Chapter 5

Kaelen

We walked to the border in dead silence. I knew Jayden was probably mind-linking Shaun to complain about my attitude, but I didn’t care. My mind was completely consumed by Elara. She looked so innocent, so pure, but those intense blue eyes told me there was a deep, hidden fire inside her.

Lou shifted in my head, making his presence known. “Are you okay?” I asked him.

He looked at me with glowing blue eyes, his posture rigid. “You are being stupid about our mate,” he growled.

I sighed heavily. “I’m not rejecting her, Lou. I want her more than I can admit. But the situation is insane. Don’t you think it’s messed up that we are mated to our stepsister?”

Lou let out a low, mocking chuff and lay back down. “You overthink. A mate makes an Alpha strong. We don’t know why she didn’t smell us yet, but she is ours. Period.”

“I know,” I argued back. “But think about it. Susan hides the fact that she has a daughter for seven years, and then that daughter shows up and happens to be our fated mate? Something doesn’t add up. I need the truth before I claim her.”

“We should be at the dinner protecting her,” Lou grumbled.

He was right. Jayden was right, too. But being in an enclosed room with Elara right now would test every ounce of my control. The scent of her sweet strawberries and warm cream made me want to pin her against a wall and mark her right then and there.

Lou’s tail flicked in total agreement with that thought.

“Are you arguing with Lou again?” Jayden’s voice broke my internal conversation. He was looking at me with genuine concern.

“Yeah,” I admitted.

“What does he think of Elara?” Jayden grinned. “I bet he’s giving you hell for skipping out on her welcome dinner.”

I let out a bitter chuckle. Oh, he’s giving me hell alright, just not for the reason you think. “Something like that. He knows I have to focus on my Alpha duties first.”

Jayden gave me a look that said he knew I was hiding something, but thankfully, he let it drop.

We reached the clearing and met up with Shaun. “So, you met the new stepsister,” Shaun beamed. “What’s she like?”

I groaned loudly. “Enough about Elara. I’m going to run the perimeter to make sure the borders are clear. When I get back, no one mentions her name again tonight. Got it?”

My two best friends stared at me like I had completely lost my mind. Honestly, I felt like I had.

I shifted into my large gray wolf and tore into the woods before they could say another word. I ran hard along the border, checking every scent line, but everything was quiet. No rogues, no threats. Just the peaceful woods.

By the time I shifted back and returned to the guys, my anger had cooled into a dull ache. “Look, sorry,” I mumbled, stretching my shoulders. “I want to get to know her, I really do. But I’m under a lot of pressure to take over the pack. I’ll make more of an effort tomorrow.”

Jayden nodded, and Shaun just shrugged. “You really should have been at that dinner, man.”

“Tomorrow,” I promised.

The rest of the night shift went by smoothly as we forced ourselves to talk about pack logistics and upcoming training schedules. But no matter what we talked about, my mind kept drifting back to her bright red hair and sharp outfit.

When the midnight shift change arrived, I was relieved. I love my friends, but I desperately needed to be alone. I told them I’d see them at dawn and headed back to the pack house.

Suddenly, a sharp spark in my mind signaled an incoming link. It was my father. I had ignored his mental calls all night, knowing he was pissed at me for skipping dinner.

I finally opened the link. “Yeah, Dad?”

“KAELEN,” he boomed, making me flinch.

“Don’t shout,” I gritted out, rubbing my temples. “I was on patrol. You know I never skip my sector rotations.”

My father went quiet for a second, letting out a heavy breath. “Fine. But you missed a very important piece of information tonight.”

“What’s that?” I asked, walking through the front doors of the quiet pack house.

“It turns out Elara isn’t twenty-one yet,” my father said.

I stopped dead in my tracks. In my head, Lou’s ears instantly pinned back.

“What do you mean she’s not twenty-one?” I asked, my heart hammering. “Susan literally said she was.”

My father let out a cold, frustrated sigh through the link. “It seems my mate forgot the exact date of her own daughter’s birthday. Elara turns twenty-one this Sunday.”

A rush of absolute fury flooded my veins. What kind of mother forgets her only child’s birthday?

“Are you serious?” I growled, trying to control my temper.

“Yes,” my father said. “So we are throwing her a massive birthday celebration this Saturday night instead. Kaelen, I know I told you to start traveling to find a mate this weekend, but since it’s Elara’s birthday, I’m making an exception. You stay here for the weekend, and you leave next Monday.”

A wave of intense relief washed over me. She isn’t twenty-one. That’s why she didn’t recognize me. Her inner wolf hadn’t matured enough to smell the bond yet. On Sunday, everything would change.

“Understood, Dad,” I said. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

I closed the link, a dark smirk spreading across my face. Lou was practically purring in my mind. We didn’t have to worry about a broken bond anymore. We just had to wait three days.

I walked up the stairs to the third floor. As I approached my little brother’s room, that familiar, intoxicating scent hit me like a wave. Strawberry and cream. It was incredibly strong up here.

I followed the scent trail and realized it was coming from the bedroom directly opposite Thomas’s.

She’s sleeping right across the hall.

Lou stood up, whining frantically, begging me to move closer. I stepped up to her door and placed my hand on the cool metal doorknob. I didn’t turn it. I just closed my eyes, using my advanced hearing to listen through the wood. I couldn’t hear any movement. She was fast asleep.

After a long, agonizing moment, I dropped my hand and walked into my own room at the end of the hall.

My body was on fire. The scent of her clinging to the hallway was pure torture.

“Go back to our mate,” Lou demanded, scratching at my mind.

“Not yet,” I whispered, stripping off my shirt. “We wait until Sunday. Until she can look at us and know exactly who we are.”

Lou growled, but he didn’t argue.

“Besides,” I muttered, staring at the ceiling. “Now we know Susan is definitely hiding something. What kind of mother lies about her kid’s age for seven years?”

Lou narrowed his eyes. “We will protect our mate from her. And on her birthday, she will be ours.”

I didn’t answer. I just walked into my bathroom, turned the dial to freezing cold, and stepped under the water, praying to the Moon Goddess for a single hour of sleep.