Chapter 4 The Enemy's Daughter

The world came back in pieces.

Aria blinked slowly, her mouth dry, her body slick with sweat. She was lying on something soft-too soft. Fur blankets, thick and warm. The scent hit her next.

Pine. Smoke. Leather. Spice.

Him.

Kael.

Her heart leapt, and she sat up too fast. Pain shot through her thighs and lower belly. Her heat. It hadn't passed. It had only been delayed by shock.

She looked around, blinking against the dim light.

It was a tent. Massive. Black canvas stretched over thick wooden beams, furnished like a warlord's personal chamber. Weapons lined one side. A steaming bowl of herbs sat beside a pile of towels. Everything was neat, controlled.

And she was alone.

She pulled the fur blanket tighter around herself and scanned for her clothes.

Gone.

Her satchel?

Gone.

Her knife?

Gone.

Damn him.

The flap to the tent opened, and her breath caught in her throat.

Kael stood in the doorway, massive, broad-shouldered, backlit by morning sun. He was no longer in full battle gear-just a black tunic clinging to his muscled frame, the collar loose enough to expose his neck and the sharp edge of a scar near his collarbone.

He held her knife in his hand.

"Tried to slit my Beta's throat with this in your sleep," he said casually.

"You deserved it," she snapped, still holding the fur blanket tightly to her chest.

"I wasn't the one who lied about who I was."

Aria glared. "You're not exactly a hero either."

Kael stalked toward her slowly, the knife still in hand.

"You're Aria Velryn. Daughter of Alpha Rowan Velryn. Niece of the traitor who set fire to my father's hall."

Her fingers curled tighter around the blanket. "I was five."

"You were a symbol," he said darkly. "A reminder of the blood feud that killed my family."

"And yet you didn't kill me."

"No," Kael said, voice lower now. "Because I felt you before I saw you. Because my wolf went silent when I caught your scent. And because... you're mine."

Aria's throat tightened.

She hated how her body reacted to those words-how it burned hotter, how her pulse jumped.

"No," she whispered.

Kael moved closer, now crouching in front of her, his golden eyes sharp and unreadable.

"You can deny it all you want," he said. "But the bond is sealed. You felt it in the woods. And when I mark you-"

"You won't."

"-your body will stop burning, and your mind will finally quiet."

Aria's jaw clenched. "Is that what you want? A quiet little Omega? Tamed and marked and kneeling at your feet?"

Kael's hand moved, lightning-quick, grabbing her chin-not hard, but unyielding.

"No," he said. "I want you. Wild, defiant, blood-soaked. You were born of my enemy and shaped by war. I don't want a mate I can tame."

She stared at him, shaken.

Kael rose and dropped her knife at her feet.

"I'm riding for the South tonight," he said. "Your brother is alive. They're holding him near Ravengate."

Her head snapped up. "You found him?"

"I found the trail. He was taken for trade. A slave cart crossed through a rebel tunnel. I can catch them if I leave tonight."

"I'm coming with you."

Kael met her gaze. "You can't travel during heat. You'll collapse."

"I'd rather die than sit here waiting while he's-"

He crossed the space again, and this time, his mouth was against her ear.

"You'll come with me," he murmured, "but if you go into full heat on the road, I will claim you. And not gently."

Her breath caught.

"You don't scare me," she whispered.

"You should."

Then he was gone, leaving only the scent of him and the weight of a decision she could no longer run from.