Chapter 7 - 1

The Wolf Within

The air at night was harsh on my skin, and every breath tasted like pine and frost.

I stood at the edge of the training grounds, hidden in the shadows where the torchlight couldn’t reach. Warriors clashed in the center, steel flashing and claws bared, their grunts echoing beneath the blood-red moon.

But I wasn’t watching them.

I was watching him.

Kael moved with deadly grace, like a predator. Every movement was planned, and every hit was brutal.

His silver eyes glowed faintly in the dark, his wolf so close to the surface it rippled through his skin.

He was a storm bottled into flesh, the kind of Alpha who could command armies with a glance.

And he was the one I had to stay away from.

My hand pressed against my abdomen, though I wasn’t sure why. A strange warmth pulsed there lately—like sparks beneath my skin, whispers curling through my blood. My wolf stirred restlessly inside me, pacing, muttering words I couldn’t understand.

The child. The heir.

I shook my head violently. No. That couldn’t be. It was too soon. Too impossible.

But still, the whispers came.

I turned away from the training grounds, desperate to escape Kael’s presence, when the voice inside me grew louder.

You can’t run from this, Ella. The bond doesn’t lie. The blood doesn’t lie.

“Shut up,” I hissed under my breath. My nails dug into my palms, grounding me. “I don’t belong to him. I don’t belong to anyone.”

I knew it wasn't true, though, even as I said it. Whether I liked it or not, the bond bound me to him. Even worse, I was now bound to him by something else—something that was developing, taking shape, and breathing inside of me.

My wolf’s voice softened, almost coaxing. The heir stirs. Protect it.

My throat closed. No, no, no. I couldn’t let this happen. Not here. Not now. If Kael found out—

A twig snapped behind me.

My heart leaped to my throat as I spun around. Liora appeared, her hood pulled down against the chill. I felt a brief surge of relief. Her knowledge-filled golden eyes were far more deadly than any warrior's blade.

“You feel it, don’t you?” she whispered, voice carrying like smoke. “The changes. The whispers of your wolf.”

I swallowed hard, my body stiff. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

She tilted her head, studying me as if peeling away layers I wanted to keep buried. “The prophecy doesn’t wait, Ella. The rejected bride. The heir born of fire and blood.”

“Stop,” I snapped, my voice trembling more than I liked. “Don’t call me that. Don’t say those words.”

But Liora only stepped closer, lowering her voice until it was barely more than a breath. “You can lie to Kael. You can even lie to yourself. But you can’t lie to the wolf inside you. And you can’t lie to me.”

My chest tightened. I wanted to scream at her, deny everything, shove her away. But the truth pulsed inside me, steady and undeniable.

The whispers. The warmth. The fluttering deep in my belly that wasn’t hunger or nerves.

I was carrying something.

And Kael could never know.

Because if he did… he would never let me go.

The training grounds erupted in a cheer as Kael threw his opponent to the ground, victorious.

The bond's magnetic pull caused my eyes to dart toward him without my consent. His skin glistened with perspiration, his wolf lurking beneath, his chest rising and falling with ragged breaths.

Then, his gaze found mine.

The world stopped.

Those silver eyes locked on me, pinning me in place as surely as chains. My stomach knotted, my wolf pressed against the inside of my skin, ours, ours, ours echoing in my bones.

I tore my gaze away and stumbled back into the shadows, my pulse racing.

Liora’s hand caught my wrist. Her grip was iron, her voice urgent. “Run while you still can. Once he knows, you won’t be able to escape.”

Her words hit me harder than Kael’s gaze.

Because I already wasn’t sure I wanted to escape.

Ella realizes she’s pregnant, Liora warns her to flee, and Kael spots her—his suspicion burning.

Liora’s fingers dug into my wrist like claws. Her voice dropped into a hiss, urgent and sharp.

“Do you hear me, Ella? Run.”

My pulse roared in my ears. Run? To where? There was no safe place, not with Kael’s gaze searing into me from across the training grounds. His presence was a storm closing in, suffocating, inescapable.

I yanked my wrist free, my voice cracking. “And if I do? He’ll hunt me again. He’ll never stop.”

Liora’s golden eyes glowed faintly in the dark. “Then make him believe you want to stay—until it’s too late for him to realize what you’ve taken from him.”

Her words sliced through me. A chill spread across my skin. What I’ve taken from him. The heir. His blood is inside me.

“No.” I shook my head violently, forcing the thought down. I couldn’t—wouldn’t—accept it. “This can’t be real.”

But the wolf inside me growled low, insistent. It is real. Ours. His.

I stumbled back, gripping my stomach as a sickening surge of heat swept through me. Liora put a hand on my shoulder to steady me as my knees nearly gave way.

“Keep your strength,” she warned. “Your wolf is merging with the life inside you. That’s why the whispers grow louder.”

A shadow fell over us.

My breath froze.

Kael stood at the edge of the torchlight, watching us. Sweat gleamed on his bare chest, his training leathers clinging to every carved line of muscle. But it wasn’t his body that held me—it was his eyes. Silver, sharp, unrelenting.

Liora bowed her head and dropped her hand instantly. She sounded even and well-practiced. "Alpha

Kael ignored her. His gaze locked on me, as though I was the only thing in existence. My wolf shivered under his attention, pressing closer, begging me to lower my defenses.

I forced myself to stand tall, chin high, even as my knees trembled.

“You were watching me,” he said, voice low and rough from exertion.

“I wasn’t,” I lied, too quickly.

His lips curved, not quite a smile, more like a predator amused by its prey’s denial. “You always watch me, Ella. Even when you think I don’t notice.”