LOGINShare
THE REQUEST
publish date:
2026-07-14 01:38:29The sun hadn't even breached the horizon when I limped back to The Pit.
The world was gray and silent, draped in a heavy mist that clung to the trees like wet ghosts. My body screamed with every step. My ankle throbbed, my lip was swollen where Vexa had hit me, and my muscles felt like they had been replaced with lead.
But I showed up.
Kaelen was already there.
He stood in the center of the muddy ring, perfectly still, like a statue carved from obsidian and bronze. He was shirtless again—the cold seemed to mean nothing to him—and his skin was slick with the damp morning air. The scars on his back twisted in the pale light, a roadmap of pain that I was only beginning to understand.
He didn't turn around as I approached.
"You're late," he said. His voice was a low rumble that vibrated in my chest.
"I'm on time," I countered, stepping into the ring. The mud sucked at my boots. "The sun isn't up."
Kaelen turned slowly. His gray eyes swept over me, critical and cold. He looked at my oversized shirt, my messy hair, my bruised face.
"In a fight, the sun doesn't wait for you," he said. "If you're on time, you're dead. You have to be early."
"Noted," I muttered. "So? Where do we start? Do I punch a sandbag?"
"You start," Kaelen said, walking toward me, "by learning how to stand so you don't get knocked over by a stiff breeze."
He circled me, a predator inspecting prey. It made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
"Feet shoulder-width apart," he commanded.
I shuffled my feet.
"Wider."
I moved them an inch.
"Wrong."
Before I could react, he kicked the inside of my boot. My legs flew out from under me, and I landed hard on my back in the mud. Splat.
"Again," Kaelen said, not offering a hand.
I grit my teeth, scrambling up. I glared at him. "Is that necessary?"
"Vexa put you on your back in three seconds yesterday because your center of gravity is higher than a giraffe's," Kaelen said dryly. "Lower your hips. Bend your knees."
I tried again. I squatted slightly, putting my hands up in fists like I had seen in movies.
Kaelen sighed. He stepped into my personal space.
The air between us instantly charged. The scent of him—rain, pine, and hot skin—filled my nose, drowning out the smell of mud.
"No," he whispered. "Like this."
He reached out.
His large, rough hands settled on my waist.
The contact was electric. A jolt of heat seared through my shirt, making my breath hitch. My skin tingled where he touched me, the dormant wolf inside me stirring, purring at the contact.
Kaelen froze for a fraction of a second, his pupils dilating. I knew he felt it too. The pull. The magnet in our blood trying to snap us together.
But he didn't pull away. He gripped my hips firmly, tilting them.
"Ground yourself," he murmured, his voice rougher now. "Imagine roots growing from your heels into the earth. You are not a leaf, Celeste. You are a tree."
He moved one hand up to my shoulder, pushing it down, while his other hand stayed on my lower back, pressing me forward.
"Tuck your chin," he instructed. "Protect the throat."
I did as he said, but my heart was hammering so hard I thought he must feel it against his palm. He was so close. I could see the flecks of gold in his gray eyes. I could feel the heat radiating from his bare chest.
"Why are you doing this?" I whispered, breathless. "Why help me?"
Kaelen’s eyes locked onto mine. His hand on my back slid up slowly, tracing the line of my spine until it rested on the nape of my neck. His thumb brushed my pulse point.
"Because I watched you yesterday," he said softly. "You looked like a doll that had been dropped."
His gaze darkened.
"Your fiancé... he taught you how to walk in heels. He taught you how to pour tea. He taught you how to bow to your betters."
Kaelen leaned in, his lips brushing my ear.
"I will teach you to bite."
A shiver racked my body—part fear, part thrill.
"Now," he said, pulling back suddenly. "Try to hit me."
"What?"
"Hit me. As hard as you can."
I looked at his broad, muscular chest. "I'll break my hand."
"Aim for the jaw," he said, tapping his scarred cheek. "Come on, Princess. Pretend I'm Magnus. Pretend I'm the one who sold you."
That did it.
The anger that had been simmering in my gut—at Magnus, at my father, at this whole cursed situation—flared up.
