Chapter 8

Elara's POV

"Show me your wrist," Alpha Cross said, and the words landed so plainly in the quiet morning air that for a moment nobody moved at all, like the whole clearing was holding its breath along with me.

"Excuse me?" I said, though my hand had already curled instinctively toward my sleeve, some old animal part of me trying to hide the mark before I'd even decided whether hiding it was the right choice.

"You heard me." Alpha Cross took a step forward, and one of Kael's own border guards shifted subtly to block his path, close enough to be a message without being an outright threat.

"There are rumors moving through the packs already, about a mark, about something that happened in these woods last night. I'd like to see for myself whether there's any truth to them before I decide what to tell my son."

My stomach turned at the mention of Ryker, at the thought of him hearing about the mark before I'd even had a chance to understand it myself, and I felt Kael's attention sharpen beside me, though his voice when he spoke stayed maddeningly calm.

"She doesn't owe you anything," Kael said. "Not her wrist, not an explanation, and certainly not access to whatever private matters occurred on my land last night.

You came here shouting about kidnapping, Alpha Cross. I'd be careful about switching your story a second time in front of witnesses."

Alpha Cross's jaw worked like he wanted to argue, but something in Kael's tone made even a proud man like him think twice.

And I found myself grateful in a way I didn't fully understand yet, because a week ago the idea of anyone standing between me and an angry Alpha would have seemed impossible.

"I only want to understand what happened," Alpha Cross said, softer now, though I didn't trust the softness any more than I'd trusted the shouting. "Elara, you grew up in my pack. Whatever's happened between you and Ryker, whatever mistakes he made last night, you're still one of ours. If something is wrong, if something dangerous has attached itself to you, I need to know so I can protect you properly."

The word protect nearly made me laugh, bitter and sharp in my chest, because protection wasn't a word Ashwood pack had ever spent much time offering me, not when I was the omega nobody wanted to train, not when Ryker rejected me in front of two hundred people and his own father put a proud hand on his shoulder like he'd done something right.

"You didn't protect me last night," I said, and my voice came out steadier than I expected, steady enough that Alpha Cross actually flinched, just slightly.

"You stood beside your son while he humiliated me in front of the entire pack, and you told me to go back inside like I was a mess someone needed to clean up. I don't owe you my wrist, and I don't owe you an explanation for anything that's happened to me since I left."

For a long moment, nobody spoke. The warriors behind Alpha Cross shifted uncomfortably, and even Soren, standing a few feet behind Kael, looked like he was trying very hard not to smile at something he probably shouldn't find satisfying.

"This isn't over," Alpha Cross said finally, though the fight had gone out of his voice, replaced by something more careful, more calculating.

"Whatever's happening here, whatever you two think you're keeping quiet, word is already spreading. I'd rather you heard the rest of it from family than from strangers."

"She has family," Kael said quietly. "Right now, standing here, I don't see much evidence of it."

Alpha Cross held Kael's gaze for a long moment, something unreadable passing behind his eyes, and then he turned without another word, gathering his warriors with a sharp gesture and disappearing back into the trees on the Ashwood side of the border,

leaving the morning air quiet again except for the birds that had gone silent during the whole exchange and were only now starting to sing again.

I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding, and my knees felt suddenly unsteady, like the anger that had carried me through the confrontation was draining out all at once and leaving something shakier behind.

"You did well," Kael said, turning to face me fully for the first time since we'd left the cottage, his eyes searching my face like he was checking for cracks.

"I don't feel like I did well. I feel like I just made an enemy of my own pack's Alpha in front of witnesses."

"You made an enemy of a man who was already looking for a reason to see you as one," Kael said. "The difference is, now he knows you won't fold just because he raises his voice. That matters more than you think, especially with what's likely coming."

"What is likely coming?"

Kael's expression turned grave, and Soren, still standing a few feet away, let out a slow breath like he'd been waiting for this exact question.

"If Alpha Cross suspects something about that mark," Kael said, "he won't keep it to himself for long, no matter what he told you about protecting family.

Men like him trade information for favors.

By tonight, or tomorrow at the latest,

I'd wager every Alpha within three territories has heard a version of what happened in these woods. And not all of them will come to that border asking politely."