THE COLD

Nova Quinn

I didn’t sleep that night.

Not after what happened.

Not after what didn’t.

I lay on top of the covers, arms crossed over my chest, heart doing laps behind my ribs, still trying to make sense of what had just unfolded.

The mate bond had snapped tight between us — undeniable. Raw. Cosmic. And Kael had kissed me like the world was ending. Like he needed me to breathe. Like he’d burn for me if I asked him to.

And then he’d stopped.

Walked away.

Like it meant nothing.

By morning, I’d rewritten the kiss in my head five times.

In one version, he let it happen because he lost control. In another, he regretted it before it started. And in the one that hurt most — he felt nothing at all.

I hated how much I cared.

I hated that I kept replaying the way he looked at me — like I was the solution to a problem he didn’t want solved.

I dragged myself into the bathroom, splashed cold water on my face, and tied my curls into a messy braid. My eyes were a little swollen, but not red.

No one would know.

No one would ever know.

The house was quiet when I stepped out of the room. Too quiet. The kind that hums beneath your skin and makes you feel like you’re being watched.

I followed the scent of coffee into a steel-toned kitchen that looked more like a weapons display than a place people cooked.

Mara — the silver-eyed Delta from yesterday — leaned against the counter with a steaming mug in hand. She looked me over like she was sizing me up for a fight.

“Morning, inferno.”

I raised a brow. “That what they’re calling me now?”

She sipped. “Better than ‘the abomination who almost lit the Alpha on fire.’”

“I wasn’t aiming for him.”

She snorted. “Could’ve fooled me.”

Kael wasn’t there.

Not at the table. Not in the hall. Not in the living room with the floor-to-ceiling windows I was trying very hard not to admire.

Coward.

“I’m supposed to train you,” Mara said, setting her mug down. “Orders came through last night.”

I blinked. “Train me?”

“Fight. Control. Power management. Your basic ‘don’t set the world on fire when you’re emotional’ package.”

“And Kael couldn’t be bothered to tell me that himself?”

“He doesn’t train anyone. He commands. You follow.”

“Right.” I crossed my arms. “Because I’m just a threat to be managed.”

Mara’s face softened a fraction. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on between you two, but if the bond snapped, and he didn’t claim you… that’s not nothing. That’s pain. For both of you.”

I stared at her.

Then turned away.

“I’ll meet you outside in ten,” I said flatly.

Blackridge’s training grounds were carved into the forest behind the estate. Wide dirt clearings, reinforced dummies, weapons racks. I recognized a few of the patrol wolves from yesterday. They watched me like I was made of acid.

Mara tossed me a weighted staff.

“Let’s see what you’ve got.”

I caught it, took one look at the weapon, and spun it through my fingers with ease.

She raised a brow. “Nice. Where’d you learn that?”

“Foster system had one perk — a half-crazed house dad who ran a martial arts studio out of his garage.”

“Useful trauma.”

“The best kind.”

We sparred for an hour. I moved faster than I ever had. My skin ran hot the entire time — not uncontrolled, but barely leashed. The fire inside me wanted out.

“Don’t hold it back,” Mara said. “That’s how you lose control. Give it shape.”

“I don’t know how.”

“Then learn.”

I scowled. “You’re a great motivator.”

“I’m not here to coddle you, Nova. You want to survive in a world that doesn’t know what to do with you? Fight like it’s already trying to bury you.”

She meant it. Every word. And I hated that she was right.

After the fourth round, I collapsed on the ground, breathing hard, muscles burning. The staff rolled from my grip.

That’s when I sensed him.

Kael.

Watching.

His presence crawled across my skin like a shadow stretching over sun. It wasn’t just in my head — I felt him like gravity.

I didn’t look at him.

Didn’t speak.

But I knew he was there. And I knew he was hurting. Because I was too.

Mara followed my eyes. Her voice dropped, low and even. “He hasn’t stopped watching since we started.”

“Does he always spy on people he rejects?”

“Only the ones he can’t stop thinking about.”

I didn’t answer.

I couldn’t.

Later, back in the house, I showered and stared at myself in the mirror.

I didn’t recognise the girl looking back.

She was stronger. Wilder. Sadder.

But her eyes burned like they’d stopped asking permission.

I wrapped a towel around myself and walked to the window. The forest outside swayed with late afternoon wind. Birds scattered. Leaves shivered.

And then I saw him. Far at the edge of the trees.

Kael. Alone. Still.

Watching me.

I pressed a palm to the glass, my skin prickling. The mate bond flared again — just a flicker — and I felt his pain like it was my own.

He hadn’t claimed me.

But that didn’t mean I was broken.

It meant I was free.

For now.

And if he thought I would spend my days waiting to be chosen, he had another thing coming.