Kael

Breakfast did not go as planned.

I slammed my bedroom door behind me, leaned against it, and slid all the way to the floor like a melted popsicle.

“Roundy. Be honest with me right now. Are you one hundred percent sure the only glitch was making me Kael’s mate? Because I’m starting to think you accidentally made my new found family the actual psychopaths."

I started pacing. Bare feet on cold marble. Syrup still sticky between my fingers.

“Did you see Mrs Voss, I mean, Mother? She was crying happy tears because I committed pancake genocide. That’s not normal.”

{…}

Silence.

Then a new voice, soft, sleepy, and definitely not Roundy’s.

(Elena? Finally… it’s been years.)

I froze mid-step.

“Roundy. Glowstick. Buddy. Tell me you can change voices, because that was impressive.” I gave the air two sarcastic thumbs-up.

(Who’s Glowstick? It’s me, Bree. Your wolf.)

My knees decided that was the perfect moment to stop working. I sat down hard on the rug.

“What. What. How. I’m actually a wolf? Like… fur and paws and howling?”

I fumbled for my phone, hands shaking, opened Reddit and hammered out a post:

r/OddHappenings

Title: Suddenly hearing a woman’s voice in my head calling herself my wolf. Am I haunted or just losing it?

Top comment in 0.3 seconds:

You’re definitely haunted. Try holy water.

Second comment:

Exorcist. Now.

Third comment:

Werewolf. Duh.

I scrolled faster. None of the answers felt right.

“Roundy?” I whispered.

A sleepy orb flickered into existence near the ceiling, dim and yawning. {Yeah? I’m trying to recharge after that pancake massacre.}

“Are you hearing this too? There’s another system in me. Her name is Bree. This is scary. Also, what is your actual name anyway?”

{Bree is your wolf, genius. I told you you’re a werewolf now.}

“You said wolf king! I thought you meant metaphorically! Like ‘grrr he’s possessive’ not literal tail and claws!”

(I can feel your panic, Elena. Please breathe. Let me explain.)

Another explanation. Great. My brain was already full.

Bree’s voice was gentle, almost shy. (I don’t understand everything that happened either, but I know I’ve been trapped, locked away, unable to reach you for twelve years.)

“Twelve years?” I rubbed my temples. “But in the movie Elena transforms all the time.”

(I don’t know what a movie is, but yes, you could shift. It just… wasn’t me doing it. Something was controlling the shifts. I was frozen until… until you almost died and our mate saved you.)

I went very still.

“Hold up. Rewind. I, Elena, almost died? And mate means Kael? Break it down. Slowly.”

(Yes. Someone strangled you. Almost killed you. Kael stopped it. The moment his hands touched your throat to check if you were breathing, something inside me woke up. I felt the bond snap into place. That’s when I could finally move again.)

I stared at the wall.

“Who tried to kill me?”

A long pause.

(Kael did.)

I blinked.

Then blinked again.

“What the actual fuck.”

KAEL

The basin steamed, silver-laced acid eating through flesh like it was starving.

I pushed my hand deeper.

Skin blistered, peeled, curled away in soft white ribbons.

Good.

Let it burn.

These were the same fingers that had closed around her throat.

Not me.

Never me.

But the hand is still mine.

A low, broken growl rumbled from the back of my mind, not Leka’s cold amusement, but something warmer.

Something that had been silent for centuries until last night.

(It wasn’t you, Ka.)

El’s voice.

My wolf.

He sounded exhausted, like he’d spent the night running until his paws bled.

I didn’t answer.

I couldn’t.

Because even if it wasn’t me, I had watched.

I had stood in the cage of my own skull and watched Leka lift her off the ground by her neck.

Watched her violet eyes bulge.

Watched her lips part, soundless, begging.

I could have fought harder.

I should have torn myself apart to stop him.

Peter had tried.

Peter had grabbed my arm, shouting my name, pleading.

Leka had laughed with my mouth, and hit Peter so hard he's still unconscious.

Then El had surged forward, wild, desperate, ripping control from both of us.

I remembered the blur of corridors.

The night air on my face.

The single, frantic thought echoing between wolf and man:

Find mate.

Protect mate.

See mate.

I didn’t know if he had.

I didn’t know if she was safe.

I only knew I woke up alone at dawn, hand already in the basin, trying to burn the memory off my bones.

The acid reached bone now.

White gleamed through red.

(It wasn’t you, Ka,) El whispered again, softer.

(We will fix this. We will keep her.)

I closed my eyes.

Her scent still lingered in the back of my throat: warm vanilla, syrup, something bright and alive that made everything in me ache.

I didn’t deserve it.

I didn’t deserve her.

But the bond didn’t care what I deserved.

It only cared that she existed.

And somewhere in this Palace, she was breathing with my mark on her skin and my madness in her future.

I pulled my ruined hand from the water.

Flesh hung in strips.

Blood hissed where it met acid.

I stared at it until the pain blurred my vision.

Then I watched it regenerate, stood, and walked toward the door.

I didn’t know what I would say when I saw her.

I didn’t know if I could look at her without falling to my knees.

But I knew one thing with absolute certainty.

If Leka ever surfaced again,

I would let the earth take both hands.

Both arms.

My heart.

Everything.

Before I let him touch her again.

The bond pulled, gentle but relentless, like a thread tied around my ribs.

She was close.

But I couldn't be closer.

"I'll see you soon Elena,"

AUTHOR'S NOTE

For clarity while reading:

{Roundy speaks in curly braces}

(Bree speaks in parentheses)

This helps separate their voices inside Elena’s mind. Enjoy the chaos!

Oh and Kael uses parentheses sometimes as well.