Page 4 of Her Fated Alpha Prince
Desire. Confusion. Instinct.
She blinked slowly, rising onto her elbows, her breath shallow and sharp. Kael watched, silent, the heat of her presence tugging at something raw beneath his skin. Sunlight broke through the canopy in golden flecks, catching the wet sheen on her shoulders. Her hair clung to her like seaweed, wild and dripping. She looked like she’d been carved out of the ocean’s grasp and left here—soft, glowing, untamed.
She’d escaped something. He’d felt it in the water. The sea hadn’t let her go.
Hehad taken her back.
Even now, Kael’s hands burned faintly from the rescue. Not from heat—no, he was fire-born. But fromher. Touching her skin had triggered something he didn’t understand. A pulse in his blood. A growl that wasn't entirely human.
His dragon stirred beneath the surface, restless and possessive.
Her scent didn’t belong here. And yet… something in it scratched at the edges of his mind, like a half-remembered dream just out of reach.
He stepped forward, slow, deliberate. Her head snapped toward him. Big eyes, the color of honey just before it scorched into amber, widened as they locked onto his face.
She seemed afraid. But not enough.
Not nearly enough.
Kael stopped a few feet from her, letting the moment settle. He needed to read her. Learn her scent. Hear her heartbeat. He needed to be sure.
“Where am I?” she whispered, voice hoarse but clear.
His jaw tensed. That voice—it slid under his skin like silk over steel. She spoke his language fluently, but her accent marked her asother. Her scent confirmed it.
She was human.
Shit.
"You’re safe," he said finally, his voice gravel-deep. “For now.”
Her lips parted. “What the hell doesthatmean?”
Kael’s mouth almost—almost—quirked. Even terrified, she had a bite. His dragonlikedthat.
“I mean you were drowning. I pulled you from the sea. And now… you’re here.”
“Where’shere?”
He hesitated.
That was the problem.Herewas the edge of the Blackwater Isles—territory guarded by ancient law. A human on their shores was forbidden. Rescuing one? Punishable by fire.
And still, when he’d seen her sink beneath the waves, he’d acted on instinct. Not logic. Not law.
His dragon haddemandedit.
“You’re far from home,” Kael said finally, his tone gruff. “That’s all that matters.”
Her eyes narrowed, some of the fear burning off. “And you’re the one who brought me here?”
“Yes.”
“To do what, exactly?” Her spine straightened. “Sell me? Eat me? Sacrifice me to some island volcano god?”
Kael blinked. Then snorted.
“Eat you?” His gaze raked down her form before he could stop it. Curves, long legs, bare skin still wet and gleaming in the sun. “Not in the way you’re thinking.”
