The Bride He Never Wanted
The glowing mark on my wrist pulsed like a heartbeat.
Pain shot through my arm, hot and sharp, forcing a gasp from my throat.
Everyone in the ballroom stared at me.
Not at the shattered glass.
Not at the bleeding men sprawled across the marble floor.
Me.
The fear in their faces made my stomach twist.
Kael moved first.
He crossed the room in seconds, black dress shirt streaked with blood that wasn’t his, silver eyes blazing with fury.
“Cover it,” he snapped.
I barely had time to react before he grabbed my wrist and yanked my arm against his chest, hiding the glowing crescent from the room.
The second his skin touched mine, heat exploded through my body.
A violent spark.
Like lightning under my skin.
Kael froze.
So did I.
His jaw tightened.
Mine, that strange voice whispered again inside my head.
My breath caught.
Kael heard it too.
I knew he did from the way his expression darkened instantly.
“Get everyone out,” he ordered coldly.
The room erupted into motion.
Guards rushed forward, escorting terrified guests toward the exits. The attackers were dragged away while others cleaned blood from the marble before it could stain.
As if this happened often.
As if monsters crashing through windows was normal here.
I tried to pull my hand free, but Kael’s grip only tightened.
“You’re hurting me,” I whispered.
His eyes flashed downward.
For one second, guilt crossed his face.
Then it vanished behind ice.
“Come with me.”
“I think I deserve an explanation first.”
“You’ll get one when I decide you’re ready.”
Anger flickered through me despite the fear clawing at my chest.
“You don’t get to order me around.”
A dangerous silence fell between us.
Kael stepped closer.
Too close.
The heat radiating from him made my pulse race.
“You are standing in my house,” he said softly. “Wearing my ring. Carrying my bond mark.”
His gaze dropped to my lips.
“And you think I can’t order you around?”
My stomach flipped traitorously.
I hated that my body reacted to him at all.
Especially after the humiliation at the altar.
Especially after the cruel things he said.
But standing this close to Kael Draven felt dangerous in ways that had nothing to do with claws or glowing eyes.
A woman hurried toward us nervously. “Alpha—”
“Not now,” Kael growled.
She immediately lowered her head and backed away.
Alpha.
Again.
I looked around the ruined ballroom.
At the frightened servants.
At the guards avoiding Kael’s eyes.
At Selene standing across the room with hatred burning in her expression.
And finally, at Kael himself.
The growl.
The glowing eyes.
The impossible strength.
The voice in my head.
Fear crawled slowly up my spine.
“What are you?” I whispered.
His expression hardened.
“You should have been told.”
“Told what?”
His mother descended the staircase gracefully despite the chaos around us.
“Enough,” she said firmly.
Kael’s grip tightened on my wrist. “She’s marked.”
“I can see that.”
Marked?
I looked down at the crescent glowing faintly beneath my skin.
“What is this?” I demanded. “What’s happening to me?”
Neither of them answered immediately.
And somehow, that terrified me more than anything.
Kael’s mother stopped in front of me.
Up close, she was stunning. Elegant. Controlled. Powerful.
But her eyes held something unexpected as she looked at me.
Concern.
“What is your mother’s name?” she asked quietly.
The question caught me off guard.
“My… mother?”
“Yes.”
I swallowed hard. “Elena Hart.”
Something flickered across her face.
Shock.
Kael noticed too.
“Mother.”
She ignored him.
“How did she die?”
The room suddenly felt colder.
“She…” My throat tightened. “She died when I was twelve.”
Not completely true.
She disappeared first.
One day she was there.
The next she was gone.
Three weeks later they found her car wrecked near the cliffs outside the city.
Closed casket funeral.
No body.
My father never liked talking about it.
Kael’s mother went pale.
“That’s impossible,” she whispered.
Kael stepped forward instantly. “What are you not telling me?”
She lifted her eyes to him slowly.
“If the girl is Elena’s daughter…”
Her voice trailed off.
A muscle jumped in Kael’s jaw.
“No.”
“What?” I snapped. “Can someone please tell me what’s going on?”
Kael looked at me like he was fighting himself.
Then he released my wrist abruptly.
The loss of contact sent a strange ache through my chest.
His expression darkened when he noticed my reaction.
“You know nothing about our world,” he said flatly.
“Our world.”
I laughed shakily. “You keep saying that like I’m supposed to understand.”
“You’re not human, Isla.”
The words hit like ice water.
