Kael appeared suddenly, as if out of thin air. The moment he arrived, he pulled me into his arms without hesitation.
The sharp scent of his cologne filled the air, making my heart race.
And yet, there was something odd about it.
Whenever Kael showed up, I seemed to sense it beforehand. My heart would start pounding, and a faint ringing would echo in my ears. It was nothing like what I felt when Marek was around.
It was strange.
As Kael held me close, he took the bottle of wine from my hand and drank from it.
“Why are you here?” I asked, my tone tinged with exasperation.
“Of course, I came to find you, Seraphina. You weren’t at the Eagle Club all day, and I missed you,” he said, unabashedly ignoring the fact that Marek was sitting right across from us.
Holding me tightly, he leaned in and kissed me. His overpowering presence made me tremble.
For some reason, Magnus’s kiss from earlier flashed through my mind.
Magnus’s kisses made me recoil, but with Kael, my body responded honestly, accepting his touch.
“You smell like someone else,” Kael said after breaking the kiss, his brow furrowing.
My heart pounded wildly. God, how was Kael’s sense of smell this sharp?
In an instant, he had caught the scent of another man on me.
Of course, he’s a werewolf. Their noses are ridiculously sensitive.
“It’s familiar. Whose scent is it?” Kael’s expression darkened as he gripped my chin, forcing me to meet his gaze.
His eyes were stormy, brimming with anger. He looked like a bomb about to explode.
To calm him down, I said, “Relax, Kael. I just had dinner with Magnus.”
I couldn’t tell him the rest. If I did, Kael might actually kill Magnus.
Thankfully, Marek stayed silent.
Marek was Kael’s man, sent to protect me, but he wasn’t a spy. I appreciated that about him.
“You had dinner with him? Seraphina, why? What’s your relationship with him? Do you actually like him?” Kael’s voice grew more agitated as he fixated on the fact that I’d shared a meal with Magnus.
He released me and sat upright, his towering frame becoming even more imposing.
Like a massive mountain, he loomed over me, radiating an oppressive intensity.
I instinctively shifted back. “Haven’t there been a lot of werewolves in town lately?”
“So what?”
His brows knitted together, as if he was anticipating bad news.
“Magnus seems fascinated by werewolves. He even said werewolves are a more perfect species than humans. I’m worried… If someone offers him the chance, he might become a werewolf himself. I don’t want more humans turning into werewolves. It’s unnatural. But don’t worry, I’ve already convinced him not to do it.”
“He said that?” Kael’s face turned icy, a chilling prelude to a storm.
“Did Magnus tell you he likes werewolves?”
“Yes. He said he’s encountered them before and found them stronger than humans. That’s why he admires them.”
Kael let out a cold laugh. “I didn’t think we’d have human fans. Fine, I can make him a werewolf and add him to my pack. He can work for me.”
Kael seemed to relax slightly, stretching his long legs lazily against the carpet.
At that moment, he appeared utterly nonchalant, as if the matter amused him.
He pulled me back into his arms, stroking my hair before kissing me again.
“No, Kael. He’s just an ordinary human. You can’t seriously consider turning him into a werewolf. That’s insane,” I protested.
“I’m joking. We don’t need him. But if he’s so obsessed with werewolves, why would he agree to your demand? You told him not to become a werewolf, and he just… agreed?”
Kael was too clever. He easily picked apart the gaps in my story.
My heart raced with unease. Quickly, I replied, “I told him if he became a werewolf, I’d never speak to him again. I said I hate werewolves and find them terrifying.”
“Is that so?” Kael studied my face closely, as if searching for a crack in my story.
His penetrating gaze felt like a trial, making me shiver uncontrollably.
“Seraphina, are you telling the truth?”
“If you don’t trust me, why bother asking?” I replied without flinching.
Thinking back to what I’d told Magnus, the gist of it hadn’t changed. I’d just omitted some details.
I could only hope Kael would believe me.
“I believe you,” he said, his tone softening. “If you’ve said so, how could I not trust you?”
Kael scooped me up and carried me into the bedroom before I could protest.
I turned to look for Marek, but he was already gone.
That man…
The next moment, Kael pressed me onto the bed.
“Wait, we just did this last night,” I objected.
Even though my body responded to him, last night’s intensity had left me utterly drained. I hadn’t fully recovered, and I wasn’t ready for more.
Kael ran his hands over me. “You need this. Your body is covered in Magnus’s scent, and I hate it. I need to mark you, to make sure everyone knows you’re my woman.”
Kael’s possessiveness was almost unthinkable.
It was probably Magnus’s scent that triggered his intense reaction today.
I found it almost laughable.
A man as popular as Kael, plagued by jealousy over me?
I wrapped my arms around his neck. “You don’t want me near any other man, do you?”
“Not unless you kill me first,” he replied bluntly.
I hadn’t expected Kael to be so stubborn.
Did he always love with such fiery intensity?
Then again, werewolves were monogamous by nature. They loved with unwavering devotion.
But I still doubted Kael truly loved me.
Werewolves found their mates under the guidance of the moon goddess, and that meant their mates were also werewolves.
I wasn’t one of them. Unless… Kael loved me enough to want me to become a werewolf too.
The thought made my skin crawl.
I pushed him away. “Kael, even in human relationships, people fall out of love and break up. You can’t control my freedom.”