The night seemed to be watching them.
Kael only slowed down when the howls became distant.
He knew this part of the forest. The Moonfangs avoided it. Too rocky. Too quiet. Prey was scarce there.
A bad territory for a pack.
A good place to disappear.
He laid Lunaya against the trunk of an old broken tree. Her breathing remained weak but steady.
Around them, the forest was abnormally quiet.
Not peaceful.
Suspended.
As if instincts themselves hesitated to enter this space.
Kael looked at his hands.
They were shaking slightly.
Not from fear.
Not from exhaustion.
That new sensation was returning.
A persistent warmth in his chest.
Ever since he had touched her.
He frowned.
What was changing...?
A sharp noise echoed in the distance.
Then another.
Not synchronized.
The hunters were losing their coordination.
Normally, a wolf hunt was perfect. Silent. Smooth. Inevitable.
Not this time.
A howl suddenly burst out too close.
Then a cry of pain.
Kael climbed silently onto a rock to watch.
Two Moonfang warriors appeared between the trees.
They were no longer hunting.
They were arguing.
Their instinctive auras collided, rising sharply before collapsing.
"Back off!" shouted one.
"Stop... pushing me!"
They were panting, disoriented.
Their instincts were trying to impose a hierarchy... but failing.
Then one of them spotted Kael.
Silence fell.
The warrior froze.
His gaze changed immediately.
Confusion.
Unease.
Fear.
As always.
But this time... something else was added.
An unconscious relief.
His unstable aura diminished slightly.
The other lupine noticed too.
"...the Instinctless One."
The word came out like a forbidden prayer.
Their eyes slid towards Lunaya.
Instantly, their bodies tensed.
Pain.
Their instincts tried to react... and failed again.
One fell to his knees.
"She... she breaks everything..."
Kael then understood something essential.
It wasn't just Lunaya.
It was the combination.
She broke instincts.
And him...
Instincts simply didn't know how to exist near him.
Together, they became an impossible void.
A space without rules.
The second warrior suddenly backed away.
"The Alpha is coming."
Those words froze the air.
Even without instinct, Kael sensed the change.
The forest became heavy.
Not overwhelming.
Concentrated.
An ancient will slowly swept across the territory.
Searching.
Analyzing.
Understanding.
The two lupines fled almost immediately.
Kael remained motionless.
In the distance, the trees rustled.
Then, for the first time since his childhood...
He felt something respond within him.
Not an instinct.
Not yet.
But a resistance.
As if his existence refused to be found.
He looked at Lunaya.
His fingers moved weakly.
His lips murmured an incomprehensible word.
And suddenly
The Alpha's pressure faltered.
Just for a moment.
Infinitesimal.
Impossible.
Kael's eyes widened slightly.
Something had just disrupted the Alpha Instinct.
Not violently.
Not like a collapse.
Like... interference.
He understood immediately.
If they stayed still, they would die.
But if they fled normally...
They would be found.
So, for the first time in his life, Kael made a decision that did not belong to any pack logic.
He chose an illogical direction.
Against the wind.
In the open.
A path no lupine would have taken.
And as he disappeared into the darkness...
The perfect hunting instinct passed him by.
Without seeing him.