The night lay heavy over the Blackridge lodge, the kind of darkness that felt alive, humming with tension just beneath the skin of the world. The trees outside pressed close, their branches rattling faintly in the restless wind, as though the forest itself whispered warnings to anyone foolish enough to ignore its shadows. Inside, the hallways stretched long and hushed, the silence broken only by the occasional creak of wood or muffled growl from a wolf unsettled by the evening's unrest.
Eve sat on the edge of the narrow bed in her room, staring at the uneven grain of the timber beams above her. She tried to lose herself in the patterns, to think about anything other than the memory etched into her skull: Kaelen in the hall, his hand wrapped around Daren's throat, his voice cold and merciless as he bent the pack beneath his will. She had told herself she already knew what kind of man he was—Alpha, ruthless, feared. But seeing it had been different. Seeing the way the others trembled when he looked at them, the way their silence bent like grass before a storm, left her with a hollow pit in her chest.
Her pulse quickened as the bond stirred, alive in her veins like an uninvited guest. She felt him even when she tried not to—Kaelen's emotions bleeding faintly into hers, his storm beating faint echoes through her body. Tonight it was worse than usual. She felt agitation burning through him, anger tempered by something raw and jagged. The pressure of it made her heart race, as though the bond carried his unrest straight into her bloodstream.
She pressed her palms to her face. Stop. Just stop. But it never did.
A sound snapped her attention to the door. Footsteps—heavy, deliberate, too certain to belong to anyone but him. She froze, every muscle taut, her breath held as the steps drew nearer. Before she could decide whether to move, the latch clicked and the door opened.
Kaelen stood framed in the threshold, his tall body taut with leashed violence. His shoulders were rigid, his eyes lit faintly silver in the dim candlelight, and something about the way he filled the room made it shrink around her. He didn't ask permission. He didn't need to. He closed the door with a finality that made her flinch.
"Why are you here?" Eve asked, forcing her voice steady though her throat felt dry.
For a moment, he only looked at her, gaze sharp and burning. It wasn't the cool calculation she had come to expect from him. It was wilder, frayed at the edges, like something dangerous barely kept in check.
"You shouldn't have been in the hall tonight," he said finally, his voice low, rough.
Her chin lifted. "Rowan said I should see the truth for myself. And I did."
The muscle in his jaw jumped. "You saw too much."
Her heart kicked hard, but anger sparked to life anyway. "Too much of what? The fear you use to hold them together? The way they bow to you because they're terrified, not because they respect you?"
The air thickened, pressing close, alive with his fury. His eyes flashed silver again, his wolf straining beneath the surface. He took a step forward, and she had to fight the instinct to retreat.
"You think you understand," he growled, the sound vibrating through her bones. "But you don't. I've buried brothers. I've clawed rivals to ribbons while my pack watched. I built this with blood. With teeth. Respect is earned in scars, and fear is what keeps them from tearing each other apart."
Eve's hands trembled, but she balled them into fists. "And what am I to you, Kaelen? A weakness you can't get rid of?"
The question cut deep. His expression twisted, not in rage but in something sharper, almost pained. Before she could react, he moved—too fast, too sudden. His hand slammed into the wall beside her head, the sound echoing like thunder, his body looming so close the air turned stifling.
"You are tearing me apart," he snarled, the words torn from his chest. His hand hovered inches from her shoulder, claws half-formed, trembling as though he fought to keep them from raking across her skin. "I can't breathe around you. I can't think. The bond claws at me until I want to rip it out of my flesh."
Her back pressed against the wall, her breath ragged, but she held his gaze. She could feel it—his storm crashing against her, bleeding into her chest, wild and agonizing. It terrified her. And yet beneath it, something else lingered: an ache so deep it nearly unmade her. Loneliness. Fear.
Her instincts screamed at her to push him away. But she didn't.
Her hand shook as she raised it, placing her palm flat against his chest. The heat of him burned through his shirt, the thrum of his heart hammering beneath her touch. His breath hitched, his body going still. His claws scraped shallow lines into the wood beside her, but they didn't touch her.
"Kaelen," she whispered, her voice breaking but steady. "You don't have to fight me."
The silver glow in his eyes faltered. His chest rose and fell in heavy bursts, but the fury rolling off him shifted, its edge softening. His claws withdrew with a sharp sting of sound, leaving only rough, trembling fingers braced against the wall.
Eve felt it through the bond, a sudden loosening, as though chains had slipped free. The wolf inside him, savage and restless, quieted under her touch. She didn't understand how, didn't know why, but for the first time, it yielded.
Kaelen lowered his head, his forehead nearly brushing hers. His breath washed warm over her lips, shaking as though words burned behind his teeth. "No one has ever…" He swallowed hard, the sound thick. "No one has ever calmed it."
Her chest tightened, her heart slamming against her ribs. The bond pulsed violently, as though it had been waiting for this exact moment, binding them closer with every beat. She should have moved, should have reminded herself that this was dangerous. That she didn't belong here, that she feared him. But she couldn't. Not when his pain pressed against hers, not when touching him felt like easing a wound she hadn't known existed.
The bond surged, a tidal wave swallowing her whole. She gasped, her knees weak as Kaelen's emotions crashed into her—desire, despair, the sharp edge of longing so fierce it hurt. They tangled with her own confusion until she couldn't separate which feelings were his and which were hers.
His hand slid from the wall to her jaw, fingers rough but trembling. The touch was reverent and desperate all at once, his thumb brushing her cheek like he didn't trust she was real. The air grew too thick to breathe, her lips parting as if on instinct.
Kaelen's breath shuddered, his self-control fraying to nothing. "Eve…" Her name came out raw, a plea, a warning.
The space between them vanished. For one burning instant, the world shrank to the heat of him, the unbearable pull of the bond wrapping them both in chains they could no longer deny.
And then, with a sound that was half-growl, half-broken sigh, Kaelen tore himself away.
The loss was brutal, like being ripped from warmth into cold. Eve stumbled, her palm still tingling where it had touched him. Kaelen stood several feet away, his back to her now, his fists clenched, his shoulders heaving. His eyes still glowed faintly, but the storm had dimmed, replaced by something far worse. Regret.
"This cannot happen," he said hoarsely, his voice scraped raw. "If I give in, I will lose everything."
Eve pressed her hand to her chest, trying to steady the wild rhythm of her heart. Her throat tightened, words spilling before she could stop them. "Then why does it feel like we already have?"
The silence that followed suffocated. He didn't turn, didn't look at her again. When he finally moved, it was to stride to the door, his movements sharp, rigid with restraint. The door slammed shut behind him, the sound echoing through the lodge like the closing of a cage.
Eve slid down the wall, her body trembling, her breath breaking into uneven gasps. She pressed her forehead against her knees, her palms damp with sweat. She had seen Kaelen lose control, had touched the monster that lived inside him. But she had also felt something else—the way it had stilled beneath her hand, the way he had leaned into her as if she was the only tether he had left.
And that terrified her more than anything.
Because for one fleeting moment, she hadn't wanted to run. She had wanted to stay. She had wanted him.