Chapter Four — His Territory
1893 Words
The road seemed endless.
For nearly twenty minutes, nobody spoke.
I sat in the back seat beside my mother, watching the darkness outside.
Kael drove without hesitation.
There were no streetlights.
No houses.
No signs.
Just trees stretching endlessly on both sides of the road.
I touched the pendant beneath my shirt.
It was cold now.
Almost unnaturally so.
“Where are we going?”
Kael kept his eyes on the road.
“My territory.”
I frowned.
“You said that before.”
“Yes.”
“What does that mean?”
“A place where my pack lives.”
I looked at my mother.
She was staring out the window.
“You know this place?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
She hesitated.
“Because I knew your father.”
I turned toward her.
“You said his name earlier.”
She closed her eyes briefly.
“Elias.”
The name sounded familiar.
I remembered the photograph.
A man I'd once found smiling beside my mother.
She had taken it from me before I could ask who he was.
“Was he a wolf too?”
Silence filled the car.
Kael's hands tightened around the steering wheel.
My mother finally nodded.
“Yes.”
I stared at her.
“And you knew?”
“Yes.”
“You knew my father wasn't human?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
Her voice broke.
“Because I wanted you to have a normal childhood.”
I looked out the window.
“Instead, you gave me a fake one.”
She flinched.
I immediately regretted saying it.
But I was angry.
Twenty-one years of my life suddenly felt like a story someone else had written for me.
Kael spoke quietly.
“She was trying to protect you.”
I looked at him.
“You don't get to defend her.”
He didn't argue.
I folded my arms.
After another few minutes, I noticed a large iron gate ahead.
It opened before Kael reached it.
I sat upright.
Beyond it was a completely different world.
There were houses scattered among the trees.
Warm lights glowed through windows.
People walked along the roads.
A few vehicles were parked outside buildings.
It looked like a small hidden community.
Kael drove toward a large stone building at the center.
I stared.
“What is this place?”
“My home.”
He parked.
Before he could open his door, people began emerging from the surrounding buildings.
They weren't running.
They didn't need to.
The moment they saw Kael, they simply stopped.
Their attention moved toward the vehicle.
Toward me.
One by one, their expressions changed.
Confusion.
Shock.
Recognition.
I felt uncomfortable.
Kael got out.
A tall man approached.
He looked slightly older than Kael, with dark hair and a scar running along his jaw.
“Alpha.”
Kael nodded.
“Get everyone inside.”
The man's gaze moved toward me.
His expression tightened.
“Is that—”
“Inside.”
The man's mouth closed.
He nodded.
People began moving.
I looked at my mother.
“Why did he call him Alpha?”
She didn't answer.
I looked at Kael.
“You're their Alpha?”
He glanced at me.
“Yes.”
I stared at him.
The answer suddenly explained the way everyone had reacted.
The way they moved when he spoke.
The authority in his voice.
The strange respect.
Everything.
We entered the building.
The interior was warmer than I expected.
A fire burned in a large stone fireplace.
Wooden floors stretched across the hall.
The place felt old but comfortable.
Unlike Adrian's mansion, nothing here seemed designed to impress anyone.
It felt like people actually lived here.
Yet everyone we passed looked at me.
Some whispered.
Others simply stared.
I stayed close to my mother.
Kael led us into a large room and shut the door.
I turned toward him.
“What am I?”
He remained silent.
I looked at my mother.
“What am I?”
She sat down.
Her hands were trembling.
“You're my daughter.”
“That's not what I mean.”
She looked at me.
“You're also your father's daughter.”
“That still doesn't answer me.”
Kael finally spoke.
“You're part of this world.”
I stared at him.
“I don't belong to your world.”
“You do.”
“No.”
My voice shook.
“I would know.”
Kael's expression softened.
“You weren't supposed to know.”
I stared at him.
“What does that mean?”
My mother wiped her eyes.
“You were born with it.”
“With what?”
She couldn't say it.
Kael did.
“The wolf.”
The room went silent.
I laughed.
It came out weak.
“No.”
My mother looked at me.
“Yes.”
“No.”
I backed away.
“That's impossible.”
Kael didn't move.
“You saw what happened in the forest.”
“That doesn't mean I'm one of them.”
“It does.”
I shook my head.
“I've never turned into a wolf.”
“You haven't awakened.”
“What does that mean?”
“Your wolf hasn't surfaced.”
I stared at him.
The words sounded ridiculous.
Yet nothing about tonight was normal anymore.
“You're saying there's a wolf inside me?”
“Yes.”
I looked at my mother.
She nodded through tears.
I felt sick.
“All my life?”
“Yes.”
I walked toward the window.
