As if summoned by fate—
the silence outside shattered.
A deafening growl echoed through the trees.
Then screams.
Snarls.
Chaos.
The scent of blood hit the cabin like a whip.
Asha froze.
Her hands trembled as she turned toward the window.
The rogues were close.
Too close.
And they weren't just hunting…
They were starving.
Kael didn't hesitate.
He grabbed her wrist and gently shoved her behind him, then opened the hidden medicine closet.
"Stay in here. Don't come out."
"Kael—"
He cut her off with a look.
"Now."
Before she could protest again, he closed the door behind her.
Then everything changed.
His voice became command. His body—lethal.
Kael and his guards tore through the rogues like blades through smoke.
Steel flashed. Claws raked. Blood splattered the forest floor.
They didn't kill them all. One was spared—barely breathing—for questioning.
When it was over, the woods fell silent again.
But the air… it still trembled.
Kael walked back to the cabin, opened the closet.
Asha stepped out slowly, her eyes still wide with shock.
"Are you sure," Kael said, calm but deadly serious, "that you still want to stay here?"
She opened her mouth—hesitated.
"Because even if you do," he continued, his voice low, "you're not."
He turned to his men. "Take the prisoner back to the pack. Interrogate him. I'll catch up."
Then he stepped outside and shifted.
Bones cracked. Muscles stretched.
In seconds, he became a massive, silver wolf with storm-bright eyes and a coat like steel fire.
Asha stood at the doorway, stunned.
"Ride," he said through the link, shaking his fur.
"Sit on me."
She blinked. "My wolf can run—"
He chuckled, even in wolf form.
"She's shaken. You are too. Just ride."
For a moment, she hesitated—eyes locked with his.
But then… something in her softened.
And slowly, carefully…
She climbed on.
Her fingers curled into his thick fur.
Her legs pressed against his sides.
And for the first time in years—
She let someone else carry her.
What should've taken two days…
He stretched into five.
Not because his wolf was tired—
but because he wanted time with her.
Time away from titles.
From duties.
From the crown that waited on his head.
They traveled through forests, over rivers, along ridges kissed by moonlight.
And in those five days, Kael learned more about Asha than he had in years of watching her from a distance.
She was the last healer of her bloodline.
Her voice broke the first time she told him.
"They killed them… my parents. Said they were failures.
The Alpha's son died… and they blamed them."
She had only been nine.
Nine, when her entire world turned to ash.
Kael didn't speak at first—his silence thick with grief and rage.
Then he said quietly, "They didn't fail. They were scapegoats. You are their legacy, Asha. A greater one than that Alpha's son could ever be."
She hadn't answered.
Just rested her cheek against his back as he carried her forward, breath steady.
In return, she learned about him—
The weight of leadership.
The betrayal that almost cost him everything.
The nights he dreamed of her, even before he remembered her face.
By the fifth day, they weren't just traveling.
They were healing.
And when they reached the edge of the Eastern Moon Pack… the world held its breath.
The gates opened.
Wolves bowed.
People paused mid-step and stared—
Because there, in broad daylight, was their Alpha—
A massive silver wolf carrying a woman.
Not wounded. Not bleeding. Not dying.
Just… there.
Whole. Proud. Beautiful.
Her arms loosely wrapped around his neck. Her eyes open. Her body relaxed.
Not like a hostage. Not like a patient.
Like someone who belonged.
The whispers began instantly.
"Who is she…?"
"She's not marked—"
"But she looks… untouched—?"
"She's not even injured—"
"Why is our Alpha carrying her like that…?"
Kael didn't stop.
Didn't flinch.
Didn't explain.
Because he didn't owe anyone an answer.
But the message was clear to every soul in that courtyard:
She didn't need a wound to be worth saving.
She didn't need to be claimed to be his.
She was Asha. And she was already everything.