The Forbidden Wing
877 Words
Aria dressed quickly, hands trembling.
Not from fear.
From him.
From what almost happened.
From what she now knew he wanted…
and what she wasn’t sure she could resist.
When she opened the door, Kairo was waiting in the hallway, tall, carved from shadow, and still visibly trying to control the storm inside him.
Without a word, he began walking.
Aria followed silently, the echo of their steps bouncing through the vast corridors.
“Where are we going?” she finally asked.
“To the only place you’ll be safe until I understand what entered my wing,” he said. His voice was calm, but his fists were clenched.
“Which is where?”
He didn’t answer.
Instead, they turned down a darker, older and colder hallway she hadn’t seen before.
The air felt charged, almost electric, like lightning trapped inside stone.
Aria shivered.
“This part of the castle feels…”
She searched for a word.
“Forbidden?”
She blinked. “Yes.”
Kairo’s mouth twitched.
Not a smile, something sharper.
“It is.”
Aria stopped walking. “Then why bring me here?”
He turned slowly.
His eyes glowed faintly, the gold threaded with something darker, something ancient.
“Because forbidden or not…”
He stepped closer.
“Nothing and no one enters this wing. Not even my generals. Not even my Beta. Only me.”
Her breath caught.
“So you’re taking me,” she whispered, “into the one place you trust most?”
Kairo held her gaze.
“I’m taking you,” he said quietly, “into the one place I would kill to protect.”
The words hit her like a punch of heat.
He walked again, and she followed, not because he commanded it, but because it felt impossible to do anything else.
They reached a massive door made of blackened iron. Strange symbols were etched into it, glowing faintly with a silver light.
Aria hesitated. “What is this place?”
Kairo placed his hand on the metal.
Energy rippled.
The symbols flared.
The door opened.
“My private wing,” he said.
Aria stepped inside… and froze.
This wasn’t just a bedroom or living space.
It felt like stepping into the heart of a storm, a world crafted of twilight and shadows, warm firelight and cold stone. Bookshelves towered high, filled with ancient texts. A balcony overlooked a silver forest. A massive, carved, dark and unmistakably intimate bed sat against the far wall.
Aria swallowed hard.
“This is… beautiful,” she whispered.
“It’s dangerous,” Kairo corrected softly. “Especially for you.”
She turned to him. “Why?”
Kairo closed the door behind them.
His expression was unreadable.
His energy, overwhelming.
“Because when we’re in my wing,” he said, voice dropping, “I don’t have to pretend.”
Aria’s pulse jumped.
“Pretend what?”
“That I can stay away from you.”
Her breath hitched.
He took a step toward her.
Another.
Aria backed up until her spine met the nearest bookshelf.
Kairo stopped inches from her, not touching, but close enough that the heat from his body rolled over her like a wave.
He braced one hand beside her head, caging her in.
“You shouldn’t be here,” he whispered.
“Then why bring me?”
“Because the moment I smelled your fear in that hallway, I lost every ounce of control I had left.”
Aria’s voice trembled. “Kairo…”
“Don’t say my name like that.”
His eyes darkened.
“I’ll forget every reason I’ve tried not to touch you.”
Her breathing turned shallow.
The tension between them was suffocating, magnetic, inevitable.
“Kairo…” she said again, softer this time.
His jaw clenched so hard she could see the muscle twitch.
He leaned in, breath ghosting her cheek, her neck, her lips.
Her legs weakened.
His hand moved slowly to the side of her waist.
Not touching.
Just hovering.
Waiting.
As if asking without words:
If I touch you here… will you stop me?
Aria didn’t move.
Didn’t breathe.
Didn’t resist.
A dangerous sound left his chest, half growl, half surrender.
He was about to touch her.
About to break his own rules.
The door slammed open so violently the walls shook.
Kairo spun around instantly, shoving Aria behind him with a single protective sweep of his arm.
A tall, scarred man stepped inside, eyes wild, breath ragged.
“Your Majesty,” he choked out.
Kairo’s voice turned lethal.
“You just entered my private wing without permission.”
The man fell to one knee instantly. “Forgive me. It’s urgent.”
Kairo didn’t move an inch from shielding Aria.
“What happened?” he growled.
The man swallowed hard.
“We found the intruder.”
Aria’s heart lurched.
Kairo’s grip tightened.
“And?” Kairo demanded.
The Beta bowed his head.
“She asked for one thing before she died.”
Kairo’s voice dropped, icy and dangerous.
“What?”
The Beta’s eyes flicked towards Aria, fear etched deep into his face.
“She said…”
He swallowed.
“She said to tell the girl—”
His gaze locked on Aria.
“‘It has begun.’”
- Writer
