The alpha's human mistake

Chapter5

I couldn't bring myself to touch the wildflowers again after they had been on my table for two days. The silver ribbon that caught the morning light presented a quiet challenge, their petals being supple and almost fragile.

Finally, I picked them up and turned the bundle in my hands over.

No note without explanation, merely that insignificant act while I was sitting on my porch in the middle of the night.

Where is Selene?

It was necessary.

The concern was the reason.

After the rogue attack, I carried them with me as I walked the familiar paths that morning.

The pack gradually returned to its rhythm. The wounds were improving, the number of patrols had increased by two. With each passing hour, the whispers about the new Luna got louder. She moved through the territory like she had always belonged, consulted with the elders, and participated in warrior training.

In the meantime, I felt like a ghost, visible but gradually fading.

Mira had made a full recovery.

That afternoon, bringing fresh bread and the last of my dried herbs, I went to her small healer's hut. While gnashing her teeth at the pull on her side, she was propped up on pillows and stitching a tear in an old cloak.

She looked directly at the dark circles under my eyes and said, bluntly,

"You look like you haven't slept."

I managed a meager grin.

When everything feels like it's breaking apart, it's hard to sleep.

The cloak was put aside by her.

Elara: "The bond alters things. However, it does not eliminate the previous. Every night, Kael still checks on the eastern cabins. Keep checking to see that your woodpile is full. That is not insignificant."

I wanted to have faith in her. However, I kept replaying the image of him fighting alongside Selene, their movements perfectly coordinated. The mate bond was more than just a romantic myth. It was primitive, soul–deep, that could not be matched by any human emotion.

I saw Kael in the clearing as I left Mira's. Maps were spread out on a rough table while he was speaking with a group of scouts. While pointing to something on the parchment, Selene stood by his side.

They made a good pair, natural.

The kind of couple whose very existence added strength to a group.

My chest ached with a familiar hollow pain, but this time it was accompanied by something more acute–decision.

I wasn't going to wait around for answers forever.

That evening, I found Kael by himself near the river where we had previously walked so frequently. The sound of the water rushing over the rocks was loud enough to drown out conversation.

He turned when he heard my footsteps, his expression surprised.

“Elara.”

The silver ribbon was dangling as I held the wildflowers up.

"Were you aware of this?"

He grinned, clearly perplexed.

“No. How did you acquire them?”

"Left outside my door, late into the night. I believe they are hers."

An understanding emerged. When things got complicated, he used to rub the back of his neck.

Selene has more eyes than most people. It's likely that she wanted to... acknowledge you. Without turning it into a big deal.

I rebutted,

"or she's testing me."

"Checking to see if I'll break or fight."

Kael drew nearer. The mist from the river chilled the air between us.

She is not a foe of yours, she also finds none of this easy. She was expected to mate with members of her pack's bloodlines. She had to give up everything she knew to come here.

I sought the man who had once held me through nightmares as I examined his face. He was still there, buried under duties and the bond's constant pull.

"As for you? Do you fight it at all, or do you just let the Moon Goddess make the decisions for everyone?"

He raised his hand and gently brushed a hair from my face.

I felt an unwelcome spark from the touch.

I fight every single day. However, the bond... it's like trying to stop a river with my own hands. Elara, I care about you, maybe more than I should. That has not altered."

We were the only people in the world for a brief moment. His conflicted eyes were filled with the river, the waning light, and the light.

Due to a lingering love and an old habit, I leaned in slightly.

Our lips almost touched.

Then an urgent howl from the western ridge broke the silence.

The Alpha mask fell into place as soon as Kael pulled back.

"A new attack?"

We sped away from the sound.

The rogues were not at the border this time, despite the rapid mobilization of the group. They had struck at a smaller outpost as they had slipped deeper.

We were greeted by chaos upon arrival.

Cabins caught fire, smoked wolves engaged in combat. Selene was already there, giving precise orders to the defenders. She moved like a natural force. She stopped a rogue from lunging at a young pup and took a nasty cut to the arm, but she finished the offender cleanly.

Alongside her, Kael dived into the conflict.

I returned to assist the healers in securing the vulnerable and securing wounds. My mind was racing as my hands performed themselves automatically.

This was not accidental,

Rogues knew precisely where to strike.

They were receiving information from someone.

I saw a figure watching in the treeline as the battle turned once more in our favor.

Not a liar, taller, cloaked,

Human?

It vanished into the shadows before I could point it out.

The blazes were put out of control.

This time, there were few losses, but there was more fear.

The group gathered in tightly packed groups back at the main entrance.

Together with Selene, Kael addressed the crowd from the center. His voice rang authoritatively as he declared,

"We will not be broken."

"We push back harder tomorrow. More warriors will be generated by the alliance with Silvercrest. We support one another."

The applause rose, but it felt forced.

Selene stood tall next to him despite having her injured arm bandaged, the ideal image.

I approached them both later, as the hall became empty. While my heart raced, I maintained my steady voice.

"Someone was keeping an eye on it. Not conflict, merely observing, among the trees."

Kael's eyes got sharper, while Selene gave him and then me a brief glance.

“A spy?”

I replied,

"Maybe."

"This no longer feels like simple rogue raids."

Selene looked at me with something like respect for the first time.

"Elara, you have excellent eyes. The majority of humans would have hid."

Kael gave a slow nod,

we will dispatch scouts at dawn. Keep both of you close to the center in the interim.

Selene and I were left alone for the first time since that day on the training field as he left to plan the night patrols.

She looked at me quietly.

"You adore him."

It was not a query.

I never denied it.

And you, too? I inquired.

Selene squirmed slightly as she touched her bandaged arm.

It seems inevitable because of the bond. Love, however that requires time, trust and choices.”

She stopped.

"He still looks at you the same way he used to look at my mother before politics took everything away from her."

Her words were heavy with unspoken truths and hung between us.

She then gave a small, worn–out smile.

The flowers symbolized tranquility, not empathy.

Everyone is entangled in this web.

I trusted her, more than anything else, that terrified me.

I couldn't settle that night in my cabin. Alongside the wooden wolf, the flowers were set out on the table.

Two images, two females, only one man, one pack's fate is in doubt.

I finally fell asleep in the early hours, restless and surrounded by shadows.

I was violently awoken by a loud banging on my door.

It was already mid–morning as sunlight entered.

When I opened the door, Marcus, Beta for Kael, was struggling to breathe.

He exclaimed urgently,

"It's Kael."

He set out at dawn with a small group of scouts. They haven't come back. They are now being followed by Selene, but... there was blood on the trail, and evidence of struggle."

My world changed.

The questions I'd been asking for days suddenly seemed insignificant.

Kael had vanished, likely to hurt, a lot worse.

I also came to the realization that would alter everything that very second, standing in the doorway with fear in my throat:

I would have to come out of the shadows and fight for my place in this world of wolves if I wanted answers or if I wanted him back.

Regardless of the cost, Selene might have been the one the Moon Goddess chose.

However, I was opting to survive.