Chapter Five: The Howl Between Them
Rina didn't sleep that night.
Kael had let her go — eventually. Not out of kindness, she was certain, but out of restraint. And even then, his absence didn't free her. His scent lingered in her skin, in her breath, in her thoughts.
She curled beneath the blanket in the guest chamber, heart racing, trying not to imagine what would've happened if she hadn't pulled away.
If she'd let the bond claim her.
She wasn't ready. She didn't know what it meant — for her, for her life, for everything she'd been building outside of this... connection.
But she also couldn't deny the truth anymore.
She had felt it.
The moment their skin touched, something inside her had shifted. Opened. Like the lock to a door she didn't know existed had finally clicked.
Kael sat in the war room long after midnight, alone.
He had told himself he would stay away. That he would give her space to come to him in her own time.
But every instinct he had screamed against it.
The bond was growing, strengthening. Whether she wanted it or not. It didn't care that she was unshifted, or that her blood wasn't pure. It had already chosen.
She had already been chosen.
He clenched his fists, pressing them against the table.
The Elders wouldn't like it.
The pack would never understand.
But none of that mattered now.
Because if anyone tried to touch her — to challenge her place — Kael would end them without blinking.
Morning came with a knock at Rina's door.
She expected one of the guards.
It was Kael.
She froze halfway through braiding her hair. "You can't just—"
"I need to show you something."
"Kael—"
"Come with me," he said. "Please."
That single word undid her.
He was always commanding, always in control. But now, just for a heartbeat, he'd asked. Not ordered.
So she went.
They walked in silence through the pinewood, down a winding path that led to a small clearing near the river's edge. Mist hovered above the water. It looked untouched by time.
"This is where I first shifted," Kael said quietly, stopping near a moss-covered stone. "I was thirteen. I didn't tell anyone. I ran here and shifted alone. It was agony."
Rina looked at him. "Why are you telling me this?"
"Because pain leaves marks. And the bond doesn't just connect what's perfect in us." He met her gaze. "It ties the broken parts, too."
Rina turned away, throat tight.
He stepped closer, his voice low. "Tell me why you fear it."
She didn't answer right away.
Then: "Because I don't know who I become if I let it in."
Kael nodded once, slowly. "Then let me help you find out."
The words wrapped around her like a promise. Not possession. Not dominance.
Partnership.
And that terrified her even more.
That night, as Rina returned to her room, a howl echoed through the valley. Long, low, and mournful.
But it wasn't Kael.
It came from the southern edge of the territory.
The Rogues had returned.
And this time, they weren't alone.