Chapter5
1707 Words
Astraea’s POV
“Wake up.”
A shadow loomed over me. My eyes blinked open, still drowsy. “What's going on?”
“Get up,” the same voice said again.
I rolled over, tuning it out. Ignore it and hopefully it'll disappear.
Soon the warmth was gone. A hand dragged the duvet away from my body.
“Don't make me force you up myself,” the annoying voice was getting increasingly familiar.
“Kaelith.” My eyes opened properly, my mind still worn and exhausted. “What do you want?” I muttered.
“Your training starts today,” he said casually.
“Yeah, right….” I rolled my eyes mentally and dozed off again, ignoring him.
“Get up, Astraea, or I'll make you,” he pressed on, his voice stern.
Can't a girl sleep peacefully? “I literally just closed my eyes a couple hours ago. Let me sleep some more,” I groaned.
“Five,” he began counting. “Four—”
My eyelid opened halfway and instantly widened when I spotted the cup in his hand. I shot up immediately.
“Come on, five more minutes,” I whined.
“No.”
“Are you really going to splash water on me?”
“If necessary.” He shrugged.
Madman, my brain screamed.
“Why did you wake me so early?” I sighed.
“Training.”
“Training?” I confirmed.
He looked at me like I had two horns.
“You heard me perfectly the first time,” he nodded.
“Hell no,” I scoffed.
*At the Training Grounds*
I groggily entered the grounds with Kaelith.
That's right—my protests had done little to nothing, hence here I was, dragging my feet as I followed Kaelith, who seemed comfortable matching my pace.
The sounds of grunts and swords clanging greeted me.
The grounds stretched wide, with massive wolves scattered around training.
They all paused as if sensing my presence.
Instinctively, I shrank into Kaelith.
He frowned disapprovingly.
“First lesson—chin up. Shoulders back. You're not prey anymore,” he instructed.
I hesitated. Even the way he said it felt wrong.
“Go on,” he encouraged, watching me intently.
Inhaling, I followed the instructions, standing tall.
I could feel the difference in my body.
It was powerful. Stronger, even.
“Good. Now come, let's start,” Kaelith said, leading me toward a section that had his scent all over it.
He trained here.
“We'll begin with defense training. Something simple first. Do this.”
He formed a stance and threw a punch toward a dummy.
I watched carefully.
He straightened.
“Now you try,” he said, stepping aside.
“Me?” I pointed at myself.
“Yes. You,” he nodded.
I took the same stance he had taken—well, to the best of my memory—and punched.
My fingers cracked painfully from the impact.
The dummy didn't move an inch. I turned to him, embarrassment burning through me.
His face was stony, expressionless.
“Again.”
Seven weak attempts later, with the dummy not moving even an inch, I kicked it in frustration.
“I can't do this.”
“You can. You've just never been allowed to try.”
He demonstrated again, slowly this time.
He showed me how to use momentum—both mine and that of my opponent.
“Relax, little mate,” he said warmly.
I exhaled and continued, copying his movements.
Ten tries later, the dummy cracked. I froze.
Everything stopped.
Eyes snapped to me.
I looked at myself first.
“I did that?”
Kaelith's expression shifted.
Something that might have been pride.
“You did that.”
Thalion showed up with lunch.
The brothers exchanged looks—some silent communication I couldn't read.
“Here,” Thalion handed me water, our fingers brushed.
The contact sent a sharp jolt through my body, I ignored it.
Hopefully he didn't notice
“Kaelith working you too hard?” he asked.
“I'm fine,” I muttered, ignoring my aching muscles.
“Liar.”
But he was almost smiling.
I spotted Dravyn on a balcony above.
Just standing there.
Watching.
Not training.
Not speaking to anyone.
Just watching me.
It was unnerving.
I looked away, gulping down the water, trying to act like his gaze didn't affect me.
“He's been up there the whole time,” I said quietly.
Kaelith followed my gaze.
Something complicated crossed his face.
“Dravyn has his reasons.”
“For what? Staring at me like I'm about to explode?”
“For keeping his distance,” Thalion’s voice went rough. “His beast is closer to the surface than ours. Being near you makes it harder for him to stay in control.”
I processed that.
My mind went back to Dravyn in the vehicle—how tense he was, how he wouldn't look at me directly.
