Page 18

FOURTEEN

MAYA

T he knock on the door came that morning just as Maya finished spreading a thin layer of Kieran's homemade blackberry jam across her toast. The sharp, insistent rap made her jump, causing her knife to clatter against the plate.

Kieran was across the cabin in three long strides, his movements fluid and predatory.

"It's Malcolm," he said, his nostrils flaring slightly as he scented the air. His eyes flashed toward her with a hint of possessiveness that sent delicious shivers through her. "And Lena."

Maya's fingers automatically went to her neck, where the shallow mark from last night remained. It wasn't a full claiming bite—Kieran had made that clear—but it felt significant nonetheless, like a promise written in her skin.

Kieran slid the heavy wooden beam away from the door and swung it open. Malcolm strode in, bringing the crisp morning air with him. His eyes darted between her and Kieran, a knowing smirk forming on his lips.

"Well, well," Malcolm drawled, "don't you two look... rested."

Lena followed, her petite form a stark contrast to the Silvercrest brothers' large frames. Her unusual violet eyes fixed immediately on Maya, then widened slightly as they caught the bite mark on Maya's neck.

"Father's getting restless," Malcolm said, cutting straight to business. "He knows you've gone AWOL, and he's not stupid, Kieran. He's put two and two together about the human witness."

Maya felt her cheeks flush. Human witness. Is that all she was to these people? After last night, she'd thought... but no. Pack politics were complex, and her relationship with Kieran was barely a day old.

"How much time do we have?" Kieran's voice was hard and commanding, the voice of a future Alpha. Maya watched the muscles in his jaw tighten, fascinated by how quickly he could shift from the tender lover she'd known last night to this formidable leader.

"Not much," Malcolm replied, running a large hand through his short black hair. "Damon and I can only run interference for so long. Father's sent scouts to check your regular spots. This place was never on his radar before, but?—"

"But he's not above following even his own sons," Kieran finished grimly.

Maya set her half-eaten toast down, her appetite gone. "What happens if he finds me?"

The silence that followed her question felt heavy enough to crush her.

"Nothing good," Malcolm finally said, giving her an apologetic look.

Kieran moved to Maya's side, his large hand finding her lower back in a gesture that was both protective and possessive. "I won't let that happen."

The certainty in his voice should have been comforting, but Maya felt a chill. How could he possibly stand against his father—the Alpha—and an entire pack, not to mention the High Council, that viewed humans as threats?

A sudden tension filled the room. Both Silvercrest brothers stiffened simultaneously, their heads turning toward the window with eerie synchronicity.

"Someone's out there," Kieran growled, his eyes flashing an unnatural blue. "In the woods."

Malcolm nodded, already moving toward the door. "I smell them too."

"Granite Ridge again?" Kieran's voice was tight with controlled fury.

"Can't tell." Malcolm's hand went to his waistband, where Maya glimpsed the handle of a knife. "But we should check."

Kieran turned to Maya, his expression intense. "Stay inside with Lena. Do not leave this cabin under any circumstances." His voice left no room for argument, the command of a future Alpha.

"But—" Maya started.

"Promise me," he insisted, gripping her shoulders gently but firmly.

Maya swallowed the protest that had risen to her lips. Part of her—the independent researcher who had survived alone in the wilderness for weeks—bristled at being ordered about. But another part—the part that had witnessed what these wolves were capable of—understood the danger.

"Fine," she conceded. "I promise."

Kieran's expression softened for just a moment. He brushed his thumb across her cheek, a fleeting touch that felt like a brand. Then he was gone, following Malcolm out the door into the surrounding forest.

Maya heaved the heavy wooden beam across the door, wincing at the strain on her pleasantly sore muscles from last night's activities.

The solid thunk of wood against the frame echoed through the small cabin, sealing her and Lena inside while Kieran and Malcolm investigated whatever lurked in the forest.

"That should hold," Maya said, testing the beam with a firm shake before turning to face Lena.

The petite healer stood near the small fireplace, her violet eyes tracking Maya's movements with unsettling intensity. Something about those eyes made Maya feel exposed, as if Lena could see straight through to her core—to the place where Kieran had touched something primal and undiscovered.

"Why does the Silvercrest pack want me dead so badly?" Maya asked, sliding into one of the wooden chairs at the kitchen table. "I was just doing research. It seems extreme to execute someone just for witnessing your existence."

Lena's lips quirked in a sad smile as she settled into the chair across from Maya, her small hands folding neatly on the weathered table surface.

"Alpha Alaric and the High Council are..

. inflexible when it comes to secrecy," she said, her voice soft but clear.

"But Alaric especially. He became Alpha at eighteen—youngest in pack history—after his father died unexpectedly.

He's built the Silvercrest pack into what it is today through sheer force of will. "

"And what is that exactly? A dictatorship?" Maya couldn't keep the edge from her voice, thinking of the journals she'd found documenting decades of abuses.

Lena sighed, tracing an absent pattern on the wooden tabletop. "He believes he's protecting his people. Preserving our way of life."

"By murdering innocent humans?" Maya challenged.

"There was a time when I thought there might be a softer side to Alaric," Lena continued, her violet gaze distant. "But lately... his actions have grown more extreme, almost impulsive. It's like he senses something coming—a storm—and he's battening down every hatch."

Maya shook her head, her red strands falling across her face. "And he tasks Kieran with the dirty work. Kill the human witness." She pushed her hair back with agitation. "It's barbaric. How could anyone expect their own son to commit murder just to uphold some outdated laws and traditions?"

"That's how Kieran was raised," Lena said, her eyes flickering to the mark on Maya's neck before quickly looking away. "From birth, he's been taught that protecting the pack comes before all else—before morality, and definitely before personal feelings."

