***CHAPTER SIX THE NIGHT HE STOOD GUARD**
1359 Words
Amara didn’t sleep.
She tried.
She lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, wrapped in a blanket that suddenly felt too thin, too fragile, too useless against the memory of claws scraping her window.
Every creak of the old apartment made her flinch.
Every whisper of wind against the cracked glass made her heart jump.
She hated the fear.
But she hated the silence more.
Kael’s presence filled the apartment—quiet, steady, controlled. Not intrusive. Not looming. Just… there.
A constant warmth in the cold darkness.
She could hear him moving quietly in the living room, repairing the window with whatever materials he could gather from her emergency toolbox. The steady rhythm of hammering was strangely calming—methodical, careful, far quieter than anyone that strong should be.
He was trying not to bother her.
Trying to make her feel safe.
Trying.
The thought made her chest ache in a way she didn’t understand.
After what felt like an hour, she gave up pretending she was okay and slipped out of bed. Her feet were cold against the floor as she padded down the hallway, following the muted thumps of Kael’s careful work.
She found him crouched by the window, shirt half-ruined, back muscles shifting beneath tanned skin as he nailed a thick wooden board in place. The moonlight caught in his hair, throwing silver across his silhouette.
He looked… otherworldly.
Not in a monstrous way.
In a beautiful one.
His senses picked her up before she made a sound.
He didn’t turn immediately.
He didn’t startle.
He simply said, softly:
“You should be resting.”
Amara wrapped her arms around herself.
“I can’t.”
He paused, hammer in hand.
Only then did he turn to face her.
His eyes were normal again—brown, warm, steady. But a faint ring of gold pulsed around the iris, a glow he couldn’t fully hide.
“Are you cold?” he asked.
She nodded before she could think.
Kael stood slowly and reached for the throw blanket on her couch. He stepped toward her, draping it over her shoulders with a tenderness so unexpected it made her throat tighten.
“You don’t have to be afraid,” he murmured.
“I’m not afraid of you,” she whispered.
That made him still.
Something old and fierce flickered briefly in his eyes—relief mixed with a possessive warmth he quickly tried to hide.
“But you could be,” he said softly.
Amara shook her head.
“You haven’t given me a reason to.”
Kael exhaled through his nose, a quiet, heavy sound.
“I gave you many.”
A pause.
“You just didn’t run.”
She swallowed.
“If I had run, you would’ve chased me… wouldn’t you?”
His gaze locked onto hers.
“No,” he said quietly.
“I would have followed.”
There was a difference.
She felt it in her bones.
Amara stepped closer, surprising them both.
“You never told me why you came tonight. How you found me.”
Kael hesitated, then looked away, jaw tightening with something unspoken.
“I felt you.”
She blinked.
“Felt me?”
His hands flexed by his sides—like he was debating how much to reveal.
“The mate bond works in layers,” he said softly. “Sometimes dull. Sometimes intense. But when a mate is terrified…” His breath wavered slightly. “…the wolf senses it. No matter how far.”
Her breath caught.
“How far were you?”
Kael lifted his eyes back to hers.
“Across the city.”
She inhaled sharply.
“You came all the way here… because I was scared?”
“No.”
His voice was quiet but firm.
“Because you were in danger. And because I…” He swallowed. “Because I couldn’t stand the thought of losing you before you even decide what you want from me.”
Before she could respond, a sudden shiver ran up her spine.
Kael noticed instantly.
“Sit,” he murmured, guiding her gently to the couch.
He didn’t crowd her.
He didn’t touch her more than necessary.
But he sat on the floor beside the couch—not beside her on the cushions, not across the room—on the floor, as if positioning himself between her and the door, her and the window, her and any threat that dared to try again.
“Why there?” she asked.
Kael rested one arm on his knee, gazing toward the broken window.
“So I’m closest if something happens.”
Amara’s heart clenched.
“You really think more wolves could come?”
Kael didn’t answer immediately.
He turned his head toward her, his voice quiet, steady, honest.
“They won’t try again tonight. Not after what happened to the ones who came.”
The implication made her stomach twist.
“You killed them?”
Kael held her gaze.
“Do you want the truth?”
She hesitated, then nodded.
“Yes.”
“I ended two,” he said softly. “In front of your building. The third escaped.”
Her skin went cold.
But his next words warmed her again:
“I don’t kill lightly, Amara. Only when necessary. Only when protecting what’s mine.”
Her breath trembled.
“Kael… I’m not yours.”
He looked down.
“I know.”
A pause.
“But my wolf doesn’t.”
Silence stretched thick and fragile between them.
Amara looked at him—really looked at him.
The blood drying on his arm.
The bruise forming along his ribs.
The exhaustion in his eyes he tried to hide.
He had risked his life for her.
She barely knew him.
That truth hit her like a blow.
“Kael.”
He lifted his eyes.
She swallowed.
“You should let me… clean that wound. At least.”
He blinked—surprised.
“Let you… touch me?”
Amara nodded.
He went very still.
A slow breath escaped him, like he was grounding himself.
“Only if you want to,” he murmured. “The bond makes contact… intense.”
“I can handle it,” she whispered.
He let out a low, nearly inaudible growl—not threatening, but involuntary—as he moved closer and offered his injured arm.
She brought a towel and warm water, kneeling beside him.
The moment her fingers brushed his skin—
Kael’s breath hitched.
His muscles tightened.
That golden ring in his eyes flared bright.
His voice came out a strained whisper.
“Amara… don’t move too suddenly. You have no idea what you’re doing to me right now.”
But she did.
For the first time tonight, she truly did.
Because her own body wasn’t calm either.
Everything in her responded to him.
His warmth.
His scent.
His closeness.
Her pulse wasn’t steady.
Her hands weren’t steady.
But she cleaned his wound anyway, breath trembling, heart caught in her throat.
Kael sat perfectly still.
Not breathing.
Not blinking.
Just watching her.
When she leaned back, finished, Kael exhaled a long, shaky breath—like he’d been holding it the entire time.
His voice came out hoarse.
“Thank you.”
She nodded.
“You’re welcome.”
For a long moment, neither moved.
Then Kael shifted closer—not touching, but close enough that she felt the heat radiating from him.
“You’re stronger than you think,” he said softly.
“You don’t know me,” she whispered.
He smiled faintly.
“I’m learning.”
Silence settled again—gentle, warm, no longer tense.
Kael leaned back against the couch, exhaustion shadowing his eyes.
“You should sleep,” Amara whispered.
“So should you,” he murmured.
“Will you be here when I wake up?”
Kael’s eyes softened.
“I’ll be wherever you need me.”
Her heartbeat stumbled.
And for the first time since the night began, Amara’s fear loosened its grip on her chest.
Because she realized something startling:
She felt safer with a werewolf in her home
than she ever felt with a human man in her life.
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- Writer
