For three years, Kael and I were bonded. To the entire Blackrock wolf pack, he was the icon of loyalty. After every hunt, he made a grand public display. He’d carve out the heart of the kill and present it to me. Declaring in the Old Tongue: “For my fated mate.” I always accepted, playing my part in the charade. The powerful mate, cherished by our future Alpha. It was all a beautiful lie. In three years, his most romantic gesture? He brushed my black and shiny fur in my wolf form, once, during a full moon. That was the extent of his private devotion. That all changed on the day we were meant to move. Into the new den, built for the future Alpha couple. In his stone chest of old texts, I found a journal. It was bound in animal hide, ancient and worn. Every page was filled with delicate wolf runes. Detailing rituals, moonlight intensity, and herbal remedies. The handwriting was gentle, full of care. Nothing like his usual harsh, forceful script. “Seraphina can’t stand Sunfire Herb. Grind the moonstone to powder for her. The ritual water must be pristine, no trace of blood.” My hands trembled as I flipped to the last entry. The date was the third blood moon after our bonding. I remembered that night vividly. A piece of silver had burned my skin. My fever was so high, I could barely hold my human form. I sent him three desperate mindlink pleas. He told me he was patrolling the pack borders. But his journal told a different story. “She wanted a soul-soothing moon bath today. I channeled lunar energy for her for three hours. She was so happy.” I slowly closed the book and placed it back exactly where I found it. The movers asked where the stone chest should go in our new den. My voice was perfectly calm when I answered. “Leave it. He can have it. Along with this entire den.” After his patrol, his voice echoed in my mental link. “I’ve seen the new den, Ella. The perch is the perfect height. I can watch over you so much better from there.” A cold smile touched my lips. I sent one final message before severing our link forever. “Don’t bother. My name isn’t in your ritual journal.” … “You touched my rune journal?” Kael stormed in, his brow knotted in fury. The journal in animal hide lay open on the stone table between us. I just sat on the fur rug, watching his chest heave from his frantic sprint back here. “I was looking for a territory scroll,” I said, my voice flat. “Happened to see it by accident.” His eyes flickered to the journal, his tone shifting to annoyed pity. “That’s just some healing rituals I jotted down for a fragile friend, ages ago. Is that why you sent that insane message? Threatening to sever our bond over this?” He stepped closer, reaching to wrap his arms around me. That familiar gesture he used to claim his property. I recoiled from his touch. “Jotted down?” I locked my eyes onto his. “Every page notes the exact phase of the moon. The herbal doses are measured to the last grain. It even says she hates the smell of Sunfire Herb. That the ritual water must be the first snowmelt from the highest peak.” I slid the journal right across the table to him. “So you tell me, Kael. Which ‘friend’ earns three years of your life? A whole book of healing rituals, written only for her?”
Kael’s hand froze mid-air. The warmth in his eyes turned to ice. “Ella, are you seriously picking a fight right now? I am drowning in pack business, and I still made time to plan our new home. I’m focused on our future, on securing our status as the Alpha pair. And you’re in here, digging up old ghosts.” His voice dripped with the false sting of being wronged. If I hadn’t seen the date on that final page… I would have caved, just like I always did. I would have apologized for daring to question his loyalty. But not this time. “The last page,” I said, cutting through his performance. “The date was the day that silver burned me, the day I was consumed by fever. I sent you three mindlinks for help. You told me you were fighting rogue wolves at the border. But your journal says you spent three hours with her. Channeling moonlight to heal her ‘soul wounds’.” His jaw tightened as he saw it. He opened his mouth, scrambling for another lie. But a soft sound came from the den’s entrance. Seraphina drifted in, a pouch of rare herbs in her hand. Her gaze fell on the open journal, and her eyes flickered. “Kael… you promised me she would never find out.”
