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I expected Crescent Fang to treat me like a threat.

Like a stray. A pity case.

But no one came knocking. No one growled at my door or tried to chase me out.

The silence felt suspicious at first-too easy, too kind.

Ashmoon had taught me to brace for cruelty.

But Crescent Fang?

Crescent Fang watched... and waited.

On the second morning, I stepped out of the room Kael had given me and found a tray sitting by the door: oatmeal, fruit, tea. No note. No guard.

Just care.

I didn't touch it for a full hour, thinking maybe it was a test.

Eventually, hunger won.

It was warm.

?

Kael didn't force a conversation.

In fact, I didn't see him again for three full days.

During that time, I wandered the outskirts of the village-far enough to feel the trees but close enough that I didn't trigger a patrol. I watched Crescent Fang's wolves train in the fields with discipline, speed, and strength unlike anything I'd seen back home.

They were sharper than Ashmoon. Wilder. But... freer, too.

There were no ranks shouted or omegas shoved to the sidelines.

Everyone fought.

Everyone mattered.

And for the first time in my life, I didn't feel like I was less.

I just felt... unnoticed.

And honestly?

It was kind of a relief.

?

On the fourth night, I sat outside near a flickering lantern, legs crossed and wrapped in one of Kael's oversized flannels someone must've left for me.

I heard footsteps before I saw him.

"You're adapting faster than I thought," Kael said, stepping into the glow.

"I'm used to being ignored," I replied, not bitter-just honest.

"You're not being ignored," he said. "They're watching. Quietly. Deciding."

"Deciding what?"

"If you're one of us."

I didn't say anything.

He handed me something small-a bundle of dried sage and flowers, tied in twine.

"It's for your room," he said. "Helps you sleep."

I stared down at the bundle, touched it gently. "You don't have to be nice to me, you know."

"I'm not being nice," he said. "I'm being honest."

I looked up, startled.

"I don't care that you're from Ashmoon," he continued. "I don't care that you're an omega. What I care about is whether you're you-because so far, the girl I met at the stream had more strength in her eyes than most wolves I've fought beside."

Heat bloomed in my chest.

"Why are you really helping me?" I asked, quiet now.

Kael's gaze held mine, steady and unshaken.

"Because fate gave me a second chance. I'm not wasting it."

And with that, he walked away-leaving me stunned in the firelight, holding a bundle of sage in trembling hands.

Because maybe... just maybe...

Kael wasn't like Jace at all.