Claimed by the Alpha Who Raised Me

Chapter 10

Elowen's POV

Kael dropped me at the cabin gate and drove off to his meeting, and the evening settled into a quiet that sat just short of comfortable.

I heated the food from the containers he'd left, ate at the table by myself, and was just clearing up when my phone pulsed on the counter.

I saw the name and set it face down without thinking, and when it pulsed again I left it.

The third time I picked up a dish and took it to the sink. The fourth time, just before it would have timed out, I dried my hands and answered.

I didn't say anything. I just held the phone and waited.

“Sere. It's me. Caelan.”

I knew. I hadn't erased his name from my phone. I just hadn't found the courage to answer until the fourth attempt apparently wore it down.

“I came to see you,” he said. “I'm in the Northern Reach.”

My eyes flew wide open, my heart immediately raced and I gripped the edge of the counter. Was I hearing him correctly?

“What— what are you doing here? Your parents are going to lose their minds.”

“Probably.” I could hear the noise of the station behind him, the rumble of bags on stone. “Where should I meet you? Gosh I can’t wait to see you. It feels like ages already.”

My first instinct was to give him directions to the cabin but I quickly realised Kael wouldn’t approve. I was still thinking of what to say to him when he spoke again.

“Sere, I miss you,” the warmth and sincerity in his voice tugged at my heart, “enough to have defied my parents and be standing in the Northern Reach right now. I know your new circumstances may not permit you to move around freely but I'm already here and I'm not leaving without seeing you.”

My mouth curved before I could stop it. He'd always been sweet, even back when we were small and the stakes were as low as whose turn it was on the rope swing. He’d let me take his turn and everyone else’s if they let him.

“Where are you?” I said. “Send me your location.”

He texted me an address and I threw on a jacket and made my way there, keeping my curfew time firmly in mind.

He was late, which was typical. I stood under the lamp outside the meeting point and watched the street until I spotted him coming around the corner, scanning faces with that particular look of someone who hadn't been somewhere before and was pretending not to be lost.

He was taller than I remembered. Jaw sharper, shoulders broader. Time had happened to him the same way it happened to everyone, quietly and all at once.

“Sere!” He lifted a hand and his face split into a grin.

I walked over and checked instinctively over his shoulder. He caught the motion.

“She’s not here. Mira wanted to come but her family needed her home. She packed enough gifts to make airport security suspicious, though.”

The place he picked was small and warm, with low lighting and the kind of menu that didn't try too hard. He told me to order for both of us and meant it, so I did, mostly things I liked with one dish I'd ordered specifically because he always ate it back home.

When the server left he leaned back and studied me with a quiet sigh.

“You've grown. And life here looks good. Your guardian's treating you well.”

At the mention of Kael I checked the time automatically, then caught myself.

He noticed and smiled, and the warmth of it hit somewhere I hadn't expected. He'd come all this way, risked his family line, crossed into a territory he'd never been to, just to sit across a table from me for two hours.

For the first time in months, I felt like someone had chosen me because they wanted to and not out of obligation.

When the food arrived he glanced at the dish I'd ordered for him, smiled and picked up his fork.

“You remembered.”

“It’s only been a few months. I’ve known you all my life and it’d be really impossible for me to forget things about you,” I replied but a punch of guilt hit me.

I could have reached out the whole time I was here but I didn’t. In the end, he had to work past his restrictions to get to me so maybe I shouldn’t say such things like I wouldn’t forget him when that was exactly what I was trying to do.

Calean noticed the look on my face and forced a small smile.

“Don't be sad,” he said,“we're still here, Sere. One way or the other, we’ll figure this out.”

“I hope so,” I murmured, not really having it in me to believe so fully. Once his parents found out he came here, they’ll haul him right back and make sure it never happens again.

“So,” he leaned back and watched me. “Where are you applying? University. If you stay in the Northern Reach, I'll put in applications here too.”

“Depends on my scores,” I said.

Caelan chuckled. “Really?”

We were never the type to lose sleep over good grades, we were smart enough just to get over and our parent’s influence handled the rest but Kael demanded excellence.

The same level of excellence that got him where he is today and it was slowly beginning to rub off on me.

Just thinking about Kael's face when he'd looked at my placement result made me check the time again. It was already past nine.

I set my fork down. “Are you done? I should get you a hotel…”

He waved me off. “Already checked in nearby.”

He looked at me for a moment, something soft flickering in his expression.

“I’m leaving early tomorrow morning. I came here without telling my family… if they find out, it’ll be a mess.”

I paused slightly and immediately felt sad.

I hadn’t expected that.

He had really come all the way here just to see me for a few hours. It left a bittersweet feeling deep inside me and I barely held myself together so he didn’t see my eyes water.

“Then let’s go,” I said. “I’ll walk you back.”

Halfway there, my phone rang.

Kael.

It was already past ten and my heart immediately began to pound, thinking of the best excuse to give in case he was home already.

I slowed instantly, glancing around. The street was quiet enough.

I motioned to Caelan to be quiet and covered the phone slightly, pretending I was already at home, then answered.

“Ten o’clock already. Are you home?”

My chest tightened, but my voice stayed steady.

“Yes.”

There was a brief pause on the other end, faint background noise behind him that eased my tension. He wasn’t home.

A woman’s voice seemed to pass through in the distance— light, indistinct, almost casual under what sounded like music.

At the sound, all my earlier tension eased completely. He definitely wasn’t home.

“Alright. I’ll be back late. Don’t wait up.”

“I wasn’t going to.”

I hung up quickly, relieved, and turned back to Caelan.

“Let’s go.”

By the time we reached the hotel, it was already 10:30.

I was about to leave after seeing him off when he suddenly called out.

“Wait—your gifts! Mira’s gifts too. She asked me to bring them to you.”

“Oh.”

“You have to come upstairs with me, Mira sent a ridiculous amount of stuff. I don't think I can carry everything down at once all by myself.”

I thought of Mira’s bright, thoughtful personality and smiled faintly. That girl always tried to bring me the most interesting things.

I nodded. “Alright.”

We took the stairs up to the third floor and arrived at the door of Caelan’s room.

He took out his key, just about to open it— when the door next to his suddenly opened and I froze.

Every nerve in my body screamed for me to hide and vanish as Kael stepped out from inside.

He stood in the corridor in his dark coat, and beside him, one step behind, was that same woman from the market in a pale coat, her dark hair pinned up, her posture elegant and composed.

I hated the sour feeling of jealousy that immediately pulsed inside me overriding my fear that he saw me here when I told him I was home.

Everyone knew what a man and a woman did inside a hotel room.

It wasn’t my business but it felt like he was, like she was taking something precious that belonged to me and I felt a sudden rage from it.

Before I could regain myself, Kael had spotted me. His eyes— first shocked then dark, cold and furious moved from me to Caelan behind me, then back to me.

The temperature of the room immediately dropped.