The scent wrapped around her like a whisper, and everything inside her knew. Thane anguish felt deeply into her bone.
Elira jolted back, tearing herself from the kiss. Her chest heaved, her fingers trembling. Her lips tingled, but her eyes were clouded with confusion.
It was wrong.
Yet part of her still longed for the warmth. Still ached for closeness. Even if it wasn't the right one.
She looked at Kael, eyes wide and lost, caught between two instincts—one she didn't understand, and one she couldn't ignore.
But Kael, who had just tasted the sweetness of her lips, couldn't let her go that easily.
Desire sparked in his eyes as he lunged forward, putting his arms around her waist. He took her lips again, deepening the kiss with an urgency bordering on desperation. He wanted more—he wanted her.
And Elira?
She wanted to pull away.
This felt wrong.
Every instinct in her body screamed against it. Yet his warmth, the intensity of his touch, the tenderness veiled beneath his passion—it all made her knees weaken. And so, against her better judgment, she let herself drown in his heat for a moment longer.
Kael gently lowered her onto the bed, his body pressing into hers, never breaking the kiss. The mattress gave way beneath them, cocooning them in closeness.
But inside her, something was fracturing. Her body betrayed her, arching into the hunter's heat. It starving the warmth that wasn't his.
It was like her soul had been cleaved in two. One part urged her to run. To fight. To stop this. The other part—starved for affection, connection, anything—pleaded for her to stay.
She didn't know who she was right now.
Her hands were caught between their bodies, yet the pressure compelled her palms to explore the hard lines on his chest. Her fingers stroked against the contours of his robe, his heart beating beneath. A haze of pleasure clouded her thoughts.
Until something cold grazed her fingertip.
Metal.
Sharp. Icy.
And then—burning.
A searing heat raced up her skin, branding her with an unseen fire. Her fingers recoiled as if scorched. She looked down, eyes wide.
The silver crescent.
The Rennar crest, etched into a pendant at his chest.
The moment it touched her—it burned. Not just her skin.
But her bond.
She gasped. Her body stiffened. A growl—low, guttural—tore from her throat.
Her wolf had awakened.
Her bones cracked. Muscles writhled like live wires. The growl tore from her, not her voice but her wolf's.
The pendant's burned is not only pain. It was rejection. Her wolf knew__ only a mate's touch could claim her so.
With a feral snarl, her beast rose in instinctual defense, overriding confusion, emotion, everything.Power rushed through her limbs. She threw Kael off her with incredible ferocity in a single explosive movement.
Her hands were claws, her shove wasn't strength, it was wildness.
His body shot backward, colliding with the distant wall. His body flew like a shattered stone. The impact shook the entire room. A large piece of furniture splintered near him as he collapsed to the floor, startled.
Elira remained on the bed, chest heaving and hands shaking. Her golden eyes shone softly in the moonlight, her instincts on full alert.
"You're not him."
Her voice trembled, barely above a whisper—raw, cracked open by instinct and realization.
Kael groaned from where he lay crumpled near the shattered cabinet. His rib was broken.
At the sound of his pain, Elira's golden eyes flickered... then dimmed. The beast within her recoiled, settling just beneath her skin, and her irises returned to their human shade.
Breath caught in her throat as guilt surged over her like a tidal wave. Her hands shook as she looked down at them, as if just now realizing what they had done.
What have I done...?
Kael let out a sharp breath as he pushed himself upright, bracing a hand on the wall for balance. Blood trickled from a cut on his temple—thin and red, stark against his pale skin. He wiped it away with the back of his hand, then looked at her.
And smirked.
But it wasn't mocking.
It was bitter. Resigned. The kind of smile a man wore when he realized he'd been chasing a ghost.
"Yeah," he said, his voice low and hoarse. "I'm not."
His eyes—dark and unreadable—lingered on her. Not in anger. But in understanding. In painful recognition that no matter what he offered, no matter how much warmth he gave... he could never be that man.
Elira stood frozen, still trembling from what had just happened—what she had done. Her breath came in shallow gasps, as if her body hadn't yet caught up with her mind. Shock ran through her like ice in her veins.
But Kael...
He didn't look surprised.
No, the expression he wore was something else entirely—something closer to resignation. It was the look of a man who had been preparing for this moment, no matter how much it hurt.
And somehow... even with the space between them, Elira could still hear his heartbeat.
Steady. Controlled. Familiar.
"What's gotten into me?" she asked quietly, more to herself than to him. But her voice echoed in the room like a confession.
Kael turned his gaze to her then—calm, still, unreadable.
"You knew something," she whispered, staring at him. "You've always known something."
Kael's chest rose and fell as he took a deep breath. He didn't look away.
She didn't flinch when he stepped closer. Didn't move when the scent of pine and steel enveloped her again. His presence had always been enough to remind her—and now it only unsettled.
"What am I Kael?"
"I'm not sure at first. But now..." Kael's voice wavered, then found its shape. "I think I was right."
Her fingers curled into the folds of her skirt. Not from nerves, but to hide the subtle shift beneath her skin—the way her nails had begun to sharpen at the edges, translucent tips catching the moonlight like glass.
Kael stared at her, and for the first time, saw. Not just the girl he had once chosen, but what she had become. His breath hitched. A lock of his hair, dark and sweat-damp from the heat of battle and emotion, clung to the angle of his jaw—cut sharp like something carved and unfinished.
And his eyes darkened.
"You're a hybrid, Elira," he said at last. "Half human... and half wolf."
The words slammed into her like thunder.
She stared at him, eyes wide, her pulse pounding. Her knees threatened to give way as her heartbeat roared in her ears—and beneath it, the wolf inside her stirred, let out a low, shuddering howl that only she could hear.
"And Thane..." she whispered, voice cracking as the pieces fell into place. "Thane is my mate."
A dark chuckle slipped past Kael's lips—low, sarcastic, filled with something jagged and bitter.
"Sure he is," he said, voice tight with restrained emotion.
Elira's breath caught in her throat. The weight of everything—the truth, the memories, the kiss, her instincts—pressed down on her all at once.
She had believed she was just human. She had been. Until she met him.
Now the truth was crashing down like a landslide.
But then another realization struck her—sharp and cold.
Her eyes flew open, wide with new horror.
"And you..." she breathed. "You're a wolf hunter."
Silence fell shortly after.