MATE?
866 Words
CHAPTER FOUR
KAEL’S POV
The night air was sharp, thick with the scent of pine and damp earth as my horse carried me down the familiar road leading back to Silverfang.
I could have taken a car, something sleek and expensive like the rest of those pretentious pricks had at the coronation but I preferred this.
The coronation had been predictable, a political spectacle drowning in pomp and ceremony but I had never been one for such displays. My wolf stirred restlessly within me, sensing my irritation.
‘We should have left sooner,’ he grumbled. ‘Nothing but fools and arrogance in that place.’
I smirked slightly. Agreed.
I had gone out of duty, but I hadn't lingered. The sooner I was home, the better.
Stefan might be family and as such, he'd expected me there but even though he and I were brothers, we’d never truly been close.
Still, I’d seen her.
Andrea.
From across the ballroom, just after Stefan had publicly named someone else as his Luna.
After all his talk about her sweetness…and to be clear, he wasn’t referring to her kindness, but rather the way she tasted, in the most crude and inappropriate way possible.
Stefan… was an anomaly. Often describing women with words that never really sat right with me…as though they were prizes to be had and not people worthy of respect.
Still, it was his pack and it wasn't my place to tell him what to do with it.
And Andrea wasn’t like us.
She wasn’t born into privilege or power. It was far worse, but his treatment of her wasn't any more right. And frankly, after keeping her by his side for so long, I’d almost believed he’d finally grown a conscience.
Yet, in the end, even she hadn’t been enough.
Even I had seen how devastated the news had made her at the ceremony. Her reaction had been unmistakable. The way she’d paled, the slight tremor in her hands just before she forced them still…
She was strong, I'd give her that.
But it still wasn’t my business.
Or so I thought.
Until I hadn’t seen her again after that and had found myself wondering where she'd gone…
But just as the thought settled again, a shift in the wind carried something unusual, something wrong. Blood.
It was Fear.
My body tensed, senses sharpening as I pulled on the reins, bringing my horse to a stop. Not far from the outskirts of my territory, a group of men loomed in the clearing ahead, shadows cast long by the pale moonlight. Mercenaries, by the looks of them. And they weren’t alone.
A woman was in their midst and she didn't appear to want their company.
Even from this distance, something about the scene made my skin prickle with unease. My wolf bristled, a low growl curling in my throat.
‘Move.’
I leapt from my horse without hesitation, my boots hitting the ground with a dull thud before I was moving, fast and silent. They didn’t notice me at first, too caught up in whatever cruelty they were inflicting. But when I stepped into the dim glow of their torches, the nearest man stiffened, his eyes widening in recognition.
Good. They knew who I was.
They scattered like rats, vanishing into the night before I could even consider taking one of them apart with my bare hands. f*****g cowards.
The silence they left in their wake was suffocating. Then I saw her.
Lying crumpled on the ground, broken and bloodied, yet still breathing.
Something in me turned cold.
I moved swiftly, dropping to my knees beside her. My eyes widened immediately in shock as I recognised the woman as Andrea.
What the f**k?
Blood smeared the pale skin of her face, tangled in strands of dark hair. She was barely conscious, her breaths shallow, her body trembling from pain and exhaustion. But she was alive.
That should have been enough. But then her scent hit me.
It struck like lightning, sudden and paralyzing. My muscles locked, my breath shuddering in my chest as my wolf went still before roaring to life.
‘Mate!’
The word slammed into me with undeniable force.
I stared at her, my mind reeling. Andrea?
A possessive snarl built in my throat, sharp and primal.
Rage boiled beneath my skin, a barely contained inferno as I pieced it together. She had been running. From who? No no, from something worse. Someone had sent those men after her. To kill her.
My fingers curled into fists, nails biting into my palms.
Whoever had dared to harm what was mine would not live long enough to regret it.
For now, I had only one priority.
I slid my arms beneath her fragile form, lifting her with care, cradling her against my chest. She was so light, too light, her body battered and weak. My jaw tightened.
My gaze drifted to the distant lights of ShadowFang, my cousin’s domain.
I would keep her safe, from anything and anyone who would seek to harm or rip her away from me. Where she rightfully belonged.
And if Stefan wanted her back, he would have to go through me first.
- Writer
