Chapter 56: Chapter 56
Selena
The injured warrior’s scream lingered in my ears long after two healers carried him away toward the infirmary.
My heart pounded against my ribs. "I... I’m sorry," I murmured, staring after him.
Kieren rested both hands over the top of his walking stick before letting out a weary chuckle. "Don’t look like someone just sentenced themselves to death."
I looked back at him anxiously. "I broke his leg."
"You did." His tone remained surprisingly calm. "But he’ll live."
I still couldn’t shake the guilt. "I didn’t mean to use that much force."
"I know." He studied me for a moment before nodding toward the castle.
"The healers will set the bone before nightfall. He’ll complain for weeks, milk the injury for sympathy, and be back annoying everyone before long."
I couldn’t bring myself to smile at his joke. Still, I feigned a small smile.
Kieren tapped his stick lightly against the ground. "Training is over."
I blinked."Already?"
"You’ve had enough for today."
"I can still continue for a while..."
"No." His answer came immediately. "Your muscles are already reaching their limit. Exhaustion teaches nothing except injury."
I sighed. "Very well."
As I turned to leave, my thoughts drifted back to the castle window and back to him.
I hadn’t imagined it. I had not imagined Alpha Kael had been watching.
Even from that distance I knew those eyes and the way they quietly observed everything... The realization warmed me despite my aching body.
So instead of returning toward the servants’ quarters like I should have... My feet carried me somewhere else. Toward the manor and towards him.
I slipped through one of the side entrances, greeting passing servants with casual smiles while trying not to draw attention to myself.
The main hall stretched before me as Guards patrolled at measured intervals.
I waited patiently behind one of the stone pillars until two of them walked past before quietly making my way toward the staircase.
One floor, then another and I was almost there. Just as I stepped onto the upper corridor... Voices echoed from above. It was male voices.
I froze as the footsteps descended the staircase and the two familiar figures came into view.
The voices turned out to be Beta Bastian and Captain Garrick’s.
"Oh no..." I whispered under my breath as there wasn’t a single place to hide because the hallway was painfully empty.
There were no curtains, no decorative armor, no alcoves... there was just nothing!
I cursed silently. "Think, Selena. Think!" I kept mumbling to myself.
Running would only attract attention and so would standing still.
So instead, I lowered my head, straightened my clothes, then simply began walking slowly and calmly towards them as though I belonged there.
"...the southern border remains our weakest approach," Captain Garrick was saying.
"It won’t remain weak for long," Beta Bastian answered.
"I still don’t understand why the Alpha intends to burn the border lands."
Burn them? My ears instantly sharpened.
Captain Garrick frowned. "We should be reinforcing them with warriors, not destroying them."
Beta Bastian smiled faintly. "You’ve served him long enough to know better."
"It still sounds reckless."
"Every strategy of his sounds reckless at first." Beta Bastian’s voice held absolute confidence. "And every time... He proves us wrong because he always manages to turn old strategies into victory."
Captain Garrick sighed. "I hope you’re right."
"I am." They walked past me without sparing me more than a brief glance.
I kept my eyes lowered until their footsteps disappeared entirely. Only then did I release the breath I’d been holding.
That had been close. Very close.
Without wasting another second, I hurried toward Alpha Kael’s chambers.
The guards outside recognized me now as neither questioned why I was there.
One simply opened the door. "My thanks." I said and stepped inside.
The room was strangely quiet. "Alpha Kael?" I called out but got no answer.
The fireplace crackled softly. His desk overflowed with maps and documents.
An unfinished goblet of ale rested beside several rolled parchments but he wasn’t there.
I frowned and called out again, "Alpha Kael?" I still got nothing.
I took another step farther into the room as the door clicked shut behind me.
Then suddenly, "I thought Kieren dismissed you." His voice came from directly behind me as I jumped in fright.
Spinning around so quickly that I nearly collided with him. "You frightened me."
He looked completely unfazed. "You shouldn’t wander into empty rooms so carelessly."
