Elara's Pov
'Mate?' The word tore from me, raw and disbelieving, slicing through the roar of the crowd below. Kael had just buried the ball in the net, his body a symphony of power and grace, but all I could see was the invisible thread yanking at my core. Talia's smirk faltered, her eyes flicking between me and the field, where his gaze pierced the distance once more—dark, knowing, hungry. My skin prickled, that forbidden warmth surging anew, traitorous and insistent.
'Hang on, that's bullshit,' I snapped, voice pitching higher as my head exploded in a whirlwind of denial. 'There's no way that we are... mates. He's my stepbrother, Talia. This weekend? Mum weds Dorian, and suddenly I'm thrust into wolf central with the king playboy as family? No. Just... no.' The bleachers felt too expos
