Page 13 of Her Fated Alpha Prince
“No,” Varos agreed. “And that’s dangerous.”
Kael crossed his arms. “More dangerous than Seryna?”
Varos’s lips curved faintly. “Seryna plays power games. This girl might shift the board itself.”
A long silence passed between them, broken only by the soft crackle of the fire.
“What do I do with her?” Kael finally asked, voice low.
“Protect her,” Varos said simply. “Keep her close. Let her come into it on her own. If she’s who Ithinkshe might be… there won’t be a force on this island strong enough to deny her.”
Kael nodded once, though the answer did nothing to calm the unrest inside him.
He left the study with flames in his blood and a single thought pounding behind his ribs.
Ariana wasn’t just someone he’d saved.
She might be the reason he was ever meant to rule.
And if that was true… then the court, the laws, and even Seryna herself would just have to burn.
CHAPTER 5
_____
ARIANA
Sleep didn’t come easily.
The bed was too soft. The sheets, too smooth. Everything smelled like wildflowers and something darker—like the room had been carved out of the earth itself. But that wasn’t why she couldn’t sleep.
It washim.
Kael’s voice still echoed in her head. The way he’d said her name. The way he’d looked at her outside her room—like she was both a threat and something sacred.
And gods, the way her skin had buzzed when he got close.
Ariana shifted under the covers, her body warm despite the cool night air. Her thoughts wouldn’t shut up. Her heart wouldn’t settle.
She was used to chaos—tight schedules, bad dates, her phone lighting up with texts and half-meant promises. But this… this was a different kind of chaos. This world didn’t just move around her. It movedwithher. Or maybebecauseof her.
She didn’t understand it. Not yet. But something inside her was cracking open.
She closed her eyes, tried to breathe deep, slow.
Tried not to think about how Kael had said she was dangerous.
Tried not to want him to say it again.
?
The dream took her by surprise.
She stood in the jungle, barefoot on damp moss. But the air shimmered like heat rising off a fire, though there was no flame in sight.
And she wasn’t alone.
A shadow moved between the trees—too tall, too still to be anything human. It didn’t speak, but she felt its attention like a hand on her skin.
