Chapter five
749 Words
Amara pov
I wake up to the sun shinning through the window
For a moment, I don’t move. I stay perfectly still in the chair, my spine stiff, my neck aching.
The bed is empty.
My heart skips a beat.
I scan the room, my heart racing then I see him.
Prince Kael stands by the window, fully dressed, arms crossed behind his back. He isn’t looking at me.
He’s looking outside.
“You sleep lightly,” he says without turning.
I swallow. “You weren’t asleep.”
“No.”
Something in the way he says it makes my skin crawl
I stand slowly.
“What do you want from me?” I ask.
“You already know,” he says. “But you’ll understand it better tonight.”
That’s all he tells me.
The door opens behind me. Servants enter quietly, eyes downcast, as if afraid to look at either of us.
“Prepare her,” Kael orders. “She eats with me.”
I open my mouth to protest
He looks at me.
Just one look.
And the words die in my throat.
Just a long table, a single candle between us, and silence that one could hear a needle if it fell
Kael eats calmly.Like me being here happened everyday
I barely touched my food.
Halfway through the meal, the doors open.
An older man enters grey-haired, thin, carrying a leather folder pressed tightly to his chest. He bows deeply to Kael.
“My prince.”
Kael replies “You may proceed.”
The man walks toward me instead.
My stomach tightens.
He places the folder on the table in front of me and opens it.
A marriage certificate.
My hands start shaking.
“This is a formality,” the man says quietly. “Your signature is required.”
I look up at Kael. “You said tonight was the ceremony.”
“It is,” Kael replies calmly. “This makes it legal.”
“I didn’t agree to this,” I whisper.
Kael sets his cutlery down with deliberate care.
“You witnessed a royal execution,” he says evenly. “You invoked lycan law the moment you made that sound in the garden.”
My chest tightens. “That’s not consent.”
“No,” he agrees. “It’s consequence.”
The man slides a quill toward me.
My fingers hover above it.
“If I don’t sign?” I ask.
Kael leans back in his chair, studying me like a chess piece.
“Then you die,” he says simply.
The words land softly.
That’s what makes them terrifying.
“And your family?” I whisper.
His eyes darken slightly. “They remain untouched. I keep my bargains.”
Tears blur my vision. “You’re forcing me.”
“Yes.”
At least he doesn’t lie.
I look down at the paper again.
My name is already written.
All that’s missing is my hand.
Kael stands and walks around the table, stopping behind me. I feel his presence before I feel his hand resting on my shoulder.
“Sign,” he murmurs near my ear. “And this ends.”
I laugh weakly. “Ends?”
His voice drops lower.
“No,” he corrects. “It begins.”
My fingers close around the quill.
The ink trembles as I lower it to the parchment.
And with one shaking stroke
I sign away my life.
The seal is pressed immediately. Final. Unbreakable.
The man bows and leaves.
The room feels smaller.
Kael straightens and returns to his seat, watching me with unreadable eyes.
“You’re my wife now,” he says.
I look at him, hollow. “You won.”
A pause.
Then, quietly:
“This was never about winning.”
My stomach twists.
“What was it about then?”
His gaze holds mine, steady and dangerous.
“Keeping you alive,” he says. “In a world that would tear you apart if you weren’t mine.”
- Writer
