Sasha

*** Still outside ***

Kael scanned the yard, his eyes glinting wolf-like even in his human form. “Strange.”

“Something definitely hit,” I whispered, hugging my arms around myself, acting like I wasn't scared at all. “Like… I don’t know… wood against metal.”

“ I just believe someone was definitely following us" I added.

We searched, checking around the shed, the fence, even behind the old stone birdbath. Nothing. Just silence and the rustle of trees.

Finally, Kael turned to me, stepping close enough that his warmth pressed against the chill in my bones. “You’re shivering.”

I rolled my eyes. “From the cold, not from fear.”

He smirked knowingly. “You don’t have to pretend, Sasha. I’ll protect you. Always.”

My stomach gave the tiniest flip, and I hated that he noticed. His smirk deepened as though he could hear the frantic beat of my heart.

We headed back to the mansion, both of us clearly unsettled yet unwilling to admit it.

***********************

The mansion buzzed with energy when we returned. The players who’d been in the gym were sprawled around the lounge now, too restless to sleep with tomorrow’s tournament pressing on them.

Their laughter echoed through the hall, bottles of soda and leftover pizza scattered across the table.

“Finally!” one of the guys Marcus, the right-winger, grinned when he spotted me and Kael. “Forgive me Alpha and Luna but we thought you two eloped or something.”

Everyone bursted into laughter.

Heat shot up my neck. “We were checking outside. We Heard a noise when we were returning, it was unsettling.”

“Maybe it was just raccoons,” another shrugged, clearly not interested in ghost stories. “Anyway, we’re playing a game. Truth or Dare. You’re in.”

“Wait..... what?”

Before I could protest, Marcus tugged me down onto the couch between him and Kael. The circle tightened, a mix of smirks and mischievous eyes.

Kael leaned back lazily, one arm draped along the back of the couch behind me. Too close. Too warm. Too much..... ahhhh.

“You heard them,” he murmured near my ear, his voice low enough to make my skin prickle. “You’re in.”

************

The first rounds were harmless, silly dares, harmless confessions. Then the bottle turned, landing directly on me.

“Truth or Dare, Sasha?” Marcus asked, grinning like he already had something scandalous planned.

I hesitated, then glanced at Kael. He looked far too amused, a wicked gleam in his eyes.

“Truth,” I said finally.

Marcus leaned forward. “Do you really love Kael to the extent of kissing him on front of us all ?”

The guys erupted in laughter and whistles. My face burned. I opened my mouth to deflect when Kael smoothly cut in....

“She does.”

My head whipped toward him. “Excuse me?!”

His grin was devastatingly confident. “Don’t deny it. I can smell lies, remember?”

The guys roared with laughter. I wanted the floor to swallow me. “You’re insufferable,” I muttered, shoving at his shoulder.

But he caught my wrist, his fingers lingering, thumb brushing across my pulse in a way that made my chest tighten. “Admit it later,” he whispered.

I pulled free, but the heat in his eyes lingered, chasing me even as the game moved on.

*******

It went like that for nearly an hour. Teasing dares, secrets spilling out, laughter thick in the air. I almost forgot the strange thud outside..... just almost.

Eventually, someone dared Kael.

“Alright, Alpha,” Tony grinned, “I dare you to kiss Sasha.”

The room fell silent. My jaw dropped. “What?! No...”

But Kael was already shifting toward me, his grin slow, dangerous, filled with intent. “A dare’s a dare,” he said softly, though his gaze flicked down to my lips with something far less playful than the game required.

I tried to form words, but he was already leaning in.

The world narrowed to the press of his hand against the side of my face, the way his breath mingled with mine, warm and steady, and waiting at the same time. He didn’t pounce like I expected, he lingered instead, giving me a choice.

And I hated how much I wanted it.

When his lips finally touched mine, it was soft. Barely a brush. A test. But then he deepened it, slow and teasing, until my fingers curled into his shirt, clinging without meaning to.

The guys whooped and cheered around us, but their voices felt miles away.

It lasted only seconds, but when Kael pulled back, I couldn’t breathe. His eyes burned into mine, unreadable, intense.

“Guess the dare’s done,” he said smoothly, though his voice was lower, rougher.

I swallowed hard, my heart racing like it wanted to break out of my chest.

The game dissolved shortly after, the guys heading upstairs one by one. Kael stayed beside me, closer than necessary, his presence like gravity I couldn’t escape.

“You’re flushed,” he murmured, brushing his knuckles against my cheek.

“I....I’m fine.”

He smiled, slow and devastating. “Good. Because tomorrow, you’ll see me win. And after that…” His thumb grazed my jaw, lingering just long enough to make me tremble. “…we’ll finish what we started.”

I didn’t dare ask what he meant.

But later, when I finally lay in bed, I couldn’t shake the phantom feel of his lips, or the shadow that had brushed past the back of the mansion earlier.

Something was out there. Waiting.

And for the first time, I didn’t know if Kael’s promise to protect me would be enough.

Kael was already asleep in no time.

I just couldn't sleep, so many things in and out my mind, until I realized something.

Lucien wasn't with us this night.

Where would he have gone to, after he left the match.

Lucien was most definitely strange, and I'll try my best to get to the buttom of this.

He is Kael's beta, it may be true that they have differences but I don't know how possible it'll be for Kael to believe me if I'd told him my suspicions.