Chapter Two
1048 Words
Rowan moved before she thought.
That was the only reason she didn’t get taken immediately.
Kael reached for her arm.
She twisted out of it and drove her elbow toward his ribs.
He caught it.
Effortlessly.
That fact alone made something cold settle in her stomach.
Too strong.
Not normal strong.
Alpha strong.
His grip tightened for half a second—
then loosened immediately, like he’d realized what he was doing.
Like he was afraid of hurting her.
That hesitation saved him.
Rowan spun, blade back in her hand in a heartbeat.
Steel pressed under his jaw.
“Try that again,” she said quietly, “and I remove something you’ll miss.”
Behind him, two guards moved instantly.
Kael raised one hand without looking.
They stopped.
Obedient.
Again.
Rowan noticed everything.
She always did.
Kael’s eyes flicked down to the blade at his throat.
Then back to her face.
No fear.
Not even irritation.
Something worse.
Restraint.
“You’re fast,” he said.
Rowan almost laughed.
“That’s what you took from this?”
His gaze didn’t move.
“I took everything from this.”
The bond surged again.
Sharper this time.
More aggressive.
Like it was irritated by distance.
Rowan hated how her body reacted to it.
Her pulse didn’t feel like hers anymore.
Kael spoke more carefully now.
“I’m not here to fight you.”
“You’re doing a bad job of proving that.”
“You have to come with me.”
Rowan pressed the blade harder.
“Say that again.”
A pause.
Then—
“I cannot leave without you.”
That wasn’t a threat.
That was truth.
And somehow that made it worse.
Rowan’s grip tightened.
“Explain.”
Kael exhaled slowly.
For the first time, he looked like the weight of something larger had landed on him.
“I didn’t expect this,” he admitted.
“That much is obvious.”
His mouth twitched faintly.
Almost humor.
Almost.
“The bond,” he said.
Rowan went still.
Every instinct sharpened.
“Don’t.”
Kael’s gaze held hers.
“You feel it.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
A lie again.
Worse this time.
Because the bond reacted to it.
Warm.
Possessive.
Insulted.
Kael noticed.
Of course he did.
“It’s not something you can ignore,” he said.
“I’ve been ignoring it just fine.”
Another lie.
The forest around them felt tighter now.
Like it was closing in.
Kael lowered his voice slightly.
“I left my territory because I was told there was a possible diplomatic alliance here.”
Rowan blinked once.
“Congratulations.”
“And I found you instead.”
Her jaw tightened.
“That’s not my problem.”
“It is now.”
Silence.
The bond pulsed again.
Rowan hated how it kept trying to pull her toward him every time he spoke.
Kael’s expression shifted slightly.
Something more grounded now.
Decision forming.
“I need to take you to my pack,” he said.
“No.”
“It’s not optional.”
Rowan stepped forward instantly.
Blade pressing harder.
“Everything is optional.”
Kael looked at her for a long moment.
Then—
“Not this.”
The words hit differently.
Because he believed them.
And worse—
so did she.
A sound came from deeper in the trees.
Movement.
Cedar Ridge warriors.
Rowan’s pack.
They were coming.
Kael heard them too.
His expression changed instantly.
Strategic now.
Focused.
“You’ll be safe there,” he said.
Rowan scoffed.
“I am safe here.”
Kael’s eyes flicked to the incoming footsteps.
Then back to her.
“You won’t be safe if I leave without you.”
That made her pause.
Just slightly.
Because he wasn’t threatening her.
He was predicting.
And he sounded certain.
Rowan didn’t lower her blade.
But something in her posture shifted.
Kael noticed.
“Rowan,” he said again.
Softer this time.
Her name shouldn’t have affected her.
But it did.
The bond responded instantly.
Like it was listening for that sound.
The warriors broke through the treeline.
Weapons drawn.
Instantly tense.
“Rowan!” one of them shouted.
Kael didn’t move.
Didn’t reach for a weapon.
Just looked at her.
Like she was the only thing in the world worth focusing on.
That was a problem.
A serious one.
Rowan backed away slowly.
Blade still up.
“I don’t go anywhere,” she said to him, “because someone tells me to.”
Kael nodded once.
“I expected that.”
That surprised her.
He wasn’t arguing.
He wasn’t pushing.
Just accepting.
Which was worse.
“Then we’ll change how you see it,” he said.
Rowan narrowed her eyes.
“We?”
Kael didn’t answer immediately.
Then—
“Yes.”
The bond pulsed again.
Hard.
Finalizing something neither of them understood yet.
Rowan lowered her blade just slightly.
Not trust.
Not acceptance.
Calculation.
Because something about this wasn’t just political.
It wasn’t just dangerous.
It was irreversible.
Kael stepped back first.
Reluctantly.
Like leaving her was physically difficult.
“I’ll return,” he said.
For a moment he looked almost guilty.
Rowan scoffed.
“Don’t bother.”
His gaze lingered on her for one more second.
Long enough to feel like a promise.
Then he turned.
And left.
The moment Kael disappeared beyond the tree line, Rowan released a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.
Good riddance.
"Liar."
Rowan groaned internally. "Not now, Nyra."
The wolf's amusement brushed against her mind. "You felt it."
"I felt a stranger walk into my life and turn it upside down."
"You felt our mate."
Rowan crossed her arms tighter over her chest. "He's arrogant. Pushy. He didn't even ask what I wanted."
Nyra hummed thoughtfully. "And yet you watched him until he was out of sight."
Heat crept into Rowan's cheeks.
"That means nothing."
"It means everything."
Rowan stubbornly fixed her gaze on the distant mountains.
"He acts like he's perfect."
"Perhaps."
"He's impossible."
"He's ours."
A painful tug pulled through Rowan's chest at the thought.
"He said he'd come back."
"And you told him not to bother."
A smile crept into Nyra's voice.
"He'll come back anyway."
Rowan hated that the thought made her heart beat just a little faster.
- Writer
