She hesitated immidiately.

Kael's povI found Maia is still asleep. She is curled on her side on the narrow cot, hair loose, face turned toward the wall. The faint rise and fall of her back steadies me.For a moment I consider waking her anyway, just to hear her voice and remind myself she is real and here and breathing.I do not.If my instincts are right, we need seconds, not explanations.I slide off the cot without letting the metal frame creak. My boots are already laced. I grab my jacket, shrug it on, and step outside.Later that night, the perimeter lights flicker as I move along the outer path. The compound is quiet, too quiet for a place that has been running on nerves and half-sleep for days. I count the guards I can hear. Two fewer than there should be.That is when I know it is not an accident.I shift just enough to let my senses stretch. Not fully. My muscles coil, heat spreading under my skin. The urge to run claws at me, but I keep it leashed.A shape moves between the trees to the east. Tall. Co

Moving figures

Kael's PovMaia didn’t check unless she already knew the answer scared her.“You feel it,” I said quietly.She nodded once.The corridor ahead narrowed, not structurally, but in the way a forest narrows when something is watching you from the dark. The city had gone silent in a way I had never heard before. No distant transit hum. No mechanical breathing through the walls. Just emptiness stretching forward.I stepped half a pace in front of her without thinking. The instinct was older than reason. Wolf-brain, she used to tease. Protective to the point of stupidity.She didn’t stop me.That worried me more than if she had.The scent hit next.Metal. Ozone. And underneath it, something warm and animal, like blood stirred with rain.I went still.“There’s someone else here,” I said.Maia’s eyes lifted, already darkening, pupils dilating as whatever lived under her skin woke up. “That’s not security.”“No,” I agreed. “It’s not.”The footsteps came from the left, unhurried, deliberate. Whoe

Man like wolf

Kael's povThe change always starts in my hands. Then like something inside me waking up and stretching after a long sleep. I keep my fingers curled tight as I move through the narrow service corridor, breathing through my teeth, counting steps to keep control.Maia is ahead of me. She does not look back, but she knows. She always knows.“Don’t,” she says quietly. Not a command. A plea.I slow, forcing the heat down. The wolf hates enclosed spaces. Hates uncertainty. Hates anything that smells like threat and loss. This place reeks of both.We are not alone and I can hear it.I lift my hand once and Maia stops. Her shoulders tense but she does not turn. She trusts me with this part. I trust her with everything else.The corridor opens into a wide maintenance chamber, dim and empty at first glance. Metal racks line the walls. Old equipment. Dust. Cold air.Then I catch the scent.He steps out from behind the racks as if he has been standing there the whole time.Dark hair tied back. Hi

Narrow way

Kael’s POVI know something is wrong before I understand why.Maia is walking a step ahead of me.That alone sets me on edge.She never does that unless she’s angry or trying not to show she’s scared.Her shoulders are stiff, her hands clenched, dark hair falling loose down her back. She looks solid. But I can feel the tension rolling off her like heat.I slow my pace.“Maia,” I say.She doesn’t turn.“I’m fine,” she answers too quickly.That confirms it.We round the corner and the space opens into a wide loading bay, half-lit, concrete floors stained with oil.I step closer to her, lowering my voice. “We’re not alone.”She exhales through her nose. “I know.”Before I can ask how, the doors slam shut behind us.Metal on metal. Heavy. Final.Maia spins, hand lifting instinctively, but nothing happens. That makes my chest go tight. I move in front of her without thinking.“Stay behind me.”She laughs once, sharp and humorless. “You always do that.”“Yeah,” I say. “And you always compla

Unexpected circumstances

Kael's povThe change hits me before the sound does. It starts low in my spine, a sharp tightening like every muscle has decided to brace at once. The air thickens.My teeth ache. That’s always the first sign. The wolf does not like what’s coming.Maia stops walking.She just slows, then stills, her body going alert in a way that has nothing to do with fear and everything to do with instinct.“You feel it too,” I say.She nods once. Her hand slides back until her fingers brush mine, deliberate and grounding. She does not look at me. Her eyes are on the dark stretch of trees ahead.We should not be here.The ruins are quiet in the way predators choose silence. Broken stone juts from the ground like old bones. Moonlight spills unevenly through the canopy, silvering the leaves, catching on Maia’s hair. She looks unreal like this. Too calm. Too composed. Like she belongs to a different world than the one I keep bleeding into.“Something’s wrong,” I say.She exhales slowly. “Something’s cl

Intimate till the end

Kael's pov“We’re not alone,” I said.She nodded once. Her fingers brushed my wrist, not to hold me back, but to remind me she was there.The tunnel opened into a wide chamber carved straight into rock. No lights except what leaked in from above through a cracked ceiling. Moonlight. Enough to turn shadows into teeth.“Kael,” Maia said quietly, “don’t shift.”I almost laughed. Almost.“Wasn’t planning to,” I said. “But tell your voice to stop shaking.”She hated when I noticed things like that. The figure stepped into the light.He smiled like he knew me.“That’s disappointing,” he said. “I was hoping you’d lead with violence.”Maia stiffened beside me. “Who are you?”The man’s gaze slid to her and lingered too long. Interest sharpened his expression. Not hunger. Assessment.“Not your enemy,” he said. “Not yet.”I stepped half a pace forward. “You picked a bad place to stand if you want that to remain true.”He laughed softly. “You’re Kael.”I didn’t answer.“I recognize the posture,” h