POV- Kael
The forest hadn't changed. Same towering pines. Same thick mist. Same scent of blood and ash buried deep in the soil.
But I had changed.
I moved like a shadow between the trees, silent, focused. My senses were sharp despite the years away—each scent, each breeze, each heartbeat in the woods around me was a signal. And I could feel it—her. She was close.
Alera.
Her name burned like acid and ice all at once. I hadn't spoken it in five years, but it echoed in my mind now, louder than ever. I'd thought I buried her with everything else I left behind. The pain, the betrayal, the fire. But the second I crossed the border into Fenmoor territory, her scent slammed into me like a fist to the gut.
Vanilla, rain, and fury. That was Alera.
I hadn't meant to be seen. Hell, I didn't even plan to stay long. Just long enough to confirm what I'd heard—that the pack was weakening, that something was stirring in the North, something darker than any of them knew. I'd wanted to warn them and disappear before anyone realized I was there.
Before she realized.
But of course, Alera always did have a knack for sensing danger.
And to her, that's all I was now. A threat.
I crouched on a ridge, overlooking a clearing near the eastern border. The patrols were sloppy tonight. Too few wolves. Too wide a gap. That was a problem. My problem, even if they didn't see it yet.
I'd tried to forget Fenmoor. I'd tried to live like a rogue—free, alone, untethered. But I learned fast that freedom without purpose is just another cage. And no matter how far I ran, I kept circling back to one truth.
Alera was still in danger.
And if what I'd seen in the mountains was real, then so was the threat coming for her.
A rustle in the trees caught my attention. My head snapped toward it. A scent hit the air—sharp, familiar, laced with heat and adrenaline.
She was here.
I didn't run.
Seconds later, a black wolf burst into the clearing, sleek and furious, golden eyes glowing like wildfire. She moved with deadly grace, all muscle and purpose. The moment her eyes locked on me, I saw it—recognition. Rage. And something else, buried deep under the surface: heartbreak.
She shifted mid-lunge, landing in a crouch, her naked skin glistening under the moonlight, not that she gave a damn about modesty in this moment.
"Kael," she spat, like the word physically hurt her.
"Hello, Alera." My voice came out rough, lower than I intended. She had that effect on me.
She stalked forward, fists clenched. "You have ten seconds to explain why you're here before I rip your throat out."
I raised my hands slowly, not in surrender—just in warning. "Not here to fight. I came to warn you."
She barked a laugh, sharp and humorless. "Warn me? About what? Another betrayal? Another lie?"
I flinched, but didn't look away. "Something's coming. Something big. I've seen the bodies, Alera. Whole packs torn apart. Not by rogues. By something older."
"You expect me to believe anything you say after what you did?" she snapped, stepping closer, her voice shaking now. "You left me. You left us. You let my father believe you were dead, and you let me grieve you like a fool."
I didn't move. I let her words cut deep, let them land where they needed to. She deserved that much.
"I know," I said quietly. "And I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to you—if I survive the next few weeks."
Silence fell between us. Tense. Sharp.
Her eyes searched mine, like she didn't want to believe me—but couldn't stop herself.
Finally, she spoke, voice low. "If you're lying to me, Kael, I swear I'll make you regret ever coming back."
I gave her a bitter smile. "If I'm lying, you won't have to. Something else will kill me first."
And just like that, the moment snapped.
She turned on her heel and shifted again, a flash of black fur vanishing into the woods.
But not before I heard her whisper something I wasn't meant to catch.
"My heart still hates you for leaving... but it never stopped looking for you."
I stood there for a long time after she was gone, heart thudding like war drums in my chest.
So it begins.