Chapter 12
Kael watched me.
Not like the pack watched, with their whispers and their judgements. Not like Lucien watched, with fire and storm contained in golden eyes. Kael's gaze was quiet, calculated, and deliberate. Every glance, every subtle tilt of his head, seemed to pierce through the walls I had built around myself.
I hated it.
I hated the way his eyes lingered. The way he seemed to understand things I didn't even admit to myself. The way he didn't flinch from the truth I carried in my chest—the truth I kept buried beneath layers of defiance and fear.
And yet… part of me couldn't look away.
It was early morning. The fortress was quiet, save for the faint sounds of servants preparing breakfast and the low murmur of wolves in the distance. The mark throbbed beneath my skin, the bond between Lucien and me pulsing with restless energy.
Kael approached slowly, careful not to startle me. He stopped a few paces away, arms crossed, jaw tight. His eyes never left mine.
"You shouldn't be out here," he said softly, voice low enough that no one else could hear.
I didn't answer.
"I saw them," he continued. "The pack… they're talking. Watching you more than ever. They're… unsettled."
I glanced at him sharply. "Why would I care what they think?" I snapped, more harshly than I intended.
Kael's eyes darkened, almost imperceptibly. "Because it matters. Because you're not just any prisoner anymore. You're… something else. Something dangerous to them. Dangerous to him."
I froze. "Dangerous to him?"
His gaze flickered, almost unwilling, but he nodded. "You've changed the balance, whether you realise it or not. He… the Alpha, Lucien… he's not used to it. And the bond, the way it reacts… it's making him… restless. Distracted. Dangerous."
I wanted to step back, to distance myself from the truth in his words. But the bond flared, responding to his presence, to his voice. Pain shot through my chest. Heat. Anger. Something primal that made my teeth clench and my nails dig into my palms.
I had never felt the bond this strongly before. Not since the day it ignited. And Kael—his presence seemed to amplify it, drawing out currents I didn't understand.
"You feel it too," I said, my voice trembling despite myself.
Kael didn't answer immediately. He only nodded, almost reluctantly. "I feel him. His anger. His… frustration. And his fear. You think he hates the bond. But he doesn't. Not really. He fears it. And you."
I laughed, bitter and sharp. "Me? I'm nothing. I'm a human. A prisoner. I've done nothing to him but survive."
Kael shook his head slowly. "No. You've done much more than that. You've made him… human in ways he refuses to admit. You've made him… vulnerable."
Vulnerable.
The word sliced through me, sharper than any blade. Vulnerable was not Lucien Blackfang's way. Not the Alpha who had humiliated me publicly, who had denied me in front of the pack, who had made it clear that I was a problem to be contained, not a mate to be claimed.
And yet… Kael was right.
I could feel it in every tense line of Lucien's body when he appeared in my presence. I could feel it in the way the bond reacted, flaring with rage and desire at the same time. The Alpha who ruled with iron, who demanded control, who repressed every shred of emotion, was unravelling in ways he refused to name.
Kael's gaze softened, almost imperceptibly. "You're stronger than you know, Arielle. Stronger than he realises. Stronger than even I can measure."
I wanted to believe him. I wanted to cling to his words like a lifeline.
But I couldn't. Not entirely.
The pack's whispers were growing louder. Rumours twisted in the halls. Wolves who had once ignored me now lingered, their eyes sharp, their voices low and sharp as knives. They questioned me silently and observed me. And I could feel the ripple of Lucien's tension in response.
It was dangerous.
Kael stepped closer. "You need to be careful. The mark… the bond… it's reacting to them as much as it reacts to him. Every whisper, every glance, every thought directed at you… it twists the bond, and it hurts. You're a beacon. And right now, that makes you a target."
I closed my eyes, taking a deep, shuddering breath. I could feel it. The mark pulsing against my skin, burning, whispering, screaming. I could feel him—Lucien—so close, even when he was nowhere near me. His anger, his frustration, his jealousy… and his desire.
All tangled into something I couldn't untangle.
Kael's presence grounded me in a way that made me want to resist him, even as I leaned toward him without realising it. "Why are you helping me?" I asked softly.
