Chapter 6 — Among Wolves
1006 Words
Selene woke to warmth.
That alone was wrong.
For centuries, her existence had been defined by cold—controlled, still, untouched by the living world. Warmth belonged to mortals. To wolves.
Not to her.
Never to her.
And yet—
It surrounded her.
Pressed into her skin.
Seeped into her bones.
Her eyes opened slowly.
Dark wood above her.
Rough-hewn beams.
Firelight flickering across the ceiling.
The scent hit her next.
Earth.
Smoke.
Wolf.
Selene went still.
Memory returned in sharp fragments.
The forest.
The attack.
Silver.
Him.
Her body reacted instantly.
She pushed herself upright—
And pain tore through her side.
Selene gasped sharply, her hand flying to the wound. It had been cleaned, bandaged—but the burn of silver still lingered, slow and vicious.
Her gaze snapped downward.
Her clothes had been changed.
Not entirely.
But enough.
Rage flared.
Immediate.
Lethal.
The door burst open.
Kael stepped inside.
He didn’t hesitate when he saw her upright.
Didn’t slow.
Didn’t ask.
He crossed the room in seconds, his presence filling the space like a storm.
“You shouldn’t be moving,” he said.
Selene’s eyes flashed.
“You touched me.”
The accusation cut sharper than any blade.
Kael didn’t flinch.
“You were bleeding out.”
“That does not give you the right—”
“It does if it keeps you alive.”
Silence snapped between them.
Tight.
Volatile.
Selene swung her legs over the edge of the bed, ignoring the pain screaming through her body.
“I am leaving,” she said.
Kael’s expression darkened instantly.
“No.”
She froze.
Slowly turned her head toward him.
“No?” she repeated, her voice dangerously quiet.
He stepped closer.
Too close.
Always too close.
“You’re not strong enough,” he said. “And even if you were, you wouldn’t make it past the outer perimeter.”
Selene’s power surged instinctively.
The air in the room shifted, shadows trembling along the walls as something ancient and dangerous rose beneath her skin.
“Do you think I fear your wolves?” she asked softly.
Kael’s gaze didn’t waver.
“I think they’ll tear you apart before you take ten steps.”
The truth of it hit harder than she expected.
Because she could feel them.
Outside.
Dozens.
No—
Hundreds.
Watching.
Waiting.
The realization settled deep.
Cold.
Unforgiving.
“They know what I am,” she said.
Kael’s jaw tightened.
“They know you’re a threat.”
Selene’s lips curved faintly.
“And yet you brought me here.”
A beat of silence.
“I didn’t have a choice.”
The words were quiet.
But they carried weight.
Selene studied him.
Really looked at him now.
At the tension in his shoulders.
The strain in his expression.
The barely restrained violence beneath his control.
“You always have a choice,” she said.
Kael’s gaze locked onto hers.
Something dark flickered there.
“Not when it comes to you.”
The words hit harder than they should have.
Selene’s breath stilled.
Just for a second.
Then—
Another pulse.
Stronger.
Clearer.
Her hand moved instinctively to her stomach.
Her body tightening as the sensation rolled through her again—deep, steady, alive.
Kael saw.
Of course he did.
His entire body went still.
“It’s getting stronger,” he said.
Selene didn’t answer.
Because she couldn’t deny it.
Not anymore.
Silence stretched.
Thick.
Heavy.
“What are you going to do?” she asked finally.
Kael didn’t hesitate.
“Protect it.”
The answer was immediate.
Certain.
Absolute.
Selene’s gaze snapped to his.
“You don’t even know what it is.”
“I don’t need to.”
Her expression hardened.
“It could be a mistake. A mutation. A weakness—”
“It’s not.”
The force behind his words cut through hers.
Selene stilled.
Kael stepped closer again.
Close enough now that she could feel the heat of him, the pull of the bond tightening between them like a chain neither could break.
“I felt it,” he said quietly. “On the battlefield.”
Her breath caught.
“So did you.”
Silence.
Because he was right.
Another pulse.
Her fingers pressed harder against her stomach.
Kael’s gaze dropped.
Then lifted again.
“They’re going to come for you,” he said.
Selene let out a slow breath.
“They already have.”
“And they won’t stop.”
“I know.”
A beat.
“And my wolves—” he continued.
Selene’s eyes narrowed.
“They will try to kill me.”
“Yes.”
The honesty in his voice should have unsettled her.
It didn’t.
Not entirely.
“What will you do when they try?” she asked.
Kael didn’t answer immediately.
Because the truth—
Was dangerous.
His wolf stirred.
Restless.
Protective.
Violent.
Mine.
Kael’s jaw tightened.
“I’ll stop them.”
Selene held his gaze.
Searching.
Testing.
“Even if it means turning against your own kind?” she pressed.
The question hung between them.
Sharp.
Unavoidable.
Kael stepped closer.
Close enough that there was no space left between them.
“Yes.”
The answer was quiet.
But it shook something inside her.
Selene’s breath hitched.
Her body reacted again—heat, tension, something dangerously close to… need curling low in her core.
This bond—
This connection—
It was changing her.
“I don’t need your protection,” she said, though the words lacked their usual force.
Kael’s gaze darkened.
“That’s where you’re wrong.”
His hand lifted.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Hovering just above her waist.
Not touching.
But close enough.
Selene froze.
Because she didn’t move away.
The air between them thickened.
The bond pulsing stronger.
Faster.
Demanding.
Then—
A growl echoed from outside the room.
Low.
Hostile.
Dangerous.
Both of them stilled.
Kael’s head turned slightly toward the door.
His expression hardening instantly.
“They’re here,” he said.
Selene didn’t need to ask who.
The wolves.
And this time—
They weren’t just watching.
- Writer
