The forest whispered with secrets.
S
elene stood at the boundary line of Silvercrest territory, the scent of pine needles and damp moss curling around her like a memory. Everything looked the same—the towering evergreens, the gnarled roots that tripped her as a pup, the mist weaving through the branches like forgotten breath. But everything felt different.
I'm different.
She repeated the thought as a mantra, attempting to keep her spine stiff under the weight of the past.
A soft breeze stirred the leaves, stroking her cheeks like the hand of a phantom she could not identify. For a moment, she wandered in her mind, nights with Kael, the fire in his voice when he said her name. That same voice had convicted her. That same fire had chilled.
The ache in her breast had not departed with death. It had evolved.
Why?
Why had they betrayed her? Why had he?
She clenched her teeth, nails in her hands scraping out until blood unfurled. It was what kept her. Reminded her of what she returned for.
Revenge did not come in a line. It was a web. And she was sewing her way to the centre, thread by thread.
I will not be here again—the girl who begged to be loved.
The moonbeams filtered through the branches above, throwing long shadows across the forest floor. At a distance, the den site of their pack shone warmly, a heat she did not now share.
She had been brought back five years before, but already she was older than the ages. Her rebirth was not a gift—it was a trial. A trial that she could not possibly fail.
Her stomach twisted, the mate bond tugging at her like a sadistic thread buried under her skin. It still hurts to have him close. But the pain could be a strength.
Let him come, she thought. Let him try it.
She didn't have to wait long.
"Selene."
His voice broke the silence behind her, harsh and soft all at once.
She hadn't turned initially. She couldn't. Caught her breath, forcing herself to stay still. Not fear—in rage, patched together with ropes of determination. She knew that voice. Lusted after that voice. Until once.
When she had finally turned into him, the punch was tighter than expected.
Kael Blackthorne. Alpha of Silvercrest. Mate. My killer
He looked the same, maddeningly so—broad shoulders, thick dark hair, eyes like midnight storms. But there was something else now, something beneath the Alpha coldness that trembled on the edges of his expression.
A ghost of guilt.
"You've been avoiding me," he said.
Selene raised a brow. "Have I?"
Kael stepped forward. "I have called for you three times. I hoped perhaps you were recovering. But then I sensed it—" He grits his teeth. "The bond. It shifted."
Selene exhaled slowly through her nose, serene and steady. "Because I rejected you."
The words were simple. Pure. But when she said them, something within Kael shattered.
"You're rejecting me?" His voice cracked, the Alpha mask slipping. "Selene, we're fated. You can't simply—
"I could. And I did."
He blinked, as though reality hadn't quite finished loading up behind his eyes.
"We were everything to each other," he whispered, his voice heavy with incredulity. "I made a mistake, but I thought if you returned… if you looked at me again, perhaps—"
"You thought I'd forget being sentenced to death?" Her voice was steel. "You thought the scars would smooth over along with the memories?"
"I didn't know," he cut in, taking a step forward. "I didn't know the truth. They told me—"
"And you believed them." Her words rose in volume, venom curling around every syllable. "You didn't question. You didn't hesitate. You allowed them to strip me, brand me, bleed me in front of the pack."
"I was keeping you safe—"
"No, Kael. You were keeping yourself safe."
A muscle twitched in his jaw. He looked away, shame building like a wave he couldn't swallow. He said nothing for an instant. The silence stretched, broken only by the wind.
Then, more softly: "I thought I'd lost you forever. When I felt the bond slipping away, it almost killed me."
Good, she almost spat. But it stuck in her throat.
She could see the truth now—his truth. He hadn't hated her. He'd doubted her. And that doubt had been fatal.
Selene's fists curled at her sides. "I used to think love was worth dying for. But now? I think trust is."
Kael looked at her as a man drowning scrambling for land—yearning, desperate.
"I'm not asking for forgiveness," he said. "I'm asking for time. Let me prove to you I can be different."
"You had time, Kael. And you wasted it on watching me die."
Her tone didn't quiver. She wouldn't let it.
She turned and he reached out—to her, no less, to touch her just with his fingertips on her wrist.
