Chapter 4: The Aftermath
979 Words
At that moment I wish the earth would just swallow me whole, this can not be!
I slipped away before he could see me.
I ran straight into my chambers and fell face first into my bed, burying my face into the sheets as though I could smother the truth there. My chest rose and fell in frantic waves, the memory of his touch still clinging to my skin, hot and unrelenting.
It wasn’t just anyone I had given myself to last night.
It was him.
Kael.
Kael Blackthorn.
Black f*****g thorn!
I didn't know his first name was kael!
The enemy Alpha. The shadow my father cursed at council meetings, the name our soldiers spit like venom, the man whose pack had painted our borders in blood.
And I had let him inside me.
“Oh Aria! What have I done?”.
A strangled sound tore from my throat. My body shook with the weight of it, a storm of disbelief and betrayal—and yet beneath it all, the sharp sting of longing. My wolf wasn’t ashamed. She prowled at the edges of my mind, restless, insistent.
I forced myself upright, clawing at my clothes as if I could scrape him from my skin. But when my shawl slipped from my shoulder and I caught sight of my reflection, everything inside me went still.
There, etched into my flesh just below my collarbone, glowed a faint silver crescent.
The bond mark.
“No…” My voice cracked as I stumbled back. I touched it with shaking fingers and it burned hotter, a searing pulse that answered me with undeniable truth.
Mate.
The word came from my wolf, deep and certain, curling through me like wildfire.
Tears blurred my vision. “Not him. Anyone but him. Please!”
But the more I denied it, the louder she grew. Her growl reverberated in my bones, her claws scraping at my insides. He is ours.
I clutched the fabric back over the mark, heart thundering. No one could ever know. Not my parents, not the elders… not the man they’d chosen to bind me to in marriage.
Especially not Kael. Definitely not Kael.
I collapsed onto the bed again, staring up at the ceiling as the memories of last night washed over me—his hands gripping my waist, the heat of his mouth against my neck, the way he whispered my name like it was a secret he wanted to keep forever. The way he felt inside of me, full and hard. Like he knew exactly what he was doing. Like he had learned my body before hand.
My wolf howled in the back of my mind, wild and yearning.
And I hated myself because even through the fear and shame, I wanted him still.
By morning, I hadn’t slept a single breath. The mark still burned, glowing faintly against my skin. My wolf still paced, restless. And the bond between us hummed like a song I couldn’t silence.
And somewhere in the distance, across the forests and borders, I swore I could still feel him.
Kael.
A knock at my door tore me out of my spiraling thoughts.
It was my mother.
“Aira, darling. Is everything okay?”
My blood froze.
I scrambled off the bed, tugging at my sleeve in a frantic rush to hide the glowing bond mark etched against my skin. It pulsed faintly beneath the surface, mocking me with its reminder of him. Of Kael Blackthorn.
“Yes, Mother,” I called back, forcing cheer into my voice, though it cracked like brittle glass. “I’m fine.”
But my reflection in the mirror betrayed me. My lips were swollen from his kisses, my hair a tangled halo of the night before. I looked like a girl who had been ruined by passion. A girl who had belonged—just for one night—to the enemy.
The door creaked open before I could compose myself fully, and there she was, stepping into my chamber with that motherly gaze that could see through lies as easily as fog.
Her eyes softened. “Aria,” she said gently, “you look pale. Did something happen at the festival?”
I swallowed hard, tugging my sleeve down lower. “No. I was just… tired. The moon was so bright last night, I hardly slept.”
It was a poor excuse, but it was all I had.
She reached out to tuck a stray strand of hair behind my ear, her touch tender. “You’ve been under so much pressure, darling. With Damien…”
I flinched at the name. My mother didn’t notice, but my wolf inside me stirred, restless and snarling. The bond mark pulsed again, as if reminding me: Not Damien. Kael.
The secret pressed against my ribs like a blade, but I forced a smile and nodded. “I’ll be okay, Mother. I promise.”
Her eyes lingered on me for a moment longer, suspicion flickering there, before she finally sighed and turned toward the door. “Rest, my love. Tonight, the council meets. Your father will want you to sit by Damien’s side.”
As the door clicked shut, my smile crumbled, leaving only the weight of truth crushing me.
A night of untamed passion was about to cost me everything. I could never come to my mother with something like this.
My father the alpha would vanish me if he finds out.
And this mark, oh this mark!
How do I get rid of it? My wolf gnarled on my insides.
How long can I hide it until the body is complete. Part of me is happy I'm not Damien’s mate
I feel nothing but disgust towards him.
How could I sit beside Damien when my body still remembered Kael Blackthorn’s hands?
And worse—how could I ever forget?
- Writer
