3. Something in the Clearing

Blackpine Hollow was old. Older than any pack’s history, older than the blood spilled there — and gods, there’d been plenty.

Frostclaw called it sacred.

Shadowfang called it cursed.

Kaela stood near the outer ring of trees, half-hidden by her hood, her breath sharp in her chest. She wasn’t supposed to be here—not like this. Not as a stand-in. Not under this many eyes.

But with her dad coughing up blood and her mom stuck managing the younger wolves, the Alpha had looked her square in the face and said, “You’ll represent them. Stay quiet. Only speak if addressed. No sudden moves.”

Right. Easy.

Her hands were clammy inside her cloak, heart pounding like it wanted out. She wasn’t scared, exactly. It was more like… her whole body was waiting. Like her bones knew something she didn’t.

And then—he showed up.

Ronan. Shadowfang Alpha. Big, broad, stormy in a way that made the entire hollow tilt for a second when he stepped in.

No one had to announce him. You just knew.

His eyes swept the circle lazily—until they landed on her.

Kaela’s stomach dropped.

Not like a surprise. Not even like fear. More like… gravity. Like the entire world just pivoted.

Her wolf pressed up beneath her skin.

Mate.

It hit so hard she nearly took a step back.

He looked different up close—realer. Sharper. Dark hair pulled back. That brutal kind of quiet men only get when they’ve seen war and made peace with it. No softness. No mercy.

And yet… he looked at her like she was the only goddamn thing in the clearing.

Kaela swallowed hard and turned her head slightly. Too slow. He’d seen her.

And worse—he knew.

The summit started. Frostclaw’s Alpha launched into formalities. Patrols. Territory lines. Trade routes. Blah blah blah.

Kaela couldn’t track a word of it.

Ronan didn’t look at her again. But she felt him. Every damn second.

His Beta, Darrow—grumpy and clearly over it—was the first to snap.

“You’ve expanded eastern patrols past what was agreed,” he said loudly. “That some kind of threat?”

Frostclaw’s Alpha bristled. “We tracked unfamiliar scents. Possible rogues. We responded.”

“No such rogues on our reports.”

“Maybe your scouts are as blind as your manners.”

The air shifted fast—tension crawling like static. Wolves stirred.

And then Ronan spoke.

“If they cross again,” he said cool and flat, “we’ll take it as provocation.”

His voice was quiet, but it cut. Like pressure building under ice. Kaela’s Alpha opened his mouth to spit back—

But Kaela… stepped forward.

“I gave the order,” she said, loud enough to stop every whisper cold. “It wasn’t aggression. Just defense.”

Silence cracked across the hollow.

Ronan’s eyes landed on her again. Hard. But not angry. Just… watching.

Darrow growled, “She wasn’t invited to speak.”

Kaela straightened her spine. “I stand for my parents. That gives me the right.”

She felt like she might pass out. But her voice didn’t shake.

Ronan tilted his head, almost… curious.

“You speak with fire,” he said.

Kaela blinked. “Only when I’m lit.”

He smiled. Barely. But it was enough to knock something loose in her ribcage.

“So does fate,” he said.

And gods help her, her wolf howled.

The rest of the meeting blurred. Some agreements. Some tension. A fragile almost-truce.

But all Kaela could focus on was the heat still pulsing in her hand—because when Ronan passed by her after the talks broke apart, he brushed against her skin.

Just the back of her hand.

Just a second too long.

But it was everything.

Electricity. Heat. Want.

She turned, barely breathing.

He did too.

“You felt it,” he murmured.

Not a question.

And then he walked away like he hadn’t just shattered her world.

That night, Kaela didn’t stay with the others. She slipped away into the trees.

The air was still. But inside her? A hurricane.

She looked at her hand. Still tingling.

The bond was real. Not some romantic tale. Not a game.

She didn’t want it.

She didn’t ask for any of this.

And still…

Still.

She leaned back against a tree and whispered into the cold air, like if she said it soft enough it wouldn’t be true.

“I think I’m falling.”

Somewhere in the dark, a wolf answered her.