Page 14

It had rained that morning.

The whole forest smelled like wet earth and renewal. The leaves sparkled with leftover mist, and the crescent-shaped pendant at my neck felt heavier than usual-as if it knew something was shifting inside me.

Something had shifted.

The letters were gone. The ghosts were quieter. My wolf stirred not with grief, but with a new kind of energy. A new kind of longing.

And I knew why.

Kael.

The bond was still there-gentle, steady-but for once, it wasn't pulling me. It was waiting. Like he always did.

And I was done waiting.

?

I found him alone in the clearing where Crescent Fang held its moon rituals. The fire pit was cold. The sky above was open. And Kael was kneeling, sharpening a blade, like the warrior he'd always been-even when he was careful with me.

He looked up when he sensed me.

But this time, I was the one who didn't hesitate.

"I don't want to run anymore," I said.

He stood slowly. "You don't have to."

"I mean it," I said. "I've been through a lot. I've carried things that weren't mine. I loved someone who couldn't love me back. But none of that defines me."

He didn't speak. Just watched.

And still, the bond waited-not demanding, not rushing. Just open.

"I want to be more than someone's second chance," I said. "And if I let this happen... I need to know it's my choice. Not fate's. Not desperation. Mine."

Kael stepped closer, careful, like I was something sacred.

"It's always been yours," he said.

Then he held out his hand-not to claim me, but to offer.

You choose.

I took it.

And the moment my fingers touched his palm, the bond didn't explode-it bloomed.

Warm and golden and whole.

My wolf howled inside me, not from pain, but from homecoming. Like she'd been waiting for this choice all along.

Not a mate chosen for me.

A mate I chose.

Kael stepped forward slowly and placed his forehead against mine. His hands trembled-not with fear, but reverence.

"I won't hurt you," he whispered. "Not now. Not ever."

And in that quiet space between our heartbeats, I believed him.

Because this wasn't a claiming.

It was a promise.

And I was finally ready to keep it.