Kael’s Point Of View“Elara,” she said again, her voice no longer soft or trembling, but laced with steel, velvet, and something ageless.The sound of it wrapped around me like a spell.I tilted my head, my fingers still curved loosely around her arms as I stared down at her… no, at the wolf now staring back through her eyes. That wasn’t Ayla in there anymore. At least… not completely.“Elara,” I repeated, slower this time, letting the name roll across my tongue like a revelation, or a prayer whispered too close to danger. “So the wolf finally awakens.” She nodded once, a flicker of pride and ancient wisdom threading through the small motion.And that’s when I saw it.The bruises that had marred her earlier… gone. The shallow scrapes that lined her throat… vanished. Every inch of pain and damage she’d endured had been erased, sealed by power now shimmering just beneath her skin like silver fire, like lightning frozen just under the surface, waiting.I could feel it. Taste it.That bon
Kael’s Point Of View“Only you.”The moment I said it, I regretted it. Not because it wasn’t true, but because it was too true. Too much. Too soon. And yet… not soon enough.Her lashes fluttered. Her lips were parted like a question she didn’t dare ask. Her skin… gods, her skin, still carried bruises I should’ve slaughtered kingdoms for. And all I could think about was how close she was. How close and how far.‘Mine.’ Fenrir’s voice snarled inside my head, a low, primal thrum in the back of my skull. ‘Touch her. Claim her. She’s right here. Mark her. Before someone else does. Before she runs again.’I clenched my jaw, hard enough to ache. No. Not yet. She wasn’t ready. I wasn’t ready. “I can feel you holding back,” she whispered, barely audible, like she was afraid the words might tip the fragile air between us.I almost laughed… almost. “You think this is me holding back?” She looked at me through lashes still wet from her earlier tears, and it gutted me. “Isn’t it?”Gods.If she onl
Ayla’s Point Of ViewI don’t know who moved first. Maybe it was him. Maybe it was me. But suddenly the space between us was gone.His body caged mine, but he wasn’t touching… not yet, not where I needed him to. His arms were on either side of me, braced against the wall, his head bent low, his breath stirring the air between us like something forbidden, hot and slow and too much.I could feel him, even without contact. Could feel the heat pouring off his skin like smoke rising from a wildfire, curling around me, dragging me into the center of it. I should’ve pulled away. I didn’t. I couldn’t. My hands were curled into fists at my sides, shaking from how tightly I was clenching them.“Careful what you wish for, Moonbeam,” Kael murmured, his voice a sin in silk, brushing across my lips like a touch that wasn’t a touch, close enough to feel but not enough to satisfy.My whole body shivered.I hated him.I hated that I wanted this.I hated how right it felt standing here, backed against a
Ayla’s Point Of View“Let’s start from your name.”“My name…” The words sat on my tongue like a secret I wasn’t sure I was ready to give, like giving it would make everything between us real. Tangible. Irrevocable.But his eyes… gods, those eyes. They weren’t just blue, they were winter, storm clouds rolling over frozen oceans, wild winds curling through ice. And for the first time, I realized… they were soft right now. Soft for me.“It’s Ayla,” I whispered. “My name is Ayla.”He didn’t smirk this time. He didn’t make some clever remark, or tease, or grin like he was winning some game.Kael just nodded.Soft. Slow. Like my name was something valuable and he didn’t dare break it by rushing through it. “Ayla,” he repeated, voice low, rough, curling like smoke over my skin. “Yeah. That fits.”I tried not to shiver.Tried. Failed. “I know yours,” I blurted suddenly, needing to fill the space between us with anything else. “Kael. I heard… I heard that lady call you that.” The corner of his
Kael’s Point Of View“Make me.”The wild, confused flush rising on her cheeks was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. Not fear anymore. Something else. Something she didn’t want to name. And I was dangerously close to wanting it.I should’ve stopped.Should’ve given her space, reassured her, been the good man, the reasonable one, the one who deserved a mate.But I didn’t want to be good.Not now. Not here. Not with her biting her lip to keep from saying whatever wild thing was about to fall from her tongue. “You don’t even know me,” she whispered, voice shaking with more than just fear now.I leaned closer, just enough that I could feel the heat of her skin brush the air between us. “I don’t need to know you,” I murmured. “I feel you.” My wolf, Fenrir, rumbled in agreement deep in my bones. ‘Mine. Ours. Claim her. Touch her. Taste her.’She was trembling, but not from the cold.Good.I liked the trembling. I lived for it. “You think I brought you back to this pack because I’m a go
Kael’s Point Of ViewCalia’s hands clawed at mine, nails scraping against my skin, but I didn’t even feel it. I leaned in close, slow, deliberate, letting her see it. The black crawling through my eyes, the silent, controlled hatred rising from somewhere cold and bottomless.“You dare,” I whispered, voice low and coiled like a viper about to strike, “to lay your filthy hands on what’s mine.” She gurgled, kicking weakly beneath me, panic finally overtaking that smug smile she’d worn like a crown.“Alpha… p-please…”I squeezed tighter. Not enough to kill.Just enough to teach. “You think you decide who dies here?” My lips peeled back, teeth sharp, canines half-shifted. “You think you can put your filthy, envious claws on her and decide she’s beneath you?”She shook her head frantically, gasping, tears smearing her eyeliner. “I… I didn’t know… I thought…”“That’s the problem,” I hissed. “You don’t think. You don’t get to think.” Fenrir snarled in approval. ‘Rip her throat out. Mark the s