LOGINKael’s POVThe northern territory smells like pine and old blood. I've been here before, twice, both times for burials.This time feels worse.The meeting hall sits at the center of a stone fortress carved into the mountainside. Ancient, cold. Built by wolves who understood that power comes from appearing untouchable. I hate it already.Serena walks beside me. Her steps are steady. Her face reveals nothing. But the bond tells me everything. Fear and determination. A thin thread of hope she's trying not to lose. I reach out. Let my fingers brush hers. She doesn't look at me. But her hand turns. Catches mine and holds on. We enter together.The hall is full. Alphas from every major pack in the region. Their seconds. Their advisors. Wolves I've traded with. Wolves I've fought. Wolves I've never trusted and never will.All of them watching us, watching her. The whispers start immediately. That's her, the Silverborne. She doesn't look dangerous. Neither do vipers. I keep my face neutral. M
Serena’s POVThe first punch lands before I see it coming. I hit the ground hard. Dust fills my mouth. Pain blooms across my jaw. "Get up."Kael's voice is flat. No sympathy, no hesitation. I push myself to my knees. Spit dirt. Glare at him. "You could warn me.""Elena won't warn you." He's right. I hate that he's right. I stand. Raise my fists the way he showed me, feet apart. Weight-balanced. Eyes on his center, not his hands. "Again," he says.He moves. This time I see it. Barely. I twist sideways. His fist grazes my shoulder instead of my face. Progress, but not enough. His other hand catches my wrist, pulls, and spins. I'm on the ground again before I can breathe."You're thinking too much," he says from above me. "Your body knows what to do. Trust it." "My body knows how to fall. That's what it knows." Something that might be a smile crosses his face.Then it's gone. "Again." We train for six hours. By the end, my entire body is a bruise. My muscles scream; my lungs burn. But I'
Kael’s POVThe mansion feels different when we return, quieter, heavier.Wolves move through the corridors with their heads down. Some carry wounded. Others carry bodies, We won. But victory tastes like ash in my mouth. I carry Maya to the healing quarters. Lay her on a bed that's already stained with someone else's blood.The healers swarm around her. Hands moving fast. Voices low and urgent. I step back. Serena stands beside me. Her hand finds mine. Neither of us speaks.There's nothing to say. The casualty count comes in by nightfall. Thirty-two dead. Eighteen from Silver Crest. Fourteen from the eastern packs, Another forty wounded. Some will recover; some won't. I read the names on the list.Wolves I've known since childhood. Wolves who trusted me to keep them safe. I failed them. "You didn't fail anyone." I look up.Serena stands in the doorway of my study. Her face is tired. Her clothes are still stained with blood. But her eyes are steady. "You're thinking too loud again," she
Serena’s POVI don't know how they found me. One moment I was behind the lines. Safe. Watching the battle from a distance like Kael ordered.Next, a hand clamped over my mouth. Something sharp pressed against my throat. A voice whispered in my ear. "Scream and you die." I didn't scream; I should have. Now I'm standing at the edge of a battlefield with my hands bound and Elena's wolves at my back, and Kael is staring at me like his world just ended.The bond screams between us. His rage. His fear. His desperate, clawing need to reach me. I feel all of it; I feel him."Let her go." His voice carries across the clearing. Human now. He shifted back without me seeing it. "This is between us, Elena. She has nothing to do with it."Elena laughs.The sound is cold. Musical. Wrong."Nothing to do with it?" She steps closer to me. Her fingers trail along my jaw. I flinch. "She's the whole reason we're here, little Alpha. The prophecy. The power. The bond that makes you weak." Her hand drops."K
Kael’s POVI don't remember moving. One moment I'm standing on the wall. The next time I'm running through the gates. Wolves shout behind me. Someone calls my name; I don't stop.Marcus lies in the dirt. Broken. Bleeding. His face is barely recognizable beneath the bruises and cuts. I drop to my knees beside him. "Father."The word feels wrong in my mouth. Foreign. After everything he did. After everything, he admitted, but he's still my blood, and Elena did this to hurt me. His eyes flutter open. Swollen. Unfocused. "Kael." His voice is a rasp. Barely human." She knows." "Knows what?""Everything," he coughs. Blood flecks his lips. "The tunnels. The weak points. The rotation schedules." My chest tightens. "How?""Someone." He struggles to breathe. "Someone close, very close." "Who?"He shakes his head weakly. "Didn't see. Just heard. A voice. Familiar."His hand reaches up. Grips my arm with surprising strength. "Protect her," he whispers. "Serena. Whatever happens, protect her." "I
Serena’s POVI can't sleep. The bed is warm. Kael's arm is wrapped around me. His breathing is steady and slow, but my mind won't stop.Three days, two hundred wolves. Elena wants us dead. All of us, And somewhere inside these walls, someone is still feeding her information. I stare at the ceiling and count the cracks in the stone.The bond hums quietly in my chest. Kael's exhaustion bleeds through it. His worry. His fear. He's asleep, but even in dreams, he carries the weight. I turn my head and watch him. His face is softer like this. Younger. The hard lines around his jaw relax. The permanent tension in his shoulders eases.He looks almost peaceful. I reach out. Trace my finger along his cheekbone. He doesn't wake. I wonder if he knows how much I need him. How much I've come to depend on his presence. His strength. His stubborn refusal to give up. I wonder if he knows I'm terrified of losing him.The bond pulses, a quiet answer. He knows. I slip out of bed before dawn. The mansion
Kael’s POV"She's not on pack territory." The words hit me like a blade to the chest. I stare at the tracker kneeling in front of me. His head is bowed. His voice is steady, but I can smell his fear. "Explain." "We followed her scent to the eastern border, Alpha." He swallows hard. "It stops at the
Kael’s POVThe scent hits me before I reach the tree line. Blood, fear, and something else underneath something that doesn't belong to my pack. I push harder. My paws tear into the earth. The forest blurs around me.Behind me, three of my wolves follow. I hear their breathing. Their heartbeats. The
Serena’s POV"You're scared of me." The words leave my mouth before I can stop them.Damien pauses mid-step. Slowly, he turns back to face me. The hallway is empty now. Just us. His smile is still there, but something behind it shifts. "Scared?" He tilts his head. "That's an interesting word.""You
Serena’s POVI don't scream. I want to. The fear is right there, clawing at the back of my throat. But I swallow it down and force myself to think.Someone was in my room. While the whole mansion was in chaos. While wolves ran through the halls and guards shouted orders, I stood in Marcus's study,







