The world felt sharper when Elara followed Kael through the moonlit path leading out of Silvercrest's clearing.
Every sense in her body was heightened — the crisp air stinging her lungs, the crunch of leaves beneath her boots, the distant sound of wolves shifting uneasily in the shadows.
Behind them, her pack watched in silence. Not one soul dared to speak. Not even Damon.
Kael walked ahead, posture tall and controlled, the aura of command rolling off him in waves. Every step he took seemed deliberate — the stride of someone who never questioned his right to lead, to take, to conquer.
Elara hated that her wolf stirred restlessly under that energy.
He's not your Alpha, she told herself. He's not.
And yet… something deep inside disagreed.
Finally, when the forest swallowed them whole and the last flicker of Silvercrest's firelight vanished behind the trees, Kael stopped.
He turned to face her.
"You shouldn't have followed," she said sharply, though her voice betrayed a tremor.
"You think I would leave without speaking to you?" His tone was low, quiet — but it carried power. The kind of power that didn't need to be shouted. "You're mine to protect, Elara. Whether you accept that now or later makes little difference."
Her chest tightened. Yours?
"I am no one's possession," she snapped, stepping closer. "And if you think peace can be bought by trading lives—"
Kael's gaze flickered with something dark, something like anger — but beneath it, there was surprise. "Peace?" His lips curved faintly, humorless. "You think I came for peace?"
Elara froze. The words caught in her throat.
"I came for you."
The forest stilled. Even the wind seemed to pause, caught between the gravity of his voice and the pull of the bond that hummed between them like a live wire.
Her heart pounded in her chest. "You don't even know me."
"I know enough," he said, stepping closer — not too close, just enough for the air to grow warmer, charged. "I know the bond doesn't lie. I've felt it from the moment I crossed into your territory. The Moon does not make mistakes."
She met his gaze, defiant but trembling. "Then maybe she did this time."
Kael tilted his head, studying her — and for the first time, his expression softened, if only slightly. "You're brave," he murmured. "Most would bow in fear. Your Alpha nearly did."
"Damon isn't my Alpha," Elara said before she could stop herself.
The faintest smile tugged at Kael's lips, slow and knowing. "No," he said softly. "He isn't."
A silence fell between them — tense, filled with the thrum of something ancient and instinctual. Her wolf pushed against her ribs, whispering ours, while her human side screamed run.
Kael stepped closer, until their breaths mingled in the cold night air. "You feel it too," he said quietly. "Don't deny it."
Elara's pulse thundered. "I feel nothing but anger," she lied.
He let out a slow exhale, eyes locked on hers. "You'll learn the truth soon enough. When the bond calls, you'll answer — just like I did."
Elara's throat tightened. "And if I don't?"
His eyes glinted silver in the moonlight. "Then I'll keep coming until you do."
The words weren't a threat. They were a promise — heavy, inevitable, spoken with the certainty of someone who always got what he wanted.
Elara stepped back, needing space, needing to breathe. "I won't go with you."
Kael studied her for a moment longer — then, to her surprise, he nodded. "Not yet," he said simply. "But you will. When you're ready."
He turned to leave, the shadows swallowing him as easily as they had released him.
And Elara was left standing alone beneath the moonlight, trembling — not from fear, but from the wild, dangerous truth that she could no longer deny.
She could still feel him.
The bond burned, unseen and unbreakable, deep in her chest.