Semua Bab The cursed mate's return : Bab 271 - Bab 276

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

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

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