Chapter 22 Kaelen’s Suspicion 1

Chapter 22: Chapter 22 Kaelen’s Suspicion 1

Talia’s POV

The next few days passed in a blur of repeated activities.

I woke up, ate breakfast, walked the hallways, avoided Serena as much as possible, and returned to my room before Kaelen came back at night.

He always came back.

Every night, he brought food, set the tray on the desk, and told me to eat.

And every night, I ate without arguing.

Because I did not have the energy to argue anymore. The days were long, the silence was heavy, and the whispers followed me everywhere I went.

"That is her," one voice said, as I walked down the hallway.

"She is not much to look at," a man’s voice whispered, as I walked through the garden.

"The Alpha deserves better," a woman said carelessly and loudly, as if she wanted me to hear. Which I did.

I learned to ignore them. Or at least, I learned to pretend I did not hear.

But pretending was hard, because their words stuck to me like mud. I tried to shake the words off my chest, but they stayed. All my mind kept replaying were the words: Ugly, Weak, and Not good enough.

I had heard those words before.

In Cresswood, they came from Vivienne. But here, they came from strangers, and it hurt either way.

On the fourth day, I found myself near the training grounds.

I had been walking for hours, trying to learn the layout of the pack land. I turned left, then right, then down a flight of stairs. I turned a corner and heard loud noises from a room.

I pushed open the door, and the training grounds stretched out before me.

It was a large open field, surrounded by stone walls, and weapons racks lined the edges. Wolves sparred in pairs, with their bodies moving like water, and the sound of fists hitting pads echoed through the air.

And there, in the center of it all, was Kaelen.

He was shirtless, and his skin was slick with sweat. His muscles moved beneath his skin as he fought against three wolves at once. They were bigger and broader than him, but he moved faster and harder.

He knocked one to the ground, then swept another off his feet, then he knocked the third one down.

He did not even look winded. He moved effortlessly and gracefully.

I should have left. I should have turned around and walked away before anyone saw me.

But my feet would not move.

Then Kaelen turned around.

His gray eyes found me immediately, and he stood there, with his chest heaving and his fists still clenched. His hair was damp, and his jaw was tight.

The wolves around him looked at me too. Some whispered, while some stared.

My face burned, and I turned to leave.

"Wait," Alpha Kaelen called.

His voice stopped me, and I froze with my hand on the door.

"Stay," he said.

I turned back around slowly, with a shocked expression on my face.

Kaelen was walking toward me, and the other wolves went back to their training, but their eyes kept darting in my direction.

He stopped a few feet away, and his gray eyes moved across my face.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I was walking," I said. "I did not mean to interrupt."

"You did not interrupt anything," he cut in.

He studied me for a long moment, and his eyes narrowed, just a little.

"Something is different," he said.

My heart pounded. "What do you mean?"

He stepped closer, and his nostrils flared, like he was smelling me.

I held my breath. If he got too close, would he feel the magic? Would he see through the charm? My mother said the glamour was strong. Strong enough to fool anyone. But Kaelen was not anyone, he was my mate, and maybe mates could feel things others could not.

My blood ran cold.

"Your scent," he said. "It does not match your face."

I froze, and I stopped breathing.

He knew. Somehow, he knew something was wrong.

"I do not know what you mean," I said.

He stepped closer. Too close for the eyes that were watching us, and I could feel the heat coming off his skin.

"Your scent is... not what I expected," he said. "It is richer and stronger. Like something is hiding beneath the surface."

I stepped back, and my back hit the door.

"I am not hiding anything," I said.

His gray eyes locked onto mine. He did not believe me, and I could see it in his face.

But he did not push.

He stared at me for a long moment, then he stepped back.

"Go back to your room," he said. "I will be there tonight."

He turned and walked back to the training grounds.

I stood there for a moment, with my heart pounding and my hands shaking. Then I opened the door and walked away.

I did not remember the walk back to my room.

My feet carried me through the hallways without my permission. Left, then right, then up a flight of stairs. I did not see the wolves who passed me, and I did not hear their whispers.

All I could think about was Alpha Kaelen’s words.

Your scent does not match your face.

Like something is hiding beneath the surface.

He knew. He did not know what I was hiding, but he knew something was there.