“He thinks he'll hurt me.”
“He knows he might.”
Something about that should have scared me.
Instead, I found my eyes drifting back to the balcony.
Dravyn hadn't moved.
His hands gripped the railing so tightly I could see the tension in his shoulders even from here.
Without thinking, I lifted my hand and gave a small wave.
Dravyn went completely still.
Then he turned and disappeared into the fortress.
“Well,” Thalion said, “that's the best reaction we've gotten out of him in days.”
Kaelith shot him a look.
“Don't.”
“I'm just saying—”
“Drop it.”
The tension between them was sudden and sharp.
There was something they weren't telling me about Dravyn.
Something important.
We trained some more before Kaelith offered to walk me back, trailing behind my limping figure.
I bit my lip through the pain.
I had pushed myself a bit too hard.
But it was totally worth it.
“Can I ask you something?” I said, trying to distract myself from the pain.
“You can ask. I might not answer.”
“Why are hybrids illegal? You said the Council feared them, but that's not a reason. That's an excuse.”
He went silent for a moment.
The question must have taken him by surprise.
“Hybrids are stronger than pure-bloods. Faster. More powerful. Harder to kill. Three centuries ago, there was a hybrid who nearly overthrew the entire Council. Started a war that killed thousands. When it was over, the Council declared all hybrids a threat to stability. Ordered them hunted to extinction.”
“They killed children,” my voice was flat.
“Yes.”
“And you still serve this Council?”
“I serve my people. The Council is just politics.”
He stopped walking and turned to me.
“But if they come for you, politics won't matter. I'll burn the Council to the ground before I let them touch you.”
The intensity in his voice caught me off guard.
And somehow—I didn't know if I should—but I believed him.
“Why?” The question came out quieter than I intended. “You barely know me.”
“I know enough.”
“The prophecy—”
“f**k the prophecy.”
I withheld my amusement at the curse.
Who would have thought broody Kaelith cursed?
“You think I'd risk war with the Council over some words on a scroll? The mate bond doesn't lie, Astraea. My beast recognized you. That's not prophecy. That's fate.”
The words dried up in my mouth.
The way he looked at me—like I was the most precious thing to exist.
The weight of his certainty.
Somehow, I had no response.
“What happened to your mate?” The question slipped out before I could stop it. “Your first mate. Thalion told me about her. Lyssa.”
His expression shuttered immediately.
Nicely done, Astraea.
I scoffed internally.
You've managed to chase him away. He was probably going to walk away now.
Sigh.
“She was a wolf. I'm a Beast-King. The Council didn't approve the bond. They said it would weaken the bloodline.” His jaw tightened. “They sent assassins. Three of them. She fought, but she wasn't a warrior. Just a healer. She died trying to protect our unborn child.”
The pain in his voice was carefully controlled.
But it was there.
“I'm sorry.”
“Don't be. I'm not.”
My brows furrowed in confusion.
He continued.
“I spent ten years hunting the ones responsible. Found every single one. Made them pay. By the time I finished, I'd vowed never to let anyone close enough to hurt me like that again.”
“Then why—”
“Because I don't have a choice.”
His eyes locked onto mine.
“When I saw you at that party, my beast woke up for the first time in a decade. It recognized you. Claimed you. And I can fight a lot of things, but I can't fight that.”
Say something.
I muttered the words to myself mentally.
Come on, Astraea, don't make this awkward.
“What if I'm not worth the risk?” I asked instead.
He cupped my face tenderly despite the calluses on his hands.
“You are. You just don't know it yet.”
That night, I lay in bed, trying hard not to think about Kaelith’s words.
The weight of his past.
The way he looked at me.
Like I mattered.
Like I was something worth protecting.
I flexed my hand, my mind going back to the cracked training dummy from earlier.
My lips stretched into a smile.
The strength that had burst out of me without warning.
Maybe I wasn't as broken as I thought.
Knock.
My body jolted at the sound.
Shit. That startled me.
“Astraea?”
Dravyn’s voice.
I could hear the roughness and uncertainty in it.
Nothing like the silent figure on the balcony.
“Can I come in?”
My heart dropped.
I should say no.
He's the dangerous one.
The unstable brother.
I should reject him.
The one avoiding me because he doesn't trust himself.
- Writer
