Chapter 2
1256 Words
Kael’s POV
She hadn’t said a single word since they left the ruins of her pack.
Not when he offered her food.
Not when his men stared too long.
Not even when he stripped the shirt off his own back and threw it over her.
Aria Vale. That was her name. The one whispered by the half-dead Luna of her pack before Kael snapped her neck.
He watched her now from across the fortress courtyard. She stood small and shivering beneath the stone arch, his shirt hanging off her shoulders like a broken banner. Dirt on her skin. Blood on her lip. Eyes like a hunted doe.
His mate.
Kael wanted to deny it. Refuse the pull.
But the bond pulsed in his chest like war drums.
His soldiers gave her a wide berth. They’d heard the rumors already—Alpha Kael had claimed a wolfless girl. Some smirked. Others were to scared to do anything.
He turned to Garron, his second-in-command now. Loyal. Brutal.
“She stays in the east wing,” Kael ordered, voice like steel dragged over gravel. “Post guards. No one touches her.”
“Not even you?”
Kael’s eyes snapped to him.
Garron paled. “Understood.”
Aria’s POV
She didn’t know where she was.
The halls were made of black stone. Every corridor echoed with footsteps and whispers. The guards didn't speak. They just stared.
She clutched the oversized shirt to her chest as the guards led her to a room bigger than any she’d ever slept in. Marble floors. A gold basin. A bed carved from darkwood.
It felt like a trap.
She backed into a corner the moment they left and slid down the wall, arms hugging her knees. She didn’t trust this silence. Didn’t trust the man with ice in his eyes and blood on his hands.
But gods… when he’d touched her—
She’d felt heat. A spark. A violent promise of something more.
And it scared her more than Marla ever had.
Kael’s POV
He shouldn’t want her.
She was too soft. Too broken. Too fragile. The kind of girl that made monsters hesitate.
But Kael Draven didn’t hesitate. He conquered.
And yet when he stepped into her room that night and found her asleep in a corner instead of the bed, his chest twisted. She’d made herself small again. Invisible.
He knelt beside her, just to see. Just to make sure she was breathing.
Then she stirred. Eyes fluttered open.
And for the first time in years, Kael felt seen.
Not as an alpha. Not as a killer.
As a man.
“I don’t want your bed,” she whispered, hoarse.
“You think I brought you here to f*ck you?” His voice came out sharper than he meant.
Her eyes welled up. “Isn’t that what you alphas do?”
Something broke inside him.
He rose to his feet, cold fury in his jaw.
“I didn’t bring you here to be with you. I brought you cause I couldn't leave you.”
Then he left, slamming the door behind.
The Next Morning
Aria’s POV
The morning light was pale and hesitant, slipping through the sheer curtains like it wasn’t sure it belonged here.
She stirred beneath the heavy blanket—she didn’t remember crawling into the bed. The last thing she remembered was cold stone and sleep dragging her under like a tide.
Now there was warmth.
And the faint scent of cedar, fire... and him.
The door opened. Her breath caught.
Kael.
He entered with quiet force, wearing black trousers and nothing else. Broad chest. Scars. Muscles roped tight like tension incarnate. He carried a tray in one hand—eggs, toast, and a silver mug steaming with something rich.
“You should eat,” he said.
She didn’t move. Just watched him like a cornered animal.
“I’m not going to hurt you.” His voice was lower now. Controlled. Almost—gentle.
“Why not?” she asked, surprising even herself.
He stopped mid-step.
Aria sat up slowly, the blanket falling from her shoulders. “Everyone else has. Why would you be different?”
Kael set the tray down beside her on the bed. “Because I’m not them.”
“No,” she said, bitterly. “You’re worse. You burned my pack to the ground.”
“They were already rotting.”
“I lived there.”
His jaw ticked. “You survived there. That’s not the same.”
She looked down at the food. Her stomach twisted, torn between hunger and pride.
He sat on the edge of the bed—not too close. “Eat, Aria. Or I’ll feed you myself.”
She glanced up. “Wouldn’t be the first time someone forced something in my mouth.”
The silence that followed was razor-sharp.
Kael’s eyes darkened. “Tell me who.”
She said nothing.
His voice dropped. “Say the name, Aria.”
She clenched her jaw. “You’ll kill them? You probably did already when you destroyed my pack.”
“I almost forgot about that.”
She stared at him. “You’re not even pretending to be noble, are you?”
“I’m not noble. I’m yours.”
Her breath caught. “I didn’t ask to be your mate.”
“I didn’t ask to want you,” he growled. “But I do. And now you’re here. And I don’t take kindly to those that hurt what's mine.”
She blinked, stunned by the raw honesty.
“I don’t want your pity,” she whispered.
“You won’t get it,” he replied, leaning in now, slow and steady. “But you’ll get my protection. My attention.”
“Your obsession?”
He smirked faintly. “That too.”
She looked away, hands trembling.
“I’m not strong,” she said. “I don’t shift. I’m not like the she-wolves you’re used to.”
“I don’t want a wolf,” Kael said. “I want the girl who stared me down in a cellar with bruises on her face and fire still in her eyes.”
Silence stretched between them. Heavy. Tense.
“I cried,” she said.
“I saw,” he answered.
“I was pathetic.”
“You were alive.”
She swallowed. “You speak like you’ve known death closely.”
He leaned back, eyes colder now. “I’ve slept beside it.”
“And your mate?” she asked.
Something in his expression shuttered. “Dead.”
“Did you love her?”
“No.”
“Then why—”
“She betrayed me,” he cut in. “With someone I would’ve died for.”
Her voice was barely a whisper. “What did you do?”
He met her eyes, no shame in his voice. “I killed them. Both.”
Aria’s breath caught.
“I’m not a good man,” he said. “But I’m the one who found you. And I’m not letting go.”
She didn’t answer. Couldn’t. Her heart beat loud enough to drown the silence.
Kael rose from the bed and walked toward the door. But before he left—
“You have two choices, Aria,” he said softly, back turned. “You can keep hiding from the world… or you can stay and learn to survive it—with me.”
She didn't know what she would choose.
But for the first time in her life, someone wasn't asking her to fight alone.
- Writer
