CHAPTER FOUR: UNWANTED PULL
1022 Words
Kael couldn’t sleep.
The moon hung high, silver and full, its light pouring through his chamber window like a silent judgment. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw her—those calm brown eyes that never begged for attention, that soft face that carried silence like a crown.
Aderin.
He groaned and turned on his bed, muscles tensed. His wolf, Zion, paced restlessly inside him.
> “Why are you fighting this, Kael?” Zion’s voice was deep, threaded with impatience.
“You felt it too. The spark. The scent. The pull—she’s our mate!”
Kael clenched his fists. “No,” he muttered aloud, teeth gritting. “She can’t be. A deaf girl? The Moon can’t be that cruel.”
> “The Moon chose her,” Zion growled. “You’re the one being cruel.”
He rose sharply, crossing to the window. The festival ground below was silent now, scattered torches burning low, but her scent still lingered faintly in the air—wild honey and rain. It burned through him, igniting something primal he didn’t want to name.
Kael slammed the window shut and tried to bury the ache. He had Selena, the woman everyone expected him to choose. Beautiful, proud, and loud enough to command the world’s attention—everything Aderin wasn’t.
He told himself he loved Selena. That she was his Luna.
But why, then, did his chest twist painfully when he thought of that quiet girl standing under the Bloodmoon?
---
Across the territory, Aderin lay awake too.
She couldn’t stop replaying the moment when his eyes met hers—sharp, commanding, as if they saw straight into her soul. She didn’t understand what had happened, only that something powerful had shifted inside her. Her wolf stirred beneath her skin for the first time, whispering emotions she couldn’t hear but somehow felt.
Her grandmother, Mama Ireti, noticed her trembling hands.
“Child, what’s wrong?” she asked gently, voice carrying through the soft glow of their lantern.
Aderin bit her lip. “When he looked at me, I… I felt something, Mama. Like fire and thunder. My heart wouldn’t stop pounding.”
Mama Ireti’s eyes softened, then dimmed with worry. “That’s the Alpha, my dear. You were never meant to be close to his kind.”
Aderin nodded, but her heart was already lost in confusion. How could she explain the magnetic ache that pulled her toward him? She pressed her palms to her chest as if she could cage the wild energy inside.
---
The next morning, Kael entered the training field early. The warriors were already practicing, but his focus drifted. Every sword swing, every movement felt heavy, wrong. He snapped when a young warrior made a mistake.
“Again!” Kael barked. “You fight like your arms are made of air!”
The warriors exchanged worried glances. They could feel their Alpha’s unease.
Selena, standing at the sidelines, sauntered up with a coy smile.
“Someone’s moody,” she teased, wrapping her arm around his. “What’s bothering you, love? Don’t tell me the great Alpha Kael lost sleep.”
He forced a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Just restless.”
She leaned closer. “You should be resting with me, then.”
Kael’s jaw tightened. Her scent—sweet roses and spice—did nothing to calm him. If anything, it made him nauseous.
Behind his stern expression, Zion snarled.
> “She’s not ours.”
> “Shut up!” Kael snapped back in his mind, startling Selena.
She blinked. “What?”
“Nothing,” he said quickly, pulling away. “I have work to do.”
He stalked off, leaving her frowning after him.
---
As the day stretched, the pull grew worse.
It wasn’t just a thought—it was a force, invisible but relentless. Whenever Aderin was near the market or passed the borders of the pack, Kael’s heartbeat spiked as if an unseen thread tugged at his soul.
During a meeting with the council, he zoned out completely. The elder’s voice droned in the background, words lost in a fog of desire and defiance.
> “Alpha Kael, the rogues—”
“I said, enough!” he snapped suddenly, eyes glowing faintly gold. Everyone fell silent.
When the meeting ended, he slammed his palms on the table and muttered under his breath, “What’s happening to me?”
Zion’s low growl echoed in his head. “You already know. You’re just afraid to accept it.”
---
That evening, Kael’s restlessness reached its peak.
He wandered out of the packhouse, moonlight painting his broad frame in silver. The night breeze carried that scent again—soft, soothing, hers. Without thinking, he followed it.
It led him to the riverbank, where Aderin stood alone, washing a cloth in silence. The moonlight shimmered on her skin, outlining her figure in ethereal glow. Her long braids danced with the wind.
Kael froze.
Something inside him cracked wide open.
She sensed him before she saw him. Turning, her eyes widened when she found her Alpha standing there, gaze unreadable.
He didn’t speak for a long moment. The world was so quiet, even the river seemed to hold its breath.
Finally, he said, voice low, “What are you doing out here alone?”
Aderin couldn’t hear him, but she watched his lips move. She hesitated, unsure if he was angry. She pointed to the cloth in her hand, a shy explanation through gesture.
Kael’s chest tightened. The simplicity of her innocence, the quiet courage in her eyes—it all made him weak. He took a step closer, then stopped himself.
> “Don’t,” Zion warned softly, but his tone was almost pleading. “She’s our mate.”
Kael looked at her one last time, pain flashing in his gaze, then turned sharply on his heel and vanished into the shadows.
Aderin stared after him, heart pounding, not knowing that with every step he took away, the bond between them pulled tighter—like a curse written under the Bloodmoon.
---
- Writer
