The Mate He Couldn't Claim

Chapter Three: They Know I'm Alive

The ceremony continued, but I couldn't hear a single word. My mind was stuck on one thing. “Mate.” My wolf had called him that earlier.

I glanced toward Alpha Kael. He stood beside the elders, his expression unreadable. But I had seen the way he reacted when our eyes met. The brief tension in his face told me he had felt the same pull I had. So why was he pretending nothing had happened?

"Elena." Mira touched my arm.

I blinked. "What?"

"You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I..." I swallowed. "I don't feel well."

She frowned. "Do you want to leave?"

Before I could answer, a sharp voice came from behind us. "Nobody leaves until the ceremony is over." I turned. One of the elders was watching me. My stomach twisted. "Of course," I murmured.

I looked back toward Kael. He wasn't watching the ceremony. He was watching the crowd. Like he was searching for something, or someone. Then his eyes found mine again. This time, I looked away first. I didn't understand him. I didn't understand myself.

And I definitely didn't understand why my wolf suddenly seemed so certain about a man I'd barely spoken to.

---

When the ceremony finally ended, people began leaving. I waited until the crowd thinned before heading home. Mira walked beside me. "You're not going to tell me what happened?"

"Nothing happened."

"Elena."

I sighed. "I don't know what happened."

I lowered my voice. "My wolf called him my mate."

Mira stopped walking. "What?"

"Keep your voice down!"

She immediately lowered her voice. "Are you sure?"

"I heard her."

Mira stared at me. "Does he know?"

"I think so."

"Think?"

"I don't know."

She looked back toward the pack grounds. "Then you need to stay away from him."

"I was planning to."

"Good."

We continued walking. I wanted to believe it would be that easy to forget him, forget the strange feeling, forget the way my chest had tightened when he'd looked at me.

The moment I reached my street, I knew something was wrong. My front door was open. I stopped. Mira nearly walked into me. "What?" I pointed.

She frowned. "Did you leave it open?"

"No." My pulse quickened. We stood there for a moment. Neither of us moved. Then Mira whispered, "We should get someone." I nodded.

Before we could turn around, a voice came from inside. "Elena?" Mrs. Hale. I released a breath. We hurried inside. Mrs. Hale was standing in the middle of the room, