The Alpha's Fury
The moment Sera stepped into the training ring, the sun broke through the clouds as if mocking her. She didn't belong here anymore, and she knew it. But every step she took across the hard-packed earth was defiance — not just against the stares boring into her back but against the ache that had bloomed in her chest the moment her eyes met Kael's yesterday.
The pack had gathered. Morning drills were a routine excuse for gossip, and today they feasted on it — Seraphina Moonridge, the disgraced sister, back from exile, bones intact, shame unresolved.
Kael emerged like a storm on two legs. Alpha-black shirt stretched over his chest, sleeves rolled up, jaw tight. His boots cracked against the ground as he made his way toward her, each step deliberate. Each step a warning.
"Sera," he said, voice a low, sharp command.
Every head turned.
She turned too, slowly. "Alpha."
The word scraped her throat like sandpaper. Not because she couldn't say it — but because she had to.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, loud enough for the gathering wolves to hear. "You were told to stay away from the training grounds."
Sera didn't blink. "I walk where I please. Or has that changed too, along with everything else?"
He took one step closer. The space between them thinned to nothing. She could smell the cedar on his skin, feel the heat rolling off him like wildfire.
"This isn't your home anymore."
"You're right," she said, lips curving into something bitter. "It hasn't been for a long time."
His jaw ticked.
And then — it hit her.
A sudden pull in her chest. Hot, overwhelming, and terrifying. Like something inside her recognized him beyond anger, beyond memory.
Mate.
She saw it flash in his eyes — the bond flickering in the air between them like static.
He felt it too.
Kael's face darkened. "Whatever that is—" he gestured between them with a clipped motion "—it means nothing. You stay away from me, Seraphina. That's an order."
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
Whispers followed, some not even trying to be quiet.
"She's his mate?"
"Elara's sister?"
"After all this time?"
Sera's nails bit into her palms, her voice low and even. "You think I asked for this?"
"I think you should've stayed gone."
She blinked, throat tight, but she didn't look away. "Then reject me."
Something in him flinched.
She saw it — the hesitation. The raw edge of a bond neither of them had asked for.
He didn't move.
Didn't speak.
Didn't reject her.
Because he couldn't.
And they both knew it.
---
The scent of lilies lingered in the cold stone hall—faint, ghostlike. Kael hated it. He hated that it still lingered.
He stood in Elara's old room, where nothing had changed. Her brushes lined the vanity. Her cloak hung by the door. The corner where she'd kept her favorite books remained undisturbed, a blanket draped like she'd only just left the room.
But she wasn't coming back.
She was ashes now. And he was the one who scattered her.
Kael moved to the dresser, fingers grazing the carved wood. It felt wrong to touch anything, like disturbing a shrine. His reflection in the mirror looked hollow—tight jaw, sunken eyes, grief clinging like a second skin.
Why did the goddess take her? Why not him?
He remembered the funeral pyre. Flames licking up the sides. The crowd silent, broken. And Sera—standing far away, watching like a shadow who didn't belong. Her face unreadable even then.
He remembered falling to his knees after, fists in the dirt, Elara's scent burned into his lungs. His wolf had howled for days. Raged. Refused food. Refused light. He'd destroyed half the training yard trying to quiet the storm inside him.
You were supposed to stay, he thought, gripping the edge of the vanity. You promised me forever.
But promises didn't mean anything to the dead.
A soft wind stirred the curtains, carrying the scent of winter—and something else.
Something warm. Alive. Familiar in a way that twisted everything in his chest.
Sera.
He clenched his fists.
You don't get to come back and wear her face. Not when I'm still bleeding from losing her.
And yet, her presence was a wildfire beneath his skin. His wolf paced behind his eyes. Reaching. Craving.
Kael turned from the mirror and whispered to the empty room, voice like gravel.
"I won't let her take your place, Elara. No matter what bond the gods try to force on me."
Outside, a storm was gathering.
And inside him, so was something worse.
---
Sera stood at the edge of the clearing, the wind tugging at her hair, her thoughts as tangled as the forest around her. The pack's murmurs echoed in the distance, like the hum of bees in a hive—constant, buzzing, and too loud to ignore.
The pull in her chest—sharp and relentless—grew stronger. She clenched her fists at her sides, nails biting into her palms.
It's him. It's Kael.
She couldn't stop it. The bond had awakened in the most inconvenient, cruel way. It wasn't supposed to be like this. She had known the moment she set foot back in the pack that it would be bad, but this? This was impossible.
Every breath felt like a weight pressing down on her ribs, the suffocating grip of a connection she didn't want, couldn't want. But even as she hated it, a part of her… wanted it. Wanted him.
Her heart pounded, a fierce rhythm she couldn't control. She could feel him—a phantom presence—like a shadow that followed her every move, even though he was far away.
Don't think about him. Don't let him in.
But it was too late.
Her mind flashed back to the moment she saw him for the first time since her exile. Kael, standing in the clearing with those cold eyes, his face unreadable. He looked at her like she was a stranger, like she was nothing.
But his body—his body betrayed him. The tension in his jaw, the way his fists tightened, his wolf restless beneath his skin—he couldn't hide it. The bond was there. It was real.
Her pulse quickened.
No. Not again. I won't do this.
But it wasn't a choice. Her wolf tugged at the leash she had on it, straining to cross the distance, to reach him. The way he'd turned away from her—almost dismissed her—left her raw, exposed.
The emotional pain of it was worse than any physical wound. It felt like the jagged edges of broken glass grinding against her insides.
A rustle in the trees snapped her from her thoughts.
Kael.
She didn't need to see him to know. His presence was a storm on the horizon, a crackling, heated thing that burned through the cold night air. The scent of him hit her first—wild, unrestrained. A growl followed, low and threatening, coming from the shadows.
Her heart skipped a beat.
She tried to steady her breathing, tried to steady herself. But the moment she stepped into his presence, everything inside her screamed. Every part of her called to him, as if she had no choice but to obey.
I can't do this. I can't let him control me.
Kael's eyes locked onto hers, his gaze dark and heavy, and for a split second, she could feel everything—his anger, his grief, the unbearable weight of his isolation. The bond was not just pulling at her—it was pulling at him too.
Is he as trapped as I am?
She took a step back, her body aching for distance she couldn't have.
"Stay away from me," Kael's voice was like ice, cutting through the night. "You don't belong here."
The words were like a slap—sharp, cold, and cruel. But they didn't land like they should. They just slipped off her like water, unable to reach her soul.
And then the ground beneath her feet shifted.
The bond, that terrible, pulsing thing, surged again, stronger than before.
Her breath caught in her throat. She stumbled, struggling to keep her footing as the bond wrapped around her like invisible chains, suffocating her with its weight.
No...
But Kael was already moving closer. The ground under his feet crackled, the tension in the air like the calm before a storm.
Sera's body screamed to run, to escape. But the bond—it wouldn't let her go.
He reached for her, the tension building, and for the first time, she realized how dangerous this pull was.
---
Sera's breath came in short, panicked bursts.the pull of the bond was suffocating, overwhelming. It gripped her from the inside, making every step feel like a battle against herself. She could feel Kael's presence like a constant ache in her chest, even as she fought against it, even as she told herself no.
Kael's eyes locked onto hers, dark and distant, like two cold, unforgiving planets that would never touch. His jaw was clenched tight, and his stance—guarded, protective—spoke volumes. But there was something in his eyes, something beneath the anger, that made her heart ache in a way that had nothing to do with the bond.
He feels it too.
The realization hit her like a jolt of electricity, making her knees wobble slightly.
"Stay back," Kael growled, his voice rough like gravel being ground underfoot. His eyes flicked toward her lips for a fraction of a second, and she saw the sharp intake of his breath.
His wolf was fighting it, too. The bond was raw, uncontrollable, and neither of them had a choice in it.
She shook her head, her throat tight. "You don't want this," she hissed, the words tasting like ashes in her mouth. "I don't want this."
Kael's gaze darkened further, but he didn't move closer. "You have no idea what you're talking about." His voice was low, dangerously calm. "I know exactly what this is. And I won't let you destroy everything I've built."
She stared at him, disbelief surging in her chest. Destroy everything?
Her voice cracked as she spoke. "You think I'm here to destroy everything? I'm the one who's been exiled, Kael. You have no idea what I've been through."
He didn't flinch. "I've had enough of your lies, Sera. And now I've got enough of this damn bond pulling at my soul. It's weak—it's a curse, not a blessing." His fists clenched, the muscles in his arms tightening under the tension, his control slipping. "But you and I? We're nothing. You mean nothing to me."
The words stung, more than she'd expected, and it took everything in her to keep from letting the flood of emotions crash through her. She stepped back, trying to hold onto her composure. She couldn't break now—not in front of him.
"You don't get to decide that," she whispered, barely able to speak through the lump in her throat. "We don't get to decide this. It's fate. We're bound, whether we like it or not."
Kael's eyes flared with anger. "Don't talk to me about fate, Sera. Fate took everything from me. Fate tore apart my life and left me with nothing but ashes." His voice dropped to a growl, low and dangerous. "And now it's trying to take me, too. I won't let it."
Her heart sank as his words hit her like a blow to the chest. The pain in his voice was impossible to ignore, but his pride, his refusal to face the truth, pushed her farther away.
"You don't have to let it," she said, her own anger igniting now. "You're not the only one who's suffered, Kael. And I'm not here to destroy you. I'm just… trying to survive. Like you."
For a moment, there was silence, the weight of their words hanging heavy in the air between them. Then, Kael looked away, his gaze flicking to the trees, his fists relaxing but still clenched with anger. His wolf paced inside him, restless, but there was something else—something too deep for her to fully understand.
He was breaking.
"I won't accept it," Kael growled. "This bond, this curse—whatever it is, I won't let it take me." He took a step back, almost as if retreating from the bond, from her.
But Sera could see the truth in his eyes—the bond was already taking root. They both felt it. It was in the air around them, thick and tangled, pushing them closer even as they fought against it.
"I'm not asking you to," she replied, her voice steadier now. "But it's here, Kael. You can't fight it forever. We're tied to each other now. And that's something neither of us can escape."
His jaw tightened again, and he turned away, his back to her. "Then stay away from me," he spat, his voice low and full of bitter finality. "I won't be anyone's puppet."
And with that, he was gone. Disappearing into the trees, his form swallowed by the shadows.
Sera stood frozen in place, her chest tight, her heart pounding, feeling the weight of his words and the bond that continued to pull at her, stronger with each passing second.
She closed her eyes, exhaling slowly.
We're bound to each other, Kael. No matter how much we fight it.