Kael's POV
Healing Chamber
The room was too quiet.
Not the kind of silence that settled the mind, but the kind that pressed in from all sides, heavy and suffocating. The healing chamber, usually filled with quiet movement and the soft murmurs of healers, now felt unnaturally still. The scent of crushed herbs clung to the air, sharp and bitter, barely masking the faint trace of blood that lingered beneath it.
My gaze rested on her.
Ariella lay at the center of the room, unmoving, her body still against the furs beneath her. The dim light from the oil lamps flickered across her face, casting shifting shadows that made her look distant, almost unreal.
Like she didn't belong here anymore.
I stood a few steps away from the bed, my arms crossed, my posture steady. To anyone watching, I would look composed.
But something wasn't right.
"She should have been dead."
The words left me quietly.
Behind me, one of the healers shifted. I could hear the nervous movement of fabric, the hesitation in her breath before she spoke.
"We did everything we could, Alpha," she said carefully. "The poison was strong. It should have stopped her heart within minutes."
I didn't look at her.
"She drank all of it."
"Yes, Alpha."
Silence followed.
Heavy.
Uncomfortable.
Damon stirred at the back of my mind, his presence more alert than usual.
She is not like the others.
My jaw tightened.
"She is an omega," I replied inwardly, my tone controlled.
There was a pause.
Then—
An omega does not break trained guards like that.
My eyes shifted to Ariella's hands, resting loosely at her sides. There was nothing about her that suggested strength. Nothing that explained what I had seen.
And yet, I had felt it.
That moment our skin touched.
The surge.
Raw. Unfamiliar.
Powerful.
The door opened softly behind me.
I didn't turn.
I already knew who it was.
Lysa.
Her steps were uneven as she entered, her eyes locking onto Ariella instantly. The moment she saw her, her expression shattered. She rushed forward, stopping beside the bed, her hands trembling as she reached for Ariella's.
"Ari…" she whispered, her voice breaking.
I watched her from the side, silent.
"She's still breathing," one of the healers said gently, trying to reassure her.
Lysa nodded, but the fear in her eyes didn't fade.
"What happened?" she asked, her voice shaking as she looked at me. "They said she drank something—"
"She interfered in a council matter," I said.
Her brows pulled together.
"That doesn't explain why she's like this."
I said nothing.
Because I didn't have an answer.
Rohan entered moments later, his presence steady as always. His gaze moved over the room quickly before settling on me.
"The elders are asking questions," he said.
I shifted my attention to him.
"Let them ask."
Rohan studied me for a moment before speaking again.
"They are unsettled. What happened in that room… it was not normal."
"I am aware."
Lysa let out a quiet sob behind me, and my gaze moved back to Ariella.
Still unmoving.
Still breathing.
It didn't make sense.
"She acted without thinking," I said, more to myself than anyone else. "An irrational decision."
Damon's voice came again, quieter this time.
Or a deliberate one.
I ignored him.
Kael's POV
Council Chamber
The council room felt different.
The same table stood at its center, polished and imposing, the same torches burned along the walls, but the air had shifted. There was tension now, subtle but present, creeping beneath every movement, every glance.
I entered without hesitation.
The room fell silent almost immediately.
All eyes turned to me as I took my place at the head of the table.
"She is alive."
The words came from one of the elders, disbelief clear in his tone.
"For now," another added.
Murmurs spread across the room.
"That should not be possible."
"The poison was prepared carefully—"
"Enough."
My voice cut through the noise.
Silence followed.
I let my gaze move slowly across the table, studying each of them.
"We will not deal in assumptions," I said. "We deal in facts."
"And the fact is," one elder said cautiously, "an omega survived something that should have killed her."
I leaned back slightly.
"Yes."
Jordon sat among them, composed as ever. His posture was relaxed, his expression calm, but there was something sharper in his eyes now.
Watching.
Calculating.
"Perhaps," Jordon said smoothly, "the matter is not her survival, but the reason behind it."
My gaze shifted to him.
"And what do you suggest?"
A faint smile touched his lips.
"That we consider all possibilities."
The words were simple.
Neutral.
But they carried weight.
Damon's voice rose again, low and uneasy.
He is watching too closely.
I didn't respond.
But I didn't dismiss it either.
Kael's POV
Seer's Quarters
The air changed the moment I stepped inside.
It grew colder, heavier, as if the walls themselves held something ancient. The space was dimly lit, shadows stretching across stone walls marked with symbols that seemed almost alive when stared at too long.
Beth stood at the center of the room.
Still.
Waiting.
Her presence was unsettling in a way that was difficult to define. When her eyes met mine, there was something in them that felt… off.
"You called for me," she said.
"I did."
I stepped closer, my focus fixed on her.
"The girl who drank the poison," I said. "Is she going to die?"
Beth tilted her head slightly, as if listening to something beyond the room.
"No."
The answer came without hesitation.
Certain.
A quiet shift moved through the space behind me.
"When will she wake?" I asked.
Her gaze didn't change.
"I do not know."
My eyes narrowed.
"You cannot see it?"
Silence stretched between us.
Then—
"She is not hidden," Beth said slowly. "But she is not clear."
My expression hardened.
"Explain."
Her lips parted slightly before she spoke again.
"She stands between."
The words lingered in the air.
Unsettling.
"Between what?" Rohan asked from behind me.
Beth didn't look at him.
"Between what was meant… and what should not be."
Silence fell.
Damon shifted uneasily.
This is wrong.
My jaw tightened.
Kael's POV
Outer Corridor
The corridor outside was empty.
Each step echoed faintly against the stone walls as I walked, my thoughts refusing to settle.
Poison.
Ariella.
Jordon.
Nothing aligned.
"She is not normal," Damon said.
I stopped.
My gaze lifted slightly, unfocused as everything replayed in my mind—the council room, the glass, the moment she grabbed me.
"She is not dead," I said quietly.
A pause.
Then—
"And she should be."
Something in me snapped.
A sharp, sudden irritation surged through my chest, unexpected and unwelcome. My jaw tightened, my hands curling slightly at my sides as Damon's words settled in a way they shouldn't have.
"She is an omega," I said, my voice low, controlled—but strained.
"That is exactly why she should be dead," Damon replied, unmoved. "Nothing about this is natural."
My chest tightened.
Not from logic.
From something else.
Something I didn't want to name.
"Enough."
The word was quiet.
But final.
Damon didn't stop.
You felt it too. That power—
"I said enough."
This time, there was no restraint.
I shut him out.
Completely.
Silence followed instantly, heavy and absolute as his presence disappeared from my mind. It wasn't something I did often. Damon was a part of me, always there, always aware.
But not now.
Not for this.
My breath steadied slowly as I forced my thoughts back into place.
Facts.
I needed facts.
"This was not an accident," I said under my breath.
There was no answer this time.
I turned.
Not toward the healing chamber.
Not toward the council.
But somewhere else entirely.
Rohan's footsteps followed behind me.
"Where are you going?" he asked.
I didn't slow.
"To find answers."
My voice was calm again.
Controlled.
But something had changed.
Because this was no longer about what should have happened.
It was about why it didn't.
And I was going to find out.
Even if I had to tear everything apart to do it.