons lined the walls in careful, deliberate order. A fur rug sprawled across the floor, and a heavy scent of steel, smoke, and something darker, him, filled the air.
“Come in,” he said, without turning.
His voice was quiet, but it left no room for hesitation.
I stepped inside. The doors shut behind me with a deep, final sound.
- Writer
