[Kaelen''s POV]
"I refuse." Elara''s voice was devoid of hesitation.
My brow furrowed into a tight knot. "Are you still throwing a tantrum over the Hunt Festival?"
"This isn''t a tantrum," her voice was terrifyingly calm. "The moment I decided to leave the Blackwood Pack, I had no intention of ever returning."
My patience finally snapped. A white-hot rage ignited in my chest, and I closed the distance between us, unleashing the full force of my Alpha dominance.
"Do you have any idea what you''re doing? Your departure is a betrayal of the Pack Loyalty Oath! I can haul you before the Elder Council, and when I do, you won''t just be a pariah scorned by every Pack—that pathetic little mercenary company you've joined, the Azure Fang, will be sanctioned into oblivion for harboring a traitor!"
Elara froze.
She looked up at me, her ice-blue eyes wide with a disbelief so profound it was as if she were seeing a monster wearing my face. The shock in her gaze was a physical blow, a needle-sharp sting to my conscience. I couldn''t hold it. I looked away.
"If you don''t want to drag your friend''s company down with you," I pressed, my voice hard, "you will come back with me right now and resume your position as Director of Defense Planning."
A laugh, sharp and laced with scorn, escaped her lips.
"Kaelen, I used to think that even if you were a fool in matters of the heart, you were at least an Alpha of principle when it came to the Pack. I see now how badly I overestimated you."
Her words were a slap, draining the color from my face.
"I am doing what I must to ensure this Pack survives," I argued, but the words felt like ash in my mouth. "The Abundant Vein Consortium terminated their investment because you left. Your return is the fastest way to solve this!"
It wasn''t for lack of trying. I'd forced Giselle to rewrite the defense proposal, only for the result to be laughed out of the room. I'd assembled the Pack''s best strategists, but the plan they'd cobbled together was dismissed by the Consortium''s Guild Master as "soulless garbage." He had even stated, in no uncertain terms, that they would not reconsider unless the project was personally overseen by "Miss Elara Silvermoon."
Worse, I''d heard whispers that the Consortium, aware of her new position, was now considering investing in the Azure Fang instead.
So, I had to get her back. By any means necessary.
"I will not return to the Blackwood Pack," Elara repeated, her voice like ice.
Her defiance pushed me over the edge. "Do you not fear the judgment of the Elder Council?"
"To judge me, I would have had to have actually signed a Pack Loyalty Oath," she said, looking at me as if I were a particularly dim-witted child. "Kaelen, the only thing that ever existed between me and the Blackwood Pack was a standard Provisional Residence Pact."
My mind went blank, a roaring static filling my ears. My face burned with a sudden, hot shame.
She was right.
Three years ago, when I had taken her in, I saw her as nothing more than a lone wolf from a fallen clan. An insignificant accessory. It had never even occurred to me to grant her a formal place in the Pack. The contract she signed was the most basic, non-binding agreement we used for outsiders.
In my arrogance, I had deemed her unworthy of the honor and responsibility that came with the sacred oath.
And now, that arrogance, that contempt, had come back to strike me across the face with the force of a physical blow.
I had no legal grounds to force her. None at all.
————
The following days were a frantic scramble to find new investors. If the Consortium deal truly fell through, the Pack's finances would be in critical condition.
Again and again, the word "no" echoed through my communication crystal. I ended another call, tossing the crystal onto my desk in a fit of rage.
For three years, with Elara by my side, the Pack had flourished.
But how long had she been gone? A matter of weeks?
Now, our core defense project was stalled, a major mineral trade deal had collapsed, and our coffers were drying up. Even the smaller projects I'd handed over to Giselle were in chaos.
"Why can''t you even handle these simple tasks? There were never any problems before!" I had roared during a Pack meeting.
The answer from one of the pack elders was quiet but damning. "Alpha, in the past, Strategist Elara handled these matters."
Elara. Elara. Elara.
She was gone, but her name was a ghost that haunted every corner of the Pack.
The words of the Abundant Vein Consortium's Guild Master echoed in my mind.
"It seems you have no idea of Miss Elara''s value."
Her value?
What value? She was the daughter of heroes, a lone wolf from a fallen clan. Her bloodline was weak, which was why I'd given her a meaningless job.
But was that the truth? She was the champion of the Wolf Wisdom Trials, a rider who could tame a savage beast, an ace who could command a griffin. What else was there about her that I didn''t know?
"What is it? Are you troubled?" Seraphina's soft voice pulled me from my spiraling thoughts.
I looked at the woman sitting across from me, the one I had sworn to cherish for a lifetime. She had once been an impossible dream. The brightest star of the Stormcliff Pack, while I was just a young, struggling Alpha. I never imagined we would one day sit together like this.
"It''s nothing. Just some minor issues," I said dismissively.
Seraphina smiled. "By the way, that Dragon''s Egg Amulet you mentioned? I went to see it. It''s absolutely stunning. The shopkeeper said if we pay the three thousand Moon-crystals in full, he''ll include a matching bracelet."
Her words made my stomach clench.
I had promised her that amulet as a gift. Under normal circumstances, three thousand Moon-crystals would have been nothing.
But now, with the Pack's finances stretched to the breaking point, I couldn''t afford it.
"About the amulet… perhaps we could wait a while," I said, the words feeling like gravel in my mouth. "Maybe we can find something even more beautiful."
Seraphina''s brow furrowed slightly, a hint of pride in her lifted chin. "If you don''t want to buy it for me, you can just say so. It''s not as if I need it."
"No! It''s not that!" I said quickly. I took a deep breath, my voice earnest. "Compared to the debt I owe you for saving my life, a simple amulet is nothing. It''s just… the Pack is facing some financial difficulties at the moment. It would be difficult to produce that sum right now."
If possible, I never wanted her to see me in such a compromised position.
A flicker of something crossed Seraphina''s eyes. "When I saved you, I never expected anything in return. If you''re in trouble, the amulet can wait." She paused, a look of regret on her face. "It''s a pity all of the Stormcliff Pack''s assets are controlled by my father. I have no real power of my own, otherwise I could help you solve this."
Her understanding was a balm to my wounded pride.
"Your thought is enough," I said, my voice thick with gratitude. "I will handle the Pack''s difficulties. And in the future, I will repay you a thousand times over."
I would never forget that day.
Ambushed by Rogues while guarding a critical shipment, I had taken eight silver blades to my body before plunging into the icy waters of the Whispering River.
As my life faded, I felt someone grab me, dragging me from the water with desperate strength. A voice echoed in my ears, a lifeline in the darkness. "Stay with me, you have to stay with me! I''ll save you!"
That voice was a ray of moonlight, giving me the will to live.
So when I woke up in the Pack's infirmary and saw Seraphina by my bedside, when everyone told me she was the one who had saved me, I made a vow.
One day, I would repay her.
With everything I had.
Seeing the conviction on my face, Seraphina smiled softly. "I don''t need repayment. All I ever wanted was for you to live."
She lowered her gaze, hiding the triumphant glint in her eyes.
[Seraphina''s POV]
Saving him hadn''t taken much effort at all.
She had simply been passing by the Whispering River when she stumbled upon his broken, bleeding body on the bank. The Pack''s search party had arrived moments later, assumed she was the one who had sent the distress signal, and brought her back with them.
At the time, she had thought it was a nuisance.
But now, the return on that simple inconvenience had exceeded her wildest dreams. Who would have thought that the battered young Alpha from that day would become one of the most powerful leaders in the eastern forests?
The only loose end in her perfect plan… was that he was still shackled to that woman, Elara.