The settlement outside was quiet now.
People had disappeared into their homes.
I could feel eyes watching from behind curtains.
“How long have you known?”
My mother answered softly.
“Since the day you were born.”
I turned around.
“And you never thought I deserved to know?”
“I thought you deserved a life where you weren't afraid.”
I laughed bitterly.
“I'm terrified now.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I know.”
Silence.
Then Kael spoke.
“Your mother didn't only hide your nature.”
I looked at him.
“She hid you from the people who would have come looking for you.”
“Why?”
He hesitated.
“Because of your father.”
My heart tightened.
“What about him?”
Kael looked at my mother.
She lowered her head.
My mother's silence was becoming unbearable.
“What happened to him?”
“He died protecting you.”
The room seemed to tilt.
“What?”
Kael's voice remained calm.
“Elias was part of this world. He knew what you would become. He knew there were people who would try to use you.”
“Who?”
“We don't know all of them.”
“Then how do you know they're after me?”
“Because your mark has awakened.”
My hand immediately went to my neck.
“The mark.”
Kael nodded.
“It means the bond has begun.”
I frowned.
“What bond?”
He looked at me.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then he said quietly,
“Ours.”
My heart stopped.
I stared at him.
“What?”
“The bond between mates.”
The word hit me.
Mate.
The word he'd whispered the first night.
I suddenly remembered the way he'd looked at me.
The shock.
The recognition.
The pain.
“No.”
His expression remained controlled.
“You are my mate.”
I stepped backward.
“No.”
My mother looked away.
I stared at Kael.
“You're thirty.”
“Yes.”
“I'm twenty-one.”
“I know.”
“You're the Alpha.”
“Yes.”
“And I'm supposed to believe we're... what?”
His jaw tightened.
“Mates.”
I shook my head.
“That doesn't make sense.”
“I know.”
“Then why me?”
He didn't answer.
I looked at my mother.
She couldn't meet my eyes.
“Did you know?”
“Yes.”
My chest tightened.
“You knew?”
“I suspected.”
“How?”
She swallowed.
“Because your father belonged to Kael's pack.”
I stared at her.
The room seemed suddenly smaller.
Kael's expression hardened.
“That's why this is complicated.”
“Complicated?”
I laughed in disbelief.
“You're the Alpha. My father was part of your pack. My mother knew your family. You've apparently known about me before I even knew you existed.”
He said nothing.
“And now you're telling me I'm your mate?”
“Yes.”
I looked away.
I couldn't breathe properly.
There were too many pieces.
Too many secrets.
Too many things I couldn't understand.
Then the pendant beneath my shirt grew warm.
I grabbed it.
Kael noticed.
“Don't take it off.”
“Why?”
“It suppresses the mark.”
“Why do I need to suppress it?”
“Because not everyone will react well when they see it.”
I looked at him.
“Why?”
His expression became serious.
“Because your existence creates a problem.”
“What problem?”
He hesitated.
“The kind that could start a war.”
I stared at him.
Before I could ask what he meant, someone knocked sharply on the door.
Kael turned.
“Come in.”
The same man from outside entered.
His expression was tense.
“Alpha.”
“What happened?”
He looked at me.
Then quickly looked away.
“Someone crossed the eastern boundary.”
Kael's expression changed.
“Who?”
“We don't know.”
“Any scent?”
The man hesitated.
“Several.”
Kael stood.
“Where?”
“East woods.”
“How far?”
“Close.”
My mother stood immediately.
“Can they get inside?”
The man looked at Kael.
“Not without being noticed.”
Kael's gaze moved to me.
Then to the pendant beneath my shirt.
“Unless they're already here.”
My stomach dropped.
“What does that mean?”
Kael didn't answer.
He walked toward the door.
“Stay in this room.”
I followed him.
“Where are you going?”
“To handle it.”
“You can't just leave me here.”
He turned.
For a moment, we stared at each other.
Then his expression softened.
“I'll come back.”
Something about the certainty in his voice made me believe him.
He left.
The door closed.
I turned toward my mother.
She was staring at the floor.
“Mom.”
She looked up.
“There's something else, isn't there?”
She didn't answer.
“Something about Kael.”
Still nothing.
I stepped closer.
“Why is being his mate so dangerous?”
Her face tightened.
“Because you're not supposed to be his.”
My heart sank.
“Why?”
She looked at me.
And for the first time that night, I saw genuine fear in her eyes.
“Because of who your father was.”
Before I could ask another question, a howl echoed from somewhere beyond the walls.
Everyone outside went silent.
My mother looked toward the window.
Then she whispered something that made my blood run cold.
“They found us.”
And somewhere outside, another howl answered.
Closer this time.
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