I'd been sitting alone for a while when the clan elder called out.

Someone was looking for me.

I pushed open the tent flap.

Lila stood there in a white linen dress, small and soft, her sweet water lily scent already wrapping around me before she even opened her mouth. She gave me a little wave like we were old friends.

"Fenrisa," she said, her voice careful and quiet. "I just reached out to Kael through the pack-link. His pheromones are all over the place. He really wants me to come with him to the back hills for a hunt."

A small pause.

"Is that okay with you?"

Straight to the point.

Her voice was cautious. But underneath it, barely hidden, was something else entirely.

Pride.

This was how she'd been with me all season.

Fragile. Put-upon. Secretly thrilled.

And here she was again. Same face. Same door.

I watched her with cold eyes.

I still couldn't understand it — what a proud Alpha like Kael saw in someone who hid her claws inside lace gloves. Who turned every room into a stage and called it shyness.

In the beginning, he hadn't wanted anything to do with her. Said her scent was too muddled — none of the northern wolf's bloodline in it. Too soft. Too southern.

Then came the territory patrol.

A hunter's trap caught Kael's hind leg. Steel teeth, deep.

I was already moving. Already reaching for the herbs, my hands steady, doing what needed to be done.

But Zoey dropped to her knees first.

She burst into tears — the loud, gasping kind — and tore a strip from her own skirt. That thin, barely-there skirt. She pressed it against the wound with both hands, sobbing like she was the one bleeding out.

Kael had gone very still.

He stared at her for a long moment. That same look he got when something surprised him — rare, quiet, unsettled.

He didn't accept her mating advance after that. But he stopped turning her away from his territory.

Eventually, Lila just claimed him as a brother.

And the whole north knew: the strongest Alpha had taken in a little sister from the south.

As for me?I got a new title.The Pack's Stray.

Half the pack thought that was the funniest thing they'd ever heard. Wolves who'd never said a word to me suddenly had a lot to say. Even Kael had laughed — just once, soft and reluctant — before he reached over and scratched behind my ears and said:

"You're not a stray. As long as I'm alive, you're in my territory."

Was I still in his territory now?

I smiled at Lila.The kind of smile that didn't reach anywhere.

She shifted under my gaze, nervous, and asked again. "Fenrisa, can I go with Kael to the hunt? If it bothers you, I won't go."

Before I could answer, a shadow fell across the entrance.

Kael stepped out of the pines.

He was frowning before he even reached us. "Lila." His voice was flat. "I told you to wait at the tree line. Why are you here?"

"I — I wasn't sure if I should cross into your hunting range," she said, stumbling over the words. "So I came to ask Fenrisa first."

She dropped her chin as she said it, tilting her head just enough to bare the back of her neck.

Soft. Submissive. Completely helpless.

Kael's expression immediately softened. Like it always did.

He reached out and ruffled her hair. "Silly girl. I said you could come into my hunting grounds — that means you can go. You don't need to ask anyone."

"But…" Lila ducked her head, still playing uncertain, still milking every last second of it.

Kael glanced over at me. His jaw tightened. "Look at how much thought Lila puts into your feelings. And you can't even take a joke."

A joke.

He still thought that was all it was. Lila tampering with my blood contract — just a prank. My anger — my problem.

My fault.

I looked at Lila.

The smile that curled my lips had nothing warm in it.

"She puts thought into my feelings?" My voice came out steady. Quiet. Each word its own small blade.

"This little sister routine she's been running all season would make a fox take notes. She releases mating pheromones right in front of me and calls it not knowing the rules. She takes what isn't hers and calls it a brother's favor. She can't outrun a rabbit on her best day, but she walks around like she'll shatter if someone breathes wrong — always one wrong look away from tears, always the victim, always so fragile."

I stepped closer.

"You smile at me and call me sister. And then you spend every waking hour trying to squeeze your poison into my water bag. So tell me, Lila —" I tilted my head. "Is something wrong with your glands, or have you always survived by making Alphas feel sorry for you?"

Every sentence landed.

I watched the color drain from her face, one word at a time.

By the end, she was trembling. Head bowed. A small, broken sound escaping her throat — that familiar whimper, perfectly timed, perfectly placed.

