Kael had not slept since the Blood Moon.
He stood in the highest tower of Draven Keep, watching the fog roll across the valley like a slow-moving tide. His senses were sharpened to the point of pain. Every breath, every shift of the wind, every distant heartbeat felt too close
especially hers.
Selene.
The bond pulsed faintly beneath his skin, a small echo of her fear. It rattled through his bones like the aftertaste of lightning.
He clenched the edge of the stone window.
"This shouldn't be possible. Not with a human…"
Footsteps approached behind him, steady and heavy.
"Your father wants you in the hall," Fenric, his Beta, said. "The Council demands an explanation."
Kael didn't turn. "They felt it, didn't they?"
Fenric's silence was enough.
Kael inhaled sharply. "Damn it."
He finally faced his Beta. Fenric looked older than he had the night before eyes tired, jaw tight. Marking a human was forbidden not because it was weak, but because it was dangerous. Unstable. Unpredictable. A bond that could unmake an Alpha's sanity.
And worse
other wolves could sense it.
Fenric handed him a cloak. "If you still want to hide her, speak carefully. They already suspect something."
Kael slipped the cloak over his shoulders. "I acted because she was dying."
"You acted because your instincts overruled the law," Fenric corrected. "That's the part the Council will tear apart."
Kael's jaw tensed, but he didn't reply.
They walked into the Great Hall.
Six Elders stood waiting, robes black, faces cold. Their golden eyes followed Kael with suspicion sharpened like knives.
"Kael Draven," Elder Varik said, voice echoing through the chamber, "a surge of forbidden lunar magic erupted last night."
Kael remained still.
Varik's gaze narrowed. "A human girl has been marked."
Kael's heartbeat stuttered once but he kept his expression unreadable. "If that is true, then it was not by my hand."
Varik's lips curved into something cold. "Do not insult us. The bond flared through our blood. We all felt it. You think you can hide such a violation?"
Fenric stepped forward, but Kael lifted a hand, stopping him.
"What do you intend to do?" Kael asked, voice low.
Varik's answer was immediate.
"The girl must be found."
Kael's muscles tightened.
"And killed," another Elder murmured. "Before the bond fully awakens."
The room fell silent.
Kael's pulse thundered in his ears. The mark on his wrist burned violently, warning him of Selene's fear miles away.
He kept his voice even. "She poses no threat."
"A marked human is always a threat," Varik snapped. "Do not forget history, Kael. Bonds like this end in insanity… or bloodshed."
His father, Alpha Lord Thorian, finally spoke.
"What happened on the Blood Moon, Kael?"
Kael met his father's eyes.
"She was dying. I made a choice."
"A fatal one," Varik hissed. "Your mistake endangers us all."
"Including her," another Elder added.
Kael's jaw flexed.
"She is innocent."
Varik stepped closer, breath cold as winter.
"Then pray you can keep her alive. Because others have already sensed the bond. They will hunt her before we do."
A deep growl vibrated in Kael's chest, but he swallowed it back.
He bowed stiffly and left the hall.
Fenric followed him. "Kael"
But Kael was already moving down the corridor, cloak flaring behind him, every step heavy with fury and fear.
"She's not safe," he muttered. "If the Council knows, then so do the rogues."
Fenric swore under his breath. "What will you do?"
Kael didn't hesitate.
"What I must."
He headed toward the armory, the bond burning hot beneath his skin guiding him toward the forest where Selene was.
Far away, her fear spiked again.
Kael stopped dead in the corridor.
His eyes darkened to molten gold.
She wasn't just afraid.
She was being watched.
The further Kael walked, the more violent the pull beneath his skin became. The bond weak, unstable, and forbidden reacted to Selene's fear like a spark meeting dry kindling. It burned through his nerves, demanding he move faster.
Fenric matched his pace reluctantly.
"You can't go to her. Not now. Not with the Council alert."
Kael's steps didn't slow. "They won't reach her first."
"That isn't the point," Fenric snapped. "If they catch you anywhere near the human settlement, they'll know exactly who marked her."
"They already know," Kael muttered.
Fenric grabbed his arm, forcing him to stop. "Then think, Kael. If you break another law for her, you won't just lose your title. They'll exile you or worse."
Kael wrenched free. "If I don't go to her, she dies. Tell me which fate is worse."
Fenric stared at him for a long moment before exhaling sharply. "You've changed. Ever since that night."
Kael didn't deny it.
He stormed out of the Keep and into the courtyard, where mist still clung to the stones like ghostly fingers. A few guards stiffened when they saw him pass Kael's aura was too unstable, too heavy, the bond humming like a threat in his veins.
One guard approached nervously. "Alpha Heir… the border patrol reported movement near the human valley. Unidentified wolves."
Kael's head snapped toward him. "When?"
"Twenty minutes ago."
Fenric swore. "They're moving faster than expected."
Kael's voice dropped to a growl. "Rogues?"
"We're not sure," the guard muttered. "But they carried the scent of blood."
Kael's control cracked for a second the stone beneath his boots splintered faintly as his hands curled into fists. The memory of Selene collapsing beneath the Blood Moon flashed behind his eyes.
Not again.
Not this time.
He pushed past the guard and headed toward the stables.
"Kael!" Fenric shouted, following him. "If you do this, there's no turning back!"
Kael grabbed the reins of his obsidian-gray stallion. "I never intended to turn back."
Fenric stepped in front of the horse, blocking his path. "Look at yourself. You're acting like she belongs to you."
"She doesn't," Kael said quietly.
The words were tight, painful.
Fenric's eyes softened. "But the bond thinks otherwise."
Kael looked away with a clenched jaw. "She didn't choose this."
"And neither did you," Fenric said. "But choices don't matter anymore. What matters is what happens next."
Kael mounted the horse, ignoring the ache that pulsed through him every time Selene's fear spiked again.
"I'll keep her alive," Kael said. "Even if the Council turns on me."
Fenric exhaled, defeated. "Then at least let me send scouts."
"No," Kael snapped. "Anyone else will draw attention. If the Elders find even a trace of us near her…"
"They'll execute her on the spot," Fenric finished grimly. "And punish you for marking her."
Kael nodded once.
He pulled his hood low and urged the stallion forward, the hooves striking sparks across the stone path. As he galloped out of the keep, the fog parted like something alive, curling away from his presence.
The moment Kael crossed into the lower valley, the bond tightened sharply.
Selene's fear hit him like a punch.
He inhaled sharply, losing a beat of rhythm.
She wasn't just frightened.
She was cornered.
"Hold on," he muttered into the wind. "I'm coming."
The forest bent beneath the force of his speed. Birds scattered. Leaves whipped across his face. The bond throbbed hotter, sharper, each pulse syncing with his heartbeat until the line between them blurred.
Kael gritted his teeth.
If he reached her too late
If she died
The bond would tear him apart from the inside.
And the Council knew it.
That was why they wanted her gone before the bond settled.
Kael dug his heels into the stallion's sides, forcing it faster.
"Just stay alive," he whispered, almost pleading.
"I'll deal with the rest."
Kael realizing someone is already near Selene perfect setup.