What The Alpha Broke

The guards didn't speak when they opened the gate. They just stared.

I could feel it, the tension that clung to the air the second my boots hit Blackthorn soil. As if the land itself remembered what had happened the day I was dragged out of here.

Two wolves stepped in beside me as escorts, but they weren't protecting me. They were watching me like I might snap and rip someone's throat out.

Fair enough.

I followed the dirt path toward the center of the territory, the same one I used to run as a pup. Back then, I laughed when my brother dared me to race him barefoot through the trees. Now, all I could picture was Orin's body on the stone floor, blood pouring from his chest after he challenged Kael for rejecting me.

My jaw clenched as I kept walking.

A few warriors stopped training in the yard to stare as I passed. One muttered something under his breath. The other laughed, until I met his eyes.

He looked away first.

The main hall loomed ahead-larger than I remembered, with its dark stone walls and narrow windows that let no warmth in. It looked like a tomb. The banners still hung from the towers, stitched in Blackthorn black and silver. The same colors Kael wore the day he said I was nothing.

And now I am back.

The two guards flanking me stiffened when a woman stepped out of the side entrance.

Tall, bold, athletic and perfect posture.

Lena.

She wore her Beta mark like it had always been meant for her, like she hadn't spent her early years lurking behind Kael like a ghost desperate to be seen. She looked at me the way one might look at a rabid dog on a leash/curious, but ready to kill it if it moved wrong.

"Elara." Her voice was smooth, but flat. "You're late."

"I wasn't aware that the Blackthorn Pack's clock outranked a diplomatic escort."

She didn't smile. "I'll take you to the Council Chamber."

"I know the way."

"Not anymore," she said. "A lot's changed."

I stepped past her. "Not really."

Inside, the stone halls were darker than I remembered. Candles lined the walls, but they didn't help the cold.

Kael had rejected me in front of the elders, in front of my father, in front of Orin.

They made me kneel while he spoke.

He said I wasn't his mate. That I meant nothing. That he'd never felt the bond. That my scent made him sick.

I'd looked up at him and searched his eyes for even one flicker of truth.

I never found it.

Now, as I stepped into the council chamber, I found him.

Kael Draven stood at the far end of the room, arms crossed, golden eyes burning through me like fire that hadn't found its fuel yet.

He'd grown broader. The sharpness in his shoulders was more defined. His jaw looked like it hadn't relaxed in years. He wore Blackthorn black from collar to boots, and his expression gave nothing away.

Not surprising, not even guilt or hate.

Just cold.

Like he'd buried every piece of himself and stood there as the weapon they needed.

And still, the bond pulsed beneath my skin. Alive. Breathing. Unbroken.

I hated that it was still there.

"Elara Wren," Kael said, voice low. "You're a long way from the North."

"I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be."

He nodded once, but it wasn't an agreement. It was a calculation.

Lena didn't enter the chamber. She stood just outside, like she needed to be close in case I tried something. Smart. But also insulting.

Kael didn't offer me a seat. I didn't ask for one.

"You're representing the Northern Alliance?" he asked.

"Officially, yes."

"And unofficially?"

I raised my eyes to meet his. "That depends on how these talks go."

He didn't blink. "You were presumed dead."

"Not dead. Just discarded."

His jaw twitched, but he stayed silent.

The silence between us stretched.

He looked at me like he didn't recognize me anymore.

Good.

Let him look.

Let him wonder what the years made me into.

"Alpha Thorne sent you?" he asked finally.

I stepped forward. "He trusts me."

"That's a mistake."

I smiled, but it didn't reach my eyes. "He said the same about you."

Kael took one step forward. Close enough that I could see the scar near his temple-the one he didn't have when I left. His scent hit me like a storm-earth, iron, rain. The same. Still the same.

But different.

"Are you here to talk peace," he asked, "or to finish what your Alpha started?"

I tilted my head. "Why? Are you afraid I might succeed where others failed?"

He didn't answer. But his stare told me he wasn't afraid of much. Not anymore.

That scared me more than if he'd threatened me.

Because if Kael Draven had finally killed off the part of him that once loved me-then I had nothing left to use against him.

"I'll be staying for three days," I said, shifting my tone. "You agreed to a summit. You'll hold it."

"I agreed to talks. Not games."

"This isn't a game, Kael."

His name tasted bitter on my tongue. But I didn't stop.

"You and I both know the Alliance is watching. One wrong move and Thorne gets what he wants. War. Blood. Collapse."

"And what do you want, Elara?"

My breath hitched.

He'd never said my name like that before.

Not here. Not in this room.

I remembered the last time I stood here-his father's voice roaring, the council watching me like I was trash, and Kael... silent. Watching me break.

I'd sworn that day I'd never look back.

But standing here, breathing the same air again, with his voice in my ears-

"I want to survive," I said quietly.

It was true. Mostly.

He studied me for a long moment, and I could feel the old bond pulsing under every breath. The council hadn't come in yet. It was just us. Me and the Alpha who ruined my life.

Or maybe the boy who tried to save it. I didn't know anymore.

"You'll be under guard," he said. "You don't leave the hall without an escort. You don't speak to the warriors. You don't enter the Alpha wing."

"Afraid I'll remind them what loyalty looks like?"

Kael stepped closer again. Close enough that if I moved an inch, I'd touch him.

"Some of them remember what it cost us the first time," he said.

I stared up at him. "Good. Let them."

The doors opened suddenly.

High Elder Rowan entered, robes dragging across the stone. He looked between us and frowned, already sensing what wasn't being said.

"You," he said, looking at me, "will stay in the guest wing."

He didn't wait for me to answer.

Kael nodded once. The conversation was over.

But as I turned to leave, Kael spoke again-so quiet, only I could hear it.

"I never wanted to do it."

I stopped walking.

"I never wanted to say those things."

I didn't turn around.

"Then you shouldn't have said them."

And then, I walked out.

The guards led me down a long corridor to the far wing. It wasn't the same guest quarters from when I was young. This one was smaller. Plainer. No windows. Just cold stone and a bed with scratchy sheets.

I dropped my coat on the chair and stood in the middle of the room.

My heart was still racing.

He remembered. He still remembered.

I thought that would make me feel powerful.

But all I felt was raw.

I turned toward the mirror in the corner. My face was sharper than before. My eyes colder. But under the surfacez, rage and something else I didn't want to name.

I closed my eyes, trying to breathe.

And then the door creaked open behind me.

I turned fast, hands clenched-

But it wasn't a guard.

It was Lena.

She didn't knock.

She stepped inside, shut the door, and locked it behind her.

And the first words out of her mouth weren't a greeting.

"You need to leave, Elara."