chapter 4
1180 Words
The silence after the fight felt heavier than the battle itself.
Luna couldn’t move.
Her eyes were still fixed on the blood staining the stone floor… on the bodies that no longer moved.
Her chest rose and fell unevenly.
Too fast.
Too shallow.
“Luna.”
His voice pulled her back.
Low. Controlled.
She blinked slowly, her gaze lifting to meet his.
Kael stood in front of her, his body still tense, his breathing steady despite everything that had just happened. There was blood on him—dark, drying—but it didn’t seem to bother him.
Nothing seemed to bother him.
Except…
Her.
“I need you to focus,” he said quietly.
“I am focused,” she replied, her voice trembling despite her effort to sound strong. “You just killed people in front of me.”
A pause.
“They were not people.”
Her brows furrowed. “They looked human.”
“They’re not.”
Silence stretched between them.
Her mind struggled to keep up.
“What were they, then?”
Kael didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, he turned slightly, scanning the dark hallway as if expecting another attack. Only when he seemed satisfied did he look back at her.
“Hunters,” he said.
Her stomach tightened. “Hunters… of what?”
His eyes locked onto hers.
“Of me.”
The words sent a chill through her.
“And now…” his voice lowered slightly, “of you.”
Her breath caught.
“No… no, that doesn’t make any sense. I don’t even know what’s happening!”
“I know.”
That calm response only made it worse.
“Then explain it to me!” she snapped, her frustration finally breaking through. “Stop talking in riddles and just tell me what’s going on!”
Something flickered in his expression.
Hesitation.
Conflict.
But it vanished quickly.
“You felt the bond.”
Her heart skipped.
“That doesn’t explain anything!”
“It explains everything.”
Her hands clenched into fists. “No, it doesn’t! I don’t even know what that is!”
Kael stepped closer.
Slowly.
Carefully.
As if approaching something fragile.
“You felt it when I touched you,” he said quietly. “That pull. That reaction.”
Her breath trembled.
She remembered.
Too clearly.
“That doesn’t mean anything,” she said quickly, even though her voice betrayed her.
His gaze softened—just slightly.
“It means you’re tied to me.”
Her heart pounded violently.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“I don’t belong to you!”
The moment the words left her mouth—
The air shifted.
Kael’s entire expression darkened.
Something dangerous flickered in his eyes.
“Stop saying that,” he said, his voice lower now.
Her breath hitched.
“Why? Because it’s true?”
He moved suddenly.
Closing the distance between them in an instant.
Her back hit the cold stone wall before she even realized what was happening.
His hand pressed against the wall beside her head, trapping her.
Not hurting.
But not letting her escape.
“You don’t understand what you’re saying,” he murmured.
Her heart raced wildly.
“Then make me understand!”
Silence.
Heavy.
Then—
“You don’t belong to me because I want you to.”
Her breath caught.
“Then why?”
His jaw tightened.
And for the first time…
She saw it clearly.
Pain.
Real pain.
“You belong to me,” he said slowly, “because the curse chose you.”
The words hit her like a blow.
“The… curse…?”
He stepped back slightly, as if needing distance.
“Yes.”
Her head shook instinctively. “No… no, that’s not possible…”
“I told you,” he said quietly. “This bond shouldn’t exist.”
Her chest tightened.
“Then why does it?”
A long silence followed.
Then—
“Because I broke something that should never have been broken.”
Her breath stilled.
“What did you do…?”
He didn’t answer right away.
Instead, he turned away from her, running a hand through his dark hair. His shoulders tensed, like the memory itself was heavy.
“You asked me what I am,” he said slowly.
Her eyes stayed on him.
“Yes…”
Another pause.
Then—
“I’m not just an Alpha.”
A chill ran down her spine.
“What does that mean?”
His head tilted slightly, just enough for her to see his profile.
“I’m the one they tried to erase.”
Her heart skipped.
“The one they fear.”
A pause.
Then, quieter—
“The one who was never meant to survive.”
Her breath caught.
“Kael…”
“They cursed me,” he continued, his voice steady but cold. “A long time ago. Something ancient. Something that doesn’t forgive.”
Her chest tightened painfully.
“And now…?”
His gaze flickered back to her.
“Now it’s reacting to you.”
Her heart started racing again.
“Why me?”
“I don’t know.”
That answer scared her more than anything.
“You don’t know?”
“No.”
Silence fell again.
Heavy.
Unsettling.
Her mind spun with questions, fear, confusion.
“I just wanted to go home…” she whispered, her voice breaking slightly.
Something in his expression shifted again.
Softer this time.
“You can’t.”
Tears burned in her eyes. “Why?”
His answer came without hesitation.
“Because if you leave me…”
A pause.
His voice dropped lower.
“You’ll die.”
Her breath stopped completely.
The words hung in the air.
Cold.
Final.
“No…” she whispered, shaking her head. “You’re lying…”
“I’m not.”
Her chest tightened painfully.
“You don’t know that!”
“I do.”
Her voice broke. “How?!”
His eyes locked onto hers.
Dark. Intense.
“Because the moment that bond formed…”
He stepped closer again.
Slowly.
“Your life became tied to mine.”
Her heart pounded violently.
“That’s not possible…”
“It is.”
Tears slipped down her cheeks now.
“This is insane…”
His hand lifted again.
This time, slower.
Gentler.
He wiped a tear from her cheek with his thumb.
And she didn’t stop him.
“Maybe it is,” he said quietly.
Her breath trembled.
“Then why does it feel so real…?”
His eyes softened slightly.
“Because it is.”
Silence wrapped around them.
Heavy.
Emotional.
Dangerous.
Then—
His hand slid from her cheek to her jaw, tilting her face up slightly.
Their eyes locked.
Closer.
Too close.
Her breath hitched.
“From now on,” he murmured, “you stay with me.”
Her lips parted.
“I don’t have a choice… do I?”
A pause.
Then softly—
“No.”
Her heart clenched.
But this time…
She didn’t fight it.
And that terrified her more than anything.
Because somewhere deep inside her…
She was already starting to accept it.
- Writer
