Chapter 32 #3
His eyes remained locked with hers. “I know how much Jodhar’s bite still lingers in your mind.
So, let me show you. Let me prove your body is capable of choice—that what you feel is yours to give, not something stolen or forced.
Not something driven by impulse or circumstance.
And while I’m at it . . .” His voice dipped lower, rich with quiet intensity.
“Let me erase the memory of his touch from your skin.”
She parted her lips, pulse hammering against her ribs. “What do you mean?”
“A good memory to replace the bad,” he murmured. “One that belongs to you. To us , if you’ll let it.”
His voice was low, patient. Even now, he was still offering rather than demanding.
He rose to his knees, closing the space between them, but he didn’t touch her—not yet. Instead, he let the moment stretch, his golden gaze flicking up to meet hers, waiting. “May I?”
Reiya swallowed. At this moment, there was no fever in her blood, no instinct clawing at the edges of her control, no desperate haze muddling her thoughts.
She wasn’t in the throes of Heat. She was fully aware, completely herself.
Yet, Kaelen’s presence still set her pulse racing. The warmth of his body, the intensity in his stare, the deep timbre of his voice—all of it sent heat curling through her, low and insistent, pooling at the bottom of her stomach.
It wasn’t the Heat that caused all these sensations—it was him .
Slowly, she nodded, her voice unsteady but sure. “Yes.”
Kaelen’s lips parted slightly, warm air ghosting over her skin as he leaned in, inching slowly, giving her time to pull away.
She didn’t.
His lips met her neck, a whisper of warmth against her skin.
Reiya arched instinctively, eyes fluttering shut as she surrendered—not to instinct, not to biology, but to him.
Her fingers curled into his tunic, gripping tight, as if anchoring herself against the sudden wave of sensation.
Heat bloomed where his mouth lingered, not the fevered desperation of her Kindling, but something richer, deeper—pleasure that was entirely hers to claim.
A shudder rolled through her as Kaelen’s lips moved, pressing slow, reverent kisses along the fading bruise.
A quiet gasp slipped past her lips, the sound barely more than a mewl, but it was enough.
Kaelen stilled, his own breath catching, his arms tightening around her in response.
Then—his exhale, warm and unsteady, ghosted over her skin, sending a fresh tremor through her.
Her body knew before her mind could catch up. The one word, the title she’d denied him, surged within her, pushing against the walls of her hesitation.
Alpha.
The thought alone sent her pulse skittering, her resolve unravelling thread by thread. She should have resisted. Should have pulled away before she lost herself completely.
But when his tongue flicked out, a featherlight tease against her skin, a soft, helpless sound escaped her.
Kaelen made a sound too—low, rough, and entirely unguarded. His grip tightened, arms wrapping around her as if he could draw her inside his own warmth, to claim every shiver, every unspoken plea as his to answer.
Her stomach clenched with something deep and unfamiliar, something that went far beyond instinct and need. It was terrifying in its intensity, in the way it rooted itself so effortlessly inside her.
Because she wasn’t just responding to any Alpha’s touch.
She was responding to Kaelen.
And gods help her—she wanted him.
Her heart quickened as she clutched his shoulders, moving to bury her fingers in the wavy strands of his golden hair. Her senses drowned in the intensity of the moment.
This was what she had yearned for—not dominance, not power, but connection. Trust.
Her fingers flexed against his nape, her body humming with an unfamiliar certainty. “Kaelen . . . ”
Yet, the word echoing in her mind, in the depths of her soul, was different. Alpha. Alpha. Alpha.
When Kaelen finally drew back, he didn’t move far. They remained impossibly close, their foreheads nearly touching, their breaths tangling in the space between them. Reiya’s lashes fluttered open, her gaze lifting to his, drawn into the golden depths that held her as if she were precious.
“Still think it was just instinct back at Solmaz’s?” His voice was low, edged with something dangerously tender.
Her pulse thundered in her throat. She had spent so long fearing that her body would betray her, that instinct would strip away her control, reducing her to something she wouldn’t recognize.
But this . . .
This was different.
She wasn’t lost in Heat. She wasn’t mindless with need. She was here, fully herself, and everything she felt—every shiver, every pull toward him—belonged to her.
Her voice trembled, but there was no hesitation. “No,” she whispered. “Not anymore.”
Kaelen’s gaze softened, his thumb tracing a slow, reverent line along her jaw. “Good.” His voice was husky, rough at the edges. “Because I never want you to doubt it, Sáel.”
Reiya blinked at the word. “You’ve called me that before. Sáel. What does it mean?”
His hand cupped her cheek, his touch warm. “It’s an Asadian word,” he murmured. “ Brightheart . That’s what you are to me—a woman whose fire refuses to be snuffed out.”
Something profound tightened deep in her chest. Brightheart . The name settled over her like a truth that had always existed, waiting for someone to see it, to speak it into being. Not a title tied to duty or bloodline, but something deeper. Something hers.
“I like it,” she murmured.
Kaelen smiled at her, mischief flickering in his eyes. “Alright, but do you like it more than ‘Rei?’”
A startled laugh escaped her, light and spontaneous. She swatted his arm. “Rei is for my brothers to call me, you knave. I like Sáel much more—it’s ours.”
He said nothing, only leaned in and pressed his lips to her forehead before wrapping an arm around her. Without hesitation, Reiya nestled into him, resting her head on his shoulder, letting the silence settle around them.
For a moment, Kaelen was still too, his body warm against her. Then, he dipped his head and pressed a quiet, deliberate kiss to her temple.
“Reiya.”
She looked up, pulse stuttering at the way he watched her. “What is it?”
His thumb skimmed along her jaw, his voice low. “I know the pact unsettles you, and I won’t ask you to accept it—not yet. But can you set it aside, just for a while? Stop fighting what’s already there?” His gaze held hers, unwavering. “For me. For Alarik, too.”
She shifted until their noses nearly touched. How could she explain the pact no longer terrified her the way it once had? That when she thought of them—not just as Alphas, but as Kaelen and Alarik, as men , she softened instead of bristled?
“I know you want a choice, Sáel.” His voice lowered, a quiet gravity pulling her in.
His thumb ghosted over her bottom lip, lingering.
He leaned in until their foreheads touched.
“But imagine what it’s like to not have to choose at all.
Imagine two hearts devoted to you. Two souls bound to yours—wholly, fiercely, without hesitation. ”
Slowly, the words settled inside her like an ember waiting to catch flame.
A love that wasn’t divided but doubled.
Before, it had felt like a cage.
Now, she realized—with them, if there was ever a door, it had always been open.