Chapter Four
THE ENEMY WITHIN
Sara's POV
I followed Kael down the narrow stone stairs, my heart hammering against my ribs. His grip on my arm was firm, almost bruising, as howls echoed through the packhouse. The twisted wolves were everywhere.
"Stay close," Kael ordered, his voice cold.
We reached the reinforced door. He shoved me inside the small safe room and turned to leave.
"Lock it behind me," Kael said. "Do not open this for anyone but me."
"Kael, wait—"
But he was already gone. The heavy door slammed shut. I slid the iron bar into place and leaned against it, breathing hard.
Silence wrapped around me. The mate bond pulled at me like a chain I could not break. I hated how much my body still responded to him even now.
I paced the small space, trying to steady my thoughts. My father was innocent. I knew it in my bones. Someone had framed him, and I would prove it. But first I had to survive whatever was coming.
Minutes dragged into what felt like hours. Distant snarls and crashes filtered through the thick walls. I pressed my ear to the door, straining to hear.
Then a soft scrape came from outside.
I froze.
The lock clicked.
The door opened slowly.
A tall figure stepped inside and closed it quietly behind him. Silver hair caught the lantern light. Piercing ice-blue eyes locked onto mine.
Alpha Snow.
"You should not be here," I whispered.
"I am exactly where I need to be, Sara," Snow said, stepping closer, his presence filling the tiny room.
He reached out and brushed a strand of hair from my face. His touch was gentle, but his eyes burned with something darker. Hunger. Want.
"Kael is out there fighting for you," Snow said quietly. "But he still fights the bond. I see how he looks at you. Like you are a burden he cannot drop."
"Why are you telling me this?" I asked.
"Because I see you, Sara," Snow said. "Not as a cursed Omega. Not as a problem. I see a woman who has been broken and is still fighting to rise."
His hand lingered on my cheek. Heat spread through me. Unlike Kael's rough claiming, Snow's touch felt like a promise. Forbidden. Tempting.
"The bond with Kael is strong," I said, my voice wavering.
Snow smiled faintly. "Bonds can be complicated. Some pull you. Others call to you in the shadows."
He leaned in, his breath brushing my ear. "I have been watching you since Kael brought you here. Your strength. Your fire. It calls to me."
My heart raced. I knew I should have pushed him away. But I did not. The warmth radiating off him was intoxicating, and for the first time since my rejection, someone was looking at me like I mattered.
Heavy footsteps suddenly thundered down the corridor outside. Multiple wolves. Aggressive.
Snow tensed. "They are coming," Snow said. "Stay hidden. I will deal with this."
He slipped out quickly, closing the door behind him. I barred it again, my pulse pounding.
I sank onto the narrow cot, trying to steady my breathing. Snow's words kept echoing in my head. His touch still burned on my skin. The pull between us was growing stronger, and it terrified me how much I wanted more.
Later that night, the door finally opened again. Kael stepped inside, covered in blood and sweat. His stormy eyes scanned me immediately.
"You are unharmed," Kael said.
I nodded. "What happened out there?"
"We drove them back for now," Kael said. "But more will come. Blackthorn wants you silenced."
He crossed the room in two strides and pulled me against his chest. The mate bond surged between us, overwhelming and relentless. What followed was not gentle — it never was with Kael. He was rough and possessive, claiming me like he was trying to silence something inside himself. And my body responded, helpless against the bond that tied us together.
Afterward, Kael stepped back, his expression cold as ever.
"Clean up," Kael said. "We move at dawn. I will not let Blackthorn take what is mine, even if I do not want the bond."
He turned and left, locking the door behind him.
I sat there in the quiet, the emptiness settling back in quickly. Kael wanted the bond silenced. He did not want me.
Snow's words lingered in the dark. Warmer. More dangerous.
Unbeknownst to me, Lira watched everything from a hidden passage nearby. Her eyes burned with pure hatred.
The rejected Omega was getting too close to her Alpha.
And she would make sure I paid for it.