Chapter 19 Nineteen

Chapter 19 Nineteen


The scrolls were warm in Seren’s hands, still thrumming faintly with the traces of Kael’s magic. She expected him to step back now that the handoff was complete but he didn’t move.

If anything, he leaned closer.

“So,” Kael murmured, voice low and smooth as black velvet, “since I’ve delivered something invaluable…” His eyes drifted to the scrolls, then returned to her face with a heat that made her breath stutter. “I believe I’m owed a reward.”

Seren blinked and her smile faded. She eyed him warily, “A reward?”

The corner of his mouth lifted Into a predatory curl of amusement that made her pulse trip.

“I did say I had a surprise for you,” he continued, stepping close enough that she could feel the warmth of his body radiating through the thin lamé of her tunic. “And I followed through. Now it’s your turn.”

She scoffed lightly, masking the sudden thrum in her chest. “You want me to say ‘thank you’?”

“No,” he said softly. “I want something you can’t give accidentally.”

Her throat tightened. “And what exactly would that be?”

Kael’s eyes flicked down, tracing the line of her jaw, the curve of her lips, the scrolls she clutched a little too tightly. The tension between them thickened.

“Your acknowledgment,” he said.
Her breath hitched.

“For what?” she challenged, though her voice wasn’t as steady as she wished.

“That I did this for you,” Kael murmured. “Not for the pack or for justice sake but for You.” His fingers brushed her wrist, barely a graze, but it was enough to send a shockwave up her arm. “I want you to admit you needed my help.”

Seren stiffened. “You…”
“I want to hear it,” he said. “From your lips.”

His tone was unreadable but it was laced part command, part plea, part something dangerously intimate.

She swallowed, hard.
Seren Nightwind didn’t like being owned.
But she also wasn’t foolish enough to pretend she could’ve obtained this evidence alone.

He helped her right after she already planned to invade The Burndels territory.

Her pride and her practicality warred for a heartbeat.

Then she tipped her chin up, meeting his gaze, refusing to shrink back.

“Fine,” she said. “You helped. And I needed it.”

Kael inhaled subtly, as if the admission hit deeper than he expected.
But he didn’t look satisfied. If anything,he looked… hungry. Hungry for more of her acknowledgements.

“That’s not enough,” he murmured.

“Oh, for the love of— Kael, what do you want? A pat on the head?”

“A kiss," he said casually, as if discussing the weather.

Seren nearly dropped the scrolls. “A—?!”. Her cheeks were flaming red.

“A kiss,” he repeated, his voice silk-wrapped steel. “It seems a fair reward.”

“You’re out of your mind.”, she said, flustered.

“Probably.” He stepped closer again, until her back brushed the edge of his desk. “But I’m honest about what I want.”

Her heart hammered. She forced herself to glare at him, even as heat pooled low in her stomach. “You think you can just… collect kisses like payment for every favor?”

“No.” Kael’s hand lifted, hovering beside her cheek close enough for her to feel the warmth. “Just yours.”

Her breath shuddered.

“You’re impossible.”

“And you’re stalling,” Kael murmured. “Which means the idea isn’t entirely unwelcome.”

Seren’s lips parted in indignation — or denial — or something dangerously close to anticipation.

But she forced herself to straighten.
She would not be steered. Not by him, not by this bond, not by anyone.

“You want a kiss?” she said, lifting her chin.
“Yes.”
“Then earn one.”

His brows lifted. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me,” she said, slipping sideways out of his reach, putting two careful steps between them. Her heartbeat was still a wild drum, but her voice was cool. Controlled. “You want rewards? Bring me something reward-worthy.”

“I just gave you evidence capable of toppling the most influential women in the pack,” Kael reminded her.

“And I’m grateful,” she said, holding up the scrolls. “But a kiss isn’t cheap, Alpha. Try harder.”

For a moment, Kael simply stared at her — eyes darkening in a way that made every hair on her arms rise.

Then, slowly, a dangerously intimate smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

“Challenge accepted, my Luna.”

Seren’s pulse leapt.

But she nodded, pretending she wasn’t affected. “Good. Because I need you to help me plan the next step.”

Kael folded his arms. “Which is?”

She held the scrolls to her chest like a hunter clutching arrows. “We expose the Burndels during the Moon Banquet.”

He stilled as his brain churned. “You want to use Selune’s blessing as your weapon.”

“Yes,” Seren said firmly. “They used the goddess’s name to build their influence. I’m going to use the goddess’s truth to tear them down.”

Kael’s eyes glittered with something between admiration and wicked excitement.

“You’re playing with divine fire, kitten.”

“I’m not playing,” Seren said. “I’m winning. And all is Fair in love and war.”

He moved closer again, though not touching her this time. His presence felt like a cloak of heat and shadow draped around her.

“If this is the battlefield you choose…” Kael said, voice dropping, “then I’ll make sure you walk into it with more than just scrolls.”

“Weapons?” she asked.

“Power,” he corrected. “And a shield strong enough to withstand the fallout.”

Her breath caught. “Meaning?”

“Meaning,” Kael said, “if you want to shatter someone’s faith, you need more than evidence. You need a miracle.”

