Chapter 24 TROUBLES
Adam's POV
The days after Kael dropped all those findings on me felt unreal.
Not dramatic.
Not loud.
Not even painful in the way I expected.
Just… unreal.
I existed, mostly.
Woke up. Ate. I walked around. Sat on Kael’s bed staring at nothing. Ate again because he forced me. Slept. Forced myself to shower. Let Kael check my temperature for no reason. I tried not to think… I pretty much just existed because what else could I possibly do? At least there's food and bed here, and there's Kael's lovey dozey self.
And when I did think, the thoughts felt like they were floating around me instead of inside my head.
I had no beginning, no origin, no family, no explanation… No sense.
It made everything feel far away. Even my own breathing felt borrowed.
But at least there's warmth here. No mocking from Marcus. No cold glares from his wife. No pills shoved into my mouth while being told I was “unstable.”
And there was Kael.
Kael, with his annoyingly soft hands and gentle voice and the way he always said my name like it tasted good.
He has been busier these days. The Star Moon Pack— apparently they were the same people who attacked this pack before I ever arrived— had suddenly become more active. More violent. More bold.
I didn’t know what any of that meant in the grand scheme of the werewolf world, but it made the entire pack house tense. It felt like the walls themselves were listening.
Kael spent hours in the meeting hall with warriors, trackers, and council members, planning and arguing and shouting in that deep Alpha voice that could probably knock a door off its hinges.
Right now, I stood at the back of the hall, leaning against a wall, pretending to be invisible.
Kael stood in front of a table covered in maps and reports, brows drawn tight.
“We increase patrols along the western border,” he said, tapping the map. “They’ve been testing it for days. They’re waiting for us to slip.”
A warrior nodded. “Alpha, our scouts spotted movement last night—”
“I saw the report.” Kael’s voice was steady, strong. “We move quietly. We don’t show fear. The pack needs to feel safe.”
He was calm but forceful, like someone who’d been born to lead.
His presence alone made people straighten their backs.
His kindness made them listen.
But not everyone.
From behind Kael’s shoulder, two council members exchanged a sharp, annoyed, and disrespectful look.
One of them muttered something under his breath.
I didn’t catch the words, but the tone was clear: they didn’t like Kael’s decisions. They didn’t respect him as much as they pretended to his face.
Or maybe they didn’t like… me.
Either one felt possible.
Kael turned slightly, and the fake smiles on their faces snapped into place instantly.
Cowards.
More warriors spoke; the discussion dragged on. I stayed back, feeling out of place, like I’d wandered into someone’s life by accident.
Kael glanced at me now and then; softening for a second before turning back to the conversation.
Every time he looked, my chest tightened.
Why did he look at me that way?
Why did it feel good?
Why did it scare me so much?
The meeting ended eventually. The moment Kael dismissed them, the councilmen hurried out first, whispering to each other with tight, bitter expressions.
I exhaled slowly.
I wasn’t imagining it.
They hated me.
And Kael didn’t see it.
His sweet Alpha heart was too busy protecting everyone.
Too trusting, and too hopeful.
I envied him for that.
Kael approached me once the room emptied. His voice dropped instantly to that quiet tone he used only with me.
“Adam,” he murmured, brushing a thumb across my cheek as if checking for warmth. “Did you eat?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
“Enough?”
I hesitated.
He frowned. “You need strength, Adam.”
“I’m fine,” I lied.
His hand slid up, fingers curling gently around the side of my neck. The touch made something warm spread through me, unwelcome but addicting.
He leaned in slightly. “Stay close to me today.”
I swallowed. “Because of the Star Moon Pack?”
His eyes softened. “Because of everything.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. I didn’t know how to respond to someone who looked at me like I mattered; like my existence wasn’t some mistake or burden.
“I missed you this morning,” Kael whispered, thumb brushing my jaw.
My heart squeezed painfully.
He didn’t know how dangerous that softness was.
He didn’t know it made me want to lean into him even when I shouldn’t.
I wanted him to choose me because he wanted to.
Not because some mate bond was messing with his head.
Not because fate, or whatever, demanded it.
Not because I was supposedly “his.”
I wanted it to be real.
And wanting that was stupid.
Kael pulled back slowly. “Walk with me?”
I nodded, unable to form words.
We walked the halls together, his arm hovering near my back but not touching; like he was waiting for permission.
Pack members bowed to him as we passed.
Then glared at me when his head turned away.
A woman muttered under her breath, “Why is he still here?”
A male warrior sneered, “Human pet.”
I didn’t react.
I was used to worse.
But Kael didn’t hear any of it. He was talking about border patrol patterns, scent trails, and defensive strategies. His voice was calm, warm, almost excited.
He loved his pack.
He was proud of them.
He had faith in them.
And yet they hated the person he was trying so hard to protect.
He didn’t see their faces when he wasn’t looking. He didn’t hear their whispers.
He didn’t see how their eyes lingered on me like I was dirt on the floor.
For a second, I imagined telling him the truth.
Then I imagined how it would only stress him more.
So I stayed quiet.
Again.
\---
We were almost back to Kael’s room when a sudden shout echoed down the hall.
Two warriors rushed past us.
Then—
A body stumbled through the doorway at the front of the pack house.
A scout.
Blood smeared across his chest. His arm hung limply at his side. His breathing was ragged, desperate.
Kael stiffened immediately.
“Get support!” he ordered the nearest guard before sprinting forward.
I followed a few steps behind, heart pounding.
The scout collapsed to his knees right in front of Kael.
“Alpha…” he coughed, grabbing for Kael’s wrist. “Star Moon… they crossed the border…”
Kael’s eyes darkened. “How many?”
The scout wheezed. “Too many—ambush—caught us at the ridge—we tried to fall back but—”
Then his gaze snapped toward me.
His entire body trembled.
“The
y’re… they’re coming,” he choked out. “They’re after the human.”
My blood ran cold and Kael pulled me closer to himself.
The world suddenly felt too small.
The Star Moon Pack… was coming.
For me.