Kael POV
Fire consumed me from the inside out.
My blood felt like molten metal flowing through my veins. Every breath scraped like broken glass in my lungs. Somewhere far away, voices talked, but I couldn't focus on words. Only pain.
And her scent. Maya's scent cutting through the agony like a lifeline.
Hold on. For her. Just hold on.
"His temperature's too high," a female voice said. Not Maya—someone else. "The infection's spreading faster than the medicine can work."
"Then what do we do?" Maya's voice, sharp with fear. That fear hurt worse than my wounds. I'd caused that fear by being weak, by getting injured, by failing to protect her properly.
"We wait. And hope his beast-form is strong enough to fight."
"That's not good enough!" Maya again, fierce despite her terror. "There has to be something else. Tell me what to do and I'll do it."
Silence. Then: "You can try to reach him through the fate-bond. Sometimes a mate's presence can anchor a dying male, give him a reason to fight harder."
"How?"
"Hold his hand. Focus on the connection between you. Call to him."
I felt Maya's small hand wrap around mine. Her skin was cool against my burning flesh. The touch sent a jolt through my entire body—not painful, but powerful. The fate-bond, singing between us.
"Kael." Her voice sounded clearer now, cutting through the fever haze. "I know you can hear me. You need to fight. You need to come back."
I'm trying. It hurts so much, but I'm trying.
"You told me we'd survive together. Remember? You promised to keep me safe until I figured things out." Her hand squeezed mine tighter. "Well, I haven't figured anything out yet. This world is still terrifying and confusing and I still need you. So you don't get to break your promise."
Something in her words wrapped around my heart and pulled. The darkness trying to drag me under loosened its grip slightly.
"That's it," the healer—Zara, her name was Zara—encouraged. "He's responding. Keep talking."
"I'm not good at this," Maya said, and I heard tears in her voice. "I've never been good at feelings or saying the right things. I always just worked instead of dealing with emotions. But I need you to know—"
Her voice broke. I wanted to open my eyes, to tell her it was okay, but my body wouldn't obey.
"I need you to know that you're not alone anymore," she whispered. "You lost your pack five years ago. You've been alone since then. But you're not alone now. I'm here. And I'm not leaving. So you can't leave either."
The bond flared brighter between us. I could feel her now—her fear, her determination, her stubborn refusal to accept my death. That fierce spirit that killed a sabertooth with rocks and cleaned my wounds with no medical training.
My Maya. My impossible, clever, fearless mate.
I forced my eyes open. Everything was blurry, but I found her face. Tear-stained, beautiful, terrified.
"Still here," I rasped. My throat felt like sandpaper.
Maya's sob was half-laugh, half-cry. "You better be. I didn't crawl across that valley with a broken ankle just to watch you die."
"Your ankle." Memory crashed back—she was injured. "You shouldn't have moved—"
"Shut up about my ankle." She wiped her eyes with her free hand, the other still gripping mine. "Your shoulder has a hole the size of my fist. My ankle can wait."
Despite the pain, I smiled. She'd risked her own injury to save me. This tiny human female who'd been in the Beastworld for less than two days had already proven herself braver than most warriors I'd known.
Zara appeared in my blurry vision, checking the wound on my shoulder. "The fever's breaking. The seizure was the crisis point—his body fought off the worst of the infection. He'll live."
Relief flooded through me, followed immediately by a different kind of panic. Zara was here. Which meant others knew about Maya. Word would spread that a human female had appeared in the Cursed Valley. That Kael the Silver Wolf had a fate-marked mate.
Every unmated male within three territories would come sniffing around.
"How many came with you?" I asked Zara, trying to sit up. Mistake. The world spun sideways.
"Just my brothers, Finn and Rook." Zara pushed me back down with gentle firmness. "Stay still or you'll tear the stitches I just finished."
"They'll tell others."
"Probably." Zara didn't sugarcoat it. "You know how it works. A human female, unclaimed by any tribe, fate-marked to an exile? That's the kind of gossip that travels fast."
Maya looked between us, confusion clear on her face. "Why does that matter?"
I closed my eyes, hating what I had to say next. "Because unmated males will challenge me for you. It's Beastworld law—if a male can't defend his mate, another can claim her."
"That's barbaric!"
"That's survival." I forced myself to meet her eyes. "Strong males protect. Weak males lose everything. I'm injured, weak. You're rare, valuable, and I can barely stand. We're targets."
Fear flickered across Maya's face, but she lifted her chin. "Then we make you strong again. How long until you can fight?"
Zara answered before I could. "A week, minimum. Maybe two. That shoulder needs time to heal."
"We don't have two weeks," I said. The knowledge sat like lead in my gut. "Challenges will come within days."
"So what do we do?" Maya asked.
Before I could answer, Finn burst into the cave. The young fox-shifter's eyes were wide with panic. "Kael! Riders approaching from the north. At least ten males. They're carrying challenge banners."
My blood went cold. Not days. Hours.
"What tribe?" I demanded, trying again to sit up. This time I made it, though pain exploded through my shoulder.
"Bloodfang. Chief Mordak's sons lead them."
Worse and worse. The Bloodfang Tribe were brutal, ruthless. Mordak's sons had inherited their father's cruelty but none of his strategic patience. They'd challenge me immediately, and in my current state, I'd lose.
Maya would become theirs. They'd treat her like property, use her, discard her when they tired of her.
No. Not her. I'll die before I let them touch her.
"How long?" I asked Finn.
"Twenty minutes. Maybe less."
I turned to Maya. Her face had gone pale, but her eyes stayed steady. Still calculating. Still fighting.
"Listen carefully," I said. "When they arrive, you stay behind me. No matter what happens, you don't speak unless they address you directly. These males respect strength, not cleverness. If they see weakness, they'll exploit it."
"You can barely stand," Maya said flatly. "How are you supposed to show strength?"
"I'll manage."
"That's not a plan. That's suicide."
Zara moved between us. "There might be another way. Beastworld law allows for a mate to fight alongside her male during challenges. If you can prove you're valuable beyond just being female—if you can demonstrate skills that benefit the tribe—some males might withdraw their challenges."
"What kind of skills?" Maya asked.
"Healing, hunting, crafting. Anything that shows you're an asset, not just a prize."
Maya's eyes lit up with that calculating look I was learning to recognize. Her engineer brain was working through possibilities.
"I can find water underground," she said. "I proved that yesterday. And I know how to build shelters, create irrigation systems, make buildings that don't fall down. Would that count?"
Zara blinked. "You can do all that?"
"I'm an architect. It's literally my job—was my job." Maya looked at me. "Let me show them. Let me prove I'm more than just some helpless female to fight over."
Every instinct I had screamed against it. Putting her in front of hostile males, making her demonstrate her value like livestock at market—it felt wrong.
But she was right. It was our only chance.
"Okay," I said. "But I'm standing beside you the entire time."
"You can barely—"
"I'll stand." I forced myself to my feet, using the cave wall for support. The world tilted but I stayed upright through sheer will. "They'll see us together. Equal. Or they don't see us at all."
Pride flashed across Maya's face, followed by determination. "Then let's show these idiots what they're really dealing with."
Finn returned, breathless. "They're at the valley entrance. Chief Mordak himself is with them. And Kael? They brought chains."
My blood turned to ice. Chains meant they weren't here just to challenge. They were here to capture. To take Maya by force whether I agreed or not.
This wasn't going to be a fair fight.
This was going to be a war.
And I was too weak to win it.