Chapter 26 HE BELONGS TO US
(Adam’s POV)
I’ve seen Kael angry before.
But I’ve never seen him like this.
The man barely got two steps into the room before Kael slammed him to the ground so hard the tiles cracked. The sound still rings in my skull. A wet smack of body against floor, a gasp, then a choked breath that didn’t belong to Kael.
He didn’t even shift into the monster form.
One second Kael was a man, the next he moved like a weapon thrown by the gods themselves; fast and deadly. I stood frozen near the wall that's far enough from them, hugging myself, watching the intruder’s body twist under Kael’s hold.
“Why are you here?” Kael growled, voice deep enough to vibrate in my chest.
The warrior’s lip curled in pain. “Our Alpha wants the boy,” he spit, blood pooling at the corner of his mouth. “He belongs to us.”
Belongs.
To us.
My stomach twisted. I wanted to scream at him that I didn’t belong to anyone. But the words stuck in my throat and died there.
Kael tightened his hold until the intruder’s ribs creaked.
“He belongs to no one,” Kael snarled. “Except me.”
Something sharp went through me as Kael said those words.
The intruder coughed a laugh. “You’re blind, Alpha. You don’t even know what he is. He’s not human. He—”
Kael slammed him again, effectively shutting him up.
“I said,” Kael hissed in a voice that could break stone, “you don’t speak about him.”
Guards rushed in, pulling the intruder away under Kael’s command, dragging him to the cells below the pack house. I couldn’t look at the intruder anymore. The things he said… they echoed too loudly in my skull.
Not human…
Belongs to us…
What he is…
By the time Kael came to me, my heartbeat was everywhere: ears, throat, fingertips.
“Adam,” Kael said, voice softer now, breath still uneven. “You’re safe. No one is taking you away from me.”
I nodded, though nothing felt safe at all.
He touched my shoulder gently, like he was afraid I’d break. “Let’s go back to our chamber.”
I let him guide me out of what I'd like to call a crime scene.
\---
Kael walked straight into the bathroom the second we got inside.
I heard the shower turn on, then the soft thud of him leaning his hands on the wall under the water. For a long time, the only sound was water hitting tile.
I sat at the edge of the bed, staring at my hands.
Minutes passed. Ten? Twenty? I don’t know.
Finally, the door opened.
Kael stepped out with steam curling behind him, hair damp, droplets sliding down his chest, a towel hanging low on his hips. He looked tired. And gorgeous. And dangerous. All at once.
“I didn’t want you to smell his dirty blood on me,” Kael said quietly, rubbing a smaller towel over his hair.
“Right.” My voice cracked. “Makes sense.”
He walked toward me slowly, carefully.
“Adam…” He kneeled in front of me. “Talk to me. Are you scared?”
“No.”
It came out too quick. Too flat.
Kael paused. “Of me?”
I swallowed. “No. Not… really. I don’t know where my sense of fear went. Maybe it left earlier.”
A faint pained smile touched his lips.
“You saw what I did.” His voice dropped lower. “I hurt him badly. I would’ve gone further if the guards didn’t pull him away. Does that—” he swallowed “—does that make you see me differently?”
“Honestly?” I said, looking at the floor. “You looked like a monster. But… not the kind I should be afraid of.”
Kael exhaled shakily.
Then he reached up, fingers brushing my cheek.
“Come here,” he whispered.
I didn’t move.
So he moved closer instead.
His hand slipped behind my neck, warm and steady, guiding me forward. He pressed a soft kiss to my forehead, holding it there for a long heartbeat. I didn’t react. I didn’t know how.
Then he kissed my cheek.
Then the other.
Then… my neck.
The touch sent something sharp and electric right through me. My breath caught before I could stop it. A soft, helpless moan slipped out of me… embarrassing and small.
Kael stilled for half a second.
Then hummed against my skin, deep and pleased.
“Adam…” His voice was velvet and hunger. “You sound so good.”
“I—no. No, don’t—” I tried to cover my face with my hands, mortified.
Kael gently caught my wrists, lowering them.
“Let me hear it again, baby,” he murmured, lips brushing my throat. “Just one more.”
“No,” I whispered, weak and useless.
Kael didn’t listen.
He returned to my neck, kissing, dragging his lips over the most sensitive spots. Then he sucked, slow and deep. My back arched on instinct, a trembling sound breaking out of me even as I tried to swallow it.
His hum vibrated against my skin again.
“There it is,” he whispered. “I knew you’d sound sweet.”
I couldn’t breathe.
I couldn’t think.
His scent hit me all at once; stronger, thicker, sweet and warm and dizzying. My head felt light. My body felt heavy. It was like standing too close to a bonfire and loving the heat even while it burned.
When Kael pulled back, his eyes were different.
Low-lidded. Dark. Hungry.
Like he was trying very hard not to devour me.
“Baby…” he whispered, voice hoarse, “can I kiss your lips?”
I didn’t speak.
I didn’t think.
My head nodded on its own.
Kael’s breath hitched.
He leaned in slowly, giving me time to change my mind. I didn’t. I couldn’t. The moment his lips touched mine, the rest of the world collapsed. His kiss was warm, demanding, full of something I didn’t understand yet but felt everywhere.
His hand slid along my waist, urging me back. I followed without realizing it, lying down on the bed as he hovered over me, never once breaking the kiss. My hands clutched his shoulders without permission, pulling him closer.
We kissed until I saw stars behind my eyes.
Until breathing became impossible.
When he finally pulled back, he rested his forehead against mine, chest rising and falling like he’d just run miles.
“You’re intoxicating,” Kael whisp
ered, thumb stroking my jaw. His voice was raw, strained, and honest. “I want to kiss you more… but I’m afraid I’ll lose control and do more than kissing.”