The silence in the Assembly Grounds was suffocating.

Rael Fang stood still as stone, his eyes locked on the girl crumpled before him, her chains rattling faintly, her breath coming in ragged gasps. She was soaked, filthy, clearly injured, and yet something about her presence made the air thrum.

Something ancient stirred beneath his skin. A pressure he hadn’t felt in years. His wolf; the beast he thought was long buried, twitched restlessly inside him, clawing at the cage it had been trapped in for six long years.

But Rael didn’t flinch. He didn't move. Instead, his voice came out low and commanding.

“Who are you?”

The rogue didn’t respond.

“Why are you in my territory?” he continued, voice sharper now. “Who’s after you?”

Still nothing.

His jaw clenched. The guards tensed on either side of her, but Rael raised a hand to silence them.

“Were you sent here?” he asked, stepping forward. His shadow fell over her like a curse. “Are there others with you? Where are the rest of your rogue kind hiding?”

She finally lifted her head, her gaze unfocused. Her lips trembled, cracked and pale.

“Just... let me die.”

The words were soft. Barely audible, but they struck like thunder in the pit of his chest.

Rael’s eyes narrowed and his voice dropped to a dangerous calm.

“Answer me.”

Nothing. She didn’t move. Only sat there, bound and broken, like death might be the mercy she was waiting for.

His wolf howled within, sudden and violent.

Rael took a slow, controlled breath. His power was slipping too close to the surface, and he didn’t like it. Not here. Not in front of them.

He turned to Damon without looking away from her. “Strip her of her chains. Bind her with rune cuffs. I want her held in the inner ward until I say otherwise.”

“She’s dangerous,” Damon said. “Rogues like her- We should kill her.”

“I said bind her, not kill her,” Rael cut in coldly. “She stepped into my territory and I want to know why.”

He leaned forward slightly, just enough for her to hear, voice low enough it curled like smoke in the air.

“And you- you will tell me,” he murmured. “One way or another.”

She didn’t answer him but her eyes didn’t leave his and that, somehow, made it worse. She stared deep into his eyes, trying to read in between the cold gaze latching on her.

With rage simmering just beneath the surface, Rael reached forward and seized her by the throat.

His palm wrapped around the rogue’s neck effortlessly. Her body lifted from the ground, chains clinking against her ankles as her feet dangled. Her lips parted in a strangled gasp, eyes wide with shock, with fear.

“You step into my land without answers,” he snarled. “And now you're going to choke on your own silence!”

Her skin was cold. Fragile. Too light in his grip.

But just as he squeezed tighter-

Agony.

A searing, unearthly pain split through his chest. Rael gasped, staggering.

He released her instantly. She dropped to the ground with a hard thud, coughing and clutching her throat, but his world tilted on its axis.

The pain wasn't physical. It was something else. Something nerve wrecking.

Something was wrong.

He clutched his chest, eyes narrowing as his wolf surged to the surface.

“Do you seriously want to kill our mate?” Wolfie growled, voice erupting in his mind like a thunderclap.

Rael froze.

"Mate?" he gasped. "No…"

He stumbled back, horrified. No. It wasn’t possible. He would’ve known, he would’ve felt it.

But then, just as he steadied himself, instinct took over again, this time dark, furious, violent. He launched forward with every intent to silence her completely.

Only—

He couldn’t move.

Something stopped him. A force from inside.

His wolf.

“You touch her again, and I swear I’ll take control,” Wolfie growled.

Rael’s arms shook. His feet locked in place.

“This changes nothing,” he snapped internally.

“Everything,” Wolfie answered. “You felt it. I felt her. She’s ours.”

In the silence of the room, the faintest hum echoed through the air. A second voice, it was more gentle, warmer, brighter.

Lulu.

“I knew you’d find me.”

Wolfie’s voice softened. “I can't believe we're finally together, I've waited so long for this day.”

Their wolves had already surrendered. To each other. To fate. To the pull of something deeper than blood or magic.

But Rael- Rael was still ice and fury and resistance.

“No,” he said aloud, voice shaking with the weight of everything he was trying to deny.

He turned away from her, his hands still trembling from the contact, from the bond, from the truth clawing its way through his body.

“Take her back to the cell,” he ordered coldly. “Now.”

The guards moved quickly, careful not to look too long at the girl still curled on the floor.

And Rael walked away.

Each step heavier than the last.

As if he was leaving behind the one thing his soul had been waiting for.

~ELDER VASHA’S CHAMBERS ~

The heavy doors to the Elder’s chambers flew open with a loud bang.

Rael stormed in, rage in his veins, his aura swallowing the room like a winter storm. Scrolls rustled from the gust he carried with him. At the far end of the room, Elder Vasha sat on a low stool beside her hearth, a thick scroll unfurled across her lap. Her ancient fingers paused mid-line, but she didn’t flinch.

Instead, she chuckled softly.

“It’s about time, isn’t it?”

Rael's fists clenched at his sides. “You knew?”

Vasha looked up, her gaze calm, knowing. “Of course.”

He stepped forward, voice cracking with disbelief.

“How can she be my mate?! I’m cursed, Elder. A cursed Alpha! One who can’t shift! I’m not supposed to have a mate. How is this happening?!”

Vasha’s smile didn’t fade. She gently rolled up her scroll and placed it aside before standing.

“You are not weak, Rael,” she said, her voice slow and certain. “You are the strongest Alpha the Blood Moon Pack has ever known. The curse... was never meant to last forever.”

Rael blinked, still pacing like a caged beast. “You’re not making sense. What does that rogue have to do with any of this?”

“She is not just a rogue,” Vasha said, stepping closer. “She is the key. Your key. The curse tied to your blood can only be broken through the sacred bond of the true mate. And she... is yours.”

“No.” Rael shook his head, growling low in his throat. “That can’t be. She’s a stray. A wild wolf with no pack, no honor. She’s nothing.”

“She's your other half,” Vasha snapped, her voice suddenly sharp like lightning across a dark sky. “The moon doesn’t choose at random. That rogue girl—she’s the Luna destined for this pack. And I know you felt her the moment you looked into her eyes.”