Kael turned away before she could speak.
The movement was sharp enough to draw murmurs from both sides of the border. Frostveil wolves stiffened. His own pack shifted uneasily behind him. The bond screamed at the distance he forced between them, a living thing clawing at his ribs.
Elara noticed everything.
She did not chase him.
That hurt worse.
"Alpha Kael," Rowan called coolly. "You crossed into contested ground without formal greeting."
Kael stopped but did not face them. "I did not come to challenge Frostveil."
"Then why come at all?" Rowan asked.
Kael's jaw tightened. "To confirm a truth."
Elara's voice cut through the tension, steady and low. "You confirmed it."
Silence fell.
Kael finally turned, but his gaze fixed on the mountains beyond her shoulder, not on her face. Not on the child.
"I will not stay," he said. "This meeting ends here."
A ripple of shock moved through the crowd.
Elara tilted her head slightly. "You crossed borders, woke old wounds, and now you leave without a word?"
Kael's hands curled at his sides. "Yes."
Mira stepped forward before Elara could stop her.
"Why?" the child asked.
The single word landed like a blade.
Kael's control fractured. His gaze dropped despite himself.
She was smaller than he expected. Dark hair. Clear eyes. A presence that tugged painfully at the bond.
He forced his voice steady. "Because some truths destroy more than they heal."
Mira frowned. "That sounds like fear."
A few Frostveil wolves shifted, barely hiding their approval.
Kael straightened. "I am not afraid."
Elara's lips curved faintly. Not a smile. A knowing.
"Then look at us," she said.
He didn't.
That was his answer.
Kael left Frostveil without looking back.
The ride was brutal. Every step his horse took away from the border felt like betrayal. The bond lashed harder with each mile, punishing him for distance, for denial.
Good, he told himself.
Pain meant resolve.
His beta rode beside him in silence for a long stretch before speaking. "You saw the child."
"Yes."
"And?"
Kael swallowed. "She was strong."
"That wasn't my question."
Kael exhaled slowly. "She was hers."
The beta nodded grimly. "The pack will hear about this."
"They already have," Kael said. "That's why I must be careful."
"Careful," the beta echoed. "Or cruel?"
Kael shot him a warning look. "I chose stability. I chose the pack."
"And if the pack fractures when the truth comes out?"
Kael had no answer.
Elara watched him disappear into the trees.
The bond tugged once, hard, then recoiled like a wounded animal. She breathed through the ache, refusing to let it show.
Rowan approached quietly. "You let him leave."
"Yes."
"You could have forced the conversation."
Elara looked down at Mira, who watched the forest with unreadable calm. "Forcing him would only teach him how much power he still had."
Rowan studied her. "And now?"
"Now he has none," Elara replied softly. "Only choice."
Mira looked up. "He didn't want to see me."
Elara crouched, meeting her eyes. "He didn't want to see himself."
Mira accepted that easily. "That's sad."
"Yes," Elara agreed. "It is."
That night, Frostveil buzzed with tension.
Some wolves celebrated Kael's retreat. Others worried about retaliation. Elara felt the weight of every whispered concern, every glance cast her way.
They were watching her.
Not as a guest.
As a leader.
She hated how natural it felt.
Kael addressed his pack before dawn.
He stood before them without crown or formal mantle, shoulders squared, expression carved from stone.
"There are rumors," he began. "You will hear many versions of them. I will give you only what matters."
The crowd leaned in.
"Elara lives," he said plainly. "She has chosen another land."
Gasps rippled through the pack.
"And the child?" someone shouted.
Kael paused. Just long enough.
"She exists," he said. "Nothing more will be discussed."
Murmurs swelled. Confusion. Anger. Relief.
A senior elder stepped forward. "You cannot ignore a bond that strong, Kael. Not without consequence."
Kael met his gaze coldly. "I have ignored it for years."
"And look where it led," the elder replied.
Kael's voice hardened. "It led to peace. To power. To survival."
"At what cost?"
Kael said nothing.
That silence answered more than words ever could.
Elara dreamed of fire.
Not destruction. Warmth.
In the dream, she stood at a crossroads. One path led deeper into Frostveil, roots wrapping protectively around her feet. The other stretched toward Kael's lands, barren but familiar.
Mira stood between the paths, waiting.
Elara woke with her heart racing.
The land hummed softly beneath the floor, restless.
She sat up, pressing her hand to her chest.
"I won't choose for fear," she whispered. "Not again."
The bond stirred in response, unsettled but listening.
Kael woke with blood on his hands.
Not real blood.
Memory.
He sat upright, breath ragged, the echo of Elara's voice still ringing in his ears. The way she had looked at him without pleading. Without hope.
He rubbed his face, exhaustion dragging at him.
Leadership demanded sacrifice. He had believed that once.
But no one had told him sacrifice could hollow you out until you forgot what you were protecting.
A knock sounded at the door.
"Enter," he said.
His beta stepped in, expression grim. "We received word from the southern packs."
Kael braced. "What kind of word?"
"They've heard about the child," the beta said. "And Frostveil's response to her."
Kael's stomach dropped. "Already?"
"They see opportunity," the beta continued. "A royal bloodline without a banner. A powerful heir without a claim."
Kael's fists clenched. "They will try to take her."
"Yes."
Silence stretched.
Kael's voice came low. "Prepare defenses along Frostveil's border."
The beta blinked. "You're going to protect her?"
"I'm going to protect stability," Kael snapped. "If another pack takes her, everything breaks."
"And if she refuses your protection?"
Kael closed his eyes briefly. "Then I will protect her anyway."
Elara felt the shift before the messenger arrived.
The land stiffened. The wind sharpened. Danger moved closer.
Rowan found her on the ridge, breath tight. "Southern scouts breached the outer markers."
Elara nodded slowly. "They're testing us."
"They want the child."
Elara's hand tightened around Mira's.
"No," she said quietly. "They want leverage."
A horn sounded from the eastern watchtower.
Another from the south.
Frostveil stirred, warriors, moving into position.
Elara stood tall, heart steady despite the storm gathering around her.
"Mama," Mira said softly. "He's coming back."
Elara looked toward the distant treeline.
She felt it too.
Kael rode hard through the dawn, banners flying this time, not in challenge but in warning.
Elara's jaw tightened.
He had chosen.
Not her.
But the fight.
And this time, she would not be standing behind him.
She would be standing in front.
The bond flared, bright and painful, as two forces moved toward the same battlefield for very different reasons.