I stared at him.
Then laughed again because it had to be a joke.
It had to be.
“That’s insane.”
“No,” Selene said from behind us. “What’s insane is that she survived this long without shifting.”
I turned sharply toward her.
“Shifting?”
She smiled cruelly.
“Oh, this is almost embarrassing to watch.”
“Enough,” Kael snapped.
Selene’s smile vanished instantly.
Interesting.
Even she feared him.
Kael looked back at me, expression unreadable.
“You’re coming upstairs.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you until someone explains—”
The mark on my wrist suddenly flared brighter.
Pain tore through my arm.
I cried out, stumbling forward.
Kael caught me automatically.
The second his arms closed around me, the pain eased.
The entire room went silent again.
Kael’s eyes darkened.
Mine.
That voice again.
This time stronger.
Hungrier.
Kael inhaled sharply like he was struggling for control.
Then he shoved me gently behind him.
“Everyone out,” he ordered.
Nobody argued.
Within seconds the ballroom emptied.
Even Selene left, though the glare she shot me promised future problems.
Soon only Kael, his mother, and I remained.
The mansion suddenly felt enormous.
Too quiet.
Too dangerous.
Kael scrubbed a hand down his face. For the first time since meeting him, he looked shaken.
Not angry.
Shaken.
“What does it mean?” I asked softly.
His mother answered.
“The bond shouldn’t have awakened.”
I frowned. “Bond?”
Kael stared at the mark on my wrist like he hated it.
“In our world,” he said coldly, “every wolf has one destined mate.”
Wolf.
There it was.
Finally spoken aloud.
I waited for him to laugh.
To tell me this was some elaborate prank.
He didn’t.
“You’re saying you’re… werewolves?”
His silence was answer enough.
My knees nearly gave out.
“No,” I whispered.
Kael’s expression remained merciless.
“Yes.”
My mind reeled.
Werewolves weren’t real.
They couldn’t be.
This entire night had to be some nightmare.
But then I remembered the glowing eyes.
The claws.
The growl that shook the walls.
And deep down, terrifyingly deep down…
some part of me already knew.
“You’re lying,” I said weakly.
Kael took a step closer.
The air itself seemed to change around him.
More dangerous.
More primal.
Then his eyes shifted again.
Silver turning molten gold.
A low growl vibrated in his chest.
Every instinct inside me screamed to run.
Instead, my body reacted differently.
Heat curled low in my stomach.
Kael noticed instantly.
His expression turned furious.
“Attraction during initial bonding,” his mother murmured quietly. “Stronger than expected.”
My face burned.
Kael looked disgusted.
“With all due respect,” I snapped, humiliated, “I didn’t ask for any of this.”
Something flashed in his eyes.
Not anger.
Pain.
It disappeared too quickly to understand.
“You think I did?” he said harshly.
Silence stretched between us.
Then footsteps thundered down the hallway outside.
A guard burst into the ballroom.
“Alpha.”
Kael turned instantly.
“We found one alive.”
The room shifted.
Every trace of emotion vanished from Kael’s face, replaced by something terrifyingly cold.
“Where?”
“In the lower cells.”
Kael nodded once.
Then he looked at me.
“You’re staying here.”
I crossed my arms. “You don’t get to lock me up.”
His eyes narrowed.
“You were attacked tonight because of me.”
“And?”
“And whoever sent them knows about you now.”
A chill slid down my spine.
“What do you mean?”
Kael held my gaze.
“They weren’t here to kill me.”
The realization hit slowly.
Horribly.
“They were here for me?”
“Yes.”
Fear wrapped icy fingers around my throat.
Why would monsters want me?
Kael looked toward the hallway darkly.
“That’s what I’m about to find out.”
He started to leave.
Before I could stop myself, I grabbed his arm.
The second I touched him, heat sparked violently between us again.
Kael froze.
So did I.
His gaze dropped slowly to my hand on him.
The air became unbearably tense.
My pulse thundered.
Kael lifted his eyes to mine.
For one dangerous second, the cold billionaire mask cracked.
What I saw underneath terrified me more.
Possession.
Need.
Hunger.
The wolf inside him wanted me.
Badly.
Kael stepped back immediately like touching me burned him.
“Do not touch me again,” he said roughly.
Then he turned and disappeared into the hallway.
Leaving me standing alone in the ruined ballroom…
With a glowing mark on my wrist.
And the horrifying realization that my husband might actually be a monster.
