Aria’s POV
The voice cut through the darkness like a blade.
I knew that voice. Would recognize it anywhere. In my dreams. In my nightmares. In the deepest parts of my soul that refused to let go.
Kael.
Marcus’s arms loosened around . I stumbled forward. Caught myself on the car.
When I turned around, my breath caught.
Kael stood under the streetlight. His black hair was disheveled. His chest heaved. Those black-gold eyes blazed with sothing terrifying.
His pheromones flooded the parking lot. Ebony and frost. But sharper now. More dangerous. The scent of an Alpha on the edge of violence.
Marcus took a step back. Then another.
"I—I didn’t know she was taken." His voice cracked. High. Pathetic. "She never said—"
"I’m not going to repeat myself." Kael’s words were ice. Low and lethal.
Marcus’s face went white.
I’d never seen soone look so terrified. His earlier confidence had evaporated completely. His hands were shaking. His knees looked like they might buckle.
"I’m sorry." The words tumbled out of him. Desperate. "I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t an—I thought she wanted—"
"Get. Out."
Two words. That’s all it took.
Marcus stumbled backward. His expensive shoes scraped against the pavent. He nearly tripped over his own feet.
"I’m going! I’m going!"
He turned and ran.
Actually ran.
His footsteps echoed through the empty parking lot. Faster and faster. Until he disappeared around the corner like the coward he was.
And then it was just us.
and Kael.
Alone.
The silence stretched between us. Heavy. Suffocating. The only sound was my own ragged breathing and the distant thump of music from the bar.
I pressed my back against the cold car. My legs were shaking. My whole body was shaking.
What just happened?
Kael had saved . Again. Just like that night at the Nightfang estate. Just like he always did when I needed him most.
But he’d also destroyed . Paid like a whore. Told to disappear.
My emotions were a tangled ss. Fear from Marcus’s attack. Relief that it was over. Confusion about why Kael was even here.
Because he’d co for . He’d left Rebecca. Left the bar. Chased into the parking lot.
That had to an sothing. Didn’t it?
I looked up at him. Searched his face for answers.
He was watching . Those black-gold eyes burned into mine. His jaw was tight. His hands were clenched at his sides.
He looked... tortured.
Good.
He deserved to be tortured.
But my heart didn’t care about justice. It just kept hamring against my ribs. Beating his na with every pulse.
Kael. Kael. Kael.
"Are you hurt?"
His voice broke the silence. Rough. Strained.
"No." The word ca out as a whisper.
He didn’t move. Just stood there. Five feet away. Close enough to touch if I reached out.
I didn’t reach out.
"That man—" Kael started.
"He’s gone." I cut him off. My voice was steadier now. "You scared him away. Mission accomplished."
Sothing flickered across his face. Pain? Guilt? I couldn’t tell.
"He shouldn’t have touched you like that."
"No. He shouldn’t have."
Silence again.
The awkwardness was unbearable. We were two people who had shared everything—bodies, secrets, vulnerabilities—and now we couldn’t even look at each other properly.
I wrapped my arms around myself. The night air was cold against my bare skin. The dress that had made feel powerful an hour ago now just felt thin. Exposed.
Kael noticed.
He shrugged off his jacket. Held it out toward .
I stared at it. At his hand. At the offering that felt like both a kindness and a cruelty.
"I don’t need your charity."
The words ca out sharper than I intended.
His jaw tightened. "It’s not charity. You’re cold."
"I’m fine."
He lowered his arm. The jacket hung limply at his side.
We stood there. Staring at each other. The weight of everything unsaid pressing down on us.
I should leave. Should walk away. Should find Elara and go ho and forget this night ever happened.
But my feet wouldn’t move.
And neither would his.
We were close. So close I could feel the heat radiating from his body. Could sll his pheromones wrapping around like a familiar blanket.
My heart was pounding so hard I thought it might explode.
This didn’t make sense. None of this made sense.
He’d pushed away. Destroyed . Made feel like garbage.
And now he was standing here, protecting , looking at like I was sothing precious.
I didn’t know what to say. Didn’t know what to think.
Part of wanted to shove him away. To scream at him for all the pain he’d caused. To tell him to go back to Rebecca and leave alone.
But another part—the part that had never stopped hoping—wanted to lt into his arms. Wanted to forgive him and start over and pretend none of the bad things had happened.
Which part was stronger?
I didn’t know.
"I—" I started.
Kael’s eyes lit with desperate hope.
But before I could finish—
"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TWO DOING THERE?!"
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