Chapter One Hundred and Five: Safe Space

Chapter One Hundred and Five: Safe Space
As Kaelia came out of grandma’s inner chamber, she looked at Alarion and Aaron, who were sitting next to each other, and murmured “Let's head back.”

Alarion was on his feet in a flash. “Are you okay?”

Kaelia nodded, too quickly. “Yeah. Just tired.”

Alarion wasn’t convinced. Neither was Aaron. But they didn’t press.

As they walked the quiet halls back toward their shared chamber, Kaelia’s steps slowed more than once. She wasn’t limping, just… dragging. Not just her feet. Her spirit.

Aaron reached out instinctively to touch Kaelia’s shoulder. “Do you want to lie down?”

“No,” Kaelia said gently, then looked up between the two Alphas. “Could we… go to the bath?”

Alarion raised a brow. “The steaming one?”

Kael nodded. “It always helps me relax.”

Alarion gave Aaron a small nod. “Let’s get robes.”

—

Moments later, the trio arrived at the steaming stone bath nestled at the far end of the East Wing. The room was warm and smelled of juniper and rose ash. Steam danced over the surface of the water, softening the light and cloaking everything in something like magic.

Alarion dropped his robe first, stepping out in plain black boxers that clung to his hips. Aaron followed next, then Kaelia— slow, bashful, trying not to overthink the curve of her body beneath the soft cotton.

The moment the robe fell from Kaelia’s shoulders, leaving her in her bikini, Aaron’s breath caught.

The light skimmed across Kaelia’s small frame, her bare skin still decorated with fading bruises, but the swell of her baby bump gave her a glow Aaron couldn’t deny. He stared, lips slightly parted, unable to tear his eyes away.

Alarion noticed and chuckled.

Aaron blinked, trying to call his senses back. “I’m sorry,” he said honestly. “I couldn’t help it. She’s…”

“Beautiful,” Alarion finished. “I know.”

Kaelia arched her brow. “You guys realize I’m right here, right? Sickos.”

Alarion laughed as he stepped forward and scooped Kaelia up without warning.

Kaelia squealed and wrapped her arms around the Alpha’s neck. “You’re going to drop me!”

“Never,” Alarion said, lowering both of them gently into the bath. The water embraced them like a warm hug.

Aaron waded in next, settling behind Kaelia as Alarion positioned himself in front. Kaelia was sandwiched between two strong chests and the gentle beat of two calm, familiar heartbeats.

A long exhale left her. Her head rested back on Aaron’s shoulder. Her toes skimmed Alarion’s thigh beneath the water.

Safe. Content…

She closed her eyes for a while. Let the warmth soak into her bones.

Then she opened them again. “Aaron?”

“Hmm?”

“Are you going through something?”

Aaron blinked, not understanding what she meant. “What?”

Kael didn’t move. “A heartbreak? Family trouble? Some royal mess I don’t know about?”

Aaron chuckled softly. “Where’s that coming from?”

“You’ve been here. Constantly. You take care of me, sleep in the same bed, fetch tea before I even ask. You barely let me breathe alone,” Kaelia teased, voice soft but steady. “So… are you okay?”

Aaron was quiet for a moment. Then said, “I’m very much okay.”

Kaelia lifted his head just enough to look back at him.

Aaron smiled gently. “Why? You don’t want me around?”

Kaelia shook her head. “Oh, I want you around. I love that you’re around. It brings me back to something warm, like when I first met someone who didn’t look at me like a mistake.”

She turned to Alarion. “I’m just surprised you and Alarion aren’t killing each other.”

Alarion smirked. “I’d love to kill him.”

Aaron snorted. “That makes two of us.”

Kaelia laughed, water lapping gently around her.

“But,” Alarion added, reaching forward to touch Kaelia’s cheek, “he’s your friend. And I can’t afford to break your heart, my moon.”

Kaelia’s smile faltered slightly… because it grew so wide. She leaned forward, resting her head against Alarion’s collarbone now, warmth blooming in her chest.

