Ingrid's POV
The silence after Jaena left was deafening. I stood there for a long time, motionless, staring at the empty doorway — the place her fear had just filled. The air still carried her scent, sharp with adrenaline.
My reflection in the bathroom mirror was unrecognizable.
Eyes too sharp. Posture too still.
The kind of stillness that came from holding everything in for too long.
I pressed my palms to the marble sink and lowered my head. The cool surface grounded me just enough to keep my wolf quiet — barely.
Faunee.
Her name echoed through me like a whisper caught between thoughts. The bond pulsed faintly in my chest, a warm throb beneath the skin. I could feel her emotions in the background — soft laughter, a flicker of joy. For a second, it didn't make sense.
Laughter?
After everything she'd been through?
But then I realized… she was safe.
And maybe, just for a moment, happy.
The corner of my mouth twitched into something almost like a smile.
She had that effect on me — light cutting through the cracks of something far too dark.
I wanted to see her. Needed to.
Soon,
I promised, pushing off the counter.
My hand hovered over my chest where the bond pulsed again, stronger this time. I closed my eyes and leaned into it — the faint trace of her warmth, the sound of her laughter, the way her presence steadied everything wild inside me.
Maybe I was still worth saving.
Or maybe she'd just make me believe I was.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Faunee's POV
I couldn't stop smiling.
Thalora was still giggling beside me, splashing water toward my face every time I tried to speak.
"Stop it!" I laughed, shielding my face with one hand.
She stuck out her tongue and sank deeper into the water again. "You're blushing like a teenager. Ingrid must be thinking about you."
"Yeah, right," I said, rolling my eyes. But the warmth blooming in my chest betrayed me.
Because somewhere, deep in the place where words couldn't reach, I could feel her.
A steady pulse. Familiar. Strong.
My wolf stirred at the sensation, stretching inside me like it had been waiting for that exact touch.
Ingrid.
Her name brushed through my mind like a heartbeat — rough and commanding and strangely gentle at the same time.
For a second, I let myself lean into it, closing my eyes as the bond hummed softly beneath my skin. Every time it did, I felt a strange ache. Like missing someone I hadn't even had the chance to truly know yet.
I didn't understand her.
The Alpha.
The killer.
The woman who'd saved us.
But somehow, I trusted her.
Thalora's voice broke my trance. "You good?"
I blinked and nodded, smiling faintly. "Yeah. Just thinking."
"About your sexy mate again?"
I splashed her back, laughing despite myself.
Maybe she was right. Maybe I was thinking about Ingrid — but not in the way Thalora assumed.
It wasn't lust or curiosity. It was… a pull.
Something old and cosmic. Something written by the Moon Goddess herself.
And though the warmth of the bath held me here, safe and content, a small part of me already longed to see her — to know the truth behind those cold eyes.
Because I could feel it, deep down in the bond that tied us:
She wasn't just my Alpha.
She was my breaking point and my salvation — both waiting at the edge of the same heartbeat.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ingrid's POV
The cell smelled of damp stone and burnt sage. My boots echoed against the marble floor as I stepped inside, my presence filling the narrow space with the weight of authority.
Thalora, Ziko, and Faunee sat together on the long wooden bench along the back wall. Chains no longer bound them — they were guests now, not prisoners — but I could still taste the tension in the air.
Thalora's head snapped up first, eyes narrowing. "To what do we owe this royal visit?"
The nerve of this girl….
I didn't answer. My gaze found Faunee.
She looked up slowly, strands of hair sticking to her damp cheek. There was defiance in her eyes — always. Even when she was exhausted, even when she was broken. It was what drew me to her and infuriated me in equal measure.
"I see the accommodations meet your expectations," I said coolly.
Ziko muttered something under his breath. I ignored it.
Faunee stood. The movement was small, but commanding in its own right. "You could've just said you missed us, Alpha."
The sarcasm stung more than I wanted it to. I let out a short breath and gestured toward the door. "Walk with me." I pushed my hands into the pockets of my dark coat
Her brow furrowed. "Why?"
"Because I asked," I said, my tone leaving no room for argument.
Ziko shot her a look, half-warning, half-encouragement.
Thalora mouthed something that looked suspiciously like good luck.
Faunee followed, silent, her scent trailing behind like heat on air.
The forest pressed in around me, every shadow sharp, every rustle of leaves a whisper I couldn't ignore.
