The air was too thick. I couldn't breathe.
Leonel's step forward felt like a storm rolling in, slow and inevitable, every inch of him radiating authority that pressed against my skin.
Kaelen shifted, shoulders squaring, his presence rising to meet it like two storms colliding. The invisible weight of their pheromones burned the air, suffocating.
I couldn't move. My wolf stirred uneasily beneath my skin, restless, confused.
"Back off," Kaelen said, his voice low, a warning growl at the edge.
Leonel didn't even glance at him. His eyes those cold, silver-gray eyes stayed locked on me, searching, questioning, as if peeling away every layer I'd built to protect myself. My breath hitched despite my best effort to stay composed.
Why? Why was he looking at me like that?
Leonel finally spoke, his tone quiet but sharp enough to cut. "You shouldn't let just anyone this close."
The words weren't for Kaelen. They were for me. And I hated how my stomach twisted at the sound of them, how they carried something more than warning.
Kaelen moved closer to me, almost protectively, but his jaw ticked. "She's fine with me. Unlike you, I don't make people feel like prey."
For a heartbeat, silence. Then Leonel let out a short, humorless laugh low and dangerous. He tilted his head, finally dragging his gaze away from me to pin Kaelen instead. "Funny. You don't know her as well as you think you do."
My throat tightened. I couldn't let this go on. "Stop." The word cracked out sharper than I intended. Both of them looked at me, the weight of their stares burning. I forced my voice steady. "This is ridiculous. You two glaring at each other like it's some kind of contest? I'm not a prize."
Kaelen's expression softened a fraction, but Leonel's didn't change. If anything, his eyes grew colder.
For a long moment, it felt like the whole world held its breath. Then Leonel finally broke it.
"I'm going back to my house." His voice was clipped, decisive. But his gaze flicked to me one last time, lingering in a way that made my chest ache. "Stay out of trouble."
With that, he turned and walked away, his steps heavy against the wooden floor until the sound faded down the hall.
My knees felt weak, though I stood perfectly still. The air lightened the second he left, but it didn't feel like relief. It felt like something vital had been pulled out of the room with him.
Kaelen closed the door with more force than necessary, jaw still tight. He ran a hand through his brown hair, amber eyes burning with an emotion I couldn't read frustration, maybe. Worry, too.
"You really should be careful," he said, softer now. His tone lacked the bite he'd thrown at Leonel. "Draven… he's not someone you want close."
I sat back down on the bed, hands clutching the blanket just to steady myself. "I didn't ask him to come here."
Kaelen's lips pressed into a thin line. "Doesn't matter. He's looking at you, Aria. And trust me, that man doesn't look at anyone unless he wants something."
His words should have settled like a warning in my chest, but instead, they tangled with the memory of Leonel's eyes on me sharp, searching, almost like he remembered something I wished he'd forgotten.
I forced a laugh, brittle. "I'm not on his radar. You're imagining things."
Kaelen leaned closer, voice low. "I don't imagine threats."
I met his gaze then, amber against my dark eyes, and something heavy sat between us. Kaelen had always been steady, protective in ways that felt grounding. But now his pheromones carried an edge I couldn't ignore, sharp with possessiveness that made my wolf shift uneasily again.