Page 31

THIRTY-ONE

KAEL

T hey were close.

The last of them, the survivors . Rising Flame zealots who’d fled the assault on the citadel with blood still steaming on their blades.

Scouts had tracked their trail northeast, toward the Vale Ravine.

Kael hadn’t waited for permission. Hadn’t waited for backup.

He just ran. Through shadow. Through ash. Through blood.

His body tore through the forest like a storm unchained, boots pounding cracked earth, the cold sting of wind slicing his cheeks.

Because he needed to rip something apart .

And this time… he wouldn’t stop until every last one of them was dead.

He found them at the base of a crag, cloaked in red and huddled around a makeshift campfire like they were untouchable. Like they didn’t know the Alpha of House Fenrir was already breathing down their necks.

He didn’t wait. Didn’t speak. Didn’t warn. He dropped from the ridge like death incarnated.

Steel whispered free from his back in a blur, and his blade met the first man’s throat before the bastard even reached for his weapon.

The second one screamed. Kael drove his knee into the man’s ribs and shoved the dagger into his eye socket.

The firelight flickered with blood.

Another tried to flee.

Kael shifted mid-stride.

Pain cracked through his spine, his ribs, his skull—bone stretching, reshaping, tearing through skin as his wolf burst free in a howl of rage. Black fur. Blue-gold eyes glowing like twin moons. A monster carved from fury and scars.

He pounced. Teeth found flesh. Bone snapped.

The fourth one, bigger, armored—raised a poisoned glaive and landed a slice across Kael’s flank.

It only enraged him.

Kael lunged, drove his fangs into the man’s side, and ripped . Guts spilled into dirt. The man choked on his own scream.

The wolf didn’t stop. Didn’t think. Didn’t feel. Until the last of them was dead. Until the earth was soaked red and the air hung heavy with copper and heat.

Kael stood in the carnage, panting, snarling, his paws soaked.

But his bloodlust wasn’t satisfied. His wolf was still screaming.

For her.

The bond seared like a lash beneath his skin, begging for her voice. Her scent. Her anchor.

Selene.

She wasn’t there. Wouldn’t be. And Kael… Kael didn’t know how to be without her anymore. But he knew that this was the way it had to be.

He didn’t shift back until sunrise.

When he did, it was slow, agonizing. A crawl of bone and flesh and pain.

He staggered to his knees, naked and blood-soaked, barely able to breathe. And that’s when Nyra found him.

“Nice work,” she said flatly, stepping over one of the mutilated corpses. “Did you leave anything for the crows?”

Kael didn’t look at her. He couldn’t.

“Don’t start,” he rasped.

“Oh, I’m starting ,” she said, crouching in front of him. “Because I just spent the night cleaning up the emotional fucking crater you left at court while you were out here throwing a tantrum and playing lone wolf executioner.”

His head snapped up. “They would’ve gotten away.”

“And you would’ve torn yourself apart without Selene there to hold your leash,” Nyra snapped. “Don’t you dare pretend this was about strategy.”

Kael’s hands clenched in the dirt.

She was right. And that made it worse.

Nyra shook her head, voice quieter. “What are you doing, Kael?”

He didn’t answer.

“Is this what you want?” she asked, softer now. “To be this? Unhinged. Alone. Wearing a crown forged in lies?”

His throat burned.

Nyra sat beside him. Waited.

Kael spoke. “I did it to protect her.”

She didn’t say anything.

“I had to,” he continued. “They were watching her. Not me. Every court noble, every enemy in that fucking room. She was glowing with Veilwalker magic and bonded to the heir of Fenrir. And they were waiting. Just waiting for an excuse to brand her a weapon, kill her. Or worse— claim her.” His voice cracked.

“They already think she’s some divine tool.

The Rising Flame wants her. Varyn wants her.

Half the council wants her power and the other half wants her dead. ”

Nyra tilted her head. “So you humiliated her to save her?”

“I severed the tie publicly,” he said, voice low. “So no one could use her to get to me. So no one could say she was part of my rise.” He dragged a shaking hand through his hair.

“She still has the bond. We both do. But this way, it looks like she’s nothing to me. That she can walk away clean.”

Nyra stared. And for once, her sarcasm failed her.

“You really love her,” she said quietly.

Kael closed his eyes. “She’s the only thing that makes me feel human.”

Silence stretched between them.

Nyra stood and offered him her cloak.

“Then maybe stop treating her like a liability.”

He looked up.

“She’s stronger than you think,” she said. “And right now? She thinks you’re the threat.”

She turned, her voice trailing behind her like a dagger in his ribs.

“If you want to fix this, start acting like the Alpha she believed in. Not the coward who chose the throne over her.”

Once Nyra vanished, Kael sat there a long time. Alone in the blood and dirt. Until the sun finally rose above the trees, staining the horizon in red.

He knew what he had to do.