The next few days passed in uneasy silence.
Kael fortified the borders, doubled the night guard, and banned all unsanctioned hunts. His wolves obeyed—but tension rippled through the territory like an unsaid truth choking the air.
Something was wrong.
I felt it before I saw it.
Eyes watching me longer than they should. Conversations that ended when I entered the clearing. Low whispers in corners of the den that quieted too fast.
Kael noticed too.
He never left me alone—not even when I went to bathe at the stream behind the western ridge. He stayed just out of sight, always within range, his scent a heavy presence clinging to my skin even when he wasn’t touching me.
On the fourth morning, Dren returned with blood on his boots and a cold, flat voice.
“There’s been a breach.”
Kael tur
