Chapter 32 Sienna's POV
I didn’t realize I was shaking until I looked down and saw my hands shaking.
They were clenched so tight in Kael’s shirt that my fingers ached, my knuckles white as I pressed my face into his chest not wanting to let go.
I was so scared that I would loose him and I would be powerless.
In the moment I didn't even know what to do.
I’d wanted to run.
That had been my first instinct when the car spun, when the impact hit, when the shouting started. To bolt. To disappear. To get as far away as possible and not look back.
But I hadn’t.
I’d stayed.
And now that we were safe, actually safe, for the moment, everything came pouring out.
“I was so scared,” I choked, my voice muffled against him. “I thought… I thought I was going to die.”
Kael wrapped his arms around me fully, one hand cradling the back of my head, the other holding me close like he could shield me from everything
“I know,” he murmured. “I know.”
His voice was steady, grounding, but I could feel the tension under it. His body was rigid. He took had been affected by this incidence.
I pulled back just enough to look at him. There was blood on his shirt. Not a lot, but enough to make me worried
“You’re hurt,” I said, panic flaring again.
“It’s nothing,” he said immediately.
“It’s not nothing,” I snapped, tears spilling over again. “You got hit. I saw it.”
He sighed softly and cupped my face, forcing me to look at him. “I’m okay. I promise. It didn’t go deep.”
That didn’t make me feel much better, but I nodded anyway because I didn’t trust my voice not to break again.
We were still parked on the side of the road, the wrecked car sitting at an awkward angle behind us. The street was quiet now, like the world was holding its breath.
Kael glanced around once more before looking back at me, his expression dark.
“There’s something you need to know,” he said.
The tone of his voice made my stomach drop.
“What?” I asked.
He hesitated for a fraction of a second, then said, “Those weren’t random hunters.”
I swallowed. “What do you mean?”
“They were hired,” he said. “Specifically.”
A cold chill slid down my spine. “Specifically for… what?”
His jaw tightened. “For you.”
The words hit like a slap.
“No,” I whispered. “That doesn’t make sense.”
“They didn’t come after me,” he said quietly. “They came after the car. After you. The way they moved, the way they coordinated, it wasn’t sloppy. This was planned.”
My heart started racing again, fear morphing into something sharper. Anger.
“Who would do that?” I demanded. “Who would...”
And then the answer popped into my brain so fast it almost made me dizzy.
Ronan.
Of course it was Ronan.
The threats. The pressure. The obsession with control. The way he didn't react after he asked me about my promise to join.
He said nothing.
Was this bus way of getting to me
I pulled my phone out with shaking hands.
“Sienna,” Kael said, catching my wrist gently. “Wait.”
“No,” I snapped, already dialing. “I am not waiting. I need to talk to that Fucking ass.”
He didn’t stop me.
The phone rang once. Twice.
He picked up.
“What..."
“Oh, real mature,” I cut in, my voice sharp and dripping with sarcasm. “Sending a group of assassins to scare me into joining your pack? That’s definitely going to work. Ten out of ten strategy.”
There was a pause on the other end of the line.
“What are you talking about?” Ronan said, his voice suddenly cold and alert.
“Don’t play dumb,” I snapped. “Hunters. Just now. They tried to kill me.”
Another pause. Longer this time.
“Sienna,” he said slowly, “where are you right now?”
“Don’t change the subject,” I said. “You really think I wouldn’t connect the dots?”
“If you’re not lying,” he said, tension creeping into his voice, “then you need to stay exactly where you are. Do not move. I’m coming to you.”
I let out a humorless laugh. “Oh, absolutely not.”
“I’m serious,” he snapped. “This isn’t a game.”
“Funny,” I shot back. “Could’ve fooled me.”
I hung up before he could say anything else.
My hands were shaking again, but this time it wasn’t fear alone.
it was anger. vitriol.
I turned to Kael, fuming. “He sent them.”
Kael shook his head immediately. “I don’t think he did.”
I stared at him. “Are you kidding me?”
“He’s many things,” Kael said carefully, “but this doesn’t feel like him. Hunters are messy. Unpredictable. If he wanted control over you, this isn’t how he’d do it.”
“That’s very generous of you,” I muttered.
“I’m not defending him,” Kael said. “I’m just saying… something else is going on.”
I hated that part of me knew he might be right.
After a few minutes, after my breathing slowed and my hands stopped shaking quite as badly, we decided to leave.
The car wasn’t drivable, but Kael handled that with a call and a plan In a few minutes we were already on a ride back home.
By the time we got home, exhaustion had settled into my bones. I just wanted sleep. Everything that happened was overwhelming.
I barely had time to kick my shoes off before the doorbell rang.
My heart jumped straight into my throat.
Kael was already moving, positioning himself slightly in front of me as he opened the door.
Ronan stood on the other side.
He didn’t wait to be invited in.
He shoved past Kael the moment the door opened, eyes blazing, jaw tight with barely restrained fury.
“Are you out of your fucking mind?” he barked. “I told you to stay where you were.”
“Nice to see you too,” I snapped.
He rounded on me, his gaze sweeping over my body like he was checking for injuries. “Your life is in danger. You have to come with me. Now.”
“No,” I said flatly.
His head snapped toward me. “This isn’t a request.”
“And this won’t work for me,” I shot back. “You don’t get to barge into my house and make demands.”
“I don’t care what works for you,” he said harshly. “I care that you’re breathing.”
Kael stepped fully between us then. “She’s not going anywhere.”
Ronan’s attention shifted to him instantly, like a predator locking onto a rival.
“You can’t protect her from this,” Ronan said coldly.
“I already did,” Kael replied just as calmly.
Ronan let out a sharp, humorless laugh. “You fought off three hunters and think that makes you enough?”
“I know it does,” Kael said.
The air between them felt thick, charged, like a storm about to break.
“You’re a lone wolf,” Ronan snapped. “You don’t have the resources. You don’t have the reach.”
“And you have a habit of putting targets on her back,” Kael shot back.
“Watch your mouth,” Ronan growled.
“Both of you, stop,” I shouted and they both shit up so I could think
Fuck what was I supposed to do