THE HEIR’S HUMAN MATE

CHAPTER FIVE

Kael should have walked away from her the moment the conversation ended. That would have been the sensible thing to do. A human girl at a noble gathering should not have held his attention longer than a passing moment, especially not when he had spent years surrounded by women far more beautiful, more powerful, and far more willing to throw themselves at him for even the smallest fraction of his attention. Yet somehow, he remained standing beside her on the balcony while the rest of the gathering faded into background noise.

Music drifted upward from the ballroom below, softened by distance and the cool night air moving through the estate. Candlelight spilled across the marble floors while noble guests laughed beneath golden chandeliers, completely unaware that the future heir of the Werewolf Empire had lost interest in the entire evening because of one quiet human girl.

Kaelira rested her arms lightly against the stone railing, her gaze fixed on the gardens below. “You’re staring again,” she said calmly without looking at him. Kael’s eyes stayed on her for another second before he answered. “You noticed.”

“There wasn’t much effort to hide it. Something about the way she spoke unsettled him. Most people measured every word carefully around him, afraid of offending him or saying the wrong thing. Kaelira did neither. She spoke naturally, without fear or desperation, and somehow that made him more aware of her than he wanted to be.

“You don’t seem nervous around me,” he observed quietly. This time she looked at him properly. “Should I be?”

“Most humans are.”

“And does that bother you?”

“No,” Kael admitted. “But it’s unusual.”

The wind shifted softly between them, carrying her scent toward him again, and Kael immediately hated how aware he had become of it. Human. Warm. Subtle in a way that cut through every expensive perfume lingering inside the estate halls.

“You keep observing me,” Kaelira said after another moment. “Are werewolves naturally this intense, or is that just a royal family problem?” A faint smirk nearly appeared on his face before disappearing again. “Only when something catches their attention.”

“And I’ve caught yours?” The question should have sounded arrogant, but somehow it didn’t. If anything, she sounded curious.

Kael leaned one arm against the railing beside her. “You’re different from the others downstairs.”

“That sounds dangerous.”

“It might be.” That earned the smallest smile from her, brief but real enough to pull something unexpectedly warm through his chest before he could stop it. Kael looked away first. That annoyed him. “You still haven’t answered my question,” he said.

“What question?”

“What exactly are you doing here?”

Kaelira glanced back toward the ballroom below. “My father works closely with Councilman Aurel. We were invited with the other noble families.”

“Noble humans,” Kael corrected.

“Yes.”

His eyes narrowed slightly. “You don’t behave like one.” Kaelira laughed softly under her breath before turning toward him fully. “And how exactly are noble human women supposed to behave?”

Kael’s gaze drifted briefly toward the ballroom where several women were still openly watching him. “Usually they spend the evening trying to gain attention.”

“You mean your attention.” Kael said nothing because denying it would have been pointless. “That sounds exhausting,” she murmured.

“It is.” The answer came too honestly, and for a moment silence settled comfortably between them. It wasn’t tense but just quiet enough that Kael realized he didn’t mind standing there with her doing absolutely nothing. That was dangerously rare.

“You don’t enjoy gatherings like this,” Kaelira observed.

“I enjoy them less every year.”

“Then why come?” Kael’s jaw tightened faintly. “Because my father requested it.”

Kaelira lifted a brow slightly. “Requested?”

A low breath escaped him, almost amused. “You enjoy challenging people, don’t you?”

“I enjoy honesty.”

“And honesty tells you I was ordered here?”

“It tells me you don’t look like someone who enjoys being controlled,” she answered without hesitation. Kael stared at her for a long moment after that because very few people would have dared say something like that to him so casually. Most feared him too much. Others respected the throne too deeply. Kaelira did neither.

“You say dangerous things very comfortably,” he said quietly.

“And yet you’re still standing here.”

There it was again. That strange pull she carried without even trying. It wasn’t flirtation. It wasn’t seduction. It was something calmer and somehow far more dangerous because of it. Kael found himself stepping slightly closer before he realized it.

“You should be careful around me,” he said, his voice lower now. Kaelira’s expression didn’t change. “Is that supposed to frighten me?”

“No,” Kael answered honestly. “It’s supposed to warn you.”

For a second neither of them moved. The air between them shifted quietly, becoming heavier in a way Kael couldn’t fully explain.

Then Kaelira looked away first.

“You know,” she said softly, “people speak about you like you’re impossible to approach.” Kael leaned back slightly against the railing again. “And now?”

“Now I think you’re just lonely.” The words landed harder than they should have. Kael felt his expression tighten instinctively before he controlled it again, but Kaelira noticed. He could tell she did. No one spoke to him this way. No one looked beyond the prince long enough to notice the exhaustion underneath him. “You think you understand me already?” he asked quietly.

“No,” she answered just as softly. “But I think people who spend their lives surrounded by others usually aren’t trying to avoid loneliness.”

Kael looked at her for a long moment after that. And for the first time in years, he did not know what to say. Before the silence could deepen further, Kaelira stepped away from the railing and moved toward the balcony entrance. She paused only briefly beside him.

“Goodnight, Kael,” she said calmly. Not prince. Not your highness. Just Kael. Simple enough to feel strangely personal. Kael watched her disappear back into the crowded ballroom below, but he made no move to follow her. Instead, he remained standing there long after she was gone, staring silently at the doorway she had disappeared through.

“You look disturbed.” Ronan’s voice pulled him from his thoughts as the beta stepped onto the balcony behind him.

Kael exhaled slowly. “I might be.” Ronan followed his line of sight toward the ballroom entrance before smirking slightly. “Human girl?”

Kael stayed silent. That silence alone made Ronan laugh softly. “Oh, this is bad.”

Kael finally glanced at him. “What is?”

“You’re interested.”

“I’m curious.” Ronan’s smirk widened. “That’s worse.”