Chapter 5

Caelan's POV

The pack meeting room feels smaller than usual.

Maybe it's because I can't stop thinking about Aeliana upstairs, probably still tangled in those silk sheets, her scent clinging to my skin like a prayer I'm afraid to voice. Maybe it's because every instinct I have is screaming at me to go back to her, to make sure she's safe, to...

Focus.

I force myself to look at the assembled wolves around the heavy oak table. My beta, my gamma, my enforcers, the core members who've stood by me through two years of hell. They deserve my attention. They deserve answers.

But all I can think about is Aeliana's body and how soft it is.

"Alpha." Liora's voice cuts through my distraction like a blade. She's sitting directly across from me, her dark eyes sharp with disapproval. "We need to discuss the... situation."

The way she says 'situation' makes my wolf bristle. Like Aeliana is a problem to be solved.

"What situation would that be, Beta?" My voice comes out rougher than intended.

Liora doesn't flinch. She never does. It's one of the reasons she's an effective beta and one of the reasons she occasionally drives me to the edge of my patience.

"The human you brought back." She leans forward, her voice dropping to that tone she uses when she thinks she's being diplomatic. "Caelan, she doesn't remember us. Doesn't remember you. For all intents and purposes, she's a stranger who poses a security risk to the pack."

The words hit me like physical blows. Around the table, I can feel the subtle shifts,pack members who agree with her, others who look uncomfortable with the conversation, and a few who keep their expressions carefully neutral.

"She's not a stranger." The alpha command bleeds into my voice without my permission. "She's my mate."

"Is she, though?" Liora doesn't back down, and I have to admire her courage even as I want to throttle her. "Because the Aeliana we knew isn't there. The Aeliana we knew wouldn't be this weak and unconscious of her surroundings; this is why I never supported you mating with a human."

She is just under the suppression of the curse, you stubborn mule...

Something slams into me then, cutting off my angry thoughts midstream.

Heat.

Not the normal warmth of pack bonds or the steady pulse of wolf instincts. This is different. Consuming. It floods through my veins like liquid fire, concentrating in my chest where the mate bond has lain dormant for two agonizing years.

What the hell?

I grip the edge of the table so hard the wood groans under my fingers. The sensation is overwhelming... like every nerve ending in my body suddenly comes alive after years of numbness. It's pleasure and pain and desperate need all rolled into one devastating wave.

And underneath it all, I feel her.

Aeliana.

Not just her presence, but also her emotions. Confusion. Fear. And something else... something that makes my wolf pace restlessly in my chest.

Desire.

"—need to consider the pack's safety over personal attachment," Liora is saying, but her voice sounds like it's coming from underwater.

The bond pulses again, stronger this time, and I nearly groan aloud. It's like being struck by lightning while simultaneously being wrapped in the softest silk. Every cell in my body is suddenly, desperately aware of my mate upstairs.

She's in heat, and the bond is awakening.

The thought hits me with startling clarity. Whatever the witch did to suppress her memories, her true nature... it's breaking down. The bond that's been severed and silent for two years is knitting itself back together, thread by thread.

"Alpha?"

Someone's voice... Marcus, I think... sounds concerned. I realize I've been gripping the table for several long seconds, probably looking like I'm about to shift and tear someone's throat out.

Maybe I am.

"The discussion is over." My voice comes out as a growl that makes every wolf in the room go still. "Aeliana stays. She's under my protection and the pack's protection. Anyone who has a problem with that can speak to me privately."

Liora's eyes flash with defiance. "Caelan, you're not thinking clearly..."

"Careful, Beta." The alpha command rolls off me in waves now, fueled by the mate bond's reawakening and two years of pent-up frustration. "You're questioning your Alpha's judgment in front of the pack."

She falls silent, but I can see the protest brewing in her dark eyes. Liora's always been protective of the pack, sometimes to the point of paranoia. But this isn't about pack safety. This is about control, about the fact that she thinks she knows what's better for me.

Another pulse through the bond, this one so intense I have to close my eyes. Images flash through my mind, not my memories, but hers. Fragments of dreams, flashes of a face that looks suspiciously like mine, and the phantom sensation of hands that could be my own.

She's in heat, and she's dreaming about me.

The realization nearly brings me to my knees. After two years of silence, of wondering if the bond was truly severed forever, feeling her mind touch mine through sleep and dreams is like being given water after dying of thirst.

"Meeting dismissed," I manage to get out through gritted teeth.

The pack files out, most of them shooting worried glances my way. Liora lingers, obviously wanting to continue the argument, but one look at my face sends her scurrying after the others.

The moment I'm alone, I double over, hands braced against the table as another wave crashes through me. The bond isn't just reawakening; it's coming back with vengeance, making up for two years of silence in one overwhelming flood. I can't belive that she would be affected by the today's full moon.

I can feel everything. Her confusion as she processes the truth about the curse. Her anger at being taken from her carefully constructed life. But underneath those surface emotions, there's something else. Something that makes my wolf howl with triumph.

Recognition.

She remembers me. Not consciously, not yet. But her body knows mine, and her soul recognizes its other half. The mate bond is doing what it was always meant to do, drawing us back together despite curses and time and the careful walls she's built around her heart.

Another pulse, and this time the sensation is so intimate, so charged with awakening desire, that I have to grip the table to keep from shifting on the spot.

She's not just remembering. She's wanting.

The thought sends heat straight to my groin. I can feel her through the bond, the way her body responds to fragments of memory, the unconscious way she's probably arching in those silk sheets, and the soft sounds she makes when dreams of us surface from whatever dark corner the curse shoved them into.

Mine.

My wolf is practically clawing at my ribcage now, desperate to go to her, to claim what's always been ours. The urge is so strong I actually take a step toward the door before forcing myself to stop.

She's confused enough. Terrified enough. Barging into her room while she's in the middle of an awakening dream would be the fastest way to undo whatever progress the bond is making.

But God, the way she feels through our connection... like warm honey and lightning and coming home all at once. It's everything I've missed, everything I've craved for two endless years.

Never again.

Whatever it takes, whoever I have to fight, whatever lies I have to unravel, I won't lose her again. The bond is coming back stronger than before, and this time, nothing and no one will tear us apart.

Not even the truth about how I really found her.