Page 11 of Her Fated Alpha Prince
Maybe Ariana didn’t belong here. Maybe he’d made the biggest mistake of his life by pulling her from the sea.
But if that was true… then why did the bond still hum under his skin every time she looked at him?
And why, gods help him, did part of him already hope she’d never leave?
Kael didn’t remember crossing half the palace.
One moment he was standing on the tower, a cold wind biting at his face. The next, he was in the east wing corridor, staring at the carved wooden door that marked Ariana’s room.
Her scent lingered here.
Soft. Bright. Earth and salt and woman.
It curled around him like a memory he didn’t own, invading places he’d kept locked. His hand flexed at his side, aching to reach for the door handle.
But he didn’t move.
He couldn’t.
Everything about this was wrong.
He’d broken sacred law to save her. Lied to the court. Pulled Elder Varos into his deception. And now, here he stood, one heartbeat away from crossing another line.
She wasn’t just tempting. She was destabilizing.
The way she’d looked at him earlier—wide-eyed, steady, not flinching even when Seryna practically bared her teeth—he’d felt something shift inside him. Like his dragon had recognized her before he had.
It made no sense.
The bond hadn’t been tested. No ritual had been performed. And yet… his instincts reacted to her like she was already his.
Kael took a step back from the door, exhaling through his nose.
He couldn’t go in there.
Not like this.
Not when every part of him wanted to claim her. Not just touch her—ownher. Burn his mark into her neck and tell the entire court that she was untouchable.
But she didn’t know the rules of this world. She didn’t even know whathereally was yet.
And until she did, until she looked him in the eyes and accepted all of it—scales, fire, curse and crown—he had no right to take what she hadn’t offered.
So he turned.
Started to walk away.
Then her door creaked open behind him.
He froze.
“Ariana?” he asked, without turning.
A pause.
Her voice came softly. “I couldn’t sleep.”
The sound of it wrapped around his chest like a snare—quiet, unsure, but not afraid. Never afraid.