Seren’s pulse thrummed like lightning in her veins.
A miracle.

And suddenly, her mind spun with dangerous J's dramtic possibilities.

He watched her, reading every spark of her rising plan, every shift in her expression.

“You’re thinking something reckless,” Kael murmured.

“I’m thinking something brilliant.”

“Same thing,” he said.

“Good,” Seren said. “Because brilliance is exactly what we need.”

Kael watched her so intently it felt like he was peeling back her thoughts layer by layer. Seren hated that. She also… didn’t hate it.

“Before we plan the Moon Banquet,” she said carefully, “there’s something you should know.”

Kael’s expression sharpened. “Is it about the Burndels?”

“No.”
Her fingers tightened around the scrolls.
“This is about me.”

At once, his posture shifted subtly, but unmistakably.

“Go on,” he said.

Seren hesitated before answering him.

“I have… the two types of magic in our realm.”

Kael’s brows pulled together. “Kitten, every wolf is only born with Instinct magic. A single magic for every being under the moon.”

“I know. I also know I sound crazy but believe me when I tell you that I possess both Instinct and Divine magic.”

Silence stretched between them as Keal searched her face for lies but all he saw was raw honesty.

Seren saw that he was yet to believe her and decided to take it up a notch.
During one of the System’s lectures, she remembered that Instinct Magic was from the bloodline so she proceded to tug at that faint pull in her blood and soon her hand shimmered.

The shimmer was embarrassingly weak but her fingertips sharpened first, and white fur spilled over her knuckles like frost blooming across skin.

Not normal gray or brown. Heck, not even black.

But White.

Kael’s breath hitched.
Not because it was rare but because of what white signified.

Old bloodlines.
Extinct clans.
Moon-touched wolves.

His eyes flicked to her hair as he tried to connect it with the way her Instinct Magic manifested.

His voice came out low. “Your instinct magic… carries a lunar signature.”

Seren blinked. “Is that bad?”

“Not bad,” Kael murmured, stepping closer, studying her hand with unsettling intensity. “But unusual. Instinct magic reflects bloodline. Yours has traces I haven’t seen in decades.”

She opened her mouth to ask what that meant, but he cut in.

“This isn’t what worries me.”
He lifted his gaze, eyes glowing faintly.
“Show me the Divine Magic.”

Seren hesitated longer.
Much longer.

Just… still.

“Seren,” he said slowly, “show me.”

She lifted her other hand.
A soft shimmer that was barely a glow appeared above her palm. Weak, shaky, but undeniably Divine.

Kael stepped back.
Once.
Twice.
Like the air around her had turned into holy fire.

“Stop.” His voice came out hoarse.

She closed her hand.
The glow died instantly.

Kael let out a rough breath.

“Divine Magic,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “Seren… wolves can’t wield divine magic. It’s forbidden to our blood. Infact, it is unheard of. If the Priestess senses even a spark…”

“She can’t sense it,” Seren said quickly.

“Don’t be foolish,” he snapped — not at her, but at the danger. “Divine magic marks you as a vessel. A rival. A threat. The very thing Katya pretends to be.”

Seren swallowed. “I’m only level one. I can barely light a candle.”

“That’s enough to get you killed or worse used as an Experiment,” Kael growled.

He stepped closer again, slower this time, like approaching something fragile and furious at once.

“Listen to me,” he said, voice low and intense. “Instinct magic is normal. Every wolf of our pack has it. But divine magic in a wolf? That is a death sentence if anyone else finds out.”

She opened her mouth, but he caught her wrist gently grounding her.

“Seren,” he whispered, “if you expose divine magic publicly, the Council won’t crown you Luna.”

“…What then?”

“They’ll sanctify and isolate you.”

She blinked. “Is that… bad?”

Kael’s eyes darkened.
“Sanctified wolves don’t get mates. Or freedom. They become pack property. They die young. Used until their magic burns out.”

Seren’s stomach twisted. She didn't know what Selune was thinking to put both Magics in her.

“I won’t let that happen to you.”, His voice shook with certainty.

“You keep this hidden,” he said firmly. “No cultivation alone. No flaring it without me present. You tell no one else. Not even your father.”

Seren nodded slowly. “Okay.”

His shoulders eased slightly, “Good,” he murmured.

“But I need this for the Moon Banquet,” she said. “If I’m going to challenge Katya at her own ceremony through divine means….”

Kael’s jaw tightened. “Then we control it. Carefully. Strategically. And you stay behind me if things go wrong.”

She snorted. “I thought I was the one with divine magic.”

“You are,” Kael said, stepping closer, his hand rising to her chin.
“But I’m the one who protects it.”

Her breath caught.

“So,” she whispered, “are we still raising the stakes?”

Kael’s lips brushed the edge of her ear.

“Oh, Seren,” he murmured. “We’re going to raise them so high the Priestess won’t survive the fall.”

Kael lifted her chin with two fingers gently and possessively.

“High enough,” he murmured, “that
when the banquet ends, the entire pack kneels for you… not them.”

Her breath caught.

“And,” he added, leaning close enough that his lips brushed the edge of her ear again, “high enough that you owe me a reward far greater than a kiss.”

Her knees nearly buckled.