CHAPTER 8 — The Pack Started Whispering
1073 Words
By the time Kael brought me back to the pack grounds, everyone already knew something had happened.
I saw it in the way conversations stopped when I passed.
In the way eyes followed me.
In the way people stepped aside not respectfully…
Carefully.
Like I might explode if they got too close.
I should have felt powerful.
Instead
I felt alone.
---
Kael walked beside me in complete silence, his presence heavy enough to keep anyone from approaching.
No one dared speak while he was near.
No one dared even breathe too loudly.
The moment we crossed the central courtyard, pack members lowered their heads.
Not to me.
To him.
Always to him.
I glanced sideways.
“How long are you planning to intimidate everyone for fun?” I asked.
His expression didn’t change.
“I’m not.”
“That makes it worse.”
A flicker of something passed through his eyes.
Almost amusement.
Almost.
---
When we reached my room, I reached for the handle.
Kael’s hand landed above mine first.
My breath caught.
His palm rested against the wood, caging me between the door and his body without fully touching me.
Too close.
Again.
“What are you doing?” I asked quietly.
“Changing the rules.”
I frowned. “What rules?”
“You don’t stay here alone anymore.”
My stomach tightened.
“I’m not a prisoner.”
“No,” he said, voice calm. “You’re a target.”
The words sank deep.
I searched his face for sarcasm.
Found none.
“You’re serious.”
“Yes.”
“I’m still sleeping in my own room.”
“No.”
I stared at him.
“No?”
“No.”
My jaw dropped slightly.
“You can’t just decide where I sleep.”
“I already did.”
Arrogant. Impossible. Infuriating.
And somehow
Oddly reassuring.
I hated that.
“I’m not staying with you,” I said firmly.
His gaze lowered slowly to my lips, then returned to my eyes.
“You assume too much.”
Heat rushed to my face.
“I wasn’t implying”
“You were.”
“I was not.”
“You were.”
I hated that I suddenly couldn’t remember how to speak.
Kael stepped back at last.
“There’s an empty room beside mine,” he said. “You’ll stay there until I know what’s hunting you.”
That was… more reasonable.
Still annoying.
Still controlling.
Still Kael.
---
As I moved past him, a sharp voice cut across the courtyard.
“So now she lives in the Alpha wing?”
I froze.
Damon.
Of course.
He stood at the far side of the hall, arms crossed, eyes fixed on Kael.
Then on me.
Then back on Kael.
The tension between them hit like a storm waiting to break.
“It’s temporary,” I said before either of them could speak.
Damon ignored me completely.
“She doesn’t belong there.”
Kael’s expression remained unreadable.
“She belongs where I say she does.”
The air changed instantly.
My chest tightened.
Damon took one step forward.
“She’s using you.”
I blinked.
Excuse me?
Kael looked bored.
“You rejected her.”
“I protected the pack.”
“No,” Kael said coolly. “You protected your pride.”
That landed.
Hard.
Damon’s jaw flexed.
“You think this is about pride?”
“I think,” Kael replied, “you suddenly care now that someone else does.”
Silence.
Sharp.
Dangerous.
I looked between them.
Then made the smartest decision possible.
I left.
---
The Alpha wing was quieter than the rest of the pack.
Cleaner.
Colder.
Too organized.
Kael’s room stood at the far end.
Mine apparently was next to it.
I pushed open the door.
Inside was a large room with dark wood furniture, tall windows, and a bed that looked softer than anything I’d slept on in years.
I stood there awkwardly.
“This feels illegal,” I muttered.
“You complain often.”
I jumped.
Kael stood in the doorway.
I hadn’t heard him approach.
“You do that on purpose,” I accused.
“Yes.”
At least he was honest.
---
He crossed the room slowly, placing something on the table beside the bed.
A silver blade.
My eyes widened.
“Why are you giving me a weapon?”
“In case I’m not here.”
I looked at the knife.
Then at him.
“Who exactly am I supposed to stab?”
“Anyone who enters without permission.”
“That’s dramatic.”
“No,” he said. “That’s practical.”
The room went quiet.
I swallowed.
“Do you really think something’s coming for me?”
His gaze met mine.
“I know it is.”
---
A chill moved down my spine.
The witch.
Her words.
We’ll meet again.
I sat slowly on the edge of the bed.
“What if I can’t control it next time?”
Kael didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, he walked closer.
Stopped in front of me.
Close enough that I had to tilt my head back to look at him.
“Then I’ll control it with you.”
My breath caught.
The way he said it
Low.
Certain.
Like failure wasn’t an option.
Like I wasn’t alone.
And that frightened me almost as much as the power itself.
---
A sudden crash echoed from outside.
Kael turned instantly.
His body shifting before I could even process the sound.
“Stay here.”
He was gone before I could argue.
I ran to the window.
Below, pack guards were shouting.
A body had been thrown against the courtyard fountain.
Another guard lay unconscious.
And standing in the center of the chaos
A pale man in black.
Tall.
Elegant.
Still.
His eyes lifted slowly.
Straight to my window.
My blood ran cold.
Even from this distance, I knew one thing.
He wasn’t wolf.
He smiled.
Then vanished.
---
Kael reappeared below seconds later, scanning the grounds with lethal focus.
Damon arrived from the opposite side, already furious.
Their eyes met.
No words needed.
They both knew.
Something new had entered pack territory.
Something dangerous.
Something that had looked directly at me.
My hands began to shake.
Not from fear.
From power.
It stirred inside me again
Awake.
Interested.
Hungry.
And for the first time
I realized whatever was coming…
Might be coming for me.
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