So this journal was their little secret. And I, the “fated mate,” was the only one in the dark. Kael shot to his feet and went straight to her. “What are you doing here? I told you to wait for me.” All the anger in his voice vanished, replaced by a gentle murmur. “My chest started to hurt…” Seraphina whispered, head bowed. “I was worried you couldn’t find the right herbs, so I brought them.” She held out the small pouch. His brow creased with worry. “The pain is back? Did you absorb the moonlight today?” He looked down at her, his eyes swimming with concern. I watched them, lost in their own little world. A world of primal, protective instinct that didn’t include me. I’d seen enough. I stood and walked to the mouth of the den. “Ella, where are you going?” Kael finally snapped back to reality, his head whipping towards me. “Hunting,” I said, brushing past them both. I pushed aside the curtain of vines at the entrance. “Can you stop?” His hand shot out, clamping down on my wrist. “Seraphina’s old injury is flaring up. I’m taking her back to heal. We will talk about this later.” He said it like I was the one in the wrong. His eyes blazed with blame. I stared down at his hand on my wrist. Then, slowly, deliberately, I ripped my arm free. “Fine.” I took a step back, out of the den’s shadows. The cool moonlight washed over me. Seraphina finally lifted her gaze to meet mine. Her eyes were wide, her voice trembling and small. “Ella… if I’m getting in the way, I’ll go.”
I stared at Seraphina’s carefully crafted innocent face, saying nothing. The look on Kael’s face turned to thunder. “Why are you looking at her like that?” he snarled. “She’s fragile. She can’t handle your oppressive aura.” He physically shielded her with his body. “I’m not doing anything.” My voice was ice. “I’m making room for you two.” I turned without another word and vaulted from the rock, melting into the deep woods. Kael didn’t follow me. But just as the darkness swallowed me whole… My wolf hearing caught his low, soothing voice. “Don’t mind her. She just gets like this. It’ll blow over.” So that’s all my anger was to him. Cheap and meaningless. I sat by the creek at the edge of our territory for hours. I only went back after I sensed his presence leave her den. He was returning to our home. Pushing back the vines, I found the den silent. The journal on the table was gone, of course. I went to the inner chamber to wash my hands. And my eyes snagged on something new by the basin. It was a small pendant, carved from moonstone. I only wear obsidian. This one reeked of her scent. I stared at it for a long, cold moment. Back in the main room, I sat on the fur rug. And there, caught in the fibers, was a single strand of silver-white hair. My fur is jet black. I pinched the hair between my fingers. My gaze fell on the Echo Crystal. “Show me today,” I commanded in a low whisper. A blue light swirled to life inside the stone. An image flickered, and Seraphina’s voice filled the silence. “Kael, this wall hanging is so dark. Let’s get a moon-colored one instead.” Then came his reply, his voice thick with a sickening fondness. “Alright. Whatever makes you happy.” I watched the memory fade. There was no tearing pain in my chest. Just a cold, primal fury. The feeling of my territory being invaded. This wasn’t a recent betrayal. She had been seeping into our life, our home. Poisoning everything, drop by drop.
Kael came back late into the night. He was holding a freshly killed snow rabbit. My favorite. “Caught it for you while passing the cedar grove,” he said. His voice dripped with condescension as he unbuckled his gear. “Look, about today… I was out of line. I shouldn’t have snapped.” He moved closer, trying to dissolve the tension in the air. “Seraphina has no one else in this pack, Ella. I just look out for her sometimes. You shouldn’t read so much into it.” I stared at his face, a mask of false sincerity. “What herbs did you use on it?” I asked. He blinked, thrown by the sudden question. Then he smiled. “Rosemary. Your favorite, of course.” My eyes drifted to the perfectly cleaned rabbit. “I’m allergic to rosemary, Kael.” The air in the den went dead silent. His hand froze on his belt buckle, panic flashing in his eyes. “I… I must have gotten them mixed up. I wasn’t thinking.” He tried to sound casual, but the confidence was gone from his voice. “You didn’t get them mixed up,” I said, rising to my feet. I looked straight into his eyes. “You mistook her favorite for mine.” He swallowed hard, his gaze darting away. He reached for the rabbit. “Fine, my mistake. I’ll toss it and hunt you a new one tomorrow.” He just wanted to make it all go away. “Don’t,” I said, stopping him cold. Kael paused, turning back to face me. “So when you’re out ‘patrolling’… Are you really just visiting her den?”