I swung.
I put my entire body into it, aiming a fist straight for his jaw.
Kaelen didn't even blink.
He caught my fist in his open palm. Smack.
It was like punching a wall. My knuckles cracked.
He didn't let go. He twisted my wrist, spinning me around and pulling my back against his chest. He locked his arm across my throat in a chokehold—not tight enough to crush, but tight enough to trap.
"Dead," he whispered in my ear. "You telegraphed the punch. I saw it coming before you even moved your shoulder."
I struggled against his grip, kicking at his shins.
"Good," he praised, tightening his hold. "Fight dirty. Use your legs. Use your teeth."
I stomped on his foot. Hard.
Kaelen grunted, loosening his grip for a split second.
I spun around, trying to elbow him in the ribs.
He caught my elbow, but instead of throwing me, he swept my legs again.
This time, he went down with me.
We crashed into the mud, Kaelen on top, pinning my wrists above my head with one hand. His legs caged mine.
We were breathless. Panting.
Our faces were inches apart.
The training was forgotten. The violence faded. All that was left was the Bond.
It roared between us, a deafening noise. I could feel his heart thundering against my chest. I could feel the hardness of his body, the dangerous power he was holding back.
His eyes were pure gold now. He looked at my lips.
I stopped breathing. Kiss me, I thought, the desire hitting me like a physical blow. Just do it.
Kaelen leaned down. His gaze was tortured, starving. His nose brushed mine.
"You have fire, Celeste," he whispered, his voice broken. "But fire gets you burned."
He stared at me for one agonizing second longer. Then, he ripped himself away.
He rolled off me and stood up in one fluid motion, turning his back instantly. He marched to the edge of the pit, grabbing a towel and scrubbing his face aggressively.
"That's enough for today," he choked out. "Go back to the kitchen."
I lay in the mud, my body humming, my lips tingling from a kiss that never happened.
"Same time tomorrow?" I called out, my voice shaking.
Kaelen didn't look back.
"Don't be late."
Latest chapter
The Butcher's Bride Almost Kiss
Morning didn't break; it bled into the cave in soft, gray ribbons of light.I woke up slowly, floating in a haze of warmth and comfort. For a moment, I forgot where I was. I forgot the war, the poison, and the broken ankle. I just felt… safe.I was lying on my side, curled into a ball. But instead of a cold pillow, my cheek was pressed against warm, bare skin. My hand was resting on a chest that rose and fell in a slow, steady rhythm. My leg was tangled with a much larger, heavier leg clad in rough denim.I breathed in deep. Pine. Rain. Woodsmoke.Memory crashed into me like a wave.The storm. The cave. Kaelen.I froze, my heart giving a violent thud against my ribs.I wasn't just sleeping near the Rogue King. I was draped over him like a blanket. And his arm, his massive, heavy arm, was wrapped tight around my waist, holding me flush against him.I should have moved. I should have scrambled away and apologized.But I didn't.I lay there, paralyzed by the
The Butcher's Bride THE STORM
The sky didn't turn gray; it turned green.We were three hours north of the camp, deep in the rocky foothills of the Dead Zone. Dr. Aris needed Nightshade Root for the antidote prototype, and Kaelen had insisted on leading the harvesting party himself."It’s not safe for you to be out here," Kaelen had argued."I know what the root looks like," I had countered. "You’ll pull up weeds. I’ll pull up medicine."So, we had gone. Just the two of us, moving quickly through the dense underbrush. But now, the air pressure dropped so fast my ears popped. The wind died instantly, leaving an eerie, suffocating silence.Kaelen stopped dead in his tracks. He lifted his nose to the air, his nostrils flaring."Run," he said."What?""Storm," he barked, grabbing my hand. "A bad one. Move!"He didn't wait for me to argue. He hauled me forward, setting a pace that made my healing ankle twinge.Seconds later, the sky opened up.It wasn't just rain. It was a deluge. Wa
The Butcher's Bride THE TRUTH ABOUT JULIUS
