Chapter 36
THIRTY-SIX
KAI
I don’t mean to watch them.
That’s what I tell myself.
The terrace doors are open, and the sound of low voices carries easily through the kitchen, so it isn’t technically spying. It isn’t deliberate. It’s just proximity. Just coincidence.
But I don’t move away.
I lean against the counter with a beer I’m not drinking and stare out through the glass as Sol stands too close to her, his hand brushing the side of her neck in a way that looks almost careful.
Almost gentle.
It shouldn’t bother me.
The bond is his. He bit her. He triggered whatever this is. The biological pull makes sense.
But the look on her face doesn’t.
It isn’t fear. It isn’t anger.
It’s choice.
That’s what makes my jaw tighten.
Because when she looks at me, it’s fire and friction and sparks. It’s challenge. It’s heat that feels reckless and alive. But when she looks at him like that, it’s something quieter. Deeper.
Intentional.
I swallow a mouthful of beer that tastes flat.
Koa shifts beside me, silent as always, and I don’t need to look at him to know he’s noticed it too. The way her shoulders drop when Sol steps closer. The way her breathing evens like her body’s found an answer it was searching for.
“That’s not fair,” I mutter.
Koa doesn’t ask what I mean.
“It isn’t,” he agrees quietly.
The words surprise me.
I drag a hand through my hair and push off the counter, restless energy snapping under my skin. “It’s biology. Fine. I get that. He bit her. Instinct. Whatever.”
“But?” Koa prompts.
“But she didn’t look like she was just tolerating it.”
No, she leaned into it.
That’s the part I can’t shake.
I leave the kitchen before I say something I can’t take back, cutting across the hallway just as the terrace door slides shut behind them.
She steps inside first.
Her cheeks are flushed, but not with anger. Her eyes are clear, steady. Sol follows a second later, composed as always, but there’s a tension in his shoulders that wasn’t there earlier.
She sees me watching.
For a split second, something flickers across her expression, but it’s not guilt. Not an apology.
I push off the wall and walk toward her before I can stop myself.
“How’s the stabilisation going?” I ask lightly, even though my tone isn’t as careless as I’d like.
Her chin lifts immediately. “Better.”
I glance at Sol. “Convenient.”
“Careful,” he says, voice even.
I huff a quiet laugh. “What? We’re all pretending this isn’t a thing?”
Her gaze sharpens. “Say what you mean, Kai.”
I hold her stare longer than necessary. “You look calmer.”
“I am.”
“Because he touched you.”
The words come out sharper than intended.
Sol’s jaw tightens.
But she doesn’t look away.
“Yes,” she says.
The honesty hits harder than I expect.
I nod once, slow. “Right.”
Silence stretches between us, thick and uncomfortable.
“And when I’m near you?” I ask before I can stop myself.
Her brows draw together. “What about it?”
“You don’t calm down,” I say. “You flare.”
Her pulse jumps at her throat.
I notice.
She notices that I notice.
“That’s not your business,” she says quietly.
“It kind of is.”
“Why?”
Because I want it to be.
Because when you stood that close to him, I felt something twist in my chest that I don’t recognise.
Because I don’t like that biology picked him first.
Instead, I shrug. “Because I don’t enjoy being the unstable variable.”
“You’re not unstable,” she says, but there’s heat under it.
“Tell that to my system.”
Her eyes flick briefly to Sol and then back to me, like she’s recalculating something.
“You’re not grounding,” she says slowly. “You’re provoking.”
“Is that a complaint?”
“It’s an observation.”
The corner of my mouth lifts. “So you’re still paying attention.”
Her gaze drags over me for half a second too long.
My scent spikes before I can stop it.
Her breathing changes.
There it is.
Not the steady alignment she gets with him.
But fire.
Sharp and bright and hungry.
Sol steps closer without making it obvious, and the shift in her body is immediate.
I feel it like a punch.
“She doesn’t need you hovering,” I say, irritation bleeding through now.
“She doesn’t need you escalating,” he replies.
I laugh under my breath. “Escalating? I haven’t touched her.”
“Exactly.”
The implication hangs heavy.
Because I want to. And we all know it.
I turn back to her. “You’re not fragile.”
“No.”
“You’re not just biology either.”
Her eyes soften slightly at that. “No.”
“Then don’t let him treat you like a problem to solve.”
Something flickers in Sol’s expression, but I don’t look at him.
This isn’t about him.
It’s about the fact that when she stands between us, she feels like a line none of us expected to draw.
“I asked you out,” I say suddenly.
Her brows lift. “You did.”
“I meant it.”
“Kai—”
“I’m not backing off just because he triggered something.”
The room goes still.
Sol doesn’t interrupt.
Koa watches from the doorway, silent.
Her pulse is racing now. Not steady. Not calm.
Racing.
“You think this is a competition,” she says.
“Do I?”
She studies me for a long moment. “You’re jealous.”
The word lands clean so I don’t deny it. “Yes.”
It’s the first honest answer I’ve given all day.
Her lips part slightly, surprised.
“I don’t want you calm,” I say, voice lower now. “I don’t want you dulled. I like that you flare when I’m near.”
Her breathing stutters.
Sol goes very still.
“And what,” she asks carefully, “if that’s not good for me?”
“Then we figure it out,” I say. “Not just him.”
The air feels charged, but not explosive.
She steps closer to me then.
Deliberately.
The shift is instant.
Heat sparks through her – and me – sharp and undeniable. Her scent changes subtly, something warmer threading through it, and my pulse answers before my brain can catch up.
She’s not calming.
She’s igniting.
She looks up at me, eyes steady despite the flush creeping along her skin.
“This is different,” she says quietly.
“I know.”
“And you’re not scared of it.”
“No.”
“Why?”
Because I’ve never been afraid of fire.
Because I don’t want safe.
Because I don’t want to win by default.
Instead, I say, “Because you’re choosing to stand here.”
For a moment, none of us move. Not her. Not Sol. Not me.
The tension isn’t explosive. It’s balanced.
I realise this isn’t just about who bit her. It’s about who she chooses next.
And I am not stepping aside quietly.