"I wasn’t expecting you to sneak up behind me." I said with a shrug of my shoulders.
"I wasn’t sneaking." He said with his usual cold voice.
A tiny smile tugged at my lips. "No?" I folded my arms. "You absolutely were."
He ignored that. Instead his eyes swept over me carefully. "You need to stop relying on your Alpha strength. You nearly exposed yourself."
"I know...but I just got carried away."
His expression remained serious. "You won’t always have the luxury of getting carried away because you could get caught."
For a moment neither of us spoke then I closed the distance between us. "So..." He raised an eyebrow at me as I continued speaking. "Was that the only reason you were watching me?"
His eyes settled on mine as the air suddenly felt warmer and my heartbeat became embarrassingly loud.
Slowly... He lifted one hand and my breath caught while my heart raced. Was he finally going to touch me romantically?
Instead... His fingers adjusted the collar of my garment. "You’ve twisted this."
I stared at him in dismay, "Oh."
Then he went on to brush a loose strand of hair behind my ear. "There."
Heat rushed into my cheeks. "Oh."
He suddenly stepped away as though nothing unusual had happened.
I followed him with my eyes while silently scolding myself internally. "Really, Selena? You expected something else?"
He walked back toward his desk and resumed arranging parchments.
Trying to regain my composure, I cleared my throat. "I overheard Beta Bastian and Captain Garrick, They were talking about you burning the border lands instead of deploying warriors in preparation. Why did you give out such instructions?"
He didn’t even glance up as he responded to me. "War plans aren’t your concern."
I frowned. "They are if the creatures attacking you are coming because of me."
That finally made him pause. "They’re not coming because of you alone."
"They’re still coming." I argued.
He leaned back slightly. "My subordinates complain every time I make a decision."
"They are questioning your plan." I said again.
"They question every plan I make."
I folded my arms stubbornly. "Maybe if you explained things to them—"
"I don’t owe explanations every time someone doubts me and this was the reason I personally dismissed two warriors earlier today. Also, never for once as my plans failed!"
His calm confidence amazed me. He truly believed every decision he made.
"You’ve become so open in talking about official duties with me. I’m glad..." I said but I was still nervous.
So I added. "I think you’d worry them less if you explained the whole plan to them just to alleviate their worries."
Silence met my words as Alpha Kael had already returned to his paperwork.
I rolled my eyes dramatically. "You’re ignoring me."
I got no response so I looked around the room... Then my eyes landed on the carved wooden hairbrush resting neatly beside a polished mirror.
A smile slowly spread across my face as I picked it up and sat abruptly on his lap.
He looked at me taken aback as he asked. "What are you doing?"
"I’m helping you to keep your hair neat because you’re my mate and we deserve quality time together."
His mouth opened and closed again. He made a weak attempt to move me aside.
"Get up,"he ordered.
"No." I vehemently refused.
"This is highly inappropriate."
"I disagree." I smiled innocently. "I think it’s very appropriate."
His hands rested awkwardly at his sides. "You’ve become very bold."
"You made me this way." I said and he reluctantly sighed in defeat.
I wasn’t comfortable in the position I was in so I straddled him on the chair and carefully continued brushing through his dark silky black hair.
I focused on smoothing his dark hair while trying very hard not to acknowledge just how close we were.
However, I couldn’t help the growing heat between us. With our position, all I needed to do was to relax my knees a little and I’d feel Alpha Kael’s crotch with my ass.
Somehow, the thought was manifested immediately and I could feel a bulge between his legs.
I tried to remain focused while brushing his hair but it proved too difficult to do.
Slowly, I looked down as he looked up and our eyes met.
A single bead of sweat rolled down from his forehead and without thinking, I reached out using my fingertip to wipe it before it fell.
Then I proceeded to cup his face with my hands. His skin was warm beneath my palm... His eyes never left mine and neither did mine leave his.
As I looked into his eyes, I saw the same longing that had been growing inside me. I wanted him and I could tell he wanted me too.
The only question was... ’Would we be able to stop once we began?’
