Chapter 6 ***

Seraphine

Several weeks later…

I’d become stronger, more hardened. The scars I got from training were now badges I no longer cared to acknowledge. My Wolf, was stronger, faster and more controlled. The other warriors were no longer blatantly staring at me with open suspicion and disrespect; they’d began watching me with something close to cautious respect.

Kael still kept an obvious measure of distance away from me.

He never spoke to me directly. All orders came through Rowan, his second in command. My meals were delivered by silent pack members. Whenever our paths crossed, his gaze glides over me as if I were part of the wall.

Isolde, however, didn’t make such effort.

It was glaringly obvious that she’d made it her sole purpose to meet my gaze whenever she could.

Wherever I was; at the dining hall, the training grounds, the narrow library, anywhere at all, she was always there. Her face always bore a soft gracious smile, with a much more demure voice that sounded polite until the edges cut.

Through the quiet whispers that weaved around the training grounds and kitchen fires, I’ve learned that Isolde had spent years warming Kael’s bed. It wasn’t because of love, no. It was for the throne she believed will one day be hers.

The pack gossip was so wild, painting her as a woman who treated the mate bond like an inconvenience. She waved it off like a slice of dust in the mid-day air. I heard two girls discussing about her, about us the other day.

Of course they felt sorry for me, at the fact that I was neither here nor there with their Alpha. No one could tell where I stood in Kael’s eyes. He hadn’t openly claimed me, neither had he rejected me. I was swirling around the clouds of his indecisions. I was in limbo.

The rumor says Isolde had apparently rejected her mate from the neighboring pack few years ago, all for Kael and the Luna position. Her go-getter personality was known to all. Nothing would get in her way they had said.

She’s been weaving up stories about my past and my intentions. She is convinced that every seed of discord she sows into the community will grow to bring me down, that they’d drive Kael deeper into her arms and prove that she was the only one for him. She could have him. I wasn’t here for him. I’ve got my own mission. I’ve got bigger fishes to fry. I’ve got a vengeful goal in stock. I had no time for such nuisance; for the game of love.

According to those girls, it seems there’s been a crack in her confidence. Her desperation and faux bravado were beginning to show. She’d noticed the effect of the bond on Kael, his jealousy and unrest has become pungent.

In the end the whispers said she’ll discover too late that ambition alone cannot hold a man who has finally stopped starving himself of the one bond he was never meant to escape.

Isolde cut through my train of thought with her words.

“You’re improving. Kael will be pleased. He truly values useful things." I didn’t look up. I just wiped off blood from my sparring cut. She wanted a reaction. I will never gave it to her.

“I’m not here to please him”. I said calmly. Her smile widened wickedly.

“Of course not. That’s my job," she paused for a second to let her words sink in. And it did, brutally, before she continued.

"You’re here for revenge. Everyone knows. The broken little rogue who thinks she can use the Alpha like a sword." She tilted her head a bit, sizing me up.

“Just remember sweetie; swords cut both ways. And Kael has already chosen the hand he prefers to hold”.

I finally met her eyes.

“Then he’s welcomed to it." I replied and walked away. That night as I slept, the dreams began.

It wasn’t about my family’s death. No, those came every night. These were different. Warmer. More dangerous. I saw a pair of stormy grays locked on mine. A low voice saying my name like it was the only word that mattered, and hands that did not push me away.

I woke up to the feeling of the mate bond burning under my skin and a frustration I refused to name.

On my thirtieth day, Beta Rowan found me after training. He said, “Alpha wants to see you." My pulse jumped traitorously, before I forced myself to calm down.

I followed him to Kael’s study. It was luxurious as the rest of the fortress; dark floors, maps, a single fire place. He stood behind the large desk with his back to the door, studying a spread of territory charts.

He did not turn when I entered.

“You’re progressing faster than expected”. He calmly said, still studying his charts.

“I have motivation”. I replied.

Now he turned. The light from the fire carved an angular shadow across his face.

“Cassian has increased the bounty on your head. Silvercrest scouts were spotted near our southern borders two days ago."

My heart rate spiked. It was time.

“Let them come," I said as my hands curled into fists by my side.

“No!," his voice was absolute.

“You will not leave the inner fortress alone. This is not a request”. The bond between us burned hard, as if it disliked the way he talked to me. I saw Kael’s eyes flicker. He had felt it too.

For a moment neither of us spoke. Then Kael looked away first.

“You are dismissed."

He said in a chilling manner. I turned to leave and paused at the door.

“One day you will have to stop pretending the bond isn’t there."

I said quietly.

”It doesn’t care how much it costs either of us.”

Kael’s reply was soft and filled with exhaustion. “Then I will keep paying the cost. Leave Seraphine."