Page 10

Crescent Fang was built on loyalty, not kindness.

Respect had to be earned, and I'd fought hard for mine-bruises, blisters, and blood on the training field. Most of the pack had stopped looking at me like I was a threat.

But not all of them.

Especially not her.

Lira.

Kael's third-in-command.

She was beautiful in that cold, glass-cut way-silver hair, sharp words, and the kind of confidence that came from always being wanted.

And she had been.

By him.

Rumors said Lira and Kael had once been promised to each other-before the mate bond ruined that. Before I ruined that.

She never said anything outright, but her glare could slice skin.

"Didn't take you for the type to hide behind an Alpha's protection," she said one morning, casually tossing a knife toward the center of a target board.

I didn't flinch.

"I'm not hiding behind anyone," I said. "I'm just not running anymore."

She smiled without warmth. "No, you're not running. You're nesting. Convenient, isn't it? Rejected by one Alpha, claimed by the next."

I stiffened.

Mira, who had been standing a few feet away, narrowed her eyes but said nothing.

"I didn't come here to be claimed," I said quietly.

"Doesn't matter why you came," Lira snapped. "Only matters what you'll cost."

?

That night, I found Kael on the southern wall, looking out toward the mountains. The moon lit his features in silver, and for a moment, I let myself stare.

Not because of the bond.

But because he made me feel like I was something more than my status.

"I heard what Lira said," he said without looking at me.

Of course he had.

"She's loyal to you."

"She's loyal to the pack. And she thinks I'm distracted."

"Are you?" I asked.

He finally looked at me.

"No," he said. "But I am connected."

I inhaled slowly, the word sitting heavy between us.

Connected.

The bond was still there, humming low in my chest, waiting for me to accept it.

And I wanted to.

But part of me still lived in the ashes of what Jace left behind.

"What if I'm not enough?" I whispered before I could stop myself.

"You're already more than enough," Kael said. "But I won't make you prove it."

He didn't move closer.

He didn't ask for more.

He just stood beside me.

That's the moment I realized something Jace never understood:

Love doesn't demand.

It chooses.

And Kael...

He was choosing me without ever asking for anything back.

Maybe one day I'd be ready to choose him too.

?

Still, as I looked toward the trees beyond the border, I couldn't shake the feeling.

Something was coming.

And it wasn't just jealousy.

It was Jace.

And this time, he wasn't coming alone.