Luna's:
We didn't speak on the walk back through the forest, but the silence wasn't empty it was full of claws. Every step was a battle of wills, our wolves pacing just under the skin. His scent was sharp in my nose, dominance mixed with something darker.
The moon was high when we reached the ridge overlooking the river. That's when I felt it cold. Not from the wind. This cold sank into bone, curling around my spine like frostbite.
A voice, smooth and quiet, cut through the night.
"Aezrel."
I knew instantly this wasn't Kaelen. This was something more… deliberate.
From the shadows at the water's edge, Draven emerged his stride unhurried, every movement exact. His hair was dark like Kaelen's, but his presence was different 'controlled, as if every breath he took was a choice. His eyes were silver-gray, scanning me like he was studying a puzzle he'd already solved.
"I didn't realize you were in the habit of leaving the borders unguarded," he said, his tone polite enough to be insulting.
Aezrel didn't turn to face him. "And I didn't realize you were in the habit of tracking my steps."
Draven's gaze lingered on me for a beat longer than necessary, the faintest curl of a smirk touching his lips. "Hard not to notice when you parade something so… unstable in the open."
The insult was precise, aimed like a dagger. My wolf bristled instantly, her growl vibrating in my chest. He thinks we're fragile. Break him.
I didn't move, but my voice was steady, cold. "Strange. You speak like you know me, yet I can't remember the last time we met."
"Oh," Draven said, tilting his head slightly. "I know enough. A wolf that bleeds in front of enemies. A Luna with a past full of fractures." His eyes slid to Aezrel. "And an Alpha who hides her behind his shadow like a guilty secret."
The air between them thickened, the kind of tension that didn't just promise violence—it demanded it. Aezrel's wolf was pressing at the edges of his control; I could feel it like heat on my skin.
"You've had your say," Aezrel warned, his voice low.
"Not quite." Draven took a step forward, hands clasped loosely behind his back. "The council will call soon. And when they do, they'll remember this how you waste your strength on defending… liabilities."
That was the last word he gave before turning away, his movements calm, deliberate as though he'd planted a seed and was already walking away, knowing it would grow into something ugly.
When he was gone, I looked at Aezrel. His jaw was tight, his breathing heavier than before. But he didn't look at me.
The wolves in us were still snapping at each other, teeth against teeth, neither side willing to lower their head.
And in the back of my mind, I knew Kaelen and Draven were just the beginning.
The council was coming. And not all of them would speak in words before they struck.
...
The council's summons came at dawn. No knock. No messenger. Just the low, thrumming pull in my chest a bond every Alpha and Luna felt when the gathering was called. It was not a request; it was an order from the Alpha King himself.
Aezrel didn't speak when the pull hit us. His eyes met mine for only a heartbeat before he turned, already moving toward the courtyard. His silence was heavier than any threat. My wolf paced inside me, still raw from Draven's poison.
By the time we reached the council hall, the air was already thick with dominance. Kaelen leaned against one stone pillar, eyes bright with the kind of hunger that wasn't about food. Draven stood beside him, posture loose but calculating, as though measuring every heartbeat in the room.
And then… him.
Roran.
He was the kind of man whose presence was almost unfair handsome enough to disarm, arrogant enough to make you want to slap him, and dangerous enough to make you reconsider. He wasn't leaning like Kaelen, nor coiled like Draven. He stood in the center of the open floor, as if the hall itself was his stage.
When his gaze landed on me, a slow smile spread across his face.
"Luna," he said, his voice rich with amusement, "you've been keeping quiet. I was beginning to think you'd forgotten how to speak."
I kept my face unreadable. "And I was beginning to think you'd forgotten how to show up to council sober."
A ripple of low laughter came from somewhere behind him, but Roran's smile didn't falter. If anything, it deepened. "Ah, there she is. The wolf with teeth."
The Alpha King's voice cut through the hall, cold and unyielding, pulling every head toward the dais. "Enough games. We are here because there has been a breach."
The word sent a shiver along my spine. Breach meant danger inside the territory. Breach meant someone was hunting us from within.
The King's gaze swept the room. "A rogue pack crossed our northern line last night. They killed two scouts before vanishing into the Ash Pines. We will find them. We will break them." His eyes locked on Aezrel. "And we will find out who they were after."
It felt like the King's stare burned straight into my chest.
Before I could steady my breath, Roran's voice slid into the silence. "Well," he said slowly, his tone almost playful, "if we're talking about who they were after, maybe we should ask the one who's been attracting wolves like flies to blood."
Every gaze in the room shifted to me.
Heat surged through me, not from shame but from my wolf's rising snarl. My fingers curled at my sides, nails biting my palms.
Roran tilted his head, eyes dancing with something that wasn't quite malice more like a fascination with watching things burn. "No offense, Luna," he continued, "but if I were a rogue, I'd be curious about you too."
Aezrel's growl shook the air, but the King's raised hand silenced it. "Enough. This meeting is adjourned. We move at nightfall."
As the others filed out, Roran passed me. He leaned close enough that his breath brushed my ear. "Careful, little wolf," he murmured. "Some of us bite just for the pleasure of it."
And then he was gone, leaving the taste of a promise I didn't want to understand.
Outside, Aezrel's jaw was clenched so tightly I thought it might crack. "Stay close tonight," he said, low. "They're circling."
He didn't just mean the rogues.