Chapter Five:
Caleb's POV-
I should've left her. Let the bounty wolves drag her body across the border and present it to my father, wrapped in chains. That would've been justice. That would've been right.
But when I saw her bleeding in the dirt, I couldn't move. My wolf wouldn't let me.
She's ours, Adam paced in my head. Mate.
"Don't call her that," I snapped, storming down the hall after leaving her chamber. Guards bowed as I passed, but none of them dared speak. My rage was hot enough to cut stone.
You can deny it all you want, Caleb, but the bond is there. You felt it the moment her scent hit you — strawberry and roses. Sweet. Pure.
"Pure?" I hissed under my breath. "She's Thornblood. Her family murdered ours. She's poison."
Adam snarled back, defiant. She's innocent until proven guilty.
I ground my teeth so hard my jaw hurt. This was worse than stubbornness — it felt like treachery.
The council chamber doors loomed. I pushed them open harder than I needed to. Conversation died. Faces turned. The long stone table sat full of elders who'd known me since I was a kid — and who'd always measured me against my father's shadow.
I walked to the Alpha's chair. Marcus, my Beta, watched with a hard look. Sophie sat near the end, expression unreadable.
Elder Darius cleared his throat. "Alpha Caleb. You're late."
"I was occupied," I said flat, dropping into the chair.
"With?" Miriam asked, folding her hands.
My gaze swept the room, cold. "Bounty wolves crossed into Shadowfang territory tonight."
The elders stiffened. Marcus leaned forward. "What? That hasn't happened in decades. Who would dare?"
"Not anyone," I said. "They were hunting. They found prey."
"Who?" Miriam demanded.
I kept quiet for a beat. Then: "Hazel Thornblood."
The room exploded.
Murmurs. Harsh breaths. Chairs screeching. Sophie gasped, hand to her mouth. Darius slammed his palm on the table. "Impossible! She should have been killed with the rest."
"She wasn't," I said. "I saw her. Alive. Bleeding. Strong enough to kill two wolves before collapsing."
Marcus's eyes narrowed. "And you brought her here?"
"She's in the north wing, under guard," I said.
"You should have ended it," Darius spat. "Do you have any idea what you've done?"
My hands curled into fists. "I saved her life."
"Saved her?" Miriam sneered. "Her bloodline is cursed. Her father sold us to the vampires—he betrayed the royals. Your mother bled because of him, Caleb! Do you forget?"
The words hit like knives. Smoke and fire flashed behind my eyes. I remembered the night—my mother's screams, the heat. I had been a boy, but the memory never left.
Yes. Thornblood. Hazel's father.
I should hate her. I do hate her.
Adam cut through the noise, fierce. She's not him. She's ours.
I slammed my fist on the table hard enough that wood cracked. "I know what her family did. Don't remind me."
Silence folded over them.
Sophie spoke soft, steady. "Then why bring her here, brother? If you hate her, why didn't you kill her?"
All eyes swung to me. I couldn't tell them the truth — that when I smelled her, when I touched her, the bond hit like breathing for the first time.
So I gave them this: "Because she's valuable."
Whispers tightened. I kept going. "There's a bounty on her head. Not just rival packs or gangs — our own blood posted it. My father put the highest price. And bounty wolves still failed. That tells you something."
"What?" Marcus snapped.
"That she's not easy prey," I said. "That she's survived twelve years on the run while everyone hunted her. That makes her dangerous — or worth protecting. Until we know which, she stays."
"This is madness," Darius hissed. "You'd risk the pack for one cursed girl?"
"She's my mate."
The words slipped out before I could stop them.
Silence crushed the room.
Marcus stood frozen. Sophie's eyes widened — shock mixed with something like relief. Elders exchanged looks like the earth had shifted.
"Impossible," Miriam breathed. "The goddess would never bind Shadowfang to Thornblood."
Adam purred in my head. She did. You know it.
"Believe what you want," I said cold. "But Adam claimed her. My bond is sealed. And you all know what happens to an Alpha who rejects his true mate."
"Better that you die than the pack suffer," Darius snarled.
I rose, and power pushed through me like a physical thing. Every elder flinched. My voice, threaded with Adam's low thunder, filled the chamber.
"Say that again, and I'll tear your tongue from your throat."
Pale faces. No one spoke.
I set the rules. "This stays here. Until I decide, Hazel Thornblood is under Shadowfang protection. No one speaks of her. If it leaks, I'll know and I'll make an example."
Reluctant nods. Quiet murmurs. No open defiance.
Sophie asked what would happen to the ceremony and the pack's questions. My mouth curved into something not quite a smile. "I'll tell them a better truth — that preparations aren't finished. A Luna deserves more than a rushed introduction."
Adam grumbled. Coward's excuse.
Strategy, I bit back. We don't show her until she can stand beside me. Or until the royals claim her and end her.
"Then it's settled," I said aloud. "She remains under protection. The alliance waits."
I pushed my chair back and left the room heavy, final.
As the chamber doors shut, Adam's voice rolled through my skull. You can't keep her hidden forever. Sooner or later, the pack will see. Sooner or later, she will know.
And I knew he was right.
You mean sooner or later she will die! I snapped back in my head.
Adam's growl answered, low and hungry