His eyes flickered, uncertain. "Because someone has to. Because you're not just his… you're… important. And if the pack sees you as weak, or Selene sees you as vulnerable… you won't survive."
The words hit me harder than a blow. Not because I doubted them—but because I had known, all along, that survival here meant navigating treacherous waters without any real allies.
And Kael was an ally.
I didn't know whether to trust him. Didn't know whether his loyalty to Lucien would eventually outweigh his protection of me. But for now, he was here. And that mattered.
We moved together through the fortress, careful and silent. The corridors were lined with watchers, shadows flitting behind doors, eyes following our steps. Every glance, every whisper, every soft footstep of a wolf we didn't see made the bond flare. Pain shot through my chest, sharp and sudden, like fire lancing through muscle.
"Stop it," I hissed, pressing my hands to the mark.
Kael caught my wrists gently. "You can't. Not entirely. It reacts to him, and to the pack, and to everything else. You're tethered to it. And to him."
I swallowed hard, trying to steady my breathing. The fortress felt smaller suddenly, suffocating. The shadows seemed to move closer, to lean in, to listen.
"You need to understand," Kael continued, voice low and urgent. "Lucien… he doesn't know how to handle this. He doesn't know how to handle you. Or the bond. Or the way the pack reacts to you. He wants control, but control isn't enough. Not anymore."
I looked at him sharply. "And what do you want?"
Kael's gaze was unreadable. "I want you to survive. And right now… that means listening to me. Watching your back. Playing the game, they think they're winning."
I wanted to argue, to push back, to insist that I didn't need protection. But the mark flared again, sharper this time, and I gasped. Pain and desire mingled, fierce and raw.
The bond was alive, screaming at me, pulling me into something I couldn't define. Lucien's frustration, his anger, his need—it all radiated through it. And Kael… his calm, steady presence… somehow anchored me.
We reached the training grounds, empty in the early morning mist. The air was cold, biting at my skin. My chest heaved as the mark throbbed, pain and heat mingling, blinding.
Kael stopped and turned to me. "They're testing you," he said, voice low. "Not just the pack. Selene. The others. Lucien doesn't see it yet, but they're moving against you. Against him. Against the bond. You have to be ready."
I nodded, swallowing hard. "And if I'm not?"
Kael's expression darkened, almost a shadow crossing his features. "Then we all fall."
The weight of his words pressed into me, suffocating. I could feel the truth in them. The fortress was a cage, but it was also a battlefield. Every glance, every whisper, every hushed conversation could spark war. And I was at the centre of it.
I clenched my fists, trying to steady myself. I was not helpless. I was not weak.
Not yet.
Kael studied me, his eyes lingering longer than necessary, as if measuring my resolve, my strength, and my will. And I realised… he wasn't the only one who saw me this way.
Lucien did too.
Every step I took, every heartbeat I forced to calm itself, every thought I tried to hide… he felt it. And the bond throbbed, alive with tension, with anger, with something far darker and far more consuming than either of us could control.
"You'll need allies," Kael said quietly, almost to himself. "And you'll need him. Even if he refuses it, even if he denies it, even if he hates the bond… he's not letting go. Not entirely."
The words hit me harder than any blade.
Not letting go.
The thought should have terrified me. It should have made me fear the bond, fear the fortress, fear Lucien's presence, his anger, his dominance.
And yet… part of me felt the pull, the magnetic, impossible draw toward it, toward him, toward the storm that was Lucien Blackfang.
The fortress felt smaller suddenly, the shadows thicker, the whispers sharper.
I wasn't just being watched anymore. I was being hunted. And the hunter wasn't outside.
It was inside.
Kael's voice pulled me back from the edge. "Stay sharp," he said, and then, almost imperceptibly, "And trust no one but yourself."
The words echoed through me long after he left.
Because in this fortress, surrounded by the pack, by Selene, by Lucien, by the bond that had chosen me without permission…
Trust was a weapon. And one false move would cost more than my life.
The mark throbbed beneath my skin.
And I knew the next whisper… the next betrayal… would come too close to home