Kael felt her before he saw her.
The pull hit low in his chest, sharp and uninvited, snapping his attention toward the old Ashwick house. He went still at the edge of the tree line, senses flaring, wolf rising fast and hard.
Territory.
Protect.
Mine.
He forced the instinct down, jaw tightening.
This was dangerous. Late-blooming omegas always were.
When her scent reached him fully, his control faltered despite himself. Warm. Wild. Untethered. Magic threaded through it like a live wire.
Omega.
She stepped onto the porch, arms crossed tightly, eyes sharp with defiance barely masking fear. She wasn't small. She wasn't weak.
She was contained. And containment like that always broke eventually.
Kael stepped forward before he could stop himself.
Her gaze snapped to him instantly, recognition flaring there, raw and unfiltered. The bond tugged again, harder this time.
"Do you always watch people from the woods," she called, voice steady despite the tremor he could hear beneath it, "or am I special?"
His mouth curved despite himself.
"You are," he said, the truth slipping free before caution could drag it back.
The air thickened between them, pressure building until it pressed against his ribs.
She swallowed. "That's… not comforting."
He stopped several paces away, forcing distance his wolf hated.
"You don't know what you are," he said quietly. "But others will."
"And you?" she asked.
His wolf surged, claws scraping against restraint.
"I know enough," he said, "to stay away."
Her magic stirred, restless and curious. His wolf growled low in his chest.
Neither of them believed him.
And Blackbriar, watching from the shadows, seemed pleased.