The first thing I remembered was his mouth.
Not the whole memory. Just pieces. His lips on my throat. His teeth scraping skin but not breaking through. The sound I made when he pushed inside me—raw and animal and nothing like my own voice.
Then nothing.
Then glass exploding.
Then blood.
My memory was Swiss cheese. Full of holes I couldn't fill no matter how hard I tried.
I opened my eyes.
Transport. Moving. The hum of the engine vibrating through my bones. My body ached everywhere—thighs, hips, places I didn't know could hurt. Good ache mixed with bad until I couldn't separate one from the other.
Kael sat across from me.
He'd pulled his shirt back on but it hung open, buttons missing. There was blood dried on his jaw. More on his forearm where someone had wrapped gauze that was already soaking through pink at the edges. His hair was a mess. I'd done that. I remembered my hands in it, pulling, desperate.
Heat crawled up my neck.
"You're awake." His voice was rough. Like he'd been screaming. Or maybe I'd been the one screaming and he'd just been there to hear it.
I sat up. Every muscle protested. "How long was I out?"
"Twenty minutes. Maybe less." He hadn't moved. Just sat there watching me like he was waiting for something. Accusation. Disgust. I didn't know.
I pulled my knees to my chest. The dress I was wearing—when had someone put me in a dress?—was torn at the shoulder. There were bruises on my thighs. Purple fingerprints. His fingerprints.
Another flash. His hands gripping hard enough to hurt. My back arching off something hard and cold. The feeling of being split open.
My face burned hotter.
"Where are we?"
"Halfway back to the palace." His eyes tracked every movement I made. "How much do you remember?"
"Pieces." I touched my throat. No bite mark but my skin felt tender. Like he'd put his mouth there. Like he'd wanted to bite and hadn't. "The fire. You telling Ashford to secure the building. Then it gets blurry. I remember you carrying me somewhere. I remember—" I stopped. Swallowed. "I remember asking you to help me."
His expression didn't change. "You did."
"Did I beg?"
"Yes."
Shame twisted in my stomach. I'd begged. Actually begged the Alpha King to fuck me because my body was on fire and I couldn't think past the need.
"Don't do that." Kael leaned forward. Not touching but close enough that I could smell him. Leather and smoke and something underneath that made my hindbrain purr with recognition. "Don't be ashamed. You were in heat. You needed relief. I gave it to you."
"How generous."
"That's not what I meant."
"Then what did you mean?" I looked at him. Really looked. His face was drawn. Exhausted. There were dark circles under his eyes that hadn't been there before. "Because from where I'm sitting, it sounds like you're saying you did me a favor."
"It wasn't—" He stopped. Jaw clenching. "You asked me to promise something. Before everything went to hell. Do you remember?"
I didn't. Tried to dig through the holes in my memory and came up empty.
"You asked me to choose the right thing over you," he said quietly. "If it came down to it. You made me promise."
The words settled heavy in my chest.
"Did you? Choose the right thing?"
"I don't know yet." He looked out the window. At darkness rushing past. "The three Omegas are gone. The building was deliberately set on fire. Someone sent an assassin." His hand flexed on his knee. "Someone's orchestrating this entire thing and I still don't know who. Or why. Or what they want next."
I remembered the attacker. Remembered the window shattering. Remembered watching Kael press his hand to the man's chest and the scream that followed—the kind of scream that came from having something vital ripped away.
Remembered the way Kael's hand had shaken afterward.
"What you did to him," I said. "That power. How long have you had it?"
"Since I was twelve." He was still looking out the window. Not at me. "My father had it too. He used it once and never let go. Left a wolf hollow. Just human. No animal. No instincts." His voice went flat. "They killed themselves three days later."
I thought about that. About what it would feel like to have half your soul torn away. About the kind of person who could do that to someone and hold on until they broke.
"You're not your father."
"How do you know?"
"Because you let go." I pulled the dress down over my knees. It didn't help. I still felt exposed. "Because you're sitting here terrified that you're like him instead of justifying why that man deserved it."
Kael turned. Finally looked at me. Something raw in his expression that made my chest tight.
"He saw you," Kael said. Voice low. Almost a whisper. "Saw you vulnerable. Went for you first. And I—" He stopped. Hands fisting so hard his knuckles went white. "I wanted to kill him. Not stop him. Kill him. And the only thing that stopped me was knowing you were watching."
The confession hung between us.
I should have been scared. Should have seen that admission for the red flag it was.
Instead I felt something warm unfurl in my chest.
"Good thing I was watching then."
His laugh was short. Bitter. "You're not making this easier."
"Making what easier?"
"Letting you go when this is over."
The warmth died.
Right. Because this was temporary. Seven days. Except we were on day eight and I was still here and the bond between us kept pulling tighter and none of this was supposed to last.
The transport jerked suddenly.
Not a bump. A full stop. Hard enough that I pitched forward.
Kael caught me. One arm around my waist pulling me against his chest. His other hand braced on the wall behind me.
We stayed like that. Too close. His breath on my neck. My hands fisted in his open shirt.
"This is bad," he murmured.
"What?"
"We're not supposed to stop. Ashford knows better than to stop." His arm tightened around me. "Something's wrong."
The door wrenched open.
Ashford stood in the opening. Her face was pale. Behind her I could see we'd stopped on a bridge. And surrounding us on all sides—
Wolves.
Dozens of them. Maybe more. All male. All Alpha by the way they held themselves. All unmated by the way they were staring at the transport like they could smell what was inside.
Could smell me.
