Chapter Five The Wolf's Restlessness (Kael )

Kael hadn’t slept through the night in months.

Every time his eyes closed, his dreams dragged him into the same spiral: dark hair spilling over white sheets, laughter like sunlight cutting through shadows, the scent he couldn’t shake no matter how many borders he patrolled, no matter how many battles he fought.

Aria.

He told himself it was weakness to think of her. A mistake, long buried, best forgotten. He had duties, land to protect, a pack that depended on him, an entire council that watched every move he made. But the bond didn’t care about pride or reason. The bond cared only for what it had lost.

His wolf tore at the cage of his chest, growling in the hollow silence, howling for what it couldn’t name aloud.

Mine.

He paced the length of his chamber, restless. The Alpha’s house was vast, but the walls pressed too close. The air was heavy, thick with expectation and responsibility, and none of it could quiet the storm in his blood. Outside, the pack was settling, torches along the courtyard dimming as the wolves retired for the night. Their hearts beat steady and safe, lulled by their Alpha’s rule. But inside Kael’s chest, only emptiness echoed.

“She’s gone,” he muttered, voice rough in the stillness. He raked a hand through his hair, tugging at the roots until his scalp ached. “We buried that. We buried her.”

The words tasted like ash.

Council meetings had become a battlefield of their own.

Kael’s temper was short, his patience thinner. He snapped at advisers before they finished their sentences, dismissed strategies without hearing them through. His warriors grew stiff and wary in his presence, speaking in clipped tones, careful not to draw the Alpha’s ire. The weight of his restlessness pressed on them all, like storm clouds that refused to break.

It was Elias, his Beta, who finally spoke.

They had been training at dawn, sparring in the ring until sweat ran down their temples and the smell of steel hung sharp in the air. Kael struck harder than necessary, each blow ringing with frustration rather than technique.

“You’re like a storm about to break,” Elias said, lowering his blade after Kael nearly split the practice post in two. “Snapping at shadows, running yourself ragged. What’s eating you?”

“Nothing.”

The word came out clipped, final.

But Elias only raised an eyebrow, wiping his brow with the back of his hand. He had known Kael since they were boys, long before the title of Alpha sat on his shoulders. He wasn’t so easily dismissed.

Kael turned away, unwilling to admit the truth, not to his Beta, not to anyone. An Alpha who carried an old wound was an Alpha with a weakness. And weakness was a luxury he couldn’t afford.

Still, when night fell, the emptiness consumed him all over again. His wolf prowled restlessly beneath his skin, scratching and clawing at the inside of his ribs, pushing him toward dreams he couldn’t stop.

Every time his eyes closed, she was there.

Aria.

Her eyes. Her laughter. Her defiance.

And now… something new. The faint curve of her hand against her belly.

The whispers came with the scouts.

Kael sat in the council chamber, bent over a map of their borders. The parchment stretched wide across the oak table, marked with rivers and forest paths where threats had tested them before. His fingers traced the inked lines absently, his mind elsewhere, when the door opened.

Two scouts slipped inside, rain still clinging to their cloaks. Their expressions were careful, hesitant, the kind of men unsure whether their news was a blessing or a curse.

“Alpha,” one said, bowing low. “Rumors travel from beyond our borders. From across the river, in the human town.”

Kael lifted his head. “Rumors?”

The scout nodded. “A lone she-wolf. Quiet, careful. But different. People whisper of strange things, reflexes too sharp, strength beyond human. Some say she doesn’t belong.”

Kael’s pulse hammered. His wolf surged forward, teeth bared in a silent snarl.

“Descriptions,” Kael demanded, voice low, taut as a bowstring.

The second scout hesitated, eyes flicking nervously to his companion before speaking. “Only that she is young. Dark-haired. And…” His throat bobbed. “She is with child.”

The chamber tilted. Kael gripped the table hard enough to splinter the wood.

With a child.

The words struck deeper than any blade. His wolf roared to the surface, triumphant, hungry. Ours. Ours.

He dismissed the scouts with a sharp gesture before they could see too much. As the heavy doors shut, silence crashed over the room. Kael’s chest heaved, claws threatening to tear through his skin.

Aria. Not gone. Not forgotten. Carrying his blood.

That night, the dreams changed.

He saw her standing in the rain, hair plastered to her cheeks, eyes glowing faint gold. Her hand curved protectively over her stomach. He felt her fear like it was his own, but stronger than fear was the pulse of her strength. Untested. Untamed. But undeniably his.

When he woke, the emptiness was gone.

In its place burned purpose.

He couldn’t ignore her anymore. Couldn’t bury her beneath duty and pride. She was alive. She carried his heir.

The bond between them, ragged and raw, pulled taut. The hunt had begun.

The courtyard was quiet when Kael saddled his black horse before dawn. Mist clung low to the earth, curling around the stones. His blade was strapped to his thigh, his cloak thrown over his shoulders. He moved with swift efficiency, but not swiftly enough to escape Elias’s sharp eyes.

“You’re leaving,” Elias said, stepping into the mist. His tone was flat, certain.

Kael tightened the strap on the saddle. “Beyond the river.”

“Alone?”

“Yes.”

Elias stepped closer, lowering his voice. “What are you chasing, Kael? Because whatever it is, it’s driving you like a madman. You look half feral already.”

Kael met his gaze, jaw tight. “There’s something I need to find.”

“Or someone.”

Kael didn’t answer. His silence was admission enough.

Elias sighed, resigned. “Then at least don’t get yourself killed. The pack needs an Alpha, even if his mind is haunted.”

Kael swung into the saddle. His words were quiet, but they cut like steel. “If I don’t go, the pack won’t have an heir to need me at all.”

Elias’s eyes widened, but before he could demand an explanation, Kael spurred the horse forward and vanished into the forest.

The land beyond the borders was a different world.

Here, the human towns crowded the edges of rivers and roads, their scents muddied with smoke, steel, and oil. Kael moved like a shadow among them, cloaked and silent, listening to every whisper that drifted in taverns and markets.

A woman too quick to be normal.

A crack splintering a diner counter where no human should have had the strength.

A fight in the rain no one could explain.

Each rumor was a breadcrumb, pulling him closer. Each word made the bond inside him thrum, hotter, sharper. His wolf prowled beneath his skin, restless and eager.

Find her. Claim her. Protect ours.

Kael clenched his fists, torn between want and caution. He wanted nothing more than to gather her into his arms, to feel her breath steady against him, to shield her from every danger. But memory burned in his chest, the night she had left, eyes filled with fire and betrayal.

If he found her now, would she come willingly? Or would she run again, taking his heir into shadows he could never reach?

The thought made his chest ache.

Still, he couldn’t stop.

The wind shifted.

Kael tilted his head back, inhaling deeply. His wolf went still, then growled low, satisfied.

Her scent.

She was close.

And nothing, not distance, not fear, not even her anger, would keep him from her this time.