[Kaelen's POV]
When I returned to the Alpha's House, the scent of the Hunt Festival's trampled grass still clung to me.
I tried to explain myself to Elara.
"I went to the festival for the Pack," I said. "The Lycan King was there. It was a perfect opportunity to secure investment for our new defense project."
She didn't speak, just continued to pack her suitcase with a quiet, methodical precision, as if she were sealing away a part of her past that was already dead.
"It's fine," she finally said, her voice a flat, waveless sea.
She didn't care about my excuses anymore.
A strange irritation coiled in my gut. I would've preferred her to question me, to argue, to show some fire. Anything but this dead, placid calm that swallowed my words whole.
"I know I broke my promise last time. That was my fault." I softened my tone, trying to bridge the chasm that had opened between us. "Tomorrow. I'll go with you to pay respects to your parents, alright? I owe them an apology."
"There's no need." Her refusal was swift and clean.
"But—"
"Truly, there's no need," she cut me off. "You're busy."
She didn't even bother with a believable excuse. She simply didn't want my presence defiling that sacred ground any longer.
I didn't push. I was busy. And with Seraphina recovering in the Temple's infirmary for a few days, I'd have to visit her often.
"Alright. I'll go with you some other time, then," I said.
A time that would never come. A cold laugh must have echoed in her soul.
"By the way," I changed the subject, remembering what I'd heard at the festival, "you said you joined Liana's Azure Fang. What was that about?"
"Exactly what it sounds like," she replied, placing a folded tunic into the suitcase.
My brow furrowed. She knew the Azure Fang was now a direct competitor to my Pack.
"You don't have to do this just to spite me." I thought I understood her pathetic tactic. "You can come back to the Pack whenever you want."
She finally paused, turning to face me. There was a look of profound absurdity in her ice-blue eyes.
"I didn't join the Azure Fang out of spite," she said, her voice soft, but each word was a razor-sharp lash against my pride. "And I have no intention of ever coming back."
"I just told you that you can come back. What more do you want?" My patience was wearing thin.
"Why do you want me back?" she challenged.
The question seemed ridiculous. "To continue your work on the defense project, of course," I said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "The Lycan King is looking to invest in defense technology in the eastern forests. You need to come back and lead that project."
"And Giselle?" she asked. "Isn't she the project lead now?"
"I can reassign her."
She just stared at me, her gaze a scalpel, dissecting the calculations in my mind and laying them bare.
"It's because I saved Malachi at the festival today," she stated, each word a precise cut. "You think if I'm leading the project, he'll feel obligated to give the investment to your Pack out of gratitude."
Heat flooded my face. She'd seen right through me.
It was my plan, and I admitted it. It was the most advantageous choice for the Pack.
"What's wrong with that?" I argued. "I'm just trying to maximize our advantage. It's good for the Pack, and it's good for our home!"
Home?
The word once meant everything to her. She had accepted my mark because, after losing her parents, she'd yearned for a new home.
But in the end, she had discovered I could never give her one.
"If I hadn't saved Malachi today, would you still want me back?" she asked.
"You are the future Luna of this Pack. You can always come back," I said, evading the question.
"Then can I also announce to the Pack that I am the future Luna?" she arched a brow.
I fell silent. After a long moment, I finally spoke. "We agreed. We would keep our bond a secret for now and announce it at the right time."
"Because if you announced it now, every wolf on the continent would know you were entangled with Seraphina while you were mated to me, is that it?" she asked without mercy. "Because everyone knows Seraphina is your intended, but no one knows about us."
"Do you have to push me like this?" I growled, my shame twisting into anger.
"I'm not trying to push you. Which is why I have no intention of returning to the Pack," Elara said. "And by the way, at the Hunt Festival, I already told Malachi that if he wanted to repay me, he should fund a sanctuary for orphaned wolf cubs. So don't expect me to help you court him for an investment."
Her words hit me like a bucket of ice water, extinguishing my plans in a single, freezing blow.
Furious, I ignored her for the rest of the night.
The next day, when I returned from retrieving medicine for Seraphina, Giselle was excitedly showing me her social crystal.
"Brother, look! I posted a picture of you making the healing draught for Sister Seraphina. So many people are saying how thoughtful you are, and that you two are a match made by the Goddess!"
On the crystal's screen was a picture of my hands carefully pouring a shimmering Moonpetal Draught into an exquisite vial.
A draught I had made for my "future sister-in-law."
I stared at the picture, a sudden, sharp unease twisting in my gut.
I looked up just in time to see Elara coming down the stairs. Her gaze fell on the screen for a single, fleeting moment before she looked away, her expression a blank slate.
In that instant, I could have sworn I saw the last flicker of light in her eyes die out completely.