CHAPTER 4: THE TRUTH THEY HID
670 Words
🖤(Kael’s POV)
I should have stopped it.
The attack.
The moment the first blade was drawn in the garden, I knew.
Too slow. Too obvious.
Amateurs.
And yet…
I didn’t move.
Because I wanted to see her.
Not the girl they brought back.
Not the “lost heiress.”
But the truth.
And what I saw?
Was far more dangerous than I expected.
“She didn’t hesitate,” I murmured.
Across the room, my Beta shifted uneasily. “Should we increase security around her?”
“No.”
The word came out sharper than intended.
Security?
For her?
I almost laughed.
“They weren’t sent to kill her,” I continued, my gaze darkening. “They were sent to test her.”
Silence.
Then—
“By who?” my Beta asked.
I didn’t answer immediately.
Because I already knew.
And I didn’t like it.
(Chloe’s POV)
Sleep didn’t come.
Not because I was afraid.
But because something didn’t add up.
I sat by the window, staring out into the darkness, replaying everything.
The attack.
The timing.
The way they moved.
Too coordinated to be random.
Too weak to be serious.
A test.
Which meant one thing.
Someone already knew what I could do.
A soft knock came at my door.
I didn’t turn.
“Come in.”
The door opened slowly.
Selina.
Of course.
“You left the banquet early,” she said lightly.
I smiled faintly. “I got bored.”
She stepped inside, closing the door behind her.
Click.
Locked.
Interesting.
“You shouldn’t wander alone,” she continued. “This place can be… dangerous.”
I turned then, finally meeting her eyes.
“And yet,” I said softly, “I’m still standing.”
Her smile faltered.
Just slightly.
Then—
She walked closer.
Too close.
“You think you’ve won tonight,” she whispered.
I didn’t move.
“Did I?”
Her expression shifted.
Gone was the sweetness.
Gone was the mask.
What remained?
Something darker.
“You have no idea what you’ve stepped into,” she said quietly. “This isn’t just a marriage.”
I tilted my head.
“Then enlighten me.”
A pause.
Then—
“The Alpha you’re about to marry?” she said. “He didn’t agree to this union.”
My eyes narrowed slightly.
Now that…
Was interesting.
“He requested you.”
Silence.
Sharp.
Heavy.
Impossible.
I let out a soft laugh. “That doesn’t make sense.”
“It doesn’t have to,” she replied. “Not when you’re part of something much bigger.”
Her gaze dropped briefly—to my wrist.
Instinctively, I followed.
Nothing there.
Just skin.
But the way she looked at it—
Like something was supposed to be there.
“What?” I asked.
She smiled again.
But this time…
It felt like a warning.
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
She turned, walking toward the door.
Then paused.
“Oh—and Chloe?”
I didn’t respond.
“You weren’t the one they meant to bring back.”
The door opened.
Closed.
And just like that—
She was gone.
Silence filled the room again.
But this time…
It wasn’t calm.
It was loud.
Heavy.
Wrong.
I looked down at my wrist again.
Empty.
But something about it felt… off.
Like a missing piece I couldn’t see.
“You weren’t the one they meant to bring back.”
Her words echoed in my mind.
Over.
And over.
And over.
A mistake.
A replacement.
A solution.
I stood slowly, my pulse steady—but my thoughts racing.
If I wasn’t the one they wanted…
Then who was?
And more importantly—
Why did Alpha Kael request me?
Outside, hidden in the shadows of the corridor—
Kael stood still.
Listening.
Watching.
Waiting.
His gaze fixed on the door she had just closed.
Then slowly…
He looked down at his hand.
At the faint mark glowing under his skin.
A symbol.
Ancient.
Dangerous.
Awake.
“…It’s begun,” he murmured.
- Writer
