Chapter 7: Alpha Kael’s Secret
Kael remembered the night Liora’s mother died.
He had been seventeen.
His father had been Alpha.
The Moonborn woman had appeared at the castle carrying a child.
Liora.
She had placed the baby in his father’s arms.
“Protect her.”
Those were her final words.
Then the castle alarms sounded.
The Shadow Pack attacked.
Kael’s father ordered him to hide the child.
He obeyed.
But someone betrayed them.
The attack wasn’t random.
Someone had given the Shadow Pack their location.
Kael’s father died.
The Moonborn woman disappeared.
And the child was taken away.
Years later, Kael found Liora living in Blackthorn.
He immediately recognized her.
But there was a problem.
The Council had already discovered her identity.
They planned to kill her before her power awakened.
Kael made a choice.
He rejected her.
He believed breaking the mate bond would make the Council think she was ordinary.
It worked.
Until now.
That evening, Kael stood alone in the training yard.
Liora approached.
“You lied to me.”
He turned.
“I protected you.”
“Those aren’t the same thing.”
She threw an old pendant at him.
His eyes widened.
“Where did you get this?”
“It belonged to my mother.”
Kael picked it up.
There was a tiny symbol engraved on its back.
The symbol of the former Alpha.
His father.
Liora noticed his reaction.
“You know what it means.”
“Yes.”
“What?”
Kael looked at her.
“It means your mother trusted my family.”
“Then why did you let me believe she abandoned me?”
“I didn’t.”
“You let everyone else.”
He had no answer.
Liora stepped closer.
“I spent three years thinking I wasn’t worth choosing.”
Her voice cracked.
“You don’t know what that did to me.”
Kael’s expression broke.
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.”
“I do.”
He touched his chest.
“Because I felt the same pain.”
Liora froze.
“You rejected me.”
“And every night for three years, my wolf tore itself apart because I did.”
Their eyes met.
The distance between them suddenly felt very small.
Kael whispered:
“I never stopped being your mate.”
