Kael felt the pain before he understood it.
It tore through his chest like fire, sharp and sudden, forcing the breath from his lungs. He dropped to one knee, fingers digging into the earth as the mark burned deeper into his skin—not the mate bond, but something else.
Something is wrong.
"Alpha!" someone shouted behind him, but the voice sounded distant, muffled by the roar in his ears.
Kael clenched his jaw and forced himself to breathe through the agony. His wolf snarled inside him, restless and afraid—an emotion his wolf rarely felt. The forest around him trembled, leaves shaking as if the land itself sensed the fundamental shift occurring.
"Luna," he whispered.
He could feel her.
Not clearly. Not the warm pull he was used to. This was jagged, broken, like a signal cutting in and out through static. Pain mixed with something colder. Older.
Power.
Raw. Unfiltered. Dangerous.
Kael staggered to his feet, one hand pressed to his burning chest.
