Chapter 5 The Alpha Feels It

Far from the Forbidden Forest, inside the Bloodfang Pack territory, Alpha Kael Draven froze mid-step.

The sensation hit him without warning.

Sharp.

Sudden.

Familiar.

His hand went to his chest as a strange pull tightened deep inside him an ache that shouldn’t exist anymore.

The mate bond had been severed.

He had rejected her.

He had felt it snap.

So why 

Why did it feel like something was still there?

Kael’s jaw tightened as the feeling pulsed again, stronger this time. Not the soft warmth of a normal mate bond.

This was different.

Darker.

Heavier.

Powerful.

Like something on the other end had changed.

“Alpha?”

Kael didn’t turn.

Beta Ronan stood a few steps behind him in the training yard, watching carefully.

“You felt that too?” Ronan asked quietly.

Kael’s eyes narrowed.

“You shouldn’t have felt anything,” he said.

Ronan hesitated.

“The air changed for a moment,” the Beta admitted. “Like pressure. The warriors felt it too.”

Kael looked toward the tree line at the edge of the territory.

Toward the forest.

Toward where she had gone.

The pull came again.

Stronger.

Alive.

His voice was low.

“She’s still alive.”

Ronan frowned.

“Who?”

Kael didn’t answer immediately.

But the name formed clearly in his mind.

Elara.

The Forbidden Forest.

The night had grown quieter after the attack, but the tension hadn’t faded.

Elara sat on a fallen log near Lucien’s cabin, staring at her hands. The cracked earth from earlier was still fresh in her mind.

“I killed them,” she said softly.

Lucien leaned against a nearby tree, arms crossed.

“They attacked you,” he replied.

“That doesn’t change what I did.”

Lucien studied her for a moment.

“You’re thinking like prey,” he said.

She looked up.

“I don’t want to become something violent,” she said. “I’m not like that.”

Lucien pushed away from the tree and walked closer.

“You don’t get to decide what power you’re born with,” he said. “You only decide whether you control it… or let it control you.”

Elara looked away.

Control.

That word felt impossible right now.

The power inside her felt like a storm she didn’t understand.

“What happens if I lose control?” she asked quietly.

Lucien didn’t soften the answer.

“Then someone dies.”

Silence fell.

The truth sat heavy between them.

After a moment, Lucien spoke again.

“Starting tomorrow, you train.”

She blinked.

“Train?”

“Yes. Movement. Focus. Emotional control. Blood Moon wolves don’t survive without discipline.”

She hesitated.

“And if I don’t want to fight?”

Lucien’s silver eyes held hers.

“Then you won’t survive long enough to make that choice.”

Miles away, Kael stood at the border of the Bloodfang territory.

The pull hadn’t stopped.

If anything, it had grown stronger with each passing hour.

It wasn’t the mate bond.

That was gone.

But something else remained.

Something deeper.

More instinctive.

Ronan approached carefully.

“You’ve been standing here for an hour,” the Beta said.

Kael didn’t move.

“She’s out there,” Kael said quietly.

Ronan’s expression tightened.

“Elara?” he asked.

“Yes.”

Ronan hesitated.

“With respect, Alpha… you rejected her.”

“I know what I did,” Kael said sharply.

Silence followed.

Then Ronan spoke carefully.

“Then why does it matter if she survived?”

Kael’s jaw clenched.

Because the pull was still there.

Because something inside him felt wrong.

Because when he closed his eyes, he could almost feel her.

Not weak.

Not broken.

Stronger.

And growing stronger.

“That’s exactly why it matters,” Kael said.

Ronan frowned.

“I don’t understand.”

Kael finally turned toward him.

“If she survived the forest without a wolf,” he said, his voice low, “then she’s not as weak as we thought.”

The wind moved through the trees.

Kael’s gaze shifted back toward the darkness beyond the border.

“Send scouts,” he ordered.

Ronan’s eyes widened slightly.

“You want to bring her back?”

Kael didn’t answer immediately.

The pull came again.

Stronger.

Darker.

“No,” he said finally.

“I want to know what she’s becoming.”

Back at the cabin, Elara lay awake on the small bed, staring at the ceiling.

Sleep wouldn’t come.

Every time she closed her eyes, she felt it.

The power.

Slow.

Heavy.

Alive.

It pulsed beneath her skin like a second heartbeat.

She pressed her hand against her chest.

“Why me?” she whispered.

The question disappeared into the quiet room.

But something inside her stirred.

Not a voice.

Not words.

A feeling.

Awareness.

As if whatever lived inside her… was listening.

Her breath caught.

The warmth spread slightly in response to her attention.

Then it settled again.

Waiting.

Watching.

A soft knock sounded at the door.

Elara sat up.

Lucien stepped inside.

“I thought you’d be asleep,” she said.

“Rogues don’t sleep much,” he replied.

He studied her face for a moment.

“You felt it, didn’t you?”

Her stomach tightened.

“Felt what?”

“The connection.”

Her eyes widened.

“You felt it too?”

Lucien nodded once.

“Blood Moon wolves don’t just draw power from the Moon,” he said. “They affect the territory around them. Other wolves can feel it. Especially Alphas.”

Her heart skipped.

“Kael?”

Lucien didn’t answer directly.

But his expression said enough.

“If he’s sensitive,” Lucien said, “he already knows you’re still alive.”

Fear crept into her chest.

“Will he come after me?”

Lucien’s gaze darkened slightly.

“That depends.”

“On what?”

He held her eyes.

“And whether he wants you back… or wants you gone.”

The words settled heavily between them.

Elara swallowed.

“I don’t want to go back,” she said quietly.

Lucien nodded.

“Then you need to get stronger. Fast.”

Outside, the wind picked up, moving th

rough the forest like a warning.

And far beyond the trees, at the edge of the territory…

Alpha Kael Draven took one step into the Forbidden Forest.

Following the pull.