Mated To My Mate's Worst Enemy (ARIA) novel Chapter 142

Chapter 142

Chapter 142

ARIA

45 Pears

The afternoon had been peaceful. Almost boring, really, in the best possible way. I’d finished my morning session of dispute resolutions, had a quiet lunch with Kael in the main dining hall, and was now making my way through some administrative paperwork that Nina had asked me to review. Pack census records. resource allocation reports-dry but necessary work that helped me better understand how Shadowmere functioned.

I was seated at the small desk in my chambers, methodically working through the documents, when I heard shouting outside. Distant at first, then growing rapidly closer and more urgent.

“Fire! Fire in the herb gardens!”

My head snapped up, papers forgotten. The herb gardens. Where Ivory spent most of her time. Where she’d been working on her cultivation projects and research.

I was out of my chair and moving before I’d fully processed the decision. Out of my chambers, into the corridor, following the stream of pack members who were already rushing toward the gardens. Everyone carried something-buckets, containers, anything that could hold water.

The scene when I reached the gardens was chaos. Smoke billowing from one of the larger cultivation sheds, flames visible through the windows. Pack members forming hasty bucket brigades from the nearby well, passing water containers down the line toward the fire.

And Kael-Kael had arrived before me, was already in motion, organizing the response with Alpha authority. His voice cut through the panic, directing people where to focus their efforts, ensuring no one got too close to the flames.

But I could see the tension in his posture. The way his eyes kept darting toward the burning shed. The barely controlled fear beneath his commanding exterior.

Ivory was in there. Ivory and Margo, who’d been working together when the fire started.

I saw the moment Kael made his decision to go in. Saw his body shift toward the shed, his muscles coiling to move, his entire focus narrowing to the single imperative of getting to Ivory before the fire did.

Then his eyes found me. Standing in the crowd, watching him, and something in my expression must have registered because he froze. Actually froze mid-motion, torn between the instinct screaming at him to save Ivory and the awareness that I was witnessing his panic, his immediate choice of her over everything else.

For a suspended moment, we just looked at each other. Him clearly conflicted. Me trying to keep my expression neutral, trying not to show how his immediate reaction had felt like confirmation of every doubt I’d been suppressing.

Then the shed door burst open and Ivory and Margo stumbled out, coughing violently, clothes singed and faces smudged with soot but clearly alive and mobile.

The relief that flooded through the crowd was palpable. Pack members rushed forward with water and blankets. Someone was already checking them for injuries. The bucket brigade continued working to

Chapter 142

contain the fire before it could spread to other structures.

+5 Pearls

And Margo-Margo was on the ground, her coughing fit giving way to laughter. Actual laughter, bright and uncontrolled, like whatever had just happened was the funniest thing she’d ever witnessed.

Ivory, in stark contrast, had both hands covering her face in what could only be described as mortification. Her shoulders were shaking, but not from coughing-from embarrassment so profound it was almost painful to witness.

“What happened?” Nina demanded, arriving on the scene with several guards. “Is everyone alright? Was this an attack?”

“No, no, Ivory managed through her hands, her voice muffled. “Not an attack. Just… an accident. My fault. I wasn’t paying attention.”

“Are you hurt?” Nina pressed, moving closer to examine them. “Either of you? Burns? Smoke inhalation?”

“We’re fine,” Ivory insisted, finally lowering her hands enough to be heard clearly. “Really. Just embarrassed. So, so embarrassed.”

“What exactly happened?” Another pack member asked. “How did the fire start?”

“I mixed the wrong compounds,” Ivory said, and she sounded absolutely miserable. “I was distracted, not paying attention to what I was grabbing, and I combined two substances that should never be combined and they reacted and exploded and-” She broke off, covering her face again. “It was stupid. So stupid. I know better. I teach people about compound interactions. And I just… I wasn’t thinking.”

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