My Fated Mate Can Have Her-Chapter 86: Wanting Her Company

Violet

I sat in one of the furniture in the entry hall, my chest still aching from our conversation as I waited for him.

The faint moonlight filtered in through the open windows, the stones in the walls not glowing as intensely as they had during the day.

Footsteps echoed through the corridor, and Kael walked into the room.

He wore a hooded cloak over what he had on. Dark, draping fabric that matched his clothes well enough without standing out. He pushed back the hood, revealing his face as he approached me, holding another piece of fabric in his hands.

Its blue matched what I was wearing, with delicate silver threading along the edges that caught the light.

"Here," he said quietly, and before I could protest, he was draping it around my shoulders, adjusting it carefully to cover my chest without touching it.

His knuckles brushed my collarbone as he settled the fabric, and my shoulders tensed. His eyes seemed slightly unfocused that very moment before he lightly frowned and continued working the small shawl on me.

I tried not to look into his eyes. "I thought you said the dress was alright."

His hands stilled for a moment. "It is," he said, not quite meeting my eyes either. "But you seemed uncomfortable earlier with..." He gestured vaguely toward my chest. "This will help."

The consideration immediately made my throat tight.

"I don’t really feel like going out," I tried again, noting the shadows under his eyes, the way his shoulders carried tension even now. "You don’t have to—"

"I need the breather," he said gently, stepping back from me after he had finished securing the shawl around my shoulders.

Before I could say anything else, the doors to the entry hall opened and Astrid swept in.

She stopped short, her eyes moving between us with an expression I couldn’t quite read. Something sharp flickered across her features before smoothing into politeness.

"Brother, have you forgotten about the dinner you will have with your guests this evening?"

Kael’s jaw tightened, disapproval written all over his face. "Tow will handle it. You can help her if you want."

Her lips curved into something that wasn’t quite a smile. "Shirking responsibilities over her, are we?"

The sarcasm in her voice disturbed me. Something had happened between them, likely because of me now that he knew how I had felt after. It felt a small sense of guilt. I didn’t want to drive any wedge between these two siblings.

"This is more important." Kael’s voice dropping into that commanding tone I was all too familiar with, his usual attentiveness coming to his eyes. "And if the dinner is as important as you are implying, you and Tow should be more than capable of presiding in my absence."

The air between them crackled with tension. I could sense his anger, still present and sharp, directed at her.

Astrid rolled her eyes, but something in her posture suggested she had expected this response. Accepted it, even.

Then, surprisingly, she turned to me, coming closer.

"Remove those shoes. They don’t go with that dress."

I noticed the pair of block heeled sandals in her hand as she held it out towards me.

I stood up and took them hesitantly. "Thank you."

She didn’t respond, just inclined her head slightly and directed one last glance towards Kael. Then she turned around and swept back out of the hall, leaving us in silence.

I looked down at the shoes, then slipped off the simple flats I had been wearing to put on the sandals. The added height of the block sole made the dress’s hem lift just enough that it no longer dragged across the floor, and I found I could move more easily.

"Come," Kael said, his voice softer now as he stretched out his hand.

I paused, staring at it before slowly touching it. My palm splayed across his and a gentle tingling sensation spread through my wrist as his hand enclosed mine. Firm.

He led me out of his quarters and took me down an hallway I had not seen before. It led to a smaller corridor and before long he had taken me to a back entrance that opened to a secluded section of the courtyard.

"Hold on tight to me," Kael said, and before I could ask why, he was lifting me into his arms.

My heart jumped and I instinctively wrapped my arms around his neck. "What are you—"

The world blurred.

Not like the disorienting shift when Ila had moved me, but faster, with a rush of wind and motion that stole my breath. It suddenly reminded me of when he had taken me back to his estate after my escape attempt.

The courtyard vanished. The castle walls disappeared.

And then we were standing in a narrow alley between buildings, the sounds of a busy street blaring into my ears.

Kael set me down carefully, steadying me as I found my balance.

"That was fast..." I breathed, my heart racing.

"I don’t think you would have found it convenient to be seen with me by the others." He adjusted his hood to shadow his hair, concealing it while revealing a bit of his face so he wouldn’t entirely look suspicious.

"Come." Without notice, he took my hands again and stepped out of the alley and into the street.

My eyes widened at the bright lights and the busy crowd. It wasn’t as crowded as the other places I had seen, but it seemed busier and more livelier. Like there was a lot going on. The buildings were nicer, the shops were higher and taller. A lot of the vendors didn’t even call out their wares, and the bright glow of lanterns and those strange luminescent crystals lit everything in soft gold.

It was dazzling.

And nobody looked at us. Nobody even seemed to notice Kael at all.

I glanced at him and realized why. His presence. That overwhelming power that usually emanated from him was completely muted. Suppressed to the point that he felt like just another person in the crowd. Just another pack member.

I knew he usually concealed his power, but I never knew it could be done to this extent.