​🕳️ Chapter Five: Captivity or Sanctuary?
​　The voice was raspy, laced with the metallic taste of blood and triumph. It was close—too close.
​　My breath hitched. I scrambled back, pressing myself against the rough stone wall of the small crevice. The journal dug into my ribs, a painful, constant reminder of the chaos I was now at the center of.
​　The Scavenger—I could only assume it was one of them—shoved aside a thicket of brush covering the entrance to the crevice.
​　He was huge, dressed in ragged, dark leather, with eyes that glowed an unnatural, toxic yellow. A wide gash was bleeding profusely down his chest, likely from Kael's silver claws.
​　"Look at what the mighty Silver Alpha was protecting," the Scavenger sneered, his lips pulled back from his teeth. "A filthy, wolf-less toy."
​　I didn't move. I simply held his gaze, trying to project the kind of cold defiance Kael Blackwood would expect. I reached into my pocket, my finger hovering over the locator button—press once for danger, twice for Elias.
​　Before I could choose, a heavy, metallic object flew out of the darkness and struck the Scavenger square in the temple. He cried out, stumbling sideways.
​　"Get away from the Omega, Scavenger!"
​　It was Lyra. She was battered, her lip split, but standing firm, armed with a short, brutal knife.
​　"He's coming," Lyra panted, her eyes darting toward the fight. "Kael is coming, and he's not happy you touched his mate."
​　The Scavenger laughed, a manic, wheezing sound. "Mate? He's trading her! He's just securing his merchandise! We'll just take it early!"
​　He lunged at Lyra, who met him with a surprising agility, slicing a shallow cut across his arm. They wrestled, their bodies slamming against the trees.
​　Suddenly, the air split with a roar that wasn't just a wolf's howl—it was an Alpha's battle cry, a promise of utter devastation. Kael Blackwood, fully shifted, burst into the clearing.
​　He didn't waste a second. He charged the Scavenger, his silver body a blur. The fight was instantaneous and brutal. Kael was a machine of claws and teeth. The Scavenger didn't last ten seconds. Kael ended it with a swift, clean strike to the throat.
​　Silence returned, broken only by Lyra's heavy breathing.
​　Kael slowly began to shift back, the silver fur receding to reveal his perfect, powerful human form, thankfully unmarked, though he was covered in blood that was not his own.
​　He walked toward the crevice, his expression unreadable, and extended a hand to me.
​　"Out," he commanded, his voice hoarse.
​　I took his hand. His touch was electric and grounding all at once. He pulled me out, scanning me quickly for injuries.
​　"Lyra, secure the perimeter. We're abandoning the vehicle. Scavengers will draw others. We move on foot to the safe zone," he ordered.
​　"Alpha," Lyra said, her voice filled with urgency, "I need to speak to you. About the mate bond."
​　"Not now."
​　"Now, Alpha! The Scavenger mentioned a trade! Ember heard it."
​　Kael paused, his jaw clenched, and dismissed his remaining guard with a glance. He looked at me, a flicker of something—not kindness, but recognition—in his silver eyes.
​　"Speak," he told Lyra.
​　"Ember, what the Scavenger said was a lie intended to scare you," Lyra began, speaking rapidly, her eyes darting between us. "The truth is, Alpha Kael is not your first mate."
​　I gasped, clutching the locket. "What?"
​　"I sensed it the moment I saw you," Lyra continued, ignoring my shock. "The Alpha's claim is permanent. When a wolf is mated, their bond is recorded by the goddess. There is a faint, magical echo left behind if the mate dies. I sense an echo on you, Ember. You were already mated once. Your mate died."
​　My mind blanked. Mated? I never shifted! I never smelled anyone, never felt a pull!
​　"It was not a traditional wolf mate," Kael interrupted, his voice cutting and sharp. "It was an arrangement made by your mother. She used a rare, temporary soul-binding ritual to mask the presence of the Silver Shard after she implanted it. She mated you to a wolf who was weak, and conveniently terminal."
​　"What are you saying?" I whispered, feeling dizzy.
​　"She mated you to a dying wolf," Lyra finished softly. "The mate died six months ago. The bond broke. The Shard's protective field started to fail, which is why I could finally sense it, and why the Scavengers could pinpoint the general area."
​　"Why would she do that?"
​　"Because your mother was trying to save you from me," Kael said, the words heavy with resignation. "She knew that when the false bond broke, the true Alpha bond would snap into place. And she knew I would come for the Shard. She was trying to buy you time to run."
​　He took a step closer. His voice dropped, losing the hard edge of command, becoming something dangerously earnest.
​　"Ember, listen to me. I am not here to hurt you. I am here to protect the Shard, because without it, the Silver Moon Pack dies. And if the Shard is removed or damaged, you die."
​　He paused, his eyes burning into mine.
​　"The Scavenger's intent was to kill me and torture you until the Shard was revealed. The only way to complete your mother's protective plan and prevent this from happening again is to finish the prophecy. You must be claimed by the true Silver Alpha. This means a public, undeniable Claiming Bite before we reach my territory."
​　"But you said you'd claim me with a lie," I reminded him, my voice shaking.
​　"The lie is the mating part," he admitted, a trace of something like pain crossing his face. "I am not claiming you for love, Ember. I am claiming you to activate the Shard's final defense mechanism. And when I bite you, it will be in front of witnesses, and it must look real, or my pack will suspect you are nothing more than a stolen artifact."