Kael threw the rabbit on the ground. “Ella, what the hell do you want?” His jaw was tight, his eyes burning into me. “I already said I was sorry. Are you going to crucify me over one mistake?” “One mistake?” I let the words hang in the air. “So bringing another female wolf’s things into our den… forcing her preferences on me… that’s just one mistake?” I pulled out the moonstone pendant and slapped it down on the stone table. “Then whose is this?” Kael’s eyes darted to the pendant, then away. “Seraphina must have left it. She stayed over once.” “Stayed over?” A cold, humorless laugh escaped my lips. “When was she staying over? Why didn’t I know?” He dragged a hand through his hair in frustration. “While you were at the Mountain Alliance summit. Her den flooded. She just needed a place for two nights. It was two nights! Why are you interrogating me like a criminal?” He sounded so offended. Like I was the one being unreasonable. I turned my back on him. I walked into our chamber and dragged my pack from under the bed. Kael followed right behind me. The color drained from his face when he saw it. “What are you doing?” He lunged forward, his hand clamping down on my pack. “Packing.” I brushed his hand off, my voice dangerously calm. “Don’t you dare threaten to walk out on me, Ella!” His voice cracked, jumping an octave. “We are about to move into the new Alpha den! Who is this little show for?” I ignored him, opening my chest. I began laying out my armor and weapons, piece by piece. “Answer me!” He grabbed my shoulders, whipping me around to face him. “I already explained. She’s like a sister to me!” “What kind of sister mindlinks her brother in the dead of night for ‘comfort’?” I stared right through him. “What kind of sister gets to redecorate our future home?”
For a moment, Kael was speechless. He let his hands fall, taking a full step back. I ignored him and went back to my packing. Then I pulled open a drawer and found a folded blueprint. I unrolled the plans for our new den. The margins were covered in notes, scrawled in red berry ink. “Lower the resting platform by three feet.” “Move the water channel closer to the Moon Well.” “Custom-build the weapon rack to this design.” A shopping list was attached to the back. A pale green moss carpet. Bowls with tiny, burned-in flowers. And a warming nest, for a sick pup. I despise green and never use patterned things. I certainly don’t need a warming nest. This was all hers. All for Seraphina. I shoved the blueprint right in his face. “So this is you planning our future, thinking all the time about how to take care of me?” Kael paled as he stared at the red ink. “The builders got it wrong. I just haven’t fixed it yet.” He was still lying. And his excuses were getting pathetic. I threw the plans into the fire pit. “Kael. Who is this new den really for?” He took a deep breath, his eyes turning to ice. “Ella, don’t make this ugly.”
“What is it you want to say?” I stopped what I was doing, watching him. Kael pointed to the blueprints curling into ash in the fire. “I earned this den defending our borders in the last raid. I’m the one overseeing its construction. Seraphina gave me a few suggestions. That’s it. Who are you to stand there and question me?” A laugh escaped my lips, cold and full of rage. So that’s how he saw it. I didn’t even have the right to an opinion about my own home. “Fine.” I nodded, pulling the leather straps of my pack tight. “The den is yours. The credit is yours. And Seraphina is yours. I’m giving it all back.” I grabbed my pack and started for the entrance. Kael blocked my path. “Today is our bonding anniversary.” He was barely holding onto his temper, playing his last emotional card to make me stay. “I’ve already prepared the Oath Hunt. For the Shadow Panther you’ve always wanted. We complete the ritual, seal our bond with its blood… And we put this all behind us. Okay?” He laid out my future like it was a gift he was granting me. Just then, the comms crystal on his belt lit up. A unique pulse. It was Seraphina.
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