Let Them Kneel (kaelani and Julian) novel Chapter 33

Kaelani blinked, pulling herself back to the present. “Yeah,” she said finally, pushing a smile to her lips. “I’m down.”

After they had finished their lunch, the afternoon had ripened into a soft gold, spilling across the storefronts as they strolled down the sidewalk, shopping bags swinging from Tessa’s arms.

The streets buzzed with weekend ease — couples drifting between shops, children tugging at balloons, a busker’s guitar spilling slow, sweet notes into the breeze. Tessa was chatting about shoes, or maybe her date, Kaelani wasn’t sure. She let the words wash over her, the rhythm of them comforting in its own way.

But then Kaelani’s steps slowed when a splash of color in a boutique window caught her eye. A satin dress seemed to glow beneath the angled sunlight — a deep, smoldering red that whispered of sin and celebration all at once.

Its neckline dipped just enough to tease, the bodice sculpted to the shape of the body, the hem sweeping low in a way that promised every movement would look like a slow dance.

She stared at it longer than she meant to as her mind drifted back—years ago, standing in the shadows just outside her pack’s great hall. Laughter had spilled through the open windows, warm and taunting. She remembered the swirl of silk gowns, the scent of perfume, the sight of couples spinning under chandelier light. The annual mating ball.

The one she was never allowed to attend. She didn’t belong there. She didn’t have a wolf. She would only embarrass herself—at least, that’s what the matron of the orphanage had told her.

She’d pretended it didn’t matter, but it had carved something deep inside her—something that never quite healed. If she’d been allowed in, she thought, that’s the dress she would’ve chosen. The one she would’ve danced in with someone who looked at her like she was the only one in the room. Someone who was happy—just to be there with her.

“Okay, tell me I’m not crazy,” Tessa’s voice broke through the haze, snapping her back, bright and alive. “That dress is gorgeous. You should totally get it. Actually spend some of those big bucks on yourself for once.”

Kaelani blinked, forcing a laugh that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “And wear it where? The bakery?”

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