Elara
His eyes weren't Kael's anymore.
I pressed myself against the wall, heart hammering, the stench of blood clogging my throat. Bodies littered the cabin floor, torn and broken, their lifeless eyes staring up at the ceiling. Kael had slaughtered them all—every last rogue that had come through that door.
But the way he looked at me now… It wasn't victory. It wasn't relief. It was hunger.
His massive form loomed in the wreckage, fur matted with gore, his chest heaving like a storm caged inside his ribs. Blood dripped from his claws, his muzzle, his eyes burning with feral light. A low growl rumbled in his throat, vibrating through the floorboards.
I swallowed hard, my body screaming at me to run. To flee into the night, to get as far from this beast as I could. But I couldn't move.
Because somewhere beneath the beast, beneath the savage rage, I felt him. Kael. The bond tethered me to him, pulsing hot and wild, pulling me closer when every part of me wanted to escape.
"Kael," I whispered, my voice trembling, breaking. My hand shook as I lifted it, reaching into the space between us. "It's me."
His snarl deepened, ears flat, claws digging into the floorboards as he stalked closer.
My chest tightened, fear clawing at my lungs, but I forced myself to stay. He was gone. Drowned in fury, lost in the beast. If I ran, he would hunt me. If I fought, he would kill me.
The only chance I had… was the bond.
I closed my eyes, blocking out the blood, the broken bodies, the beast advancing on me. I reached deep inside myself, past the trembling, past the fear, to that strange spark I had felt when his eyes first met mine in the woods.
The spark that tied us. I pulled on it. Hard.
The air between us shifted, electric, sharp, the bond thrumming like a struck chord. My breath hitched as warmth surged through me, burning in my veins, filling me with something I couldn't explain.
"Come back," I begged, my voice breaking. "Kael, please… come back to me."
For a heartbeat, nothing changed. His growl rose, his muscles tensed, his eyes locked on my throat—
And then… a flicker.
The light in his eyes wavered. His snarl faltered. His massive frame shuddered as though fighting itself.
I took a step forward, hand outstretched, ignoring the blood, ignoring the danger. My heart was going to break through my ribs, but I didn't care.
"Kael," I whispered again, tears burning hot down my cheeks. "You're not a monster. You're mine."
The growl in his throat shook the walls. His claws scraped the floorboards, gouging deep grooves into the wood as he stalked closer, every step a warning.
But I refused to move. My hand trembled in the air, palm open, not daring to touch him but not dropping either. The bond thrummed inside me, sharp and hot, pulling at me, demanding I hold on.
I did. I closed my eyes again, shutting out the sight of blood and death, and let the pull drag me deeper. It was like stepping off a cliff into fire. The heat seared through me, burning into my bones, stealing my breath. My knees buckled, and I nearly collapsed under the weight of it.
Then I wasn't in the cabin anymore.
Darkness surrounded me, thick and suffocating, broken only by flashes of memory that weren't mine. A boy's cry, sharp and terrified. A man's roar of anger. The crack of fists against flesh. A child huddled in the dirt, bloodied and bruised, his wolf snarling against its cage while the world crushed him.
Kael.
I gasped, clutching my chest, but the bond dragged me further. Another flash: firelight, a circle of wolves, Kael standing in the center, older now but still young, his shoulders bare, his eyes wild. Voices spat venom at him, calling him cursed, unworthy, dangerous. A sentence cast down, his head bowing beneath its weight. Outcast.
The pain was endless. Loneliness, rejection, betrayal so deep it hollowed him out from the inside. And under it all—rage. Endless, unrelenting rage.
The bond shuddered with it, and my body shook, my breath strangled. I felt it all as though it were mine, every wound, every scar carved into his soul.
"Kael…" I whispered, my voice breaking with his pain. My hands curled into fists. "You're not alone anymore."
For a moment, I felt him. Not the beast. Not the Alpha. Him. A flicker of warmth, fleeting but real. But then the darkness surged again, dragging me under, the beast inside him rising to drown us both. His growl thundered in my ears, closer now, blood-hot breath washing over my skin.
My eyes snapped open. He was right in front of me.
So close I could see the blood dripping from his fangs, the wild light blazing in his eyes. His breath steamed the air between us, his massive frame trembling as though at war with itself.
I didn't have time to think. I pressed my palm flat against his chest and poured everything into the bond.
The moment my hand pressed against his chest, the world stopped.
His fur was hot beneath my palm, sticky with blood, muscles coiled so tight they vibrated under my touch. His growl rumbled through me, rattling my bones, every instinct screaming to pull away.
But I didn't. I couldn't.
Instead, I pushed harder into the bond. I poured everything I had into it—my fear, my hope, the unbearable ache in my chest that wasn't just mine anymore. I gave him everything: the truth that I wasn't running, that I wasn't afraid of him, that I saw him.
The bond answered, snapping taut between us, a current surging like lightning. My heart slammed against my ribs, a rhythm that wasn't mine alone anymore. It beat with his.
"Kael," I whispered, breathless, tears streaming down my cheeks. "Come back. Please… come back to me."
His snarl broke, jagged and raw. His massive body shuddered, claws digging into the floorboards so hard they splintered. For one terrifying heartbeat, his jaws opened wider, teeth flashing, breath hot on my face—
And then his eyes changed.
The feral red bled away, replaced by something deeper, familiar. The storm eased, just enough for me to see him. Kael.
