The sound of that howl still echoed in my chest, long after it had faded into the night. It wasn't like the ones I'd grown used to—the playful howls of the young wolves during training or the commanding calls of the pack Alphas. No, this one was colder. Sharper. It carried a weight that pressed down on my bones and made my wolf stir uneasily inside me.
Kairo's body tensed beside me, every line of his frame pulled taut like a bowstring ready to snap. The shift in him was instant, and though his gaze stayed fixed on the dark line of trees, I could feel the energy pouring off him—protective, but dangerous.
I swallowed, my fingers still clutching his arm. "That wasn't one of ours… right?"
He didn't answer immediately, which scared me more than if he had lied. His silence was enough to tell me everything.
My heart pounded against my ribs. Why now? Why here? The world we were slowly building—whatever fragile thread was forming between us—suddenly felt like it was hanging over a blade.
Finally, he turned to me, his jaw set, eyes burning in that way that always made me forget how to breathe. "Stay here."
"No." The word slipped out before I could think. His head snapped toward me, surprised, but I didn't back down. "You can't just tell me to stay behind while something dangerous is happening out there."
His lips pressed into a thin line. "Lyra…" He said my name like a warning, but there was a flicker of something else beneath it—fear. Not fear for himself. Fear for me.
That did something to my chest. Something warm and painful all at once.
I shook my head, refusing to let him cage me away. "You can't protect me from everything, Kairo. You keep pushing me out, but I'm not weak. If there's a fight coming, I want to stand by your side."
His hand shot up suddenly, cupping my face, forcing me to meet his eyes. His touch burned, not in pain but in the way it always did—like fire barely held in check. "Do you have any idea what you do to me?" he asked, voice low and rough, almost broken. "Every second you're near, I'm fighting not to lose control. And now, with this threat…" His thumb brushed my cheekbone. "If anything happens to you, Lyra, it will destroy me."
The raw honesty in his voice stole every word from my mouth. My chest tightened, a thousand replies clawing for release, but none strong enough to match what he'd just confessed.
The tension between us thickened, hotter than before, the danger around us only making it sharper. I should've stepped back. I should've thought of the risk. But instead, my body leaned closer, like a moth to flame.
I wanted to tell him I wasn't afraid. That maybe I was already too far gone where he was concerned.
But before the words could form, another howl shattered the moment. Louder. Closer. And then came the rustle of branches snapping, the unmistakable thud of something massive moving fast through the forest.
Kairo's eyes flared. He released me abruptly, his Alpha aura surging so strongly it made the hairs on my neck rise. "Inside. Now."
I opened my mouth to argue, but the look in his eyes—wild, protective, furious—stopped me cold.
Before I could decide whether to obey or defy him, a figure emerged at the treeline, its silhouette huge and unmistakably wolf-like, glowing eyes locking straight on us.
And it wasn't one of Kairo's pack.