Chapter 8 The Alpha's Warning

Kael stood at the treeline, eyes fixed on the horizon.

His pack lands stretched wide and wild - vast mountain ridges, deep woods, and hidden paths guarded by old magic. But he could feel the storm coming. Not in the clouds. In the bond.

Ember was changing.And the ones who had hurt her would not let her go so easily.

Behind him, Ember stepped into the clearing, barefoot on soft moss, her hair still damp from the bath. The moon caught her in silver light, and Kael's breath caught in his chest.

She looked stronger. Not unmarked - but alive. Her eyes were brighter. Her steps more certain. And when her gaze met his, her wolf stared back from within.

"I dreamed of fire," she said softly. "And chains breaking."

Kael stepped toward her. "That's no dream. That's your wolf waking up."

She nodded, then looked down at her hands.

"I felt her earlier," Ember whispered. "She pushed up through the pain. It was like breathing after drowning."

He reached for her. She didn't flinch this time. His fingers slid between hers, and something clicked. Their bond pulsed like a second heartbeat.

"She wants to shift," Ember whispered. "But she's scared. Not of the pain. Of losing control."

"You won't," he said. "I'll be there."

Her eyes flicked up to his. "You'd stay through a full shift?"

"I'd walk through hell naked and burning if it meant seeing your wolf rise."

She swallowed hard.

Then a crack of noise interrupted them. A howl. Distant, sharp, and wrong.

Kael's head snapped toward the mountains.

"Rogues," he growled.

Jarek's voice came through the comms a second later. "Three intruders. Circle perimeter breach. Northeast ridge. They knew where to slip through the wards."

Kael's jaw clenched. They were testing his defenses.

They knew.

"Go inside," he told Ember. "Stay out of sight. I'll handle them."

"No," she said, stepping closer. "Let me come."

"You're not ready-"

"I'm not fragile," she snapped. "Not anymore."

Kael's wolf snarled inside him - not at her, but at the truth in her words.

He nodded once. "Stay close. And if I say run-"

"I don't run anymore," she said.

They shifted together - him in a flash of black fur and fury, her only halfway, her eyes glowing golden, her fingers tipped with claws.

The wolves who came for her would learn the hard way: The Alpha's mate wasn't a victim. She was a weapon forged in pain.