19: Unraveling Shadows
Celeste’s POV
The garden was quiet but for the soft rustle of leaves in the cool night breeze. Kaelen sat beside me, his presence commanding yet strangely comforting. For a moment, I debated speaking, my thoughts still tangled from earlier.
Finally, I turned to him, unable to resist the question that had been gnawing at me.” What are you doing here?”
Kaelen arched a brow, and behind his gray eyes was a glint of faint amusement. “I could ask the same from you.”
I asked first,” I responded, my voice sounded soft yet firm.
A faint smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. “Fair enough.” He glanced around the garden, his expression thoughtful. “I came out here to clear my head. Training the warriors takes its toll, and this place… it’s quieter than anywhere else in the Keep.” I nodded slow, his words settling over me. “I understand that.
“And you?” he asked, his eyes swinging back to me. “Why are you still out here? It’s getting cold.”
Thesitated, uncertain how much to say. “I had something on my mind,” I said at last,
my voice hardly above a whisper. “I needed to… wash it off, I suppose.”
Kaelen watched me for a long moment, his face inscrutable. Then, wordlessly, he shrugged off his outer robe and leaned forward.
I tensed as he laid it over my back and shoulders, the fabric warm and heavy. His scent earthy and unmistakably he’s washed over me, and I felt my cheeks flush.
“You need to keep yourself warm,” he said, his voice sounding serious. “You will accomplish nothing if you are ill.”
The gesture was so unexpected, so uncharacteristic of the Kaelen I had come to know, that all I could do was gape at him, dumbfounded.
This wasn’t the Alpha King I’d heard whispers about, the cold, ruthless leader who struck fear into the hearts of his enemies. This was someone else entirely. Someone softer, gentler.
Or was it just me?
Was he like this only with me?
The thought sent a strange warmth coursing through me, and I pulled the robe tighter
Successfully unlocked! around my shoulders. Thank you
ice barely audible.
Kaelen nodded, his gaze lingering on me for a moment before he looked away.
I wanted to tell him everything.
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19: Unraveling Shadows
The words were on the tip of my tongue, begging to be spoken. About Thornclaw, about my family, about the guilt that gnawed at me every waking moment.
But I couldn’t.
Kaelen and I had a silent agreement never to burden each other with our problems. That was just an unwritten rule which, from the beginning, had defined the fragile balance in our relationship. He had his secrets, and so did I.
So I said nothing, the weight of my thoughts leaning heavily on my chest.
Kaelen, however, wasn’t one to let silence linger. “What’s the problem?” he asked, his voice calm but firm.
I turned to him, startled. “What?”
“You heard me,” he said, his gaze steady. “You’ve had that look on your face all evening. Something’s bothering you.”
I swallowed hard, my heart racing. “How do you…?”
Kaelen smirked faintly, though his eyes remained serious. “I can read people, Celeste. It’s part of being an Alpha. And you? You’re not exactly subtle.”
I bit my lip, unsure how to respond. Was he reading my mind, or was he simply that perceptive?
“Tell me,” he said, his tone softening slightly. “What’s on your mind?”
The urge to spill everything was almost overwhelming. He was sitting so close, his presence steady and grounding, and for a moment, I wondered if he could help lighten the weight I carried.
But then I remembered the promise we’d made–not to interfere, not to pry.
“It’s nothing,” I said quickly, forcing a smile. “Just… memories.
Memories,” Kaelen repeated, his eyes narrowing slightly. “Of Thornclaw?”
My chest tightened, and I looked away. “It doesn’t matter.”
“It does,” he said, his voice low but insistent. “You’re carrying something heavy, Celeste. You don’t have to deal with it alone.”
I clenched my fists, the fabric of his robe bunching under my grip. “I do,” I whispered, the words barely audible.
“Why?
“Because…” My voice cracked, and I shook my head. “Because it’s my cross to bear. My guilt. My failure.”
Kaelen was silent for a very long moment, his eyes resting heavy on me. It wasn’t until much later that he spoke, in a much softer, quieter tone. “You didn’t fail.
I turned to him then, my eyes burning with unshed tears. “How would you know? You weren’t there. You didn’t see. You didn’t see what they did to my people, my pack. I
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19: Unraveling Shadows
couldn’t save any of them.”
“Perhaps not,” he said, his gray eyes holding onto mine. “But you survived. And that is not nothing, Celeste. That is strength in and of itself.
The silence spoke volumes, with his words hanging in the air while I allowed myself for one wild flight of fancy to really believe it.
But the guilt was still here, a shadow that simply would not loosen its grasp. “That doesn’t feel like strength,” I whispered.
Kaelen reached out; his hand came to rest lightly against my shoulder. The simple gesture was laced with a weight that hitched my breath.
“Then let me help you find it,” he whispered.
I didn’t know what to say.
For so long, I had borne my pain alone, sure no one could understand it. But sitting here, with Kaelen beside me, his presence so steady and unwavering, for the first time, a tiny spark of hope seemed to flicker inside my chest.
Perhaps, finally, I would not need to go through this on my own.
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