Kieran's POV
Duty.
It had been drilled into me since the day I could walk. I was the eldest. The heir. The one who must not falter or bend. I was not permitted to break.
And yet every time I looked at her, I could feel the crack in my resolve.
Aisla.
The girl who should have been invisible, who should never have crossed into my world. The girl who haunted me even when I closed my eyes.
I told myself I could resist her. That my discipline was stronger than my desire. That I was Alpha before I was anything else.
But tonight, watching her spar in the courtyard, laughter spilling from her lips as Caelan teased her, I knew I was lying to myself.
I stayed in the shadows until the session ended. The others left her behind while she caught her breath. Her cheeks were flushed, and her hair
