The Challenge

Kael found me in the library the next morning.

I was reading again. Something about pack hierarchy. Something about the Rite of Ascent. I'd been up since 4 AM, unable to sleep, my mind spinning with words like champion and death circle and forfeit.

"You're up early," he said from the doorway.

"You're not sleeping either."

He walked in. Dark sweater. Darker eyes. He looked like a man heading to his own funeral.

"The challenge," I said. "Tell me everything."

---

Kael sat across from me. Elbows on his knees. Hands clasped.

"The Rite of Ascent is how alphas have been chosen for centuries," he began. "Two wolves enter a circle of stones. Only one leaves."

"Fight to the death?"

"Usually. Sometimes the loser yields and is banished. But the council's champion won't yield." His jaw tightened. "They want me dead."

"Who is the champion?"

"His name is Marcus." Kael's voice flattened. "He was my father's beta. He trained me when I was a boy. He's the one who found my family's bodies after the rebellion."

I felt sick.

"He trained you? And now he's going to kill you?"

"The council offered him my position. Alpha of Northridge. He's wanted it for years."

"So he's good."

Kael met my eyes. "He's the best I've ever fought."

---

I set down the book.

"When is it?"

"Tomorrow. Dawn."

"Where?"

"The stone circle. Half a mile into the woods. The council will be there. The pack will watch." He paused. "You don't have to come."

"I'm coming."

"Elara —"

"I'm carrying your child, Kael. If you die tomorrow, that baby loses a father. I'm not going to let that happen without me being there." My voice shook, but I didn't stop. "Besides. Someone needs to make sure you don't give up."

He stared at me.

"You barely know me."

"I know enough." I leaned forward. "I know you leave the hallway light on because I'm afraid of the dark. I know you taped Lila's drawings to your fridge. I know you sat outside my door the first night just to make sure I was safe."

His throat moved.

"That's not enough to die for."

"It's enough to live for."

---

Something cracked in his expression.

For a moment, he looked less like the Ice Alpha and more like the nineteen-year-old boy who'd buried his family.

"I haven't had anyone care if I live or die in six years," he said quietly.

"Well, you do now." I reached across the table. My fingers brushed his. "So you'd better win."

He didn't pull away.

"You're stubborn."

"I'm an omega who's been fighting her whole life. Stubborn is all I have."

Kael's hand turned over. His fingers laced with mine.

"Tomorrow," he said, "if I don't —"

"You will."

"If I don't — promise me something."

I waited.

"Promise me you'll run. Take Lila. Take the money from my office. Go somewhere the council can't find you." His gray eyes burned. "Don't let them take you to the Nursery. Don't let them take the baby."

"And if you win?"

"Then we figure out the rest together."

Together.

The word hung in the air between us.

I squeezed his hand.

"I promise," I said. "But you're still going to win."

---

He spent the rest of the day in the training yard.

I watched from the window. He moved like a man possessed. Punching. Kicking. Dodging imaginary blows. His knuckles bled. His lip split. He didn't stop.

At noon, Marta brought him water. He drank it without speaking.

At 2 PM, Dorian joined him. Sparring. Real fighting. I flinched every time Kael hit the ground.

But he kept getting up.

At 4 PM, Lila tugged my sleeve.

"Why is he hitting that man?" she asked.

"Because he's practicing," I said. "For a very important fight tomorrow."

"Is he going to be okay?"

I thought about the contract. Clause Seven. The two heartbeats in my belly. The council's hungry eyes.

"Yeah," I said. "He's going to be okay."

I hoped I was telling the truth.

---

That night, Kael knocked on my door.

It was late. Past midnight. The house was dark except for the hallway light.

"Come in," I said.

He opened the door. He was wearing different clothes. Clean. His hair was damp from a shower. He looked younger in the dim light.

"I couldn't sleep," he said.

"Neither could I."

He stood in the doorway, uncertain. The Ice Alpha, unsure if he was allowed to enter.

I patted the bed beside me.

He sat.

We didn't talk for a long time. Just sat there, shoulder to shoulder, staring at the moon through the window.

"My mother used to sing to me," Kael said finally. "Before she died. A lullaby. About the moon and the wolves and the first ones."

"Sing it to me."

He looked at me.

"I don't sing."

"Then tell it to me."

He was quiet for a moment. Then he began.

"The moon made the wolves, and the wolves made the pack, and the pack made a promise to never look back..."

His voice was low. Rough. Beautiful.

"But one wolf looked, and one wolf stayed, and one wolf loved until the light faded away."

"That's beautiful," I whispered.

"It's the only thing I remember about her."

I leaned my head on his shoulder.

He didn't move away.

"Kael?"

"Hmm?"

"Promise me something."

"Anything."

"Don't die tomorrow."

He was quiet for a long moment.

Then his arm came around me. Tentative. Careful. Like he was afraid I'd break.

"I promise," he said.

I closed my eyes.

And for the first time in days, I slept.