Morning arrived not with a sunrise, but with a gasp.I woke up slumped in the chair beside Jinx’s cot, my neck stiff and my hand throbbing beneath the bandage Rhea had stitched. The sound that woke me was simple: a deep, ragged intake of breath.I bolted upright.Jinx was awake.The boy blinked his mismatched eyes, looking up at the canvas ceiling of the infirmary tent. The gray pallor was gone from his skin, replaced by a healthy, if pale, flush. The black veins that had spiderwebbed across his chest had retreated, leaving behind faint, bruise-like shadows."Celeste?" he croaked, his voice sounding like he had swallowed gravel."I'm here," I whispered, leaning over him. I brushed the damp hair from his forehead. He was cool to the touch. The fever had broken."I had a weird dream," Jinx murmured, rubbing his eyes. "I dreamed you were feeding me... red juice. And you were glowing."I managed a weak, tired smile. "Just a dream, Jinx. How do you feel?""Hungry
The Butcher's Bride THE HEALER'S TENT
The silence in the infirmary tent was fragile, held together by the thread of Jinx’s shallow breathing.I stood by the table, my hand still clutching my bleeding palm to my chest. My blood—dark red and shockingly normal—stained the boy's lips."He's stable," Rhea whispered, her fingers trembling as she checked his pulse again. "The fever is breaking.""For now," I added, my voice shaking. The adrenaline was draining out of me, leaving behind a cold exhaustion. "The blood just bought him time. It diluted the magic the poison was feeding on. But we need to flush it out of his system completely."We need a dialysis filtration," Rhea muttered, running a hand through her hair. "Or a strong diuretic tea mixed with charcoal. I have the herbs, but I need to mix the ratios perfectly."She looked overwhelmed. Her eyes were wide and frantic, darting around the cluttered tent."I can help," I said, stepping forward. "Tell me what to do.""Don't touch him!"The shout came f
The Butcher's Bride THE FEVER
Dinner was usually the only time the Bone Yard felt like a home.As the sun dipped behind the western ridge, painting the sky in bruises of purple and red, the rogues gathered around the central fire pit. It was a time for stories, for laughter, for forgetting that we were hunted outcasts living on the edge of starvation.I sat on a log near the periphery, nursing a bowl of Olara’s rabbit stew. My body ached from Kaelen’s training—a good ache, the kind that meant I was getting stronger—and for the first time in my life, I felt… content.I looked around for Jinx. The kid usually bounded over to me the moment I sat down, eager to steal a piece of bread or tell me a tall tale about how he fought a badger."Has anyone seen Jinx?" I asked Olara, who was dishing out seconds."Probably hiding," Olara grunted. "He skipped chopping wood today. Said his stomach hurt."A prickle of unease crawled up my spine. Jinx never skipped chores. He was terrified of being labeled "useless
The Butcher's Bride THE REQUEST
The sun hadn't even breached the horizon when I limped back to The Pit.The world was gray and silent, draped in a heavy mist that clung to the trees like wet ghosts. My body screamed with every step. My ankle throbbed, my lip was swollen where Vexa had hit me, and my muscles felt like they had been replaced with lead.But I showed up.Kaelen was already there.He stood in the center of the muddy ring, perfectly still, like a statue carved from obsidian and bronze. He was shirtless again—the cold seemed to mean nothing to him—and his skin was slick with the damp morning air. The scars on his back twisted in the pale light, a roadmap of pain that I was only beginning to understand.He didn't turn around as I approached."You're late," he said. His voice was a low rumble that vibrated in my chest."I'm on time," I countered, stepping into the ring. The mud sucked at my boots. "The sun isn't up."Kaelen turned slowly. His gray eyes swept over me, critical and cold
You may also like
Alpha Theo
C.J. Primer854.5K viewsTattooed Luna
Mrs. Smith3.0M viewsAlpha Leo and the Heart of Fire
Moonlight Muse850.3K viewsThe Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy
Caroline Above Story536.0K viewsI Kissed The Supreme Alpha By Mistake
Tipsyyy132 viewsThe Alpha's Forbidden Auction Mate
Mac107 viewsThe Alpha’s Plus Size Obession
Luna writes 114 viewsFAT, BARREN, AND REJECTED
Sunkissed11 views
