Fated to The Moonborn

What She Doesn’t Know She Craves

—Kael’s POV—

She thinks she’s in control.

But her body tells the truth.

I could smell her desire the second she saw me — buried under anger, masked by arrogance, but there. Sweet. Electric. The scent of someone denying their instincts.

I knew she’d hate me for saying it. I said it anyway.

“We’re fated.”

She laughed like she didn’t feel the heat between us. But her breathing betrayed her. Her thighs clenched. Her lips parted.

She felt it.

“I’ve spent years dreaming of your voice,” I murmured. “And now I hear it again, I’m ruined.”

Aira’s eyes darkened. “You’re insane.”

“No,” I said. “I’m yours.”

She blinked. Just once. And I almost kissed her then.

Almost.

But the thing with a woman like Aira is: you don’t rush. You unravel.

So I took her in — from the curve of her hips in those combat leathers to the little scar just above her collarbone. I wanted to press my tongue to it. Mark her with something deeper.

And gods, when I finally do—

She turned, as if trying to escape her own body’s betrayal, and that’s when I saw it. The curve of her ass in motion. The blade on her hip swaying with purpose.

I followed.

“I’m not interested in a bond,” she snapped.

“You’re interested in something,” I said, voice rougher now. “I can feel it. And I bet you do, too — at night, when no one’s watching. When you touch yourself, do you ever wonder what my hands would feel like instead?”

She stiffened. Her whole body burned with fury — or maybe need.

Her hand slammed me against the wall, dagger pressed to my throat. She was fast. Strong.

And f**k, I was hard.

“You don’t know a thing about me,” she hissed.

I smirked. “I know what you taste like when you’re angry. I wonder how different it is when you’re moaning.”

A pause.

Gods, she wanted to kiss me. I saw it — in the clench of her jaw, the heat behind her hate.

I didn’t lean in. I didn’t need to.

Because she would. Eventually.

Fate had already decided that.