WHEN AN ALPHA KNEELS

THE LITTLE LIBRARIAN

WHEN AN ALPHA KNEELS

CHAPTER TWO

The little brass bell above the bookstore door chimed softly.

"Morning, Kael!"

"Good morning, Mrs. Harris."

Kael Ashford smiled as the elderly woman struggled to carry a stack of books to the counter.

"Let me help."

Before she could protest, he had already taken the pile from her arms.

"I keep telling you not to lift these yourself."

"And I keep telling you I'm not made of glass."

Kael chuckled.

"You also tell me you're twenty-nine."

Mrs. Harris narrowed her eyes.

"I was twenty-nine once."

"Exactly."

She swatted his arm with surprising accuracy, and the two burst into laughter.

It was a routine they had repeated for years.

The little independent bookstore sat beside the city's oldest university. Students wandered in between classes, professors came looking for rare editions, and neighborhood children gathered every Saturday for Kael's storytelling sessions.

It wasn't glamorous.

It certainly wasn't profitable.

But Kael loved every corner of it.

Books had been his home long before he understood what the word meant.

His parents had died when he was eight. Since then, Mrs. Harris had taken him in, giving him a roof over his head and a place among endless shelves filled with stories.

She never adopted him on paper.

She simply loved him as if she had.

"You're drifting again," she said.

"Hm?"

"You've been staring out the window for five minutes."

Kael blinked before smiling sheepishly.

"I was thinking."

"You do far too much of that."

"I work in a bookstore."

"Exactly my point."

The bell rang again.

A little girl no older than seven ran inside with a backpack almost as big as she was.

"Mr. Kael!"

He crouched until they were eye level.

"Finished the adventure book already?"

She nodded enthusiastically.

"The dragon became good at the end!"

"I told you not every monster stays a monster."

She grinned.

"Can I borrow another one?"

"You may borrow two."

The girl's eyes sparkled as she hurried toward the children's section.

Mrs. Harris watched the exchange with a soft smile.

"You'd make a wonderful father someday."

Kael nearly dropped the books in his hands.

"Mrs. Harris..."

"What? I said someday."

He laughed awkwardly.

"I think I'll settle for being everyone's favorite librarian."

"You deserve more than settling."

Before he could answer, his phone buzzed.

Ethan: Dinner tonight?

Kael smiled and typed back.

Only if you're buying.

His best friend replied almost instantly.

*Dream on.

Kael slipped the phone back into his pocket, still smiling.

Outside, the afternoon sun bathed the street in golden light.

Students hurried to lectures.

Couples walked hand in hand.

An old man sat on a bench feeding pigeons.

It was ordinary.

Peaceful.

Exactly the kind of life Kael wanted.

He didn't crave wealth.

He didn't dream of fame.

If he could spend the rest of his life surrounded by books and people he cared about, he would consider himself the luckiest man alive.

He had no way of knowing that fate had already begun writing a different story.

One that would soon place the quiet keeper of stories in the path of the most powerful Alpha in the country.

The little brass bell above the bookstore door chimed.

Kael looked up from the novel he was arranging.

A man stepped inside.

He was dressed in a perfectly tailored black three-piece suit, his broad shoulders commanding attention the moment he crossed the threshold. Every movement was calm, deliberate, and confident. The afternoon sunlight spilling through the windows traced the sharp lines of his handsome face, making him look almost unreal.

For reasons Kael couldn't explain...

The air felt different.

The man slowly lifted his head.

Their eyes met.

Time seemed to stop.

Ramil froze.

A strange warmth spread through his chest before crashing through his entire body like a tidal wave.

His heartbeat, steady for years, suddenly thundered against his ribs.

A feeling long forgotten stirred somewhere deep inside him.

Instinct.

It was faint.

Fragile.

But undeniably there.

His fingers twitched.

Every part of him screamed one impossible truth.

Protect him.

Not conquer.

Not claim.

Protect.

Ramil stared, unable to look away.

What... is happening to me?

Across the room, Kael's smile slowly faded.

He didn't know why his heart had skipped a beat.

Or why looking into the stranger's silver-gray eyes filled him with an overwhelming sense of familiarity... as though he had been waiting for someone he had never met.

The feeling made no sense.

Yet he couldn't shake it.

Neither of them spoke.

The silence stretched between them, heavy with something neither could name.

Then Kael forced a polite smile.

"Welcome to Ashford Books & Coffee."

Ramil opened his mouth to answer.

But for the first time in three years...

Words failed the King Alpha.