Chapter 13

Elara's POV

Kael found me on the porch two mornings later, watching the sun burn the mist off the tree line, and when he sat down beside me on the wooden step, he was quiet for a long moment before he finally spoke, like he'd been turning something over in his mind and hadn't quite decided how to say it.

"I think it's time you saw Nightfall Hollow properly," he said. "The real kingdom, not just this cottage tucked away in the woods where I've been keeping you hidden like a secret."

Something in my chest fluttered at the idea, equal parts excitement and nerves, because as much as the cottage had started to feel safe, it was still a hiding place, and some part of me had started to wonder what it would mean to step fully into whatever life was waiting for me on the other side of that hiding.

"Is it safe?" I asked. "After everything Nyra found about Wren, after Alpha Cross at the border, I thought staying out of sight was the plan."

"It was the plan when we didn't know how far the word had already spread." Kael's expression turned more serious, the easy warmth from a moment ago giving way to something more careful. "But hiding you away only works until it doesn't, and I'd rather you enter my kingdom as my honored guest, under my protection, in front of witnesses who answer to me, than have someone discover you're here and start wondering why their King felt the need to keep you a secret in the first place."

"You think people are already wondering that."

"I think Alpha Cross wasn't the only one who left that border encounter with questions," he said. "And I'd rather answer those questions on my terms, in my own court, than let rumors answer them for me."

I thought about it for a long moment, watching the mist continue to burn away between the trees, and I found myself nodding before I'd fully finished weighing the fear against the strange, steady pull toward wanting to see the place that had shaped him into the man sitting beside me.

"All right," I said. "Take me to your kingdom, then."

The journey to Nightfall Hollow took the better part of the day, first on foot through woods that grew steadily darker and older the further we walked, ancient trees with trunks wider than the pack house back home, and then along a stone road that appeared almost out of nowhere, worn smooth by centuries of travel, winding up through hills toward walls I could see rising in the distance long before we reached them.

The kingdom itself took my breath away in a way I hadn't expected, dark stone buildings that somehow managed to look both imposing and beautiful at once, ivy climbing the walls in places, lanterns already being lit along the main road even though the sun hadn't fully set, and everywhere I looked, Lycans going about their evening, pausing what they were doing to watch us pass with expressions ranging from curious to openly stunned.

"They're staring," I murmured, resisting the urge to shrink smaller under all those eyes, an old habit I'd been trying to unlearn since the night in the forest.

"They're staring because I've never brought anyone here," Kael said quietly, close enough that only I could hear him. "In over a hundred years, Elara, you're the first person I've walked through these gates beside, rather than in front of or behind. That means something to them, even if they don't fully understand what yet."

The weight of that settled over me as we continued through the winding streets, up toward a castle that looked carved directly out of the mountainside behind it, dark stone softened by warm light glowing from dozens of windows, and I found myself gripping Kael's hand a little tighter, grateful for the steady warmth of it as we climbed the wide stone steps toward the entrance.

Soren met us just inside the doors, and behind him stood a small gathering of what I assumed were members of Kael's court, older Lycans with sharp, assessing eyes that swept over me with the kind of scrutiny that made my spine straighten on instinct, refusing to let myself flinch under their attention the way I might have a few weeks ago.

"My King," one of them said, stepping forward, an older man with silver threading through his dark hair and lines around his eyes that spoke of decades spent watching over Kael's kingdom. "We've been expecting your return. And your guest, it seems, has already become the subject of considerable conversation."

"Elder Mathis." Kael's voice carried a note of careful formality I hadn't heard from him before, the warmth from the walk here tucked neatly away behind something more guarded. "This is Elara Ashwood. She'll be staying in the castle as my honored guest, under my full protection, for as long as she wishes to remain."

Elder Mathis's gaze moved to me, and though his expression stayed politely neutral, there was something underneath it, calculating and careful, that reminded me uncomfortably of the way Alpha Cross had looked at me right before he asked to see my wrist.

"Welcome to Nightfall Hollow, Elara Ashwood," Elder Mathis said, his voice smooth and pleasant in a way that didn't quite match the sharpness in his eyes. "I do hope you'll forgive the court's curiosity. It isn't every day our King brings home a guest who's already caused quite so much talk among the neighboring packs."

"I'll try not to disappoint everyone's expectations," I said, keeping my voice steady, and something flickered across Mathis's face, surprise maybe, at finding more backbone than he'd apparently expected from a rejected omega with a mysterious mark.

Kael's hand tightened slightly around mine, a small, grounding pressure, and when I glanced at him, there was something proud in the look he gave me, quiet and warm despite the formal audience surrounding us.

"Come," he said. "Let me show you the rest of your new home before the whole court decides to introduce themselves at once."