My trench coat clung to me like armor, though it did little to stop the heat that coiled low in my chest every time I caught Faunee's gaze. She moved like she belonged here, like the forest obeyed her, and I felt like an intruder in my own skin.
I didn't know her. I barely knew her. And yet… there was this pull asides the mate bond, this magnetic, undeniable force I couldn't explain.
My pulse thudded painfully in my ears whenever her dark brown eyes flicked to mine. I wanted to step closer, to let that pull take over, but terror and pride held me back.
Mates were supposed to be effortless, instinctual. This was not effortless. I wasn't ready.
"You're quiet," she said softly, and my stomach twisted. Her voice—normally so confident, so teasing—was low, vulnerable even, and it made something ache inside me.
"I'm… thinking," I said, though it sounded brittle even to me.
She tilted her head, the tiniest smirk teasing her lips. "About?"
Her steps fell slower, we walked side by side.
I swallowed hard. My throat felt dry. "Everything that's happened in the last few days"I whispered, because if I admitted to what was bugging me,
I might be revealing too much too soon. She raised an eyebrow suspiciously,
There was a moment of stillness, heavy and almost painful. The air between us felt charged, like the storm before a lightning strike. I hated the way my chest ached, hated the way my pulse raced, hated that I couldn't just ignore her.
"My mother had eyes like yours, deep gray that turned warm silver when she was excited" her voice was softer, filled with so much emotion, fragile in a way I hadn't heard before. My stomach lurched. Every instinct in me wanted to brace myself, but I couldn't look away.
I cleared my throat, the lump there hardly dissolving
"Oh, uh, how is she?" This kind of conversations weren't really my strong suits
"Dead," she said flatly
Oh.
"she died in a virus that broke out in my pack years ago." Faunee laughed bitterly.
"I wasn't even there" Her voice came out barely a whisper.
She looked at me then, really looked, and I felt my defenses quiver under the weight of her gaze. "I've carried that helplessness for a long time. But I don't want to carry it with you."
Her honesty—her raw, unpolished truth—struck me like a blow I didn't see coming. My chest tightened, my throat burned, and my fingers twitched against the heavy fabric in my pockets.
I wanted to say something. I wanted to reach out. But words stuck, meaningless, on my tongue. I could only meet her gaze and let the storm of emotions inside me rage in silence.
"Faunee,I'm s-"
A small remorseful smile graced those beautiful heart shaped lips of hers
"It's fine…"
"Run with me"
Her gaze meet mine,
"What?"
I shrugged the coat off, leaving me in my silk black button up shirt and pants
A grin creeped its way up to my lips as Faunee stared at me
"Like what you see?"
Her expression switched to visibly repulsed as she rolled her eyes and scoffed
"I was just wondering why you always wear black"
I shrugged lightly
"It's cool"
"You're old"
"What? I'm 26!"
"Oldie"
I wasn't winning this.
"yeah whatever"
Before Faunee could say other annoying thing,
That primal, instinctive pull that made my body ache and my mind spin.
Muscles tensed, fur sprouted, and the world sharpened around me. Bones cracked and reformed as I shifted, the forest exploding into scents and sounds that overwhelmed my senses.
"Oh, she's huge"
Faunee gasped as she stared at kaya
An inner sense of pride filled me
Kaya purred
"Let's see who's faster,"
She mummured as I heard the crushing sounds of bones breaking and the sprouting of fur
Her silvery grey fur gleamed under the mid-day sun
She was beautiful.
And we ran. And every leap, every bound, every brush of our sides was a silent conversation filled with tension, curiosity, and desire we weren't ready to name.
I could feel her heat, her strength, her presence like a tether I wasn't sure I wanted to follow—and yet couldn't resist.
Eventually, we slowed at the Niad River.
The water goddesses flowed with waves, they looked ethereal, I don't remember the last time I was here.
Exhaustion and adrenaline left us panting, lying close in the damp grass. My side brushed against hers, and a shiver ran through me—fear, want, uncertainty all tangled together.
I wanted to pull away, but the warmth of her so close to me, steady and real, anchored something inside me I didn't know how to name.
Sleep came slowly, reluctantly, like it was afraid to take me from the tension that still hummed in my body.
And as I drifted, I realized that even as strangers, even with fear and confusion twisting between us, there was no denying it—something had begun here. Something dangerous, something necessary. Something I wasn't ready for, but maybe…..
Maybe I was.