Page 28 of Her Fated Alpha Prince
Kael nodded, rubbing the back of his neck. “I saw the signs. The way the garden responded. The way the air shifted around her.”
Liora’s lips tightened. “It’s not just the power. It’s the attention she’s drawing. The watchers. They grow bolder.”
His jaw clenched. “We need to keep her safe. But every move we make risks pushing her closer to the edge.”
Liora approached the hearth, hands folded before her. “She’s fighting it, Kael. I can sense it. But something else fights within her too—the legacy she’s inherited.”
Kael’s gaze dropped to the flickering flames. “A legacy I swore to protect her from.”
“And yet, here you are,” Liora said softly, a trace of sorrow in her voice. “Tethered to her fate as much as she is to yours.”
He turned to her, frustration bleeding through his calm exterior. “There’s no room for doubt. Not when the stakes are this high.”
Liora stepped closer, lowering her voice. “You’ve seen what happens when power like hers goes unchecked. The destruction. The loss.”
Kael’s breath hitched. Memories surged—burning villages, broken families, promises shattered beneath the weight of ambition and fear. He had witnessed the fallout firsthand. And he wouldn’t let it happen again.
“We have to find a way to guide her,” Kael said, voice thick with resolve. “Before the shadows close in.”
Liora’s eyes searched his face, finding the vulnerability he rarely showed. “She needs to trust you. More than ever.”
Kael nodded slowly. “Then I’ll find her. Tonight. I can’t wait for fate to decide.”
The urgency in his voice was palpable. He grabbed his cloak from a nearby hook, the leather cool beneath his fingertips. Every instinct screamed at him to act—to reach Ariana before the unseen forces tangled their threads too tightly.
As he moved toward the door, Liora called after him, “Be careful, Kael. The line between protector and prisoner is thinner than you think.”
He paused, hand on the doorknob, and met her gaze. “I know. But I’ll cross it if I have to.”
The night swallowed him as he stepped into the corridor, heart pounding with a mix of fear and determination. Somewhere in the dark garden, Ariana waited—her fate, and theirs, hanging in precarious balance.
Kael moved swiftly down the stone corridor, each step measured but urgent. The castle around him was silent, the usual hum of guards and servants replaced by a heavy stillness, as if the walls themselves held their breath. Outside, the night was a cloak of shadows, the moon’s glow barely cutting through the thick canopy of the garden.
He reached the archway that led to Ariana’s chambers and hesitated. The memory of her—vulnerable, fierce, unraveling—clung to his mind. She was more than just a noble’s daughter. She was a catalyst, a storm waiting to break. And the deeper truth of her bloodline twisted around them both like a tightening noose.
The door creaked softly as he pushed it open. Inside, the room was bathed in silver light, the flowers Ariana had spoken of glowing faintly by the window. They pulsed with an otherworldly life, petals trembling as if breathing. Kael’s eyes darted around, searching.
Ariana sat on the edge of her bed, knees drawn close, staring into the shadows with wide, unblinking eyes. The parchment from “V” lay folded on her lap, her fingers tracing the edge absently. Her breath was shallow, the tension in her frame unmistakable.
“Kael,” she whispered, voice barely more than a breath.
He crossed the room quickly, lowering himself beside her. “You shouldn’t be alone,” he said softly. “Not tonight.”
Her gaze lifted, raw and uncertain. “I don’t know what’s happening to me. The dreams, the garden... the way things move around me. It’s like I’m becoming something else.”
Kael reached out, brushing a stray lock of hair from her face. “You’re becoming who you were always meant to be. But you don’t have to face it alone.”
A flicker of fear crossed her eyes. “And if I lose control? If it’s too much?”
“Then I’ll be there to pull you back,” Kael said firmly. “Whatever comes, we face it together.”
The room seemed to exhale, the tension loosening just a fraction. Ariana’s lips curved into a faint, tired smile. “I don’t want to be a threat to anyone. Especially not to you.”
Kael shook his head. “You’re no threat. You’re a light. And sometimes, the brightest lights cast the darkest shadows.”
Ariana’s eyes searched his. “I feel like I’m breaking.”
“Breaking isn’t the end,” he said quietly. “It’s the beginning of something new. And sometimes, we have to break before we can be whole.”
