Chapter 6
1046 Words
The room became suffocatingly silent.
Kael stood across from me, breathing harder than before, silver eyes darkened by something far more dangerous than anger.
Instinct. Possession. Need.
The bloodroot oil had awakened the wolf inside him! And suddenly I understood why the herb was forbidden.
The mate bond between us no longer felt like a distant ache. It felt alive. Hungry.
Kael dragged a hand down his face, rough and agitated, as if fighting himself.
“You need to stay away from me tonight.”
His voice was strained, unsteady. That frightened me more than any shout.
I folded my arms tight.
“You say that as though I’m the danger.”
His eyes snapped to mine.
“You are.”
The answer came too quickly. Too honestly.
Heat crawled traitorously beneath my skin.
Kael cursed under his breath and turned away, pacing the chamber like a wolf trapped in a too small cage.
“You should not have been left alone with Selene.”
“Why?” I asked quietly. “Because she wants you?”
“No.”
His jaw tightened.
“Because she knows exactly how male wolves react to bloodroot.”
I swallowed.
The tension thickened, heavy as storm air. Every breath felt weighted.
He stopped pacing. He looked at me again.
A terrible mistake.
Because the instant our eyes locked, the mate bond pulsed, violent, hungry. My heart stumbled. His control cracked.
He crossed the room so fast I barely had time to breathe. One heartbeat he stood near the fireplace, then my back hit the wall!
A startled gasp escaped me.
Kael braced a hand beside my head, caging me between his body and cold marble. Heat closed around me at once.
Moon Goddess…
Everything about him overwhelmed at this distance, the scent of rain and cedar, the warmth of his skin, the dangerous power roiling under his restraint. His breath roughened as he lowered his face toward my neck, not touching, hovering, fighting himself.
“You need to tell me to leave,” he said hoarsely.
But I could barely think. The mate bond burned around my ribs like fire. I should push him away. I should hate him. Instead, my pulse betrayed me.
Kael’s eyes shut briefly, tortured.
“You have no idea what you do to me.”
The confession shattered something fragile inside me. This was not the cold king who had rejected me before his court. This was a man losing a war with his own feelings.
My fingers tightened in my skirts.
“You rejected me,” I whispered, the words raw.
His eyes opened at once, guilt blazing there.
“I know.”
Two words. Quiet. Heavy with regret.
Before I could answer, a violent knock crashed against the chamber doors!
“My king!”
Kael went still. The moment fractured. Invisible walls slammed back into place across his face.
“What?” he barked.
A guard’s panicked voice bled through the door.
“The council requests your presence immediately! Another attack has occurred!”
Kael swore under his breath.
“Another?” I frowned.
The guard hesitated.
“This time… one of the council elders is dead!”
Silence hit, sharp as ice.
Kael stepped away from me at once, cold king restored. But not entirely. I could still see the man who had nearly lost control seconds earlier. His eyes met mine, a flash of warning and something unspoken, danger, frustration, desire, then he turned for the door.
“You will remain here!”
I straightened.
“I am tired of being treated like a prisoner!”
His patience snapped. He whirled, eyes glinting silver.
“You think this is a game? he growled. Someone is murdering people inside my palace and framing you for every death!”
The force of his voice shook the room. Even my wolf recoiled.
Kael saw it. Regret flickered across his face, but anger still drove him.
“They’re building a case against you,” he said coldly. “And if the court decides you’re guilty, even I may not be able to protect you!”
My stomach twisted.
There it was again, not rejection, but protection dressed as cruelty.
I hated how much that truth weakened my anger.
He exhaled harshly, reining himself in. His gaze dropped, just for a beat, to my throat, to the place a mate’s mark would sit. The air between us tightened again, dangerous, unfinished.
His jaw locked.
“Bolt the doors after I leave.”
Then he was gone. No backward glance. No parting word.
I was left with shaking hands and a heart hammering too fast.
Hours crawled by. No one returned.
Rain battered the palace, thunder rolled across the mountains surrounding the Northern Kingdom. Something was wrong. I could feel it. The palace itself seemed restless tonight, uneasy.
I stood at the balcony windows, staring into the dark, when movement below caught my eye. A hooded figure slipped through the gardens, angling toward the Eastern Wing, toward my chambers.
My pulse quickened. The figure moved carefully, avoiding the patrols.
Then she looked up.
Even through the storm, I knew those eyes.
Lina.
Relief surged, then died when I saw the blood on her hands.
Cold dread crawled through me.
I rushed for the door just as a frantic knock rattled it!
“My lady!” Lina cried, breathless. “Please open the door!”
I unbolted it at once. She stumbled inside and nearly collapsed. Blood smeared her dress, her hands trembled, terror hollowed her face.
“Lina, what happened?”
She seized my wrists.
“My lady…” Her voice shook. “You need to run!”
Ice sluiced through my veins.
“What?”
Tears filled her eyes.
“The council has decided. They plan to arrest you tonight for treason and execute you before the Blood Moon ceremony!”
The world lurched.
“No…”
She nodded, frantic.
“They believe you killed the elder.”
She swallowed.
“But that’s not the worst of it.”
Fear cinched tight around my ribs.
“There’s more?”
Her lips trembled.
When she spoke, the words shattered what little safety I had left.
“They found evidence that you’re carrying the king’s child!”
- Writer