"Sir." Ashford's voice was tight. Controlled. But I could hear the edge underneath. "We have a situation."
Kael moved. Put himself between me and the open door in one smooth motion. "How many?"
"Fifty confirmed. More coming. They blocked the bridge. Both ends." She glanced behind her. "They're not moving. Just standing there. Waiting."
"For what?"
A voice carried from outside. Male. Young. Confident in a way that made my skin crawl.
"We know you have the Omega! The Council voted! She belongs to all of us now!"
Kael went very still.
"That's not how it works," he called back. Voice carrying. Alpha command threaded through every word. "The auction hasn't happened. She's under my protection."
Laughter. Multiple voices joining in. Mocking.
"Protection? Is that what we're calling it?" A different voice. Older. "We can smell her on you, Your Majesty. Smell what you've been doing. Doesn't seem very protective to me."
My face burned. Could they really smell it? Smell us on each other?
Kael's hand found mine. Squeezed once. Reassurance or warning, I couldn't tell.
"Turn around," he ordered Ashford. "Ram through if you have to. Just get us out of here."
"Sir, if we hit them—"
"I don't care. Get us out."
Ashford hesitated. Just for a second. Then nodded and started to turn.
The first wolf charged.
I didn't see it coming. Just saw Ashford go down hard. Saw guards rushing forward. Saw chaos erupt as more wolves poured onto the bridge.
Kael shoved me back. "Stay inside. Don't come out no matter what you hear."
"Kael—"
He was already gone. Out the door and into the fight.
Through the opening I could see bodies colliding. Hear the sounds of bone hitting bone. Snarling. Someone screaming.
A guard went down. Another. They were outnumbered.
I should have stayed inside. Should have listened.
Instead I moved to the door.
The scene was worse than I'd thought. At least twenty wolves fighting. More hanging back. Waiting. The guards were good but they were drowning in numbers.
And Kael was in the center of it.
Three Alphas had him surrounded. He moved like water. Blocking. Striking. Dropping one. But two more took his place.
They weren't trying to kill him.
They were trying to get past him.
To me.
One broke through. Headed straight for the transport.
I didn't think. Just reached for that thing inside me. That ability I'd discovered by accident. The one that let me project what I was feeling onto others.
Fear.
I threw it at him. Raw and undiluted. The kind of fear that came from being hunted. From being prey.
He stopped mid-stride. Stumbled. Went down on his knees.
The others felt it too. The ones closest. They faltered. Looked around for the threat that didn't exist.
Kael used the opening. Dropped two more with brutal efficiency.
But more kept coming.
This wasn't a random mob. This was organized. Coordinated. Someone had gathered these wolves. Pointed them at us. Told them exactly where we'd be.
Trap. This was another trap.
"Aria!" Kael's voice. Urgent. "Now! Do it now!"
I didn't know what he meant. Then I felt it through the bond. His intention. What he needed from me.
Calm.
The opposite of fear. The thing I'd projected in the palace atrium when everyone was losing their minds.
I reached deep. Found that place inside me that was still and quiet even when everything else was chaos.
Pulled it up. Made it bigger. Made it everything.
Then threw it at them.
Every wolf on that bridge.
The effect was immediate. Wolves stopped mid-punch. Stood there confused. The rage draining out of them like someone had pulled a plug.
Ashford got to her feet. Started barking orders. The guards moved. Organized. Getting control.
But I could feel the strain. The projection pulling at something inside me. Draining me faster than it should.
Couldn't hold it much longer.
"Kael—" My voice came out weak.
He was there. At the transport. Pulling himself inside. Blood on his face. His knuckles. His shirt torn completely open now.
"Let go," he said. "I've got them."
I let the projection drop.
Collapsed against the wall. Everything spinning.
Kael's dominance flooded the bridge. Harder than I'd ever felt it. The kind of Alpha command that made wolves piss themselves.
Everyone went down. Guards. Attackers. Everyone.
Except me.
"Drive," Kael ordered. Voice like gravel. "Now."
The transport lurched forward. Bodies scrambled out of the way. We gained speed.
Behind us I heard howling. Angry. Frustrated. Coming after us.
Kael slammed the door shut. Locked it. Slumped against the wall next to me.
We sat there breathing hard. Not looking at each other.
"That was planned," I said finally.
"I know."
"Someone told them where we'd be. What route we were taking."
"I know."
"Someone close to you."
He turned his head. Looked at me. Blood running down from a cut above his eye.
"I know."
The transport took a corner too fast. I slid sideways. Ended up pressed against him. His arm came up automatically. Holding me steady.
We stayed like that. Too close. Too warm. The bond humming between us like a live wire.
"When we get back," Kael said quietly. "The Council's going to convene. They're going to ask questions about what happened. About you. About your abilities."
"What do I tell them?"
"Nothing. You tell them nothing." His arm tightened. "I'll handle it."
"How?"
He didn't answer. Just stared at the door like he could see through it. Like he was already planning his next ten moves.
My eyes were getting heavy. The projection had cost more than I'd thought. Sleep pulling at me.
"Kael?"
"Yeah?"
"When this is over. When the three days are up and they try to auction me." I looked up at him. "What are you going to do?"
His jaw clenched. "I don't know."
Honest. At least he was honest.
"Well." I let my eyes close. Let his warmth and his scent pull me under. "Figure it out fast. Because I'm not going on any auction block. I'll die first."
"Aria—"
But I was already gone. Falling into sleep. Into dreams that smelled like smoke and tasted like blood.
Behind us, howling followed all the way to the palace gates.