Chapter 5

The dresses arrived in the afternoon.

Three of them, each hanging inside a dark garment bag delivered by a silent staff member. I unzipped the first one and stared at the deep green fabric, clean lines, expensive cut. The second was black. The third was a dark wine color that caught the light when I shifted it.

None of them looked like anything I would have chosen for myself.

I left them on the bed and walked to the window. The training grounds below were busier than usual. Wolves moved in formation. Voices carried faintly through the glass. Tomorrow at sundown I would stand in front of all of them as Kael’s wife.

The title still felt like something borrowed and poorly fitted.

A knock sounded at the door. I expected Rylan. Instead, Kael stepped inside when I opened it.

He closed the door behind him and glanced once at the dresses on the bed.

“You haven’t chosen.”

“I was deciding,” I said.

He walked further into the room, stopping near the foot of the bed. His presence changed the air the way it always did—made the space feel smaller. I stayed by the window.

“The green one,” he said. “It will do.”

I raised a brow. “You’re choosing my clothes now?”

“I’m preventing unnecessary attention.” His eyes moved to my face. “The gathering is not the place for statements.”

“Everything about this arrangement is already a statement.”

Kael was silent for a moment. Then he said, “You will stand at my side for the duration of the formal welcome. After that you may leave when you wish. You are not required to socialize beyond what is necessary.”

“How generous.”

His jaw tightened almost imperceptibly. “I am trying to make this survivable for both of us.”

The honesty in the words caught me off guard. I looked away first, back toward the trees beyond the glass.

“Why did you come to my room?” I asked.

“To confirm you understood expectations for tomorrow.”

“I understand them.”

He did not leave. The silence stretched. I could feel the old bond stirring again, low and persistent, the way it did whenever he stood this close. My wolf pushed against my control, drawn to something I had spent three years trying to starve.

Kael’s voice was quieter when he spoke again.

“You look at me like you expect me to apologize.”

I turned my head. “I stopped expecting that a long time ago.”

Something shifted in his expression—small, controlled, but not fully hidden. He took one step closer. Not enough to touch. Enough that I had to tilt my chin slightly to hold his gaze.

“The rejection was necessary,” he said.

“For you.”

“For the pack.”

I gave a short, humorless breath. “You always did prefer the clean version of the story.”

His eyes darkened. For a moment I thought he might finally say something real. Instead he stepped back, the distance returning like a door closing.

“Wear the green dress,” he said. “Be ready by sundown. Rylan will escort you.”

He left without waiting for a reply. The door clicked shut behind him.

I stood in the quiet room and stared at the three dresses on the bed. After a long moment I reached for the green one and laid it out carefully.

Outside, the light was beginning to change. Evening would come soon. Then morning. Then the gathering.

I sat on the edge of the bed and pressed my palms together, steadying my breathing.

Tomorrow the pack would look at me and see a contract.

I would look at Kael and see the man who had once chosen everything else over me.

And somewhere beneath all of it, the bond neither of us had managed to kill completely would keep pulling—quiet, unwanted, and still alive.