Chapter 5

Elinor POV

The door clicked shut behind Elena, leaving me alone with the terrifying realization that my husband was gone. If Kaelen did not return to this bed tonight, the entire pack would smell the rejection on me by morning. I would be a Luna in name only-a walking target.

Before the panic could fully take root, the heavy oak door swung open again.

Kaelen strode in. The sheer size of him seemed to shrink the cavernous room. The scent of sharp cedar and expensive bourbon rolled off him in suffocating waves, thick with an underlying current of violence. He didn't even look at me. He bypassed the massive four-poster bed and headed straight for a dark mahogany wardrobe, shrugging off his tailored suit jacket.

"You're leaving," I said, my voice sounding too thin in the massive space.

"I told you, little wolf. I have pack business," he rumbled, pulling a dark leather holster from the cabinet. "My disappointing whelp requires a lesson in Pack Law."

Panic flared, cold and sharp. I couldn't let him walk out. I needed a weapon, and right now, my only weapon was my tongue.

"Leaving your new mate on your bonding night?" I asked, injecting every ounce of ice I possessed into my tone. "You are more like your disappointing whelp than you know."

Kaelen froze.

The silence that followed was absolute, heavy enough to crush bone. Slowly, he turned around. The obsidian depths of his eyes were entirely consumed by a blazing, predatory gold. His Lycan aura slammed into me like a physical blow.

My knees buckled, but I locked them, digging my nails into my palms until I felt the warm slide of blood. I refused to look away.

He crossed the room in two silent, terrifying strides, stopping mere inches from my face. The heat radiating from his massive body was scorching. I could almost feel the ancient beast beneath his skin-Fenrir-roaring, demanding to claim what was his. But Kaelen's centuries of control held the monster at bay.

"Do you have a death wish, Elinor?" he whispered, the sound vibrating against my collarbone.

"I have a survival wish," I countered, my voice trembling despite my best efforts. "If you walk out that door tonight, every wolf in this pack will know we didn't share a room. They will see it as a silent rejection. I didn't survive Braden's public humiliation just to be destroyed by your indifference."

Kaelen's jaw tightened, his golden eyes narrowing as he analyzed my face.

"I didn't choose you for a fairy-tale mate-bond," I pushed on, laying my strategy bare. "I chose a ruthless king. I chose power. Your coldness is my shield. It keeps me safe from the pathetic emotional weaknesses that destroy packs. But I need you in this room tonight to secure my position. Sleep on the floor if you must, but do not walk out that door."

For a long, agonizing moment, Kaelen just stared at me. The golden fire in his eyes flickered, shifting from pure lethal intent to something far more dangerous: genuine intrigue. He saw the calculation in my eyes, the sheer, desperate audacity of a wolfless girl commanding a Lycan King.

Slowly, the suffocating pressure of his aura receded. He took a step back, his gaze dropping to the long, crimson velvet chaise lounge positioned at the foot of the massive bed.

Without a word, he tossed his holster onto a side table and began unbuttoning his shirt. He moved toward the chaise, his broad, scarred back to me as he settled his massive frame onto the velvet cushions, making the expensive furniture look absurdly small.

I let out a shaky breath, my heart hammering against my ribs. I had won. I had forced the King to stay.

I turned off the bedside lamp and slipped under the heavy covers, putting as much distance between us as the mattress allowed. The room plunged into darkness, save for the moonlight spilling through the window.

Just as I closed my eyes, Kaelen's deep, subterranean voice drifted through the shadows of the room.

"You believe my coldness will keep you safe, little wolf?"