The whispers did not fade.
They multiplied.
Liora felt them before she heard them — like invisible claws dragging across her skin whenever she stepped outside her home. The pack training grounds, once familiar and almost comforting, now felt hostile. Wolves who used to greet her with polite nods suddenly found the sky fascinating when she passed.
Rejected.
The word followed her like a curse.
She kept her chin lifted anyway.
Elara walked beside her, muttering under her breath. "If one more person stares, I swear I will trip them 'accidentally.'"
Despite everything, Liora almost smiled.
But then she saw him.
Darius Thorn stood near the central stone platform, speaking with Draven and two council members. He looked powerful. Untouched. Unbothered. As if he hadn't publicly severed a sacred mating bond three nights ago.
As if her heart hadn't cracked open at his feet.
For a brief, humiliating second, her wolf stirred.
Not in longing.
In pain.
The broken bond was not clean. It felt like torn fabric — threads still clinging, burning faintly beneath her ribs. She pressed her palm lightly to her chest.
And then it happened.
A sharp pulse exploded outward from her body.
The air around her vibrated.
Dust lifted from the ground in a small circular wave.
Elara gasped. "Liora… did you just feel that?"
Yes.
But it wasn't just a feeling.
It was power.
Uncontrolled. Raw. Alive.
Across the field, Darius's head snapped toward her.
And so did someone else's.
Kael Veyron stood at the edge of the grounds, partially in shadow beneath the old cedar trees. His dark coat blended into the shade, but his eyes did not.
They locked onto her.
Not with surprise.
With recognition.
He felt it too.
Liora's pulse quickened.
The energy inside her tightened, almost reacting to his gaze. It wasn't the same ache she felt with Darius. This was different. Sharper. Dangerous. Like lightning looking for somewhere to strike.
Darius excused himself from the council abruptly and strode toward her.
Every wolf nearby went silent.
"Control yourself," he said coldly once he reached her. "You're drawing attention."
Liora blinked at him. "I didn't mean to—"
"That's the problem," he cut in. "You never mean to."
The words stung more than they should have.
Elara bristled. "She didn't do anything wrong."
Darius ignored her completely.
His gaze swept over Liora, not with affection, not even with regret.
With assessment.
As if she were a political inconvenience.
"You should rest," he said finally. "You look unstable."
Unstable.
The humiliation returned in a hot wave.
But before she could respond—
A slow clap echoed from the edge of the training grounds.
Not loud.
Not dramatic.
Deliberate.
Every head turned.
Kael Veyron stepped forward.
His presence alone shifted the air. Where Darius carried inherited authority, Kael carried something colder. Earned. Commanded.
"You mistake instability for awakening," Kael said calmly.
Darius stiffened. "This doesn't concern you, Veyron."
Kael's eyes flicked briefly to Liora before returning to Darius. "Anything that disrupts pack balance concerns me."
The tension between them was immediate. Thick.
Political.
Personal.
Liora felt caught between two storms.
Darius lowered his voice. "She is no longer my responsibility."
The words landed like a slap.
Kael's jaw tightened almost imperceptibly.
"No," he agreed evenly. "She is not."
Something about the way he said it made Liora's wolf stir again — not in pain this time.
In awareness.
Darius stepped closer to Kael. "Be careful where you place your interest."
"And you," Kael replied, "should be careful what you discard."
Silence crashed down over the field.
Liora's breath caught.
Was this about her?
Or power?
Or both?
Darius turned away first, clearly unwilling to escalate publicly. "This conversation is over."
He left without another glance at her.
Not one.
The crack in her chest deepened — but it no longer felt like weakness.
It felt like something breaking open.
The field slowly returned to life, whispers resuming at a lower volume.
Kael approached her then.
Up close, he was overwhelming. Taller than she remembered. Controlled. His scent — cedarwood and frost — wrapped around her senses in a way that made her pulse misbehave.
"You felt it," he said quietly.
It wasn't a question.
"Yes," she admitted.
His gaze studied her face, searching, calculating. "Good."
Good?
She frowned. "It nearly knocked me over."
"That was a fraction," he said. "If that is you fractured—" His eyes darkened slightly. "I would hate to see you whole."
Heat rushed to her cheeks, and she hated that he noticed.
"I'm not powerful," she said softly. "If I were, he wouldn't have rejected me."
Kael's expression shifted — not pity.
Irritation.
"You think mating bonds are measures of strength?" he asked.
"They're sacred."
"They're political," he corrected.
The statement unsettled her.
Before she could respond, Riven Kade approached, stopping respectfully behind Kael. "The council is requesting your presence."
Kael didn't break eye contact with her.
"They will wait."
Riven raised a brow slightly but said nothing.
Liora swallowed. "Why are you defending me?"
A beat of silence passed.
Then:
"Because you are not what they believe you are."
Her heart stuttered.
"And what am I?" she whispered.
Kael stepped closer — not touching, but close enough that she could feel the warmth of his body through the thin fabric of her dress.
"Dangerous," he said.
Her wolf shivered.
Not in fear.
In agreement.
Riven cleared his throat gently. "Alpha."
Kael finally stepped back.
But the space he left behind felt charged.
"Control the surges," he said before turning away. "Or someone else will try to control them for you."
And then he was gone.
Leaving her standing in the center of the training grounds with her heart racing and her world shifting beneath her feet.
Elara grabbed her arm. "Okay. That was not normal."
"No," Liora murmured.
It wasn't.
Across the field, she noticed several elders watching her now.
Measuring.
Calculating.
For the first time since the rejection, she didn't feel small.
She felt seen.
And that terrified her more than humiliation ever had.
That night, she stood at her bedroom window, staring at the moon.
Her wolf paced restlessly beneath her skin.
The broken bond with Darius still throbbed faintly — but another thread had begun forming.
It wasn't a bond.
Not yet.
But it was something.
And deep in her bones, Liora sensed a truth she wasn't ready to face:
The rejection hadn't weakened her.
It had unlocked her.
And Kael Veyron had noticed first.