Kael POV

I hadn’t called her name in six years.

Not aloud. Not even in private. It stayed buried, caught behind my teeth, in the hollow of my chest where her laughter used to live. Saying it would make it real again. And I wasn’t sure I could survive that.

But the moment Mira stepped into Blackridge, I felt her. Her scent rode the wind before I ever saw her, soft roses and new rain over ash. My wolf snapped awake like it had been holding its breath all this time. The bond may have dulled, but it wasn’t dead. Not by a long shot.

I watched her from the balcony above the courtyard as the carriage rolled to a stop. She stepped out like she wasn’t trembling inside. Regal. Controlled. As if this place didn’t hold every bone of the girl I once knew. Beside her, Cyrus moved easily protective, but not possessive. I hated how natural they looked together.

She hadn’t seen me, and still I couldn’t look away.

She’d grown more beautiful with time. Her features are sharper, more defined. But her eyes were still Mira. Still storm and sorrow and something I once called home.

I wasn’t supposed to feel this. I’d buried her. Or so I told myself. But seeing her now shattered all the lies I’d lived with.

The council meeting felt like a punishment from the Moon Goddess herself. Standing across from her, forced into diplomacy, while my wolf clawed to reach hers... it took everything I had to stay still.

When our eyes met, the world stopped.

For a breath, there was nothing but that tether, that invisible line between us that had frayed but never snapped. She didn’t look away. Didn’t blink. Mira had always known how to hold her ground, but now there was distance in her stare that hadn’t been there before. Cold. Untouchable.

And beside her stood the man she chose. I shook his hand, forced my hand to be calm. “We’ll see if good faith still holds weight in Blackridge.” The words were for diplomacy, but I aimed them at her. Let her know I hadn’t forgotten. The past didn’t just vanish because she walked away with someone else.

The rest of the meeting was a blur of council voices and strained formality. I said what was expected, nodded at tradition, all while every nerve in my body burned with her nearness. She didn’t speak unless addressed. She didn’t look at me again. But I could feel her.

Even now, the bond still whispered.

When it was over, I left first. Not out of pride, but because staying another second was a risk. Everything I had worked for could be broken.

I returned to my office and dropped the façade. And stared out at the darkening sky. Her suite was across the courtyard, lights on, curtains drawn. I watched from the shadows like a fool as she stepped onto her balcony later that evening.

Her arms wrapped around herself. She stood in silence. And then, he joined her.

He covered her with a blanket, and she leaned into him. Not hesitantly. Not regretfully. As if it were second nature. As if it had always been him.

I turned away, fists tight at my sides.

This was what I wanted for her once, wasn’t it? Safety. Peace. A love untouched by the war I carried in my blood. I had rejected her to save her from becoming my weakness. From becoming a pawn in the endless power plays of the Elders, the threats from the North, and the weight of a throne built on blood.

I never imagined she’d end up in someone else’s arms. And certainly not his. So, when someone knocked on the door, I ignored them. I couldn’t speak to anyone. I couldn’t face the questions in my Beta’s eyes or the concern in my Gamma’s tone. Not tonight. I was devastated, such that I poured the drink into a glass and forgot it on the table, untouched. I stood still, and thoughts flooded my mind as I watched her shadow figure under the moonlight.

Then I felt it, and I noticed an unmistakable change in my body. My wolf reacted, and my ears jerked. I stepped forward, eyes narrowing toward the forest that bordered the estate. Something moved there. Beyond the trees. Just at the edge of vision.

My instincts flared. Not one of ours. Not Windermere, either.

I glanced back toward her balcony. She was still there but alert now, body tense. She felt it too.

The old rhythm returned instantly. I descended the stairs quickly but quietly, my steps silent across the stone. When I reached the guest wing, her door was open. I paused on the threshold of the balcony.

Mira turned, surprised, but not startled.

“I saw something,” she said softly, eyes scanning the trees.

“So, I did. I answered. We stood side by side for a long moment, but we refused to talk to each other. But the silence between us was louder than anything we would have said. I could hear her heartbeat and the sound of her breath. I had only been cautious because her wolf was close to the surface. So was mine.

“We should check it out,” I said, shifting into Alpha mode.

“Cyrus is resting; he had a long day. I didn’t want to wake him.” She said.

“I’ll go,'' I replied, already turning to leave. Her fingers brushed my sleeve. It was nothing, a whisper of a touch. But I felt it everywhere.

“Be careful,” she said, voice barely above a breath. I met her gaze. It wasn’t anger I saw there. Or resentment. It was something else.

Regret, fear, and longing. And just beneath it... something dangerous. Something alive. “I always am.'' I lied. But her touch lingered. I left her in the harsh weather conditions. They dealt with her skin and hair, but I paid no attention. For the first time since she walked away from me after I rejected her, I set my eyes on her. I wondered if we were actually separated.

I moved fast, shifting just beyond the edge of the grounds, my senses sharp. The forest was quiet, quiet. The usual patrol scents were stale, undisturbed. Something had crossed into our territory. Something careful enough not to trip the wards.

Then I caught it. A flash of movement. Not just a rogue. A scout, fast, and not from any pack I recognized. I chased him, but before I reached the treeline, he vanished. I saw a mark carved into a tree, a crescent bored with a dagger. My blood turned cold. That symbol hadn’t been seen since.

A scent hit me then. Familiar. Impossible. I staggered back. It was Mira’s scent. But it wasn’t from the balcony. It was coming from deep inside the forest.