CHAPTER TWELVE: KAEL

The moment the Raven Claw Pack crossed into our territory, something shifted in the air. I felt it like a whisper against my consciousness, foreign yet achingly familiar.

Standing at my office window, Ezra one of the pack warriors on duty linked me of their arrival so I proceeded to the pack border but my wolf was restless, pacing beneath my skin with an urgency I couldn't name. I'd been feeling this way for a couple of days, probably because of the unexpected rogue attack on the eastern region.

'What is it?' I asked him, but he offered no answers, only a low whine that vibrated through my chest.

The afternoon sun cast long shadows across the grounds as I made my way to greet Beta Victor and his pack. Diplomatic niceties required my attention, but my senses were heightened, searching for something I couldn't identify.

The scent of pine and wildflowers from their territory mingled with our own cedar and mountain air, but underneath it all was something else, something that made my pulse quicken.

As I shook hands with Victor and his wife Nadine, exchanging formal greetings and condolences for the lost Alpha and werewolves, my eyes swept over their pack members.

Families clustered together some looking apprehensive, others curious. Children peeked out from behind their parents, and teenagers tried to appear nonchalant while taking in their new surroundings.

But still, that presence eluded me. It was there, like a melody I couldn't quite hear, a warmth I couldn't quite touch.

The welcome meeting was scheduled for tomorrow evening, giving both packs time to settle and prepare. I threw myself into final arrangements, but concentration proved elusive. Even Stephan noticed my distraction when he arrived, his ancient eyes studying me with knowing amusement.

"You seem... unsettled, old friend," he observed, settling into the chair across from my desk with his characteristic grace.

"Just ensuring everything goes smoothly," I replied, but the lie felt hollow even to me.

As dusk approached, I found myself on my balcony, needing a quick run and the cool evening air to clear my head. The transformation came naturally, bones shifting and elongating as my wolf took control. In this form, my senses were sharper, more attuned to the subtle energies that flowed through our territory as I ran.

And that's when I felt her.

The presence I'd been sensing all day suddenly blazed brighter, pulling at something deep in my chest. My wolf's ears perked forward, every instinct telling me to find the source. I ran forward and stopped at the back of the pack infirmary.

Above, on one of the private room balconies, a figure moved forward and leaned on the hand rail. From this distance, even in the dim light, I knew it was her. The unknown presence had a face now delicate features framed by the lightest blonde hair. She breathed in the crisp night air, exhaled and opened her eyes revealing the most mesmerizing green eyes.

She traced the hand rail and stared into the dark before spotting me. When our eyes locked I froze and it seemed like she froze too but in a matter of seconds she cowered and hit her back on the sliding doors.

My wolf whined softly, wanting to go to her, but something held me back. This feeling, this connection it was too intense, too sudden. I was an Alpha, responsible for two packs now. I couldn't afford to be distracted by... what? Attraction? I couldn't afford to be distracted by anything but still, I climbed up the balcony, following the invisible thread that seemed to connect us.

Getting this close to her was almost intoxicating, her scent, I still couldn't figure out what it was but it was pulling me.

She opened her eyes and gasped. I thought she was going to run instead,  she stepped forward staring at my eyes, then scanning my head before sinking her right hand in the fur on the left side of my head running her tiny soft fingers through my fur and damn it felt so good. She sighed and I whimpered staring at her small flustered face. She was so beautiful, I was entranced.

Right as I tilted my head further into her hand, Ryder's voice cut through the night, calling her from inside her hospital room and the spell was broken. She snatched her hand from my fur and stepped back turning to look at the sliding door. My joints chilled and when she turned back I was one with the forest and night.

I watched as Ryder came out, talking to her. His chuckle bouncing around the night before they got in as I ran back to my original destination. What was I thinking? Why am I behaving like a teenager who finally spoke to his crush? This is ridiculous, she's not even my ma..mate... she can't be... I would have felt it, she would have felt it. I can't believe myself right now.

The welcome meeting couldn't come fast enough. I found myself scanning the crowd as both packs gathered, searching for that face, that presence that had occupied my thoughts. When I finally spotted her, standing beside a redhead, the daughter of the gamma of the Raven Claw Pack. I had to force myself to focus on my speech.

But throughout the evening, my attention kept drifting to her. Aria, the redhead had called her. The name suited her, light and musical, like the melody I'd been trying to hear all day. She moved with quiet grace, supporting her friend through the overwhelming experience of finding her mate, smiling warmly at introductions, polite but reserved.

Beautiful didn't begin to cover it. She had an inner light that drew me like a moth to flame, a natural elegance that made every other woman in the room fade to background noise. When she laughed at something Chloe whispered, the sound sent warmth spiraling through my chest.

I tried to tell myself it was just a simple attraction that I could control. She was lovely, I mean gorgeous. My goodness I need to get a grip over myself.

As the discussions on pack rules and the likes wound down and people began to mingle, I found myself staring at her again. Thane and his mate Chloe had a short conversation before leaving her. I watched as she pushed her food around. Wasn't the food nice? I'd found out which chefs made dinner. Stephan tsked at me again and again because of my minimal concentration to our discussion so I paid attention.

I felt her eyes bore the back of my head but when I turned to look at her she'd moved away from the crowd, wandering toward the memorial garden by the right of the backyard where the meeting held. It wasn't a garden per say, it's where we'd placed markers for pack members lost in various conflicts over the years.

Stephan caught my arm as I started to follow.

"Careful, Kael," he murmured, too low for human ears. "Whatever this is you're feeling, it's written all over your face."

But I was beyond caring about discretion. Something was pulling me toward her with increasing urgency, and my wolf was practically clawing at my consciousness, demanding I go to her.

I watched from across the yard as she traced the inscriptions on the memorial stones, her lips moving silently as she read the ancient words. Most people couldn't even pronounce them properly, but she seemed to understand their cadence, their rhythm.

"Sigillum rumpere,("To break the seal,)" I heard her whisper, and my blood ran cold. "Vitam dare("To give life.)"