CHAPTER FIVE THE ALPHA UNVEILED**
1192 Words
For a heartbeat, Amara forgot how to breathe.
Kael’s eyes burned with molten gold—far brighter, far more animal than anything human eyes should ever hold. Shadows curled around him, clinging to his skin like living smoke. The air thickened, vibrating with something ancient, something wild.
She pressed her back against the wall, her fingers trembling at her sides.
He stepped closer—not to trap her, but to make sure she saw everything clearly.
“I won’t hurt you,” he murmured, voice deeper now, rougher… edged with something growling beneath it. “But you asked to see the truth.”
He reached up and slowly unbuttoned the top of his torn shirt. Not to seduce, but to reveal.
Underneath, lines of muscle shifted—too defined, too powerful for any normal man. Dark veins glowed faintly beneath his skin, pulsing with golden light. His breathing changed too, becoming slower but heavier, as though he were holding something monstrous inside.
Amara stared, chest rising and falling in sharp, shallow breaths.
“Kael… your eyes. They’re—”
“Wolf,” he whispered. “Half-shifted.”
She swallowed hard.
“This is real,” she breathed. “You’re really… one of them.”
His lips curved slightly—not in amusement, but in acknowledgement.
“One of us,” he corrected softly. “The firstborn Alpha of the Ardan Bloodline.”
The words carried weight.
Power.
History.
Amara shook her head slowly, pushing her hair back with trembling fingers.
“You’re showing me too much,” she whispered. “Too fast.”
Kael stepped closer, but gently—giving her time to stop him.
She didn’t.
He placed his hand beside her head on the wall—not touching her, but shielding her, as though protecting her from the fear itself.
“Look at me, Amara.”
She forced her gaze back to his.
“This is not my full form,” he said. “If I shifted completely inside your home, I would destroy it.”
Her breath hitched.
She believed him.
She didn’t know why, but she did.
“Then why show me this?” she whispered.
He lowered his head slightly, eyes locked to hers.
“Because I need you to understand what chose you.”
He wasn’t talking about himself.
He was talking about the bond.
“The mate bond exists to protect the strongest among us,” he said, voice like thunder wrapped in velvet. “But when an Alpha finds his mate… that power becomes unstoppable.”
Her stomach twisted.
“And if the mate doesn’t want it?” she asked softly.
Kael stilled.
His jaw clenched.
His glowing eyes dimmed, pain flickering inside them like dying embers.
“Then the Alpha suffers,” he said quietly. “The wolf becomes restless. The man becomes unbalanced. The bond becomes… painful.”
Amara’s heart twisted.
She didn’t understand why.
She barely knew him.
But that quiet ache in his voice hurt her more deeply than Tunde’s betrayal.
Kael leaned closer—slow, patient, like a predator approaching the edge of restraint.
“But I will never force you,” he murmured. “Fate may tie us, but choice determines what we become.”
His breath ghosted her lips.
She inhaled sharply—not from fear, but something far more dangerous.
He exhaled a shaky breath of his own.
“I need to calm,” he murmured, voice trembling with restrained power. “Your scent is too strong right now.”
Her eyes widened.
“My… scent?”
Kael closed his eyes briefly, jaw tense.
“Wolves experience emotion through scent,” he said. “And yours—fear, confusion… and something else I refuse to name—is testing my control.”
Amara felt heat rise up her neck.
Before she could respond, Kael stepped back three slow paces, breaking the charged tension.
The gold in his eyes dimmed. The glow beneath his skin faded. His breathing steadied.
He looked—almost—human again.
Almost.
“Better,” he murmured.
Amara let out a shaky breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding.
“What do we do now?” she whispered.
Kael straightened, shoulders broad, dominance muted but still present.
“Now,” he said, voice calmer, “you rest. I will remain here and watch over you tonight.”
Amara’s pulse spiked.
“In my apartment?” she asked.
“Yes.”
No hesitation.
No shame.
She crossed her arms protectively.
“And if I say no?”
He nodded once—respectful, not angry.
“Then I will guard your door from outside.”
A beat.
“Even if it means freezing on the street.”
She stared at him.
“You would do that? For me?”
He met her gaze without flinching.
“For my mate,” he corrected softly. “I would do far more.”
Silence.
Amara felt her heart twist—pain, fear, warmth, and something dangerously close to longing mixing inside her chest.
Kael continued, voice soft.
“You don’t have to trust me yet. But trust this—no harm will come to you again while I breathe.”
She looked away, overwhelmed.
Her voice trembled.
“What if I don’t want a werewolf in my life?”
Kael’s eyes softened—deep, almost sad.
“Then the wolf will wait,” he whispered. “As long as you need.”
Amara’s breath caught.
Wait?
For her?
Kael turned slightly toward the broken window.
“I need to board that up,” he murmured, examining the shattered glass. “The rogues nearly broke through. They will not get a second chance.”
A chill went down her spine.
“Will they come back?” she whispered.
Kael didn’t answer immediately.
When he did, his voice was low and serious.
“Yes,” he said. “Because tonight changed everything.”
He turned back to her, eyes no longer glowing but urgent.
“They know you exist now. And they won’t stop.”
Amara’s heart dropped.
“Why?” she breathed.
Kael stepped toward her again—slow, steady, protective.
“Because a human mate to an Alpha is rare,” he said softly, “and priceless.”
Amara swallowed hard.
“And dangerous?”
Kael nodded.
“For both of us.”
Her pulse raced.
“What happens next?” she whispered.
Kael looked her straight in the eyes.
“Next,” he said gently, “you choose whether to let me protect you from the world you never knew existed…”
A long pause.
“…or whether I protect you from afar.”
Amara’s mind spun, drowning in fear, confusion, and something far more treacherous:
Curiosity.
Attraction.
Pull.
She exhaled shakily.
“I don’t know what I choose yet.”
Kael nodded once—slow, accepting, patient.
“That is enough,” he said softly. “For now.”
But as he moved to repair her window, Amara didn’t notice the tiny remaining glow in his eyes.
Because Kael already knew something she didn’t:
Fate had made its decision the moment their eyes met.
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- Writer
