Exile ends
The forest hadn't changed.
Same thick-bellied trees. Same mossy silence. Same wind that carried the scent of pine and the warning of old ghosts. Seraphina Hale took one more step over the border—and the earth beneath her feet felt like it sighed.
She didn't flinch when the growl came.
"Stop right there."
Two guards materialized from the shadows. One had a scar running down his cheek like a claw mark that never faded right. The other rested a hand on the hilt of his blade, though his fingers twitched with hesitation.
Sera didn't blink. "I'm not here to fight."
"You shouldn't be here at all." The scarred one narrowed his eyes. "Turn around."
She reached into her coat, slowly. Their stances stiffened.
"Easy." She pulled out a sealed letter—worn from travel, but the Alpha's mark was still visible in wax. "I was summoned."
They didn't take it from her. Just glanced at the seal. Muttered. Exchanged a look.
"Temporary permission. Council's decision, not ours," Scar muttered.
"But we'll be watching," the other said. His voice was lower, bitter. "You should've stayed gone, Seraphina."
She nodded once. No apology. No thanks.
They stepped aside. She stepped in.
The air felt thicker on the other side, like it didn't want her back either.
---
The village had grown. Taller fences. Sharper corners. More guards.
And yet, nothing had changed.
Eyes followed her like she carried a sickness. Children were tugged closer to their mothers. Shopkeepers stopped mid-transaction just to stare.
Sera kept walking, shoulders straight, hands in her coat pockets to hide the tremble. She could hear them. The whispers. The questions. The old names.
"Is that her?"
"Elara's sister…"
"Didn't she get banished?"
"I heard she ran off with rogues."
"I heard she got Elara killed."
Sera didn't react. She'd grown good at that. Pretending her skin was thicker than it was. Pretending her heart didn't twist with every step.
At the edge of the village square, she paused.
Because there he was.
Kael.
Standing on the council platform, flanked by warriors and a few Elders, mid-discussion. Taller than she remembered. Broader. His hair shorter now, scraped back with military precision. The wind ruffled his black coat, and his head turned just slightly—
Their eyes met.
And for a moment, the world held its breath.
No warmth. No recognition. Just ice. A wall of it, slamming between them like a door she hadn't realized she'd wanted to open.
He didn't move.
Didn't speak.
Didn't blink.
Sera felt the pull begin to coil beneath her ribs. Slow, sharp, ancient.
She broke the stare first. It felt like tearing skin.
But the moment she turned, she felt it.
A tug.
Deep in her chest.
Like something had snapped into place, and it didn't care if it bled.
It started as a whisper beneath her skin.
A hum. A low, ancient vibration that bloomed in her spine and spilled into her veins like smoke. Sera stumbled, one hand reaching for the edge of a stall as her breath caught.
The world tilted.
Not enough to fall. Just enough to remind her that something deep had shifted.
She clutched her chest.
The bond.
It was real.
Alive.
Her wolf surged, claws scraping just beneath her skin, howling in recognition. Of him. Of Kael.
Sera pressed her back to the stall wall, fighting the heat crawling up her throat. Her vision blurred at the edges as scents overwhelmed her—pine smoke, blood, rain, and him.
Gods. She hadn't smelled him in years, but she could never forget.
Kael.
And suddenly, there he was—storming across the square. Like a shadow cut from fury and armor. His gaze locked on her like a blade.
"Sera."
Her name, spoken like a sentence.
He didn't stop until he was inches away, towering, seething, breathing like he'd just come from battle.
Her voice cracked. "Alpha."
His jaw ticked.
"Do not call me that."
People watched, frozen. The square silent but for the wind and his breathing.
"I don't know what game you think you're playing—"
"I'm not playing anything," she snapped, her wolf rising fast.
He growled low in his throat. "Then explain why I felt that."
His hand pressed to his chest. Just once. Over his heart.
Her own heart stuttered.
"You felt it too," she whispered.
Kael's eyes burned. "There is no bond between us. Do you understand?"
The pull writhed in her chest. Angry. Alive.
He leaned closer, voice a warning wrapped in pain. "Stay away from me, Sera. This pack has lost enough."
Then he turned—and walked away.
And the bond, furious and awake, ached with every step he took.
---
Moonlight carved silver lines into the stones as Sera walked the narrow path up the hill, each step heavy with memories. The cemetery behind the packhouse had always been quiet, but tonight, it was too quiet—like the dead were holding their breath.
Elara's grave was near the top.
Of course it was.
Everything about her sister had been placed high, above Sera, even in death.
She stopped in front of the headstone.
Elara Davenhart – Beloved Mate, Cherished Alpha's Luna.
Lies. Pretty ones.
The flowers were fresh. Someone had been here recently.
Sera knelt, her fingers tracing the letters. Cold stone beneath warm skin.
"I should hate you," she whispered. "And I think, maybe I do."
A twig snapped behind her.
She didn't turn. "You always did follow me like a shadow."
Kael's voice, low and brittle. "This used to be your favorite place to hide."
She rose slowly, facing him. "You're not hiding anymore."
He looked exhausted. Like grief had carved rivers into his bones.
"I didn't come to fight."
"Good," she said. "Because I don't have the energy to bleed for you again."
A beat.
Kael stared at the grave. "You think I don't see it?"
"What?"
"The way they look at you. Like you brought a curse with you."
Sera scoffed. "And you? What do you see when you look at me?"
He didn't answer.
She stepped closer. "Elara's death—it wasn't an accident, was it?"
His gaze snapped to hers.
The silence was thick.
Sera continued, voice quieter. "She was powerful. Careful. She didn't just... drown."
Kael's face went stone still. "Don't go digging up ghosts, Sera. You won't like what you find."
Before she could answer, a howl shattered the night.
Low. Agonized. Close.
Then—shouting.
Kael's body tensed. "Stay here."
But she was already moving.
They ran toward the sound, the cemetery swallowed in shadow.
When they found the body, it was still warm.
A pack member. Slashed throat. Eyes wide with terror.
Sera choked on a gasp. Blood pooled around the body—and there, clawed into the dirt—
A crescent moon and a jagged line.
Not a signature. A message.
Kael pulled her back. "Go. Now."
But it was too late.
Because Sera could feel it again—that pull.
Not the mate bond.
Something else.
Something older.