Chapter 5 5

I slipped back into the room at 3 AM, clothes torn, hands raw from the ladder. My chest still heaved from the run, mind spinning with words I couldn’t outrun: Royal bloodline. Queen. Resistance.

I thought I was safe. Thought Kai wouldn’t be here.

Wrong.

He sat on his bed in the dark, arms crossed, green eyes glowing like knives in the dim light.

“Where the hell have you been?” His voice was low, lethal.

My heart jolted. “I… couldn’t sleep. Went for a walk.”

“Bullshit.” He stood, the movement sharp, fluid. “You’ve been gone for hours. And you look like you crawled out of a fight.”

I glanced at my hands, scraped raw. “I fell.”

“Try again.” He stepped closer, pine and wildness rolling off him, making Liora stir in the back of my mind. “The Academy’s buzzing. Zeke Ravencrest is shouting about some big discovery, security’s tearing up the grounds, and my roommate just happens to vanish? For half the night?”

He knows. Or worse he suspects.

“I don’t know what Zeke’s spreading,” I said carefully, “but it has nothing to do with me.”

Kai laughed, humorless. “Still lying. Even now.” His eyes burned hotter. “Do you even realize how many people are looking for you?”

My stomach dropped. “Looking for me?”

“Cut the act ” His voice sliced through me. “ Aria.”

The name hit like a dagger. I staggered back against the door.

Kai’s face was grim. “Yeah. I know. I’ve known for days.”

“I don’t ”

“Stop.” His tone was a blade. “You’re Aria Silverbane. Daughter of Darius. The runaway bride who was supposed to belong to Malrick Voss. You’ve been hiding behind scent blockers. Behind lies.” He dragged a hand through his dark hair. “What I don’t get? Why you lied to me. When all this time, I was the one protecting you.”

I gaped at him. “Protecting me? You’ve been bullying me since day one!”

“Bullying?” His voice cracked with frustration. “I’ve been keeping them off you. Making it look like you were under my shadow. Do you think it’s a coincidence no one dared press too close? Or that Zeke backed down yesterday when I stepped in?”

The pieces clicked together. His interference. His warnings. His coldness. Had it all been a shield?

“Why?” I whispered.

Something flickered in his eyes pain, vulnerability. Then the words fell like thunder:

“Because you’re my mate.”

Silence. My heart stopped. Even Liora went still.

“That’s… impossible,” I said weakly.

“Is it?” Kai’s voice dropped. “Haven’t you felt it? The pull? The way your wolf stirs when mine’s near?”

I had. From the moment I’d met him. A connection, sharp and undeniable.

“The mate bond doesn’t just happen,” I whispered.

“It requires recognition,” he finished, stepping closer, voice tight. “And mine has been recognizing you since day one. Even under the lies. Even with the scent blockers. Ragnar my wolf knows you. He’s been restless. Protective. Waiting.”

He’s right, Liora breathed inside me, pressing close. I can feel him. He’s been there all along.

“This is insane,” I whispered.

“Welcome to my life.” His laugh was bitter. “Do you know what it’s like to find your mate and watch her hide from you? To want to claim her, protect her while she lies to your face every single day?”

Guilt twisted in my chest. “I couldn’t tell you. I couldn’t tell anyone.”

“Why not me?” His eyes locked on mine. “Did you think I’d sell you out? Hand you to Malrick?”

“I don’t know!” My voice cracked. “I don’t know who to trust! All I know about you is your reputation the playboy, the golden boy of the Academy. Why would I gamble my life on that?”

“Because we’re mates!” His voice rose, then he forced it down, breath sharp. “And no disguise, no fear, no lies can erase that bond.”

I felt it. Even with danger pressing in, I felt the tether pulling me toward him. The bond pulsing like a secret heartbeat between us.

But the truth slammed back in. “It doesn’t matter now. Zeke knows. By morning, everyone will. Malrick will come. It’s over.”

“Not if you fight.” His voice was fierce, eyes blazing. “You’re not just Alpha blood you’re something more. Rumors say your mother was royalty. That the lost princess still lives. That you could change everything.”

Elena’s words echoed in my mind. The Resistance. The bloodline. The crown.

“What do you believe?” I whispered.

Kai stepped so close I could feel his heat. “I believe you are exactly who you’re meant to be. The question is what are you going to do about it?”

Before I could answer

A siren split the night. A deep, urgent alarm that froze my blood.

“That’s not the morning bell,” Kai muttered.

Boots thundered down the hall. Orders barked:

“Lock down the exits!”

“Search every room!”

Someone pounded on our door. “Open up! Academy security!”

My pulse went wild.

“The window,” Kai hissed.

But searchlights already swept the grounds outside. Soldiers with trackers. Traps.

The pounding grew violent. “Open up or we’re coming in!”

Kai grabbed my face between his hands, green eyes fierce. “Go. I’ll hold them.”

“I’m not leaving you.”

“Yes, you are.” His voice shook with steel. “If they take you, it’s over. And I won’t let that happen.”

The door splintered.

Kai kissed me. Hard. Desperate. Like goodbye. The mate bond lit up, fire in my veins.

The door burst open.

“Go!” he shouted, shoving me toward the window.

I didn’t think. I leapt.

The fire escape rattled under my weight as shouts exploded behind me. I hit the ground running, Liora blazing inside me, stronger than ever.

Run, she urged. Run until we rise again.

Bolts whistled past as I vanished into the forest. The taste of Kai’s kiss still burned on my lips, the mate bond a lifeline pulling me back to him.

Find me, he had said.

I would. But first, I had to survive.

Arden was gone.

Aria Silverbane was awake.