Alpha Kael

~Jada

It was almost like looking in a mirror.

When have the same green eyes, the same hair. It’s so jarring, for a moment I’m stunned, stumbling back a few steps as I eye her skeptically. There is no denying I’m related to her, and that she is the woman in my nightmares who raised me, who hid me from Kael’s father’s power, and was supposedly sent to the prisons where she was executed privately, along with my father.© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

Yet, here she is, standing in front of me as if all the grief I spent dealing with in my childhood was all for nothing. Did Axel know my mother was alive all this time, and didn’t tell me? I’m not sure why I’m questioning his morals now…

I reach out, touching her shoulder, testing to see if she is actually real. She doesn’t accept that, pulling me into an embrace.

And it feels right. She is definitely my mother.

“I don’t understand,” I say, pulling away from her. She looks at me, somewhat solemn. People walk out of their houses around us, wondering what the Alpha they despise so much is doing in their area. Kael simply stands and watches the exchange between my mother and I, wondering what is going on.

“What are you doing here Jada? Why are you with the Alpha?” she asks, as if that is the most important question that needs answering. Even her voice is the same from when I was a child. I’m not sure how it is supposed to make me feel.

Kael is giving me space, but I motion for him to come closer, to face my mother also. “This is Kael. He’s my mate. That’s why he is here.”

All the colour drains from her face.

Kael seems to catch on much quicker than me, as I look at her, dumbfounded as to why she isn’t elated that I found my mate at such a young age. He grabs my hand, speaking to my mother in his calm, Alpha voice. “We met recently when she participated in a programme of mine. We came here to look for my mother, but I guess we found Jada’s.”

His smile and chuckle doesn’t seem to charm my mother. Her burning hatred for Kael’s lineage has been around since I was a young girl, and by her reaction, it doesn’t look as though that has faded. Perhaps it’s gotten worse…

“Your mother doesn’t want to see you. Get out of here you vile creature,” she snaps. I flinch at her tone, but Kael doesn’t seem bothered.

He’s dealt with worse.

“I know she doesn’t want to see me, but I want to see her. And as far as I know, your daughter believed you were executed, so why don’t you explain yourself,” he says firmly. I never expected him to be so forward with my mother, but he is right she should be explaining why she never tried to get in contact with me.

Her jaw clenches, as she looks at me, before motioning for me to follow her. By the way she casts a poisonous look at Kael, he’s not invited. I turn around to look at him. “Go find your mother.”

He nods, so I follow my mother. She leads me to a small house not far from where Kael is. It’s not the home I grew up in, which causes disappointment I try to ignore.

I’m glad I don’t live here, though.

“How did you end up here?” I question, as I step up onto her porch. It’s a small home – practically a hut – looking disturbingly run down. Maybe Kael would be able to get her accommodation elsewhere that’s not in this dump. I wonder if all these people around her exclusively are against the Alpha.

“After I got out of prison, this is where I came. The people here were welcoming, and care about the same things I do,” she tells me, once we take a seat on her outdoor furniture. And by that, she means people who share her hatred. People who are uneducated, clearly.

I look down at my hands, trying to pose my question in the best way, but it’s near impossible. “I was told you were executed. Why didn’t you come find me?”

She bites her lower lip, just like I do.

“I was told by the leader that we had to keep quiet and not reach out. After my case was appealed and I was spared, it made sense to keep low. I didn’t want to reach out, in case they have converted you to subject to the Alpha’s reign. And seems like I was right,” she comments. Her comment about Kael makes me want to growl under my breath, but I remain calm within myself. It’s not worth getting angry over.

“Kael is a good man. He’s not like his father, the leader of this place, which I’m assuming is his own mother, knows that too. And where is dad? He was always sensible,” I comment. He may believe in all this too, but he was always the one to try talk mother out of her assumptions.

I watch her expression fall, as she looks down at her hands. It speaks volumes, the way she acts. I know immediately what all this means.

My dad was executed. And she wasn’t.

Getting off my seat, I pace across the porch, digging my fingers into my hair. How could they spare one and not the other? All the dad was put on my father, even though it was always my mother who hated the royal family. I know he would have been protecting her, letting him take the fall over her.

“Dad would have wanted to see me. He would have helped me,” I tell her. My tone is accusatory, making her flinch. The moment it comes out of my mouth, I’m not sure if I feel bad or not. She doesn’t look hurt, just angry.

“What could I have done? It’s your mates fault that you had to go to that school. And your fate is your fate. You’re mated to the devil,” she snaps.

I sit back down in the chair, trying to reign in my anger.

“You know nothing about Kael. His father was a bad man, yes. You know this because he hurt Kael’s mother, the exact woman who is whispering bad words in your ear. Kael is kind, and wants to change,” I tell her. I know within me that I’m speaking to a brick wall by trying to reason with her, but I want her to believe me. I don’t want my mother to be so close minded.

“No one in that family can change,” is all she says. For a moment, I want to yell at her, to tell her how much I hate her. She doesn’t care about me. All she cares about is this rebellion that will never happen. She has no idea about the Silent’s.

Not wanting to continue talking, I walk off the porch, going to find Kael. I’ll deal with her later. I hope next time her and I talk, it won’t be so sinister.

I somehow doubt it, though.

It takes me a moment to find Kael. I happened to get lucky, as I walk past a house, seeing a door ajar, his voice trailing through. Regardless of whether the person who owns this place wants me to walk in or not, I do so anyway. It seems like the most well put together place in this area, although it still remains modest.

Inside, Kael is standing in front of his mother, who sits down on a couch, looking solemn. I can tell it’s her, remembering the photo he showed me months ago. She’s as beautiful in person as she was in the photo. Long, dark hair is twisted into a bun, her eyes a pale green.

“Sinful is manipulative. He manipulated both me, and you, because he is smarter than the both of us. You should understand that by now, my son,” I hear her say as I pass through the door.

Kael hardly notices me.

“You’re telling me he made all of this up just to get to me?” he questions.

“Well, I’ve never spoken to that wretched Immortal in my life. I think his end came was to get your Silent’s, not anything going on with me. He knew you would come back to me, but I guess he didn’t expect you to find out about this place so quickly. I assume his next move would have been to make another deal with you,” she tells him.

Finally, they seem to notice me, his mother’s head turning to face me. Kael seems to relax, as I interrupt their heated conversation. I watch as his mother stands. Kara, I believe her name is, if my memory serves me correctly.

“Oh, mother. This is Jada, my mate,” Kael says softly.

Kara smiles. Even in her age, she looks stunning, so much more beautiful than I ever imagined. She reaches up, grabbing my face within her hands.

“Welcome to the family,” she murmurs.