The palace felt different with Kael inside its walls.I could sense him even when I couldn't see him. There was a constant hum beneath my skin, like standing too close to a flame. The mark on my neck pulsed faintly, responding to his presence somewhere in the eastern wing where Xavier had assigned him quarters.I told myself to stay away, honor the bond I had already made, and the vows I said under the moon's watchful eye. But my feet carried me toward the training grounds anyway, drawn by something I didn't understand and couldn't resist.The afternoon sun hung low and golden, casting long shadows across the empty field. Most of the warriors were inside, preparing for the evening meal. I was about to turn back but his voice stopped me."You came."My breath caught. I spun around to find Kael standing at the edge of the field, dressed in simple training clothes that somehow made him look more dangerous, not less. His amber eyes found mine, and the world narrowed to just the two of us."I didn't know you'd be here," I whispered, though we both knew it was a lie.He moved closer, each step deliberate. "Didn't you?"The mark beneath my sleeve burned hot enough that I pressed my palm against it. His eyes tracked the movement, something flickering in their golden depths."You feel it too," he said quietly. It wasn't a question.I wanted to deny it, to tell him he was wrong, that I felt nothing, that Xavier was my mate, my Alpha and that was all that mattered. But the words stuck in my throat because the fire in my blood recognized him in ways I couldn't explain."This isn't right," I managed finally. "I'm mated to Xavier. The bond is sealed.""Is it?" Kael stopped a few feet away, close enough that I could smell smoke and pine and something wild that made my newly awakened wolf stir restlessly. "A bond sealed by duty and tradition. But what about destiny, Luna? What about the fire the Goddess herself placed in your veins?""Don't." I took a step back. "Don't make this harder than it already is."His expression softened. "I'm not trying to make anything hard. I'm trying to help you understand what you are. What we are.""We aren't anything.""Aren't we?" He tilted his head slightly. "You've dreamed of me. I've felt you in my sleep for months now, long before I knew your name. The Fire Moon doesn't lie, Samantha. She doesn't make mistakes."My hands trembled. "Xavier says the same thing about the Shadow Moon.""Then perhaps they're both right." He moved closer again, and this time I didn't retreat. "The prophecy speaks of two Alphas, one Luna. A bridge between kingdoms. What if this isn't a choice between us? What if it's something more?"The thought terrified me more than anything else. "That's impossible. Pack law—""Pack law was written by wolves who never imagined someone like you." His voice dropped lower, intimate. "You're Flameborn, Luna. The first in generations. Do you really think the old laws apply to you?"I pressed my fingers to my temples. My head ached from thinking, from feeling too much all at once. "Why are you really here, Kael? Why come all this way?""Because I felt you awaken." His eyes burned into mine. "The moment your power surfaced, I felt it like lightning in my blood. The Ember Claws have waited centuries for the Flameborn to return. I had to see if it was real. If you were real.""And now that you've seen?"He reached out slowly, giving me time to pull away. When I didn't, his fingers brushed the side of my neck where the mark pulsed beneath my skin. The contact sent fire racing through me, golden light flaring between us."Now I know," he whispered, "that the Goddess has plans far bigger than any of us understand."I wanted to move. To push him away. Run back to Xavier and beg forgiveness for even being here. But I was frozen, caught in the gravity of something ancient and inevitable."I can help you control it," Kael said, his hand still hovering near my skin. "The fire. You don't understand your power yet but my bloodline has trained Flameborn wolves for generations. I can teach you things Xavier never could.""Xavier would never allow it.""Xavier doesn't have to know." He dropped his hand, taking a careful step back. "I'm not asking you to betray him, Luna. I'm offering to help you master what you are. Wouldn't that make you stronger for your pack? Safer?"He made it sound so reasonable. So innocent. But there was nothing innocent about the way my body responded to him, the way the bond mark blazed brighter in his presence than it ever had with Xavier."I need to think," I whispered."Then think." He inclined his head slightly. "But know that the longer you deny your power, the more dangerous it would become. Fire that is unchecked destroys everything, even the one who wields it."Before I could respond, the sound of boots on stone made us both turn. Xavier stood at the entrance to the training grounds, his expression carved from ice. His silver-gray eyes moved between us, and I watched something crack in his carefully controlled facade."Luna," he said, his voice deceptively calm. "A word. Now."My stomach dropped. How long had he been watching? What did he see?"Xavier—""Now."Kael's jaw tightened, but he bowed slightly. "Alpha. I was just leaving." His eyes met mine one last time, softer now but infinitely more dangerous. "Until later, Luna."He walked past Xavier without another word, though the tension between them was thick enough to choke on. The moment Kael disappeared from view, Xavier closed the distance between us in three long strides."What were you doing?" His hands gripped my shoulders, not hard enough to hurt but firm enough that I felt trapped. "What did he say to you?""Nothing. We were just talking.""That's a lie." His eyes flashed with something raw and wounded. "Don't lie to me, Samantha. I can smell him on you. I can see the mark glowing beneath your sleeve."Tears stung my eyes. "I wasn't doing anything wrong. He found me here, and we talked. That's all.""That's all?" Xavier laughed, but there was no humor in it. "He touches you, and your mark blazes like the sun. I touch you, and you flinch away. Don't tell me it's nothing.""That's not fair. ""Isn't it?" He released me, running a hand through his dark hair. "Tell me, Luna. When you dream at night, when you whisper in your sleep, is it my name you call?"The question landed like a physical blow. I opened my mouth to deny it, but the words wouldn't come. Because he was right. In my dreams, it was amber eyes I saw, golden fire I felt, a voice promising freedom I'd never known."I didn't ask for this," I whispered finally. "I didn't ask for any of it. Not the bond, not the prophecy, not…""Not him?"I met Xavier's gaze, seeing the fear beneath his anger. The man who claimed me in front of the entire pack, who defied his father and the council for me, was terrified of losing me to something he couldn't fight."I'm trying," I told him honestly. "I'm trying to understand what's happening to me. What I'm becoming. But you won't help me. You won't even talk to me. You leave me alone in that room night after night, and then you're angry when I feel something for someone who actually sees me."His expression crumbled. "You think I don't see you?""Do you?" The words came out sharper than I intended. "Or do you just see a problem you wish the Goddess hadn't given you?"The silence stretched between us, heavy with truths neither of us wanted to face. Finally, Xavier stepped back, his shoulders rigid with tension."Stay away from him," he said quietly. "That's not a request, Luna. It's an order."He turned and walked away, leaving me alone in the fading sunlight. I pressed both hands against my face, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to spill.My mark pulsed gold beneath my skin not silver. And I wondered if Xavier noticed. Wondered if he understood what it meant.The Goddess gave me to him. But the fire belonged to someone else.And I was caught between them, burning from the inside out with no idea how to make it stop.That night, I lay awake in Xavier's bed, alone, as always staring at the ceiling. The mark on my neck throbbed with a steady rhythm, like a second heartbeat I couldn't control.Somewhere in the eastern wing, I knew Kael was awake too. I could feel him like a compass point, always knowing which direction he slept. The pull was stronger than before, insistent, demanding.I rolled onto my side and closed my eyes, begging sleep to come. But all I saw was golden fire and amber eyes, and I heard a voice whisper through my dreams:*IThe fire is yours, Luna. Stop fighting what you were meant to become.When I finally drifted off, I dreamed of burning.