The contact burned. The bond flashed—a deep, ancient, brutal bond.
For one instant, the pain nearly dragged her back.
But that's what bonds did. They bound. Not always out of love. Sometimes out of duty. Sometimes out of ruin.
She stepped out of his reach.
"I don't belong to you anymore."
A laugh echoed through the trees—low and amused, like a predator watching prey trip over its own feet.
Selene turned around, her body tensing before her mind caught up. Kael's face had already darkened.
From the shadows emerged a tall man in black, his aura as cutting as a blade sheathed in velvet.
"Hope I'm not intruding on a heartfelt reunion," the man drawled, eyes glittering as they settled on her.
Kael growled, taking a threatening step forward. "Blackwood."
The man gave an elegant bow, lips curved in a smirk. "Caden Blackwood, at your service."
Selene's guard came into position. She didn't need Kael's ferocity to feel the danger in the stranger's gaze. Caden radiated power. Controlled. Calculated. His posture was loose, but his presence was anything but.
"I've heard of you," He said coldly. "Mostly warnings."
Caden smiled, teeth gleaming white in the darkness. "I'm flattered. Though I was hoping for a more original introduction."
Kael stepped in between them. "What do you want?
"To address the lady," Caden answered, eyes skittering past him with ease. "I was here to meet her, not you."
"She doesn't need to oblige you."
Selene stepped forward. "She can answer for herself."
Caden's smile widened. "A pleasant change. Most women in Silvercrest are too busy waiting for orders."
Kael bristled.
"Be careful," Selene breathed. "Flattery from you smells of manipulation."
Caden's face didn't shift. "Not flattery. Observation."
He stood taller than her now, and his voice dropped. "Selene, I've observed the tumult in this pack from afar. I've seen how loyalty is rewarded with betrayal, strength penalized when it takes the wrong shape."
Her spine stiffened.
"You," he continued, "are perilous to them because you refuse to break. Because you refuse to grovel."
"Is that meant to impress me?
No, he said. "It's meant to warn you. You're not safe here. Not really. And Kael won't protect you—there'll always be the pack first."
"You don't know him," she growled.
"No," Caden concurred. "But I do know power. And I know how it fears change.".
He advanced another step, his voice in a whisper. "You should have more than this. You should be seated at the table, not crouched on the floor seeking crumbs. Get up with me, Selene. I am offering a partnership. Protection. Not submission."
The word grated on something raw inside her.
"And what do I get in exchange?" she questioned.
"Nothing yet," he said. "Except a possibility to breathe. A place to gather your strength without a collar around your throat."
Kael snarled behind her. "She's not going anywhere with you."
"She hasn't made a decision yet," Caden said, his tone silky.
Selene looked at him—at his confidence, his dangerous charm, the way he offered her the one thing she desired more than anything: freedom.
Then she looked at Kael. Anger. Regret. Guilt.
Her choice wasn't simple. It never was.
"I don't need either of you to save me," she said.
Caden chuckled. "Didn't think you did."
He turned without another word, but his farewell glance lingered. "My offer stands. For now."
Then he disappeared into the trees like smoke.
Selene stood there, gasping harder than she liked.
Kael turned to her, eyes stormy. "You can't trust him."
"I don't trust anyone anymore," she said.
His face flared. "He's not what you think. He doesn't want to help you. He wants to take advantage of you."
Her laugh was cold. "So did you. The difference is that he informed you of the truth about it."
Kael groaned. "You believe I wanted this?"
"I believe you wanted a mate who would not question you."
Her statement pierced him. But she didn't allow him to beg.
"I have errands to run," she stated, passing him by.
She did not look back.
The woods grew still around her as she moved—too still.
Birds were quiet. The wind had stopped.
Her wolf stirred, tension crawling across her skin.
She stopped.
Something was wrong.
Then a shift—silent, focused.
She spun around, claws struggling to push past her fingertips.
But it was n
ot Kael.
It was not Caden.
Another man stepped out of the trees—taller, leaner, his eyes shining with an unknown hunger.
He smiled.
Selene's instincts screamed.
This isn't over yet, it is just the beginning.