He found her.
The snarl tore through the trees like thunder, low and furious, unmistakably his.
Selene's blood turned to ice. Her pulse quickened, and she stumbled, nearly tripping over a gnarled root as Kael emerged from the mist. His eyes were wild, burning with a fury that rippled off him in waves. Her heart twisted painfully in her chest as she took in his appearance. His breathing was ragged, his chest heaving with every intake of air. He looked like a storm barely held together by the thin thread of control.
She hadn't seen him like this before. Not at the trial. Not even when he punished her. The anger had always been there — raw, dangerous, but never like this. This felt deeper, more personal. This was something born of the soul, something darker. His fury wasn't just a consequence of her actions; it was a manifestation of something far older, something more broken within him.
He didn't speak.
He didn't need to.
His gaze locked onto hers, and she froze mid-step. Every inch of her screamed for her to flee, but her body betrayed her. She couldn't move. The world felt like it had collapsed into a single, suffocating moment. Her heartbeat was a deafening drum in her ears, so loud she thought the whole forest might hear it. Kael's steps were slow, deliberate, like a predator closing in on prey. There was no escaping it now. There was nowhere left to run.
"You thought you could leave?" he growled, voice low and dangerous, a jagged edge of accusation lacing every word.
Selene's lips parted, but the words stuck in her throat, her voice failing her.
"You planned it," he said, his voice tight with betrayal. The words hung in the air, charged with an emotion she couldn't name. "You watched. Waited. And still thought I wouldn't find you?"
"I had to—" she began, but Kael was already in front of her, his proximity overwhelming.
He didn't touch her, but the sheer weight of his presence was enough to crush her. His scent, raw and untamed, filled her senses. His heat radiated from him, burning the air around them. Anger laced every inch of him, radiating outward like a force she could feel in her bones. It surrounded her, trapping her like a net. She couldn't escape it. She couldn't escape him.
"You were going to abandon your place. Your vows. Your pack." His jaw clenched, the muscles working beneath his skin. "Me."
The last word was harsher than it should have been, the strain in it palpable, a subtle admission of the deeper wound she hadn't yet seen.
"I wasn't running from you," she said softly, finding the courage to speak at last. Her voice trembled. "I was running from the pain."
His expression twisted, like her words had struck too close to something raw inside him, something he hadn't wanted to face.
"For two days, you ignored me," she whispered, her voice breaking as she spoke. "After the punishment… you didn't come. You didn't even look at me."
"I couldn't," he said, almost to himself, his voice cracking under the weight of the admission. The words hung between them, thick with unspoken grief.
Selene looked up at him, truly looked. The rage was still there, but beneath it… something softer. Something broken. Something raw. The mask of the Alpha slipped for a moment, revealing the man who was still haunted by the past, still drowning in his own regrets.
She swallowed hard, her throat tight. "Then why come now?"
Kael took a step forward, closing the distance between them, and for a fleeting moment, it felt as though everything else had disappeared. His presence was a force, and for the first time in days, Selene allowed herself to feel it.
"Because the thought of you out here alone — hunted, vulnerable — it drove me mad. Because I knew if I didn't find you first, someone else would."
Selene's chest tightened painfully. There it was — the fear. The fear of losing her. Of letting go. It was the only thing that had ever really mattered to him. And she had seen it in his eyes — the same fear that had driven his cruelty, his distance, his punishment. The same fear that had pushed him to try and cage her heart.
But he didn't apologize. He didn't promise to change. There was no "I'm sorry." There was only the weight of his words, and the silence between them that spoke louder than anything.
"You can't just leash me with guilt," she said, her voice steady despite the storm of emotions swirling inside her. "That's not a bond. That's a prison."
Kael didn't look at her. He breathed hard through his nose, his jaw working as he swallowed the truth she had just spoken.
"I know," he murmured.
The air hung heavy between them, thick with the weight of everything unsaid.
Then, almost as if to break the silence, Selene spoke again.
"I met someone," she said quietly, almost in a whisper.
His head snapped toward her, eyes narrowing, his posture shifting slightly as he awaited her next words.
"In the woods," she added. "An old woman. She spoke of the curse. Of a mate who cursed you with her last breath. Ophelia."
At the mention of Ophelia, Kael stiffened, his body going rigid as though the name itself was a physical blow.
"She said… you're bleeding from more than just the wound. You're bleeding from everything you've buried."
His eyes burned into hers, the intensity of his gaze piercing straight through her. "She shouldn't have told you that."
"She didn't tell me everything," Selene said softly, her voice tinged with quiet sadness. "Just enough to know that I'm more than a placeholder."
Kael didn't deny it.
His silence was answer enough.
Selene took a shaky breath, the words heavy on her tongue. "Why me?"
His gaze softened, the anger receding as he took a step closer, closing the distance between them.
"Because when you look at me," he said, his voice low and filled with a quiet vulnerability, "you don't see the Alpha. You don't see the failure. You see the man I used to be. The one I've been trying to bury since Ophelia died."
Selene blinked, the pain in his words cutting through her chest like a knife.
"I see the man you are," she said, her voice steady, her eyes locked onto his. "But I won't stay to be punished for loving him."
Kael flinched, as if the words had struck a chord deep inside him.
The wind shifted, and a distant howl cut through the silence — one of the patrols, closer than before. It broke the moment, but the tension remained.
Kael reached for her hand, his fingers brushing lightly against hers.
Selene hesitated, uncertainty clouding her thoughts for just a moment before she allowed herself to let go of the fear, to trust him just enough.
She took his hand, and together, they turned back toward the packhouse. There was no comfort in their silence. It wasn't the kind of silence that promised peace. But it was honest, raw, and real.
As they walked, Selene felt the weight of her decision pressing on her chest. She had walked away, yes, but the pull between them was something far stronger than either of them had ever anticipated. It was the storm they were both caught in.
And neither of them knew how it would end.
As they emerged from the edge of the woods, the Mooncrest packhouse came into view, its tall windows glowing with firelight. The chill in the air deepened as they approached, but it wasn't the cold that made Selene's stomach twist.
It was the tension in the air.
Warriors stood at the entrance — not just guards, but ranked officers. Their expressions were grim.
Kael's grip on her hand tightened slightly.
Selene followed his gaze to the front steps.
Five elders stood there, robed in black and silver — the council.
Waiting.
Watching.
Not a single word was spoken as Kael and Selene climbed the steps.
But Selene felt it — a shift in the air.
The council had come for a reason.
And something told her, whatever it was… it would change everything.