His body convulsed, bones cracking, fur receding. He shifted back with a sound caught between a snarl and a scream, collapsing to his knees in front of me. Blood streaked his skin, his hands trembling, his chest heaving with ragged breaths.
When his head lifted, his eyes weren't those of a beast. They were his. And they were fixed on me.
"Elara…" His voice was hoarse, broken, threaded with something I couldn't name. His gaze swept over me, almost frantic, like he needed to see that I was whole. "I—"
He cut off, shaking, his hands curling into fists against the ruined floor. His shoulders bowed, shame pouring off him so heavy I could feel it.
"I almost—" He choked on the words, unable to finish.
My throat closed, tears burning. Slowly, carefully, I reached out, brushing my fingers against his jaw. He flinched, but didn't pull away.
"You didn't," I whispered. My voice shook, but I meant every word. "You came back."
For a long, unbearable moment, he just stared at me, as if he didn't believe it. As if he didn't believe he deserved it.
And then his forehead dropped against mine, his breath ragged, his body trembling.
I let my hand cup his face, holding him there, even as blood and ash and the stench of death filled the air around us.
Because despite all of it, he was Kael again. And for the first time, I believed he always could be.
The silence after the carnage was deafening.
The cabin stank of blood and death, the floor slick with it, the air thick and heavy as if even the walls were holding their breath. My ears still rang from the fight, my heart pounding so violently I could hear it in my skull.
But none of that mattered. All I could see was him.
Kael knelt in the wreckage, his skin bare and raw from the shift, streaked with gore that wasn't his own. His shoulders shook, his hands braced on the splintered floorboards, his head bowed as though the weight of what he'd done was too much for him to carry.
"Kael," I said softly.
He flinched like the sound of his own name burned. His jaw clenched, teeth grinding, and when he finally looked at me, his eyes weren't feral anymore—but they were worse.
They were haunted.
"I could have killed you," he rasped, voice shredded. His fists slammed against the broken floor, blood smearing across the wood. "I almost did. You don't understand—"
"I do," I interrupted, my voice steadier than I felt. My knees ached as I crawled across the wreckage toward him, ignoring the blood soaking into my clothes, the shards of wood cutting into my skin. "I saw you. I felt you. You came back because of me."
His chest heaved, every muscle in his body straining as if he were holding himself together by sheer force. He shook his head, jaw tight. "You don't know what I am."
"Yes," I whispered, finally reaching him. My fingers brushed his cheek, sticky with blood. He tried to turn away, but I held on, forcing him to meet my gaze. "You're Kael. My mate. Not a monster."
His eyes burned, grief and fury and disbelief warring in their depths. For a moment, I thought he'd push me away, that the shame eating him alive would win.
But then he broke.
His body slumped forward, his forehead pressing against my shoulder, his breath ragged as if he'd run for miles. My arms moved on their own, wrapping around him, holding him tightly despite the blood and the fear and the way he trembled.
For the first time since I'd met him, he didn't fight it. He didn't fight me. We stayed like that in the ruins of the cabin, surrounded by the bodies of his enemies, bound together by something stronger than fear.
The bond thrummed between us, steady now, like a heartbeat we shared. And for the first time, I wasn't afraid of it.
For a long time, neither of us moved.
Kael stayed slumped against me, every muscle in his body trembling as though the fight had burned him down to nothing. His breath was uneven, ragged, like each one scraped against broken glass. I held him, my hands smeared with blood that wasn't ours, my heart still racing from what had nearly happened.
But eventually, the silence pressed too heavy. Reality clawed its way back in.
The cabin floor was littered with bodies. The stench of blood would draw more. And somewhere out there, whoever had sent these rogues would know by now that their plan had failed. They'd come again.
Kael must have felt the same truth settle between us, because he finally pulled back. His eyes found mine, shadows still clinging to them, but sharper now. More focused.
"This wasn't random," he said, voice low, roughened with exhaustion and something darker. His gaze swept over the bodies, jaw tightening. "Rogues don't hunt in packs this organized. Someone sent them."
I swallowed, my stomach twisting. "For me."
His head snapped toward me, the bond tightening like a rope pulled taut.
"You felt it too," I whispered. "They weren't just attacking you. They wanted me."
A growl rumbled deep in his chest, sharp and furious, but not directed at me. His hands curled into fists at his sides, every line of his body screaming tension. "Then they'll regret it."
I should have been afraid of the steel in his voice, of the fire in his eyes, but I wasn't. Instead, a strange calm settled over me. Because he wasn't just dangerous—he was dangerous for me.
Still, the fear of what it meant gnawed at me. "Why? Why would anyone want me?"
His expression darkened, shadows pulling across his features. For a moment, he didn't answer. Then his jaw clenched, his voice low.
"Because you're more than you realize. And now, so do they."
The weight of his words settled over me, thick and cold.
I wanted to demand answers, to force him to explain—but the look in his eyes stopped me. There was no room for questions here. Not yet.
Instead, he stood, his body still trembling from the shift, but his presence commanding all the same. He extended his hand to me, bloodied and scarred but steady.
"We can't stay here," he said. "They'll send more. Stronger. If we're going to survive this, you have to trust me."
I stared at his hand, then at him. The man who had nearly killed me. The man who had just saved me. The man fate had bound me to, whether I understood it or not.
And despite everything—the blood, the danger, the fear—I took his hand.