Kael's expression went dark.

His eyes burned — that deep, dangerous red flickering up through the gold.

"Are you done?" His voice dropped low. Controlled. Barely. "When did you turn into this? You're acting like a rabid wolf with no sense left in her."

He stepped forward.

"Or maybe you want to be the one kicked out of this pack."

His eyes locked onto mine. Cold. Final.

"The Pack's Stray."

My breath hitched.

Something clawed my chest — sharp, sudden, a talon hooking between ribs.

So this is how he does it.

Kael used that name. The one the whole pack used to mock me.

What he really meant: Revoke your mate candidate status. Walk away. Have nothing.

I raised my chin.

Held his gaze.

Twelve years collapsed into this moment.

His golden pupils flickered — that shift I knew better than my own heartbeat. The aggression rolling off him pulled back. Barely. Enough.

I knew him.

We knew each other too well.

One tail-flick, we read the other's mind.

Twelve years of fever nights. Burning moons. Staying awake when moonlight sickness took him — pressing my tongue to his forehead, licking sweat until shaking stopped.

Twelve years of scars.I went alone into enemy territory. Brought back a Fresh Elk Heart. Proved loyalty with my body. The fang that caught my jaw left a mark that never faded.

Every night snow stopped falling, he shifted — that massive ancient form — pulled me close, showed me auroras like he'd kept them just for me.

We never imagined leaving.

Never dared bare true fangs at each other.

But this time, Kael was different.

He put away Alpha dominance. Set it aside, deliberate and calm.

Then stepped in front of Lila anyway.

"Lila's being generous. She's not holding it against you. Apologize, and we move on."

Something cracked.Not loud. Not dramatic.Just — gone.

Twelve years, apart in one sentence.I almost laughed.

"No."Softness vanished from his face.

Fury replaced it — cold, absolute, the kind from deep and Alpha.

"Fenrisa." His voice dropped to warning. "You're testing my last nerve."

His last nerve.When did Kael have limits with me?

He used to say I was his limit. That no beast alive would touch me while he breathed.

Apparently that limit had a name now.Lila.

Suddenly pointless. Small. Exhausting.I turned toward my tent.

"Fine."Low growl tore from his throat. I heard him grab Lila's wrist, heard pine needles crunch under boots, then forest swallowed them.

I didn't look back.Inside, I spread the contract parchment flat.

Two hours to midnight.

Blood moon would peak. Assignment would lock. No ritual, no blood, no wanting could undo it.

I could go south. Marshlands. Territory that never knew my name.I didn't reach for the knife.

Just sat. Stared at parchment a long time.Then started reading.

Old texts. Southern geography. Marshland survival codes. Every rule, every danger, every thing needed to start over somewhere else.

Read until eyes burned.

Wolves began howling at midnight.

Rolled through valley like smoke — low, layered, rising from every direction.

Assignment done.I sat very still. Waited for fear.

It didn't.Sky stays up fine when you leave his territory.

Three days later, glacier canyons alone to hunt and clear my head.

Pack-link opened without warning.

Kael's voice slid in like he still had every right.

"Fenrisa. Temper's really something lately."

I kept walking.

"Sent a dozen messages. You haven't answered one. Blocking my scent mark too — seriously?"Silence.

"Actually planning to leave for full moon season? Fine. But don't expect me to haul your crates. All those hides and bags — let's see who helps."Two words back.

"Sure. Bye."

Southern marshlands, young wolves already organizing. Eager ones, friendly ones — posting on pack-link they'd meet northern arrivals at border on landing day.

Without Kael, world kept spinning.

Almost surprised how easily.

Then one more message.

Weight hit before words — pure Alpha anger, pressing against link like fist against glass.

"Think you're so bold, running south. Don't come crying when I've chosen someone else. You'll be the one begging me to take you back."

I shook my head.

Cut the link.

---

September arrived on schedule.

Booked airship ticket two weeks early. Departure at dawn. I'd always hated rushing.

The Everglades platform smelled like rain that hadn't fallen yet.

I had been on the ground for four minutes when pack-link cracked open.

"Fen." His voice was bright. Easy. "I'm outside your tent. You can stop sulking now. I'm taking you to Silver Peak Academy myself. Get out here."