Crowned by the enemy Alpha

The Ice begin to melt

CHAPTER 5

LYRIA

Three months into my new life, I can throw a punch that actually hurts. My arms have muscle where there used to be just skin and bone. My reflexes are sharp enough that I can dodge most attacks before they land. When I walk through the packhouse now, warriors nod respectfully instead of smirking.

I’ve earned their respect the hard way, with sweat, blood, and stubborn refusal to quit.

But tonight, everything changes.

I’m sparring with Vera after the evening session when my opponent gets lucky. His elbow catches me in the ribs just as I’m turning, and I hear something c***k. Pain explodes through my chest, and I hit the ground gasping.

“s**t,” Vera mutters, kneeling beside me. “That didn’t sound good.”

I try to sit up, but agony shoots through my side. “I’m fine,” I lie through gritted teeth.

“Like hell you are. Someone get the healer!”

But before anyone can move, Kaelan appears. I didn’t even see him approach, but suddenly he’s there, dropping to one knee beside me.

“Where does it hurt?” His voice is sharp with something I’ve never heard before. Concern.

“Just my ribs. I’ll be fine in a—”

He doesn’t let me finish. In one smooth motion, he scoops me up in his arms like I weigh nothing. The movement jostles my injury and I gasp, instinctively pressing my face against his shoulder.

“Call off training,” he orders the gathered warriors. “Everyone out.”

I want to protest, to tell him I can walk, but the warmth of his arms around me and the steady rhythm of his heartbeat against my ear makes my arguments die in my throat.

He carries me not to the infirmary, but to his private quarters. I’ve never been in his rooms before—they’re all dark wood and leather, masculine and imposing like their owner. He sets me carefully on his couch, his hands lingering a moment longer than necessary.

“Let me see,” he says, reaching for the hem of my training shirt.

Heat floods my cheeks. “Kaelan, I don’t think—”

“I need to check if it’s broken.” His eyes meet mine, and there’s something vulnerable in them that makes my breath catch. “Please.”

I nod, not trusting my voice.

His fingers are gentle as he lifts my shirt just enough to see the angry red mark spreading across my ribs. When he touches the area lightly, I can’t suppress a small cry of pain.

“Definitely cracked,” he murmurs. “Maybe broken.”

He calls for the pack healer, but while we wait, he stays beside me. His presence is different now—not the cold, calculating Alpha who bought me at a slave market, but something warmer. More human.

“You’ve gotten stronger,” he says quietly.

“Strong enough to get myself hurt, apparently.”

“Strong enough to earn respect. That’s rarer than you think.”

The healer confirms what Kaelan suspected—two cracked ribs that need time to heal. But instead of sending me back to my own quarters, Kaelan makes an announcement that surprises everyone, including me.

“Move her things to the room next to mine,” he tells his staff. “She’ll need to be monitored while she recovers.”

The room adjoining his chambers is beautiful—larger than my previous quarters, with windows that overlook the gardens and a connecting door that leads directly to his sitting room. It feels intimate in a way that makes my pulse quicken.

That first night, he brings dinner to my room instead of eating in the formal dining hall.

“You don’t have to babysit me,” I tell him as he sets the tray on my bedside table.

“I’m not babysitting. I’m eating dinner.” He settles into the chair beside my bed like he belongs there. “Unless you’d prefer to eat alone?”

“No,” I say quickly. Too quickly. “I mean, the company is nice.”

Something that might be a smile tugs at the corner of his mouth.

Our conversations during these shared meals start out careful, polite. But gradually, they deepen.

“You were always intelligent,” he says one evening as we finish dinner. “Damon was a fool not to see it.”

“Maybe intelligence isn’t what men look for in a mate.”

“Then they’re looking for the wrong things.”

The way he says it makes warmth spread through my chest that has nothing to do with the wine we’ve been sharing.

As my ribs heal, he takes over my training personally. Instead of the brutal group sessions, we work together in private—just the two of us in his personal training room. His teaching style is different from the warriors’. Where they pushed through pain and mockery, he guides with patience and precision.

