Chapter 4
1293 Words
Aria’s POV
She felt it the moment Sylah stepped into the room.
Wrong.
Off.
Predatory.
The golden-haired maid didn’t knock—just shut the door behind her with a quiet click that sounded far too final.
Aria straightened from her seat. “You’re not on duty.”
Sylah smiled.
It wasn’t pleasant.
“I volunteered,” she said softly. “Thought I’d take care of something he forgot to clean up.”
Aria blinked. “He?”
Sylah’s eyes darkened. “Kael.”
The name slipped from her mouth like a prayer soaked in poison.
“You don’t deserve him,” she continued, moving across the room with eerie calm. “You’ve been here what? Days? And now he stares at you like you hung the moon. Like you didn’t just crawl out of some filthy cellar.”
Aria took a step back. Her heart started pounding. “You should leave.”
“I should be Luna!” Sylah snarled suddenly, and her hand darted into her dress.
The flash of silver caught the light. A dagger.
Not ceremonial.
Meant for skin.
Aria froze, breath caught in her throat. Panic took over.
”KAEL.
Help me—please, please, Kael—"
Sylah lunged. Aria twisted. Pain sliced down her arm—sharp and fast. Blood ran hot down her sleeve.
She hit the floor hard, breath knocked from her lungs.
Sylah stood over her, knife raised again, shaking from fury.
“I should’ve been the one to bear his heir. He told me I was his. Before you came. Before your scent ruined everything.”
Aria could hardly breathe. “You’re insane.”
Sylah’s face twisted. “And you’re dead.”
BOOM.
The door exploded inward in a blast of wind and power.
The air turned electric—thick with dominance and rage.
And there he was.
Kael.
But not as she’d ever seen him before.
His eyes glowed like liquid silver—feral, radiant, inhuman. Power surged off his skin in rippling waves. His claws were already out, black and curved. His fangs bared.
His voice was lethal, vibrating with barely contained fury.
“You touched her.”
Sylah spun toward him. “I loved you!”
Kael didn’t even blink. “And you tried to kill my mate.”
She lunged at him with the blade—screaming, wild.
He caught her mid-air by the throat.
Lifted her, one-handed.
“Kael—!” Aria croaked from the floor.
He didn’t even look away from Sylah.
“You think you meant something to me?” His voice was low, terrifying. “You were a warm body in an empty bed. A distraction. A mistake.”
Sylah clawed at his hand, choking.
“I’ve killed traitors for less than what you just did,” he growled. “But you tried to harm what’s mine.”
Kael's other hand flashed. His claws sliced clean through flesh and bone.
Her head separated from her body with a sharp, wet snap.
Blood sprayed across the floor.
Kael dropped her like trash. Her head rolled, eyes frozen wide in horror.
The silence that followed was suffocating.
Aria trembled, her wound burning, tears threatening to spill.
Kael turned to her—still in that monster form, still humming with power—but his expression shifted the second their eyes met.
Pain.
Fear.
Fury.
But not at her.
At himself.
He was beside her in seconds, on his knees, lifting her into his arms like she was made of silk.
“You called me,” he said, voice hoarse.
“I—I didn’t know it would work,” she whispered.
He touched her face, hands shaking. “Don’t ever do that again.”
“I thought I was going to die.”
His jaw clenched so hard she heard the bones grind.
“I felt it. I felt your fear like it was choking me. My vision blacked out.” He paused, breathing ragged. “If I’d been one second later—”
“You weren’t.”
“I’ll never let anyone near you again. Not without my permission. Not without my presence.” His voice dropped to a deadly whisper. “You’re mine, Aria. Say it.”
She blinked through tears. “I’m yours.”
His whole body stilled. Then, as if the words calmed the beast inside him, he buried his face in her neck and held her tight.
And for the first time…
The bond truly locked into place.
He carried her through the halls—cradled against his chest like something sacred and breakable.
Her blood had soaked into his shirt. Her pain still echoed through the bond like phantom claws across his spine. He could barely see straight.
Every guard that saw them dropped to one knee.
No one spoke.
Not when the Alpha stalked past, shirtless, blood-splattered, carrying a trembling, tear-streaked girl.
Not when her eyes met theirs with quiet devastation.
Not when the head of a maid still lay in her chambers, a warning painted in blood.
Kael kicked open the infirmary doors.
“Out,” he snarled.
The two healers inside didn’t hesitate. They scurried out with heads bowed and hearts racing.
He laid Aria gently on the padded table and crouched beside her. His claws had receded, but the fury still burned beneath his skin.
She didn’t speak. Just stared at him with wide, haunted eyes.
He peeled back the sleeve of her robe. The cut was shallow—but it had bled too much. Her skin was so pale.
Kael’s throat tightened. “I should’ve killed Sylah slower.”
Aria flinched slightly. “She was just jealous.”
“She was foolish the monent she laid a hand on you.”
He cleaned the wound in silence, hands steady but gentle. When she winced, he cursed under his breath and kissed the inside of her wrist.
“You’re not safe here,” he said finally. “Not until I make it clear to everyone what you are.”
“What am I?” she whispered.
He looked into her eyes.
“My Luna.”
Her lips parted.
“No coronation. No ceremony. No elders whispering judgment. You are. Mine. The bond proves it. The goddess chose you. And if anyone doubts it again—” his voice dipped, low and dark, “—I’ll feed them their own tongue.”
She stared at him. “Why are you like this?”
Kael chuckled, soft and bitter. “Because I already lost everything once. My mate. My best friend. My trust. And I burned the world to survive it.”
His fingers grazed her jaw.
“Then you came. You—fragile, fire-hearted little thing. You called to me. And the second your voice hit my soul, I belonged to you.”
Aria’s eyes welled. “You killed her. For me.”
“I’d kill a thousand more.”
He leaned in, nose brushing her throat. He inhaled deeply.
“Mine,” he whispered. “And they’ll all know it.”
---
Outside the Infirmary…
Kael exited a few minutes later, blood still on his hands. His soldiers were lined up, waiting. His Beta—new, scarred, terrified—stood at the front.
Kael’s voice rang across the training yard.
“The she-wolf who harmed my mate has been executed.”
Silence.
“Anyone who dares touch her again will meet the same end. Anyone who doubts her place beside me will bleed for it.”
He paced slowly.
“She is wolfless. But not weak. She is mine. And that alone makes her the most dangerous creature in this territory.”
His voice dropped.
“My Luna.”
They bowed.
Every last one of them.
- Writer
