Kael didn't say a word on the way back to the packhouse. Neither did Selene. But the silence between them was different now. Thicker. Weighted.
Selene felt the weight of the rebel symbol like a burning brand on her back. She'd seen that mark only once before — carved into the skin of a dead alpha during a covert mission in the north. The same faction that believed in total rebellion against the Council, against the alphas, and against the law of mates.
If they were here, this mission was more dangerous than she'd expected.
And Kael might be right in the middle of it.
They reached the packhouse just before dusk. The other patrol members peeled away toward their quarters, but Kael stopped Selene before she could leave.
"Come to my office," he said.
She frowned. "Why?"
"I have questions. You owe me answers."
"I don't owe you anything."
He stared at her. "You were out here long before we found that mark."
"And?"
"You recognized it. Don't pretend you didn't."
Selene crossed her arms, her body tense. "If I had, I would've said something."
Kael's jaw tightened. "You're lying again."
"I don't lie. I conceal."
He barked a dry laugh, no humor in it. "That's the same damn thing."
She didn't move.
Kael studied her in silence. Then he stepped back and opened the door to his office.
"You're either coming in here and helping me figure out who just crossed into my land," he said, "or I start treating you like a threat."
Selene narrowed her eyes.
He wasn't bluffing.
Fine.
She followed him in.
The room was wide and warm, filled with maps, scrolls, and weapons. A fireplace burned low against one wall, and a long table stretched across the center. Kael moved behind it and dropped a small leather pouch onto the wood.
The pouch spilled open, revealing two sharp, metallic objects.
Selene froze.
Those weren't just knives.
They were claws.
Synthetic ones — dipped in wolfsbane and forged by rogue alchemists. Illegal. Deadly.
And meant to kill werewolves slowly.
Kael raised an eyebrow at her reaction. "I take it you've seen these before?"
"Yes," she said carefully.
"Where?"
"In places you don't want to be."
He didn't look away. "They were found in our western patrol zone. Last week."
"Which you didn't mention earlier."
"Because I didn't know if I could trust you."
Selene stared at the claws. "You still can't."
"Then why are you here?"
She looked up at him. "Why did you bring me here, Kael?"
That gave him pause.
He sat slowly. "Because I wanted to know why the Moon Goddess gave me a mate with secrets buried so deep she doesn't even trust herself."
Selene swallowed hard.
That was… too close.
Kael ran a hand through his hair. "You're not like other wolves. You move like a soldier. You think like a predator."
"Maybe I am both."
He met her eyes. "Then tell me what you are."
Selene stepped closer, voice low. "I'm the wrong person to cross."
Kael didn't blink. "I already did the moment I touched you at the border. So go ahead. Bite."
She didn't.
Instead, she turned and headed for the door.
"Selene."
She paused.
"When the time comes and you're forced to choose a side," he said quietly, "will it be mine?"
She didn't answer.
Because she didn't know.
That night, Selene climbed the roof of the packhouse and sat beneath the stars.
The moon was full again — two full moons in one week. A rare cycle. A dangerous one.
She pulled the crystal from her shirt and whispered into it.
"Confirmed presence of rebel faction. They've breached BloodMoon territory. Alpha suspects something. Mission continues. But… it's getting harder."
She stopped.
Then added, softer, "I felt something. When he touched me. At the fire. And again today."
The crystal pulsed with faint energy.
But there was no reply.
Selene closed her eyes and leaned back.
She couldn't afford to feel.
Not for him.
Not here.
Not when the war hadn't even begun.