Ava did not realize she was holding her breath until Kael moved.
It wasn’t sudden.
It wasn’t rushed.
If anything, it was worse—deliberate, controlled, the kind of movement that made it clear he was entirely aware of everything around him and chose exactly how and when to act.
The three men in front of him shifted uneasily.
Ava noticed that immediately.
They had been confident before—predatory, even—but now there was hesitation in the way they stood, tension tightening their shoulders, their eyes flicking between Kael and each other.
They were afraid of him.
That realization should have comforted her.
Instead, it made her pulse spike harder.
Because if men like them feared Kael…
What did that make him?
“You’re outnumbered,” one of them said, though the edge in his voice betrayed his uncertainty.
Kael didn’t even glance at him.
His attention remained forward, posture relaxed, hands loose at his sides as if he were bored rather than facing a threat.
“Then leave,” Kael said calmly. “Before I decide to make this unpleasant.”
Ava blinked.
That was it?
No warning. No negotiation.
Just a quiet, absolute command.
The men didn’t move.
For a moment, the air seemed to freeze.
Then one of them laughed, though it sounded forced. “You don’t own this territory anymore, Draven.”
A faint shift touched Kael’s expression.
Not anger.
Something colder.
“You’re right,” he said softly.
The man smirked.
Big mistake.
“Which means,” Kael continued, his voice dropping lower, rougher, “I don’t have to follow any rules.”
The words settled into the silence like a blade.
Ava felt it.
That shift.
The exact moment everything tipped.
The man lunged.
This time, Kael moved.
Ava barely saw it.
One second he was standing still.
The next—he was in front of them.
A sharp crack echoed through the clearing as Kael’s fist connected with the attacker’s jaw. The force of it sent the man crashing into the ground with a sickening thud.
The other two reacted instantly.
They rushed him together.
Ava’s heart slammed against her ribs.
She should have run.
She knew she should have.
But her feet refused to move.
Because what she was seeing—
It wasn’t a fight.
It was domination.
Kael didn’t hesitate. Didn’t falter. Every movement was precise, brutal, efficient. He caught one of them by the throat and slammed him into a tree hard enough to make the bark crack. The third barely got a swing in before Kael turned and drove him back with a force that looked almost inhuman.
No—
Not almost.
Ava’s breath hitched.
It was inhuman.
The realization settled heavily in her chest, confirming what she already knew but hadn’t wanted to admit.
Kael wasn’t just dangerous.
He was something else entirely.
Within seconds, it was over.
Two of the men lay on the ground, barely moving.
The third staggered back, his expression twisted with pain and fear.
“This isn’t over,” he spat.
Kael stepped toward him once.
Just once.
It was enough.
The man turned and ran.
Silence fell over the clearing.
Ava stood frozen, her pulse still racing as she watched Kael straighten slowly, rolling his shoulders as if the fight had been nothing more than an inconvenience.
Then he turned.
And looked at her.
The shift in his focus hit her instantly.
The violence was gone.
But the intensity remained.
Stronger than before.
Ava swallowed hard, forcing herself not to step back as he began to walk toward her.
Each step felt heavier.
Closer.
More suffocating.
“You shouldn’t have come here,” she said, grasping for control, for something to ground herself.
His gaze didn’t waver. “And let them take you?”
“I wasn’t going to let them.”
One of his brows lifted slightly, unimpressed. “You couldn’t even control your first hunt.”
Ava stiffened.
Heat flared under her skin—not the strange pull from before, but something sharper.
Anger.
“I handled myself just fine,” she shot back.
Kael stopped in front of her.
Close.
Too close.
“You almost got caught,” he said quietly.
“And you almost didn’t get here in time.”
The words slipped out before she could stop them.
For a split second, silence stretched between them.
Then something in his expression changed.
Not softer.
Never softer.
But sharper.
Interested.
Dangerous.
“You noticed,” he murmured.
Ava’s breath hitched.
She hadn’t meant it like that.
Hadn’t meant to admit that part of her had been aware of him—even before he arrived.
Before she could respond, Kael reached for her.
Ava tensed instantly.
“Don’t—”
His hand closed around her wrist.
Everything stopped.
The moment his skin touched hers, a shock tore through her body.
Not pain.
Something else.
Something deeper.
Stronger.
It hit her all at once, stealing the air from her lungs as heat surged through her veins, spreading from the point of contact like wildfire.
Ava gasped.
Her knees nearly gave out.
“What—” Her voice broke.
Kael’s grip tightened just slightly, steadying her as his gaze darkened.
“You feel it,” he said.
It wasn’t a question.
Ava shook her head, even as her body betrayed her, leaning into the contact instead of pulling away.
“No,” she whispered.
Liar.
The word echoed silently in her mind.
Because she did feel it.
That same pull from before.
But stronger now.
So much stronger.
It wrapped around her senses, blurred her thoughts, made everything else fade until there was only him.
His presence.
His touch.
His scent.
Ava’s breath came faster.
“Let go,” she said, though the words lacked conviction.
Kael didn’t move.
Instead, he stepped closer.
The distance between them vanished completely.
“You’re fighting it,” he observed.
“Of course I am,” she snapped, though her voice trembled. “I don’t even know what it is.”
His gaze held hers, unrelenting.
“It’s the bond.”
The word settled heavily between them.
Ava frowned. “What bond?”
Kael was silent for a moment, as if weighing something.
Then his fingers shifted slightly on her wrist.
The movement sent another wave of heat through her, sharper this time, more intense. Ava sucked in a breath, her body reacting before she could stop it.
His eyes darkened further.
“Mate bond,” he said.
The world seemed to tilt.
Ava stared at him. “No.”
It came out instantly.
Firm.
Certain.
Because that—
That was impossible.
“I don’t believe in that,” she continued quickly, pulling against his grip. “Fate, mates, whatever this is—no.”
Kael didn’t release her.
Didn’t even look surprised.
“You don’t have to believe in it,” he said calmly.
His thumb brushed lightly against her wrist.
Ava froze.
The smallest touch.
And yet—
Her entire body reacted.
A sharp inhale left her lips as heat flooded through her again, stronger than before, pooling low in her stomach, curling through her chest, tightening around her lungs.
Her mind blanked for a second.
Just a second.
But it was enough.
Kael noticed.
Of course he noticed.
A faint, knowing smirk touched his lips.
“Your body does.”
Ava’s cheeks flushed, anger flaring to life again, though it was tangled with something far more dangerous.
She yanked her hand back.
This time, he let her go.
The loss of contact hit her harder than she expected.
Cold.
Empty.
Wrong.
Ava sucked in a breath, stepping back immediately to put distance between them.
“This is insane,” she said, shaking her head. “I don’t even know you.”
“You will.”
The certainty in his voice sent another shiver down her spine.
“No,” she snapped. “I won’t.”
Kael studied her for a long moment.
Then he moved.
Ava barely had time to react before he closed the distance again, his hand coming up to cup her jaw firmly, tilting her face toward him.
Her breath caught.
“You don’t get a choice in this,” he said quietly.
The words should have terrified her.
And part of her was afraid.
But another part—
The part that had awakened—
Didn’t resist.
Her pulse raced, her body betraying her again as she felt that pull snap tight between them.
Her gaze flicked to his lips.
Then back to his eyes.
Kael noticed everything.
He always would.
His grip tightened slightly.
“Mine,” he repeated, softer this time.
Not a threat.
A promise.
Ava’s breath trembled.
“No,” she whispered again.
But it sounded weaker now.
Uncertain.
Because somewhere deep inside—
Something had already chosen.