“Your stance is too wide,” he says, moving behind me to adjust my position. His hands settle on my hips, warm and sure. “Feel how this gives you better balance?”

I can barely concentrate on balance when he’s touching me like this. “Better,” I manage to say.

“And your grip.” He reaches around me to adjust my hands on the practice sword, his chest pressed against my back. “Firm but flexible. Like this.”

When he steps away, I immediately miss his warmth.

“Try the sequence again,” he says, but his voice sounds rougher than before.

These training sessions become the highlight of my days. Not just because I’m learning faster than I ever did in group training, but because of the way he looks at me during them. Like I’m something precious. Something worth protecting.

One afternoon, Elder Corwin approaches me with a proposal.

“The Moonridge Pack has been difficult about the timber contracts,” he explains. “They’re demanding higher prices and threatening to find other suppliers. We need someone to negotiate with them.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because your ideas about trade alliances have been… effective. Alpha Kaelan suggested you might be willing to handle this negotiation personally.”

Kaelan suggested it. Which means he trusts me with something important. Something that could affect the entire pack’s prosperity.

“I’ll do it,” I say without hesitation.

The negotiation takes place in the council hall, with representatives from Moonridge Pack sitting across from me. They’re clearly expecting to intimidate the new Luna into accepting their demands.

They’re disappointed.

“Your current prices are thirty percent above market rate,” I begin, spreading charts and documents across the table. “If you want to maintain our partnership, you’ll need to be more reasonable.”

“And if we refuse?” their lead negotiator asks with a smirk.

“Then we’ll take our business to Riverside Pack. They’ve been offering us better rates and shorter delivery times.”

It’s a bluff, but a calculated one. Moonridge needs our business more than we need their timber.

After three hours of back-and-forth, we reach an agreement that saves the pack significant money while securing our timber supply for the next five years. When I walk out of that meeting, even the elders who were most skeptical about me look impressed.

“Well done, Luna,” Elder Marcus says, and this time there’s no sarcasm in his voice.

That evening, Kaelan finds me on the balcony outside my room. I’m looking out toward the borders, toward the distant mountains that separate Draven Crest from Moon Strike territory.

“Successful day?” he asks, moving to stand beside me.

“Very. Though I’m sure you already heard all about it.”

“I did. I’m proud of you.”

The simple words hit me harder than any elaborate praise could. When was the last time anyone said they were proud of me?

“I keep thinking about who I used to be,” I admit. “That girl who stood at Damon’s altar, so desperate to be loved that she ignored every warning sign.”

“That girl was naive. This woman is formidable.”

I turn to look at him, studying his profile in the moonlight. “You’ve changed everything. My life, my strength, my purpose. Why?”

He’s quiet for a long moment, his hands gripping the balcony railing. “I bought you to hurt Damon,” he says finally. “To show him that what he threw away, I could claim. It was petty. Cruel.”

“And now?”

He turns to face me fully, and there’s something raw in his expression that takes my breath away. “Now I’m not sure I ever want to give you up.”

My heart stops. Then starts again, faster than before.

“You don’t have to give me up,” I whisper. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Aren’t you? When this is over, when I’ve gotten my revenge on Damon, what’s to stop you from leaving? From finding someone who chose you first instead of second?”

The vulnerability in his voice breaks something open in my chest. This powerful, feared Alpha is afraid I’ll abandon him.

“Look at me, Kaelan.” I reach up to touch his face, and he leans into my palm like he’s starved for gentleness. “I’m not the girl Damon rejected anymore. I’m the Luna they didn’t want, and now they can’t ignore me. You did that. You saw something in me that no one else saw.”

“You did that,” he corrects. “I just gave you the opportunity.”

“Then we did it together.”

He covers my hand with his, holding it against his cheek. “I don’t deserve you.”

“Lucky for you, I get to decide what you deserve.”