Mated To My Mate's Worst Enemy Chapter 38

ARIA

I didn't wait for permission. Didn't care about orders or propriety or anything except the need to see what had happened. I shoved past the guards—too shocked to stop me now—and burst through the door into Kael's den.

The scene that greeted me would be burned into my memory forever.

Kael was standing—*standing*—in the center of the room. Except he wasn't in wolf form anymore. He was human. Naked, swaying on his feet like he'd forgotten how legs worked, but undeniably, impossibly human.

He was tall, I realized with a shock of recognition. Taller than Damon, with broad shoulders and a muscled frame that spoke of strength even without his wolf form. His hair was dark, longer than was fashionable, falling past his shoulders in waves that looked like they'd been groomed by wolf instincts rather than human hands. And his eyes—those golden eyes I knew from his wolf form—were just as striking in a human face.

He was beautiful.

And he was falling.

His legs gave out, the transition from four legs to two clearly too much for muscles that hadn't held human form in three years. But Ivory was there, catching him before he hit the ground, her arms wrapping around his waist as she took his weight with surprising strength for an omega.

"Easy," she murmured, her voice full of warmth and pride. "You did it, Kael. You actually did it."

"We did it," he corrected, his voice still rough, still uncertain in ways that suggested he wasn't used to forming words with a human throat. "You knew what you were doing, Ivory. You—this wouldn't have been possible without you."

"You're the one who was brave enough to try it," Ivory said, supporting him as he tried to get his feet back under him. "To risk everything for a chance at breaking the curse. That took courage, Kael."

I stood frozen in the doorway, watching this intimate moment between them. Nina was there too, I noticed distantly, tears streaming down her face as she looked at her Alpha in human form for the first time in years. Eliza and the other healers were watching with expressions of wonder and relief.

And I—I felt like an intruder. An outsider witnessing something that had nothing to do with me.

Kael's eyes found mine across the room, and something flickered in them. Recognition. Warmth. But also uncertainty, like he wasn't sure what I would think of seeing him like this.

He tried to take a step toward me and nearly fell again. Ivory kept her grip on him, moving to wrap a sheet around his waist for modesty while still supporting most of his weight.

"Aria," he said, and hearing my name in his actual voice made something crack in my chest. "I—this is—"

"Incredible," I managed to say, though my voice sounded strange even to my own ears. "You're human again. The curse—"

"Might be broken," Ivory interrupted smoothly, covering him more fully with the cloth. "Or might be temporarily suppressed. We won't know for another few hours whether this is permanent or if he'll revert back to wolf form."

She said it matter-of-factly, but I caught the possessive way her arms stayed around him. The way she stood between us, literally and figuratively, positioning herself as his primary support.

"You felt the pain," Kael said, understanding dawning on his face. "Through the bond. Moon Goddess, Aria, I tried to mute the connection so you wouldn't have to experience it. I didn't think it would break through—"

"It did," I said simply. "I felt all of it."

Guilt flashed across his features. "I'm sorry. I should have told you what we were planning. Should have explained about the treatment. But I didn't want you to worry, and I thought—I thought if I just handled it, if Ivory could break the curse before the ceremony—"

"You thought you'd surprise me," I finished. "Show up at our bonding fully human instead of cursed."

"Something like that," he admitted.

Ivory cleared her throat gently. "As touching as this reunion is, Kael needs rest. The transformation took everything out of him, and we need to monitor his condition carefully over the next few hours. I'd suggest—" she turned those golden eyes on me, still pleasant, still perfectly polite, "—that you give him space to recover. Maybe five minutes to see that he's alright, then let him rest properly. We have a ceremony in—" she glanced at the window where dawn was fully breaking now, "—thirteen hours. He needs to conserve his strength."

She was dismissing me. Setting boundaries on how long I could spend with my own mate. In front of Nina and the healers and everyone present, she was establishing herself as the authority on Kael's care and treatment.

And the worst part was, she was probably right. He did need rest. Did need monitoring by people who understood what the treatment had done to his body.

But the way she said it, the subtle implication that I would somehow interfere with his recovery if I stayed too long—that rankled.

"Five minutes," I agreed, my voice carefully neutral. "Then I'll leave him to rest."

Ivory nodded, satisfied. "I'll need to do some final preparations anyway. Make sure the herbs are properly balanced in case he needs another dose. Nina, Eliza—help me gather the materials?"

It wasn't really a question. She was orchestrating the room, moving people where she wanted them, establishing herself as the indispensable healer who'd accomplished what everyone else thought impossible.

Nina hesitated, looking between Kael and me. "Are you sure—"

"I'm fine," Kael said, though his voice was strained. "Just need to catch my breath. Five minutes with Aria, then I'll sleep. I promise."

Nina nodded slowly, then followed Ivory and the other healers out of the den. The door closed behind them, leaving Kael and me alone for the first time since his transformation.

He was still holding onto the examination table for support, the sheet wrapped around his waist, his legs shaking with the effort of remaining upright. Without Ivory's support, he looked even more vulnerable, more uncertain.

I crossed the room to him, moving slowly in case sudden movement startled him. Up close, I could see the fine tremors running through his muscles, the exhaustion etched into every line of his face. The transformation had cost him dearly.

"You should sit," I said quietly, gesturing to the chair near the examination table.

"I should," he agreed, but didn't move. "But I've been on four legs for three years. Standing on two feels—it feels like flying. Like I'm defying gravity just by being vertical like this."

His voice was rough, unpracticed, but there was wonder in it. Joy mixed with exhaustion and pain. Despite everything—the secrecy, the exclusion, the way Ivory had orchestrated the entire thing—I couldn't help but feel happy for him.

"How do you feel?" I asked.

"Like I've been turned inside out and put back together wrong," he admitted with a weak smile. "But also—free. For the first time in three years, I feel free."

He reached out tentatively, his hand hovering near my face like he wasn't sure he had the right to touch me now that he was human. I closed the distance, leaning into his palm when it finally made contact with my cheek.

His hands were warm, rough with calluses that had somehow survived the transformation. They trembled slightly against my skin, whether from exhaustion or emotion I couldn't tell.

"I'm sorry," he said softly. "For not telling you. For shutting you out of the bond. I just—I was terrified it wouldn't work. Terrified that you'd feel obligated to talk me out of it or that you'd blame yourself if something went wrong. I thought it would be easier to just present you with the results rather than make you worry through the process."

"I worried anyway," I pointed out. "And felt the pain anyway when the bond broke through your shielding. So all you accomplished was making me feel excluded."