“I love this,” she said softly. “The both of you. Like this. By my side.”

Neither Alpha spoke, but Kaelia continued.

“It’s everything I own… but don’t even deserve. This—” she pressed his hand gently over her belly, “—this moment. This warmth. It’s a safe space. Where my heart beats right. Where I breathe and speak without being afraid of offending someone.”

Aaron touched her shoulder gently. Alarion leaned down and kissed her temple.

Kaelia closed her eyes again.

Maybe healing wasn’t something that happened in one perfect moment.

Maybe it was this.

A slow bath. A quiet laugh. Genuine love and care.

Alarion’s hand found Kaelia’s again beneath the water, fingers lacing slowly. “You seemed a little off earlier,” he murmured. “At Grandma’s chamber… and even before then.”

Kaelia’s eyes lowered. The water rippled gently around her arms. “I was thinking about something.”

“Tell me.”

Kaelia looked up, hesitant. “How is she your grandma? You introduced me to her as your grandma, but... you and her aren’t blood related.”

Alarion blinked. “Oh. That.”

He leaned back against the rock lining the bath, sighing. “More than two decades ago, she went to war with my father, the king. She fought beside him. Saved his life. Saved hundreds of our men. Once… when a deadly plague swept through the southern lands, she created a spiritual barrier that protected the entire kingdom of Valeria. No one who lived within her wards fell ill at all, and the ones who lived too far away got healed by her.”

Aaron, sitting quietly behind Kael, spoke up. “She’s known in the realm as ‘The Queen Mother.’ Not because she was ever royal by blood. But because she is… everything. A healer. A warrior. A protector. She’s older than even the king.”

Kaelia turned to him slowly. “Older?”

“She served my grandfather,” Alarion nodded. “The King before my father. People say she was blessed by the Moon Goddess. That her power slows her aging, which is true because she's older than my grandfather, my grandfather is long dead and she's still strong.”

“She’s… incredible,” Aaron added quietly. “She looks younger than most of the councilmen. But she’s older than their grandfathers.”

Kael stared at the water for a long moment. Then his lips parted, and the words tumbled out in a hush.

“She is my grandmother.”

Aaron sat straighter behind her. Alarion’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Kaelia’s fingers twisted in her lap. “She gave birth to my mother. That’s what my mom told me before I got kidnapped. That Grandma... is her mother.”

She kept talking. She told them everything: about her conversation with Elara… about how her grandma stayed away because she once swore allegiance to a group that hunted and killed Lupherians in secret.

“She said… she had blood on her hands,” Kaelia whispered. “That she killed people like me. That she joined something she didn’t understand until it was too late. And when I was born, she saw what she’d helped destroy. She said she feared being near me would only bring danger. So she stayed away.”

Alarion’s eyes burned with a thousand storms. But not directed at Kaelia.

Aaron’s breath trembled.

“She left when I was five,” Kaelia continued, voice barely above a whisper. “She spent fifteen years in solitude, trying to redeem herself. And when she finally returned to the palace… I have grown older… and. Pregnant.”

She wiped her cheek quickly. “I asked her if she thought me being a Lupherian Omega was some kind of punishment. She said it's not. That I am a blessing not a punishment, so I guess that's good news.”

…

Alaric stirred. His voice was low and rough. “I remember… as a child, I heard whispers that she had a daughter. But no one ever saw the daughter. I thought it was a myth.”

“She’s real,” Kaelia whispered. “My mom.”

Aaron placed a steady hand on Kaelia’s arm.

Alarion leaned in, pressing his forehead to Kaelia’s gently. “You have the blood of the most powerful woman known running through your veins,” he said softly. “And you… you carry my child. Oh I'm gonna party hard this coming festival.”

Kaelia closed her eyes.

“I don’t know what that makes me,” she murmured.

“A miracle, a blessing.” Alarion said, kissing her temple.

“And more than enough.” Aaron added.

Wrapped in warmth, safe between two Alpha heartbeats, Kaelia exhaled.

Whatever storm awaited them… could wait.

Or no.