Seraphina
I didn't sleep.
I couldn't.
Not with the way my body was reacting. Every inch of me felt too hot, too aware. The sheets were soft, but I tossed and turned like I was crawling out of my skin.
I could still feel him.
Kael's mouth.
Kael's voice.
Kael's hands on my hips like he owned them. Like he'd already claimed me.
He hadn't. Not fully. Not yet.
But gods, my body wanted him to.
Every time I closed my eyes, I felt the ghost of his touch — lips brushing my neck, his hand gripping my thigh, his scent dragging me under. It wasn't normal. It wasn't human. It was need.
And it scared the hell out of me.
Because it wasn't just desire.
It was hunger.
A hunger I couldn't control.
The moonlight poured through the massive windows of Kael's chamber, painting the walls in silver and shadow. I slipped out of the bed, bare feet touching the cool stone floor as I crept across the room.
The air outside his bedroom felt different.
Colder.
Thicker.
But I needed answers — and Kael wasn't giving me any.
He kept touching me like I was his, speaking like my fate was already written, but refused to tell me anything. I didn't know what I was. What was happening to me. Why my skin burned or why the moon seemed to whisper my name every time it rose.
I needed truth.
Or I'd lose my damn mind.
I padded barefoot down the corridor, past tall black columns and flickering torches. The fortress was massive. Beautiful. And terrifying.
Like its owner.
I turned a corner—and nearly collided with a guard.
His eyes widened. "Lady Seraphina—"
"Don't," I said sharply. "Don't call me that. I'm not his… whatever I am."
The guard looked away, but his wolf scent flared in the air — surprised, respectful. Maybe even a little scared.
"Can I help you?" he asked carefully.
"I'm looking for Kael."
"He's in council. He left instructions for you to remain in his chambers until—"
"I don't care."
The words left my mouth sharper than I intended, but I didn't apologize.
I wasn't some prisoner to be locked in a bedroom and kissed senseless when the mood struck. I was a person — confused, burning, and starting to suspect that something terrible was being kept from me.
I walked faster, down halls I didn't know, past rooms that pulsed with magic. Until I found it.
A door.
Old. Heavy. Sealed with dark iron and layered enchantments. It looked out of place in a fortress so regal — like it had been kept locked for centuries. Like it held something that wasn't meant to be touched.
I don't know what drew me to it.
Curiosity. Instinct. Or maybe something more primal.
The burn beneath my skin surged the moment I touched the handle.
It was cold.
Too cold.
And still… it opened.
The room beyond was dark, lit only by the faint red flicker of dying embers in a stone hearth. Books lined the walls. Maps. Scrolls. Weapons. This was no bedroom. No council room.
It was a war chamber.
Or a tomb.
My heart pounded as I stepped inside. And then I saw it.
A silver case — long and narrow — rested on a stone altar at the center of the room.
It glowed faintly.
I reached out… and paused. Something in the air shifted. Like the room breathed.
Still, I opened the case.
Inside was a dagger. Beautiful. Terrible.
Silver etched with markings I didn't recognize — but my body did. My pulse surged. My breath caught.
The symbols looked just like the ones Kael wore on his skin.
But it wasn't the dagger that made me drop to my knees.
It was the bloodstained cloth beneath it.
Faded. Torn. Burned at the edges.
But I'd seen it before. In dreams. In memories I thought I imagined.
Because it belonged to my mother.
I stared at the cloth, at the scent of old blood rising into the air.
And then I saw the painting on the far wall.
A village.
Burning.
Wolves tearing through it. Screaming. Ash.
And in the center of it all—
Kael.
Standing in the fire.
Unbothered.
Unforgiving.
The beast behind my nightmares.
The man I kissed.
The man who killed them.
I staggered back, breath caught in my throat, stomach turning.
It was all a lie.
He knew.
He knew.
What I was. Where I came from. What he did.
And still, he touched me.
Still, he kissed me.
The rage hit first.
Then the heartbreak.
And finally… the sound of the door creaking open behind me.
I didn't turn. I didn't have to.
His scent hit me like smoke and sin.
"Seraphina," he said softly.
I turned around slowly. My hands were shaking. My eyes were wild.
"You lied to me."
He didn't deny it.
Didn't speak.
He just stepped forward, eyes burning silver.
"I trusted you," I whispered. "I wanted you."
His voice was quiet. "You still do."
"I hate you."
"You will," he said.
And then he did something that broke me more than any truth ever could.
He knelt.
Before me.
The Alpha King — on his knees, head bowed, voice cracking.
"I never wanted this. I tried to stay away. But fate gave me you. And I'm too much of a monster to give you back."
My lip trembled. My soul fractured.
And still… gods help me…
I wanted him.