“You're not lying to me?” I whisper, the firelight throwing flickering shadows across Kael's scarred face.
“I never lied,” he says. “I only stayed away because I thought it would protect you.”
“You let me grow up thinking my mother died a traitor and that I was some kind of weapon,” I snap, voice sharp like broken glass. “You let them train me to kill your kind.”
Kael doesn’t flinch. He lowers his eyes, jaw tight. “And if I had taken you? Raised you as my own? They would’ve hunted you, Nina. Burned you alive before your first shift. The Silver Thorn would’ve buried a blade in your heart and called it holy.”
I rise from the log, fists clenched, fighting the wild thrum in my chest. My wolf stirs again—closer than ever now. Her presence vibrates beneath my skin, restless. Hungry.
“I don’