"But he's questioning it now, isn't he?" Maya asked, her fingers unconsciously rising to touch the place where Kieran's teeth had grazed her skin.

"More than ever," Lena affirmed. "I've known Kieran since we were pups. He's always had doubts, but meeting you..." Her voice trailed off meaningfully.

Maya stared out the top of the cabin's patched-up window at the dense forest beyond, thinking about the enormity of what Kieran was doing by protecting her. He was defying his Alpha, his own father, and everything he'd been taught. The weight of that rebellion seemed suddenly staggering.

"I shouldn't have judged him so harshly in the beginning," Maya admitted quietly, more to herself than to Lena. "Breaking away from lifelong indoctrination isn't simple. And he's risking everything—his position, his family, maybe even his life—by keeping me alive."

She remembered his fierce protectiveness, the way his powerful body had shifted into his wolf form and shielded her during the attack, and the tenderness in his touch afterward. For a man raised to be ruthless, he'd shown her nothing but care.

"He can't keep protecting me forever though, can he?" Maya asked, turning back to Lena. "We can't just stay on the run indefinitely."

Lena's violet eyes studied Maya's face with uncomfortable intensity. "No," she agreed. "But there may be another way forward—one that neither of you has fully considered yet."

Maya caught the meaningful look in Lena's eyes, the way they lingered on her neck, and she knew the healer suspected much more than she was saying. About the mark. About what Maya had found in those ancient archives. About the dormant wolf genes that might be stirring within her own blood.

The conversation hung in the air between them, poised on the edge of revelation.

"You know," Maya said, tracing the grain of the wooden table with her fingertip, "in evolutionary biology, we have a principle—change isn't just good, it's necessary.

" Her scientific mind always found comfort in facts when emotions became too tumultuous.

"Species that don't adapt become extinct. That's just nature."

Lena's lips curved into a small smile. "The rebellion has been saying that for years. The old ways served their purpose, but times change. We must change with them."

Maya nodded, emboldened. "Kieran took me to the Silvercrest archives yesterday," she confessed, watching Lena's face carefully. "We found records showing humans and shifters lived together, even formed relationships, until about three centuries ago."

Something flickered in Lena's eyes—recognition, surprise that Maya knew, perhaps even relief. "The Severance," she murmured. "When the High Council made the decree that separated our worlds forever."

Maya leaned forward. "But why? What could possibly?—"

"Maya," Lena interrupted, her voice suddenly urgent. "This is actually why I came with Malcolm today." She glanced toward the door nervously. "The High Council knows about your dormant shifter genes."

Cold dread pooled in Maya's stomach. "What? How could they possibly?—"

"I don't know," Lena whispered. "Maybe they picked up your scent at the archives. Or Kieran's. But something alerted them." Her small hands gripped Maya's across the table. "This is serious. If they find you?—"

Three sharp knocks on the cabin door made both women jump.

"Kieran," Maya breathed, strangely picking up his scent with crystal clarity. She rushed to slide the heavy wooden beam aside, her heart pounding.

Kieran and Malcolm burst through the door, tension radiating from their powerful frames. Kieran immediately moved to Maya's side, his hand spanning her lower back possessively as his eyes swept over her, checking for any harm that might have befallen her in his absence.

"We need to move," he said, his voice deep and commanding. "Now. It's not safe here anymore."

The authority in his tone sent an involuntary shiver down Maya's spine. Despite everything rational in her mind that rebelled against submitting to anyone's orders, her body responded to him instinctively.

"What did you find out there?" she asked, already reaching for her backpack.

Malcolm's expression was grim. "Signs of scouts. Not just Granite Ridge this time."

"Silvercrest?" Lena asked, her voice barely audible.

Malcolm's tight nod confirmed her fears.

"I know a cave system to the south," Kieran said decisively. "Maya and I will head there. Malcolm, take Lena back to territory—make it look like everything's normal."

Malcolm nodded. "I'll find you after. You're going to need backup, brother." The undercurrent of worry in his voice made Maya's pulse quicken.

Within minutes, Lena and Malcolm were gone, and Maya found herself trudging through dense forest behind Kieran's broad back. He moved with predatory grace over fallen logs and through thick underbrush, occasionally reaching back to steady her when the terrain grew treacherous.

"Lena told me something," Maya said when they'd put sufficient distance between themselves and the cabin. "The High Council knows somehow about my dormant shifter genes."

Kieran stopped so abruptly that Maya collided with his solid back. He turned, his eyes blazing with a piercing intensity that stole her breath.

"What did you say?" His voice was dangerously soft.

Maya took a deep breath. She held his gaze despite the flutter of fear in her stomach. "The High Council. They know about me—possibly about what I might be. But I'm not sure. Lena didn't get a chance to finish explaining."

Kieran swore under his breath, his jaw clenching as he struggled to contain his reaction. The muscles in his forearms flexed as his hands balled into fists at his sides. When he finally spoke, his voice was tight with controlled fury.

"If they know about the prophecy and suspect you're connected to it..." He shook his head. "This changes everything."

"I'm not afraid," she said, squaring her shoulders despite the fear coursing through her veins.

Kieran's expression softened for just a moment before hardening into determined resolve. He reached for her, his large hand cupping her cheek with surprising gentleness. "You should be," he murmured. "But I won't let them touch you. I'd tear apart anyone who tried."

The fierce possessiveness in his voice should've alarmed her, but instead, it sent a wave of heat through her core. This was no ordinary human male posturing—this was a wolf claiming what was his.

And despite everything her rational mind knew about autonomy and independence, some primal part of her responded to that claim with fierce joy.