Chapter 55: ⁵⁵: stranger

I quickly leaned forward and gave him a brief peck more like a bite on his lips before pulling away.

Then, without giving him a chance to react, I turned around and headed toward the balcony.

Satisfied with myself, I smiled. This was how I had to behave around him. Confident and unbothered. Never letting him see even a hint of shyness.

I had to make sure he understood that I wasn’t the timid girl he seemed to think I was. As long as he believed I was confident enough to handle whatever came my way, I would have more freedom to do what I needed in order to follow my plans.

For once, I was leaving a conversation with Kael feeling like I had the upper hand.

At least, that was what I thought...

"Miss Moonvel."

I stopped mid-step.

"It is still early. You can leave through the door."

I slowly turned my head toward him.

"Why are you heading toward the balcony?"

His lips curved into an amused smile. "Are you particularly fond of climbing down buildings?"

The smug expression on my face disappeared immediately. He was mocking me.

Without wasting another second, I turned around, annoyance filling me. "You’re right," I replied sarcastically. "I enjoy climbing up and down people’s houses." With that, I turned back toward the balcony.

A chuckle sounded behind me. "Last night, I made sure no one saw you when you came in," Kael said. "I can’t promise the same thing now, Miss Moonvel." His tone became slightly more serious. "Sneaking out of my house won’t be as easy as it was last night."

I ignored him as though his words were nothing more than the annoying buzz of a mosquito near my ear.

I stepped onto the balcony anyway. If there had been so few guards during the night, how many could there possibly be during the day?

I leaned over slightly and looked down. My eyes widened. There were far more guards stationed beneath Kael’s balcony than I had expected. And it wasn’t even properly morning yet.

How was that possible? Shouldn’t there have been fewer guards during the day than at night?

I immediately pulled back before any of them could notice me. Turning around, I hurried back into the room.

Unfortunately, I didn’t look where I was going. The moment I took a step inside, I slammed straight into something solid.

"Oof!"

I stumbled backwards. For a second, it genuinely felt as though I had walked into a wall rather than a person.

I looked up and there stood the wall-like man.

"You!" I complained, rubbing myself where I’d bumped into him. "Why are you standing right in the middle of my way?"

I took another step back, only to realise that he hadn’t moved aside to give me any space.

I tilted my head back to look at him properly. He was staring down at me with an expression that was far too amused for my liking.

"Weren’t you going to climb down?" he asked, placing a hand beneath his chin and giving me an exaggeratedly thoughtful look. "I wanted to see you do it. So why are you back?"

"Don’t give me that look," I said, placing my hands on my hips in an attempt to look intimidating.

One thing about talking to Kael was that he was simply too tall. Trying to intimidate someone who was taller and obviously much more physically imposing than me was a lot harder than I would have liked.

"You know why I’m back, so don’t act like you have no idea," I said. "Now give me some space before someone sees me from outside."

"You were the one who insisted on using the balcony," he pointed out.

I narrowed my eyes. "I was perfectly capable of using it until I discovered your army of guards."

His lips twitched. "An army? Don’t exaggerate."

"I’m not." I crossed my arms. "Then explain why there are so many of them outside."

Kael glanced toward the balcony before looking back at me. "Perhaps," he said calmly, "you should have listened to me the first time."

Feeling too annoyed I moved my arms and tried to push him aside.

Key word: tried.

Despite my efforts, he didn’t budge an inch.

Before I could simply walk around him, I was pulled into his arms, he rested his arms around my waist making me have to go on my tippy toes to be comfortable.

"Now no one can see you from outside," he said calmly. "And we can go back to our conversation."

I opened my mouth to respond, but he moved closer and bent down. Before I could comprehend what was happening he bit my lip at the exact position I had bitten his and pulled away.

I was left dumbfounded, he was giving me back the attitude I had given him earlier! For once I had thought I had the upper hand in a conversation and he didn’t let me enjoy that thing for even minutes!

"You’ll go downstairs with me," he said as though nothing unusual - like, him out of nowhere biting my lips, had just happened.

"My Beta is waiting for you there. He’ll give you a ride and make sure you reach the packhouse without anyone noticing."

I decided not to comment on what had just happened and simply nodded.

But then his words registered.

"Wait." I looked at him, my eyes widening slightly. "Your Beta knows I was here all night?"

Just thinking about it made me nervous.

His Beta had been the one investigating me when I first arrived, so he obviously knew who I was. But I had not thought that Kael had told him about our agreement and surely hadn’t expected that Kael had told him enough to know that I had been here.

Kael merely shrugged. "I didn’t specifically tell him that you were here all night."

He paused.

"But he probably figured it out when I told him last night to make sure no one saw you coming in, and now I’m asking him to make sure no one sees you leaving."

He noticed my worried expression and immediately added, "Don’t worry. I know you had told me to keep our agreement secret, it will remain as so. His knowing about you won’t cause you any trouble."

His reassuring tone eased some of the tension in my chest. He had correctly guessed why I was worried.

After all, I had made it very clear from the beginning that I didn’t want anyone knowing about our agreement or whatever exactly it was that existed between us.

"I hope you’re right," I muttered.

Kael gave me a confident look. "He won’t say anything."

I nodded, though I still wasn’t entirely convinced. The fewer people who knew about Kael and me, the better. For now, our arrangement needed to remain a secret.

"You trust your Beta that much?" I suddenly found myself asking the question, making Kael frown slightly.

"He is my Beta. Of course I trust him," he replied, looking at me as though he couldn’t understand why I would even ask.

I simply nodded. Not everyone was like Beta Logan.

"Shall we leave, then?" I asked.

He nodded and released me before walking toward the door. I quickly followed him and soon after moving through a hallway we both descended the massive staircase I had seen last time leading us downstairs.

As soon as we reached the ground floor, I looked around. There was no one in sight.

The entire place looked even more regal than it had the last time I had been here. It was almost like stepping into a castle rather than someone’s home.

To the right was a long dining table, large enough to accommodate an entire gathering. Beyond it was an even more impressive kitchen, its elegant design making the one on Kael’s floor seem almost modest in comparison.

And the hall... It was enormous.

The sofas in the middle were so large that someone could probably sleep on them without feeling cramped. Massive chandeliers hung from the ceiling, while expensive-looking vases and paintings decorated almost every corner.

Everything seemed deliberately grand. Even the smallest details screamed wealth and status.

My father’s Alpha residence was considered the pride of our pack. It had always been considered one of the most impressive places in our territory.

But compared to this? It was nothing.

The last time I had visited this house for Louis’s birthday, the hall had been filled with people. Even then, it hadn’t felt cramped. Now, with the entire place practically empty, its sheer size became even more obvious.

I found myself wanting to stay for a while just to look around. There was so much to see.

Even though, Kael might have been able to keep his staff away from this area for a little while. Louis was another matter entirely. And he was the last person I wanted to see me here.

I was still thinking about how I could avoid that possibility when

"Miss Moonvel..."