The door hadn't even fully closed before Sera's knees buckled.
The weight of Kael's words, the fire in his eyes, the ache she couldn't describe—it all came crashing down. She sank onto the moss-covered bench in the greenhouse, breath shallow. The moonblooms around her pulsed faintly, their silver petals responding to her magic. But even their gentle glow couldn't thaw the chill in her chest.
She hated this. Hated how she still wanted to run after him. Hated how every cruel word lodged deeper into her ribs like splinters.
You're the test.
Not the bond. Not a mate. A test.
Tears burned behind her eyes, but she didn't cry. Not yet. Crying meant surrender. Crying meant it won.
Instead, she whispered into the shadows:
"I'm not your test, Kael. I'm your consequence."
---
The trees blurred past him, the wind slicing his face like knives. Kael didn't stop running until the familiar scent of home hit him—ash, pine, blood.
He stepped into the clearing of the pack compound, and everything went still.
Warriors stiffened. Patrols halted mid-step. No one dared speak.
His shirt clung to his chest, soaked with sweat. His eyes burned from the bond's pull, but his jaw was set in stone.
"Gather the inner circle," he barked. "Now."
They scrambled without question.
He didn't have time to bleed out the emotions clawing inside him. The rage. The confusion. The longing. He shoved it down, deep, where no one could see.
Minutes later, in the council room, seven alphas-in-training, two enforcers, and his Beta stood at attention.
Kael didn't sit.
He looked them over, gaze sharp, voice like steel. "We have a problem. And it's not just the Outer Realm threats or territory lines. It's her."
One brave soul spoke. "You mean... the Second Luna?"
A deadly pause. Then Kael's eyes snapped to the speaker.
"She's not Luna." His voice dropped an octave. "She's a complication."
They fell silent. Tension crackled in the air.
"But make no mistake," he continued, "if anyone questions her presence out loud—if word spreads outside this room—I'll know. And I won't be merciful."
He paced, every step measured and lethal. "You will treat her with respect, not because she's welcome, but because I command it. And if the bond begins to affect anyone's loyalty... I'll deal with that, too."
The room stayed deadly quiet.
Then Kael added, barely above a whisper, "She doesn't belong here. But she's not leaving yet. So stay out of my way."
---
Sera sat in the corner of the old healer's den, a thin shawl wrapped around her shoulders. The fire crackled, but it couldn't warm the chill that had settled in her bones since Kael vanished into the woods.
She hadn't seen him since.
Outside the den, footsteps scurried, hushed voices darting back and forth like shadows. The wolves were talking again—about her. She could feel it in the way they looked at her now: not just with fear, but with suspicion.
"…heard she's the reason the Alpha snapped last night."
"Second Luna? That can't be real. Ellara's only been gone a few moons…"
"Maybe she cursed him. Maybe she's a spy."
Sera turned her face toward the stone wall, fists clenched in her lap.
She wasn't supposed to care. She knew the bond would make her a target. But hearing Ellara's name—the sister she'd buried with part of her own soul—twisted like a knife between her ribs.
A soft knock broke the silence. She turned. It was Mira, the young healer apprentice, barely eighteen, holding a steaming bowl of tea.
"They're afraid of you," Mira said softly, not bothering to lie.
Sera took the tea, fingers curling around the warmth. "So am I."
Mira sat beside her. "Is it true? You're… his?"
The words hung heavy in the air.
Sera's voice cracked. "I don't want to be."
---
The moonlight carved sharp angles into the forest, its pale glow filtering through the dense canopy overhead. Kael stood at the edge of the clearing, his fists clenched at his sides as the pack's whispers echoed through his mind.
She's not what we thought.
She'll tear us apart.
She's cursed. You should have killed her.
Every word a jab, every breath a reminder of how close he was to losing control.
He could feel the bond pulling at him—stronger, more insistent than ever before. It coiled inside him like a snake, suffocating in its heat, tightening its grip with every second. He wasn't sure how much longer he could fight it.
But there was something else gnawing at him. Something deeper than the bond or his hatred for the fate that had been forced upon them both.
The pack was watching him. They were waiting for him to lead, to crush whatever hope the outsiders might have that this cursed mating could be anything other than a disaster.
Kael exhaled sharply, pushing away from the trees and walking deeper into the woods, away from the pack's prying eyes. The night air was sharp and cold, but it did little to ease the fire burning inside him.
What am I supposed to do with this?
His wolf, ever restless, paced in the back of his mind, growling at the pull of the bond. It wanted to submit. To claim. But Kael couldn't let it. Not yet.
He stopped, his breath a cloud in the frigid air. In the distance, he could sense Sera. Her presence, even from far away, drew him in, the bond that had been forged between them pulling with an unnatural force.
His chest tightened.
I won't break.
The words were an anchor, even as the shadows seemed to close in on him.
But deep inside, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was already too far gone.
And as the forest swallowed him whole, he realized—whether he wanted it or not—the path forward was already set.
He just had to choose whether to fight it or let it destroy him.