LOGIN~RAELIYA~I felt it long before anyone spoke the word.It crept into my bones like winter, slow, sharp, unavoidable. The air inside the pack house shifted, thickened, as if the walls themselves were bracing for impact. Wolves moved faster, voices lowered, eyes darting with the kind of tension that only came when danger circled too close for comfort.Rogues.They always returned.I stood near the corridor leading to the council chamber, pretending I wasn’t listening, pretending my heart wasn’t already pounding painfully against my ribs. But the moon mark at my neck pulsed with a dull heat, warning me even before the voices rose inside the chamber.“They’re not scattered this time.”“They’re organized.”“They’re pushing closer to the borders.”My fingers curled into fists.Then the names that mattered most slipped through the cracks of the heavy doors.“Kaelric.”“Chase.”My breath stuttered.No.Not together.The doors opened soon after, elders filing out with grave expressions, warrio
~RAELIYA~I used to think strength was loud.I thought it was raised voices and sharp teeth, fists slammed into walls, dominance displayed so clearly that no one dared question it. That was the kind of strength Kaelric’s world celebrated. The kind Chase wore easily. The kind his mother worshipped.But standing alone in the Pack house courtyard that night, listening to the pack murmur beyond the walls, I realized strength could also be quiet.It could be restraint.It could be choosing not to crumble when the ground beneath you felt thin.I pressed my fingers to the faint crescent at my neck, hidden beneath my collar. The moon mark pulsed softly, warm against my skin. It responded to Kaelric’s presence even now, even when we weren’t touching, even when we were pretending distance didn’t hurt.We had agreed to fake this.To survive.Somewhere along the way, my heart forgot the rules.~The next morning, the pack house was tense.Not the loud kind of tension that came before battle but t
~KAELRIC~I had learned long ago how to endure pain.It was the first lesson grief taught me after my mother died, how to stand upright while something vital rotted inside your chest. How to speak calmly while rage clawed at your throat. How to survive when the people meant to protect you were the ones sharpening the knife.What I hadn’t learned… was how to endure wanting.Wanting Raeliya was a different kind of torment.She stood beside me now in the council hall, posture straight, expression composed, playing her role perfectly. Anyone watching would think we were a united front, calm, strong, unbreakable.They couldn’t see the distance between us.They couldn’t feel the way I’d trained myself not to reach for her, not to draw too deeply from the bond humming beneath my skin. The mark was quiet tonight, dormant only because she was close enough.If she stepped away for too long…I clenched my jaw.The elders droned on about border patrols and rogue movements, but my focus kept slipp
~RAELIYA~I told myself I wouldn’t soften.I told myself that standing beside Kaelric in the garden, letting him draw strength from the bond without touching me, didn’t mean anything had changed. It was practical. Necessary. Temporary.That was the lie I clung to.The truth was quieter and far more dangerous.Every breath he took near me steadied something inside my chest. Every time his shoulders eased, color returning to his skin, I felt relief curl through me so sharp it hurt. I hated how much power I had over him. I hated even more that he trusted me with it while still keeping parts of himself locked away.We stood under the moon for a long time, not speaking, the night thick with things we refused to say.When he finally stepped back, creating distance again, it felt like punishment.“Thank you,” he murmured. Not for saving him. Not for choosing him. Just that.I nodded, afraid my voice would betray me.He left first.I stayed, staring up at the moon, wondering how something mea
~KAELRIC~I did not touch her.That was the cruelest part.Raeliya stood inches away from me, her scent wrapping around my senses like a blade wrapped in silk, soft, lethal, unavoidable. The bond pulsed between us, impatient, aching, demanding what I kept refusing to give.I stepped back.Her eyes widened, not in surprise, but in something worse.Understanding.“I need space,” I said, the words tasting like ash. “Not from you, from this.”From us.Her shoulders stiffened. She nodded once, sharply, as if sealing something shut inside herself.“Fine,” she said. Calm. Too calm. “Then take it.”She turned and walked away.And something in me broke.~That night, my hair turned white faster than it ever had before.Skylar and Dante were over to visit and had instantly noticed it.“You’re pushing the limit,” she said sharply, blocking the doorway to my quarters. “You were barely an hour away from her.”“I’m fine,” I lied.Dante snorted from the corner. “Sorry to say but You’re glowing like
~RAELIYA~The challenge came three days later.Public.Deliberate.Cruel.I should have known better than to think Chase’s mother or anyone aligned with her, would wait patiently while Kaelric continued to gain support. Power was a hungry thing in this pack, and those who craved it never slept.The square was full by midday.Elders stood at the raised platform, warriors lined the perimeter, and whispers rolled through the crowd like restless wind. I stood beside Kaelric, dressed carefully, nothing too bold, nothing too meek. The kind of presence expected of the woman beside a future Alpha.Beside.Not behind.Kaelric was tense. I could feel it through the bond, sharp and coiled. His hand brushed mine once, fleeting, grounding and then he withdrew, jaw set.“Stay close,” he murmured under his breath. Not a request.I nodded.Chase’s mother stepped forward, her presence commanding immediate silence. Her eyes swept the crowd before landing on Kaelric, then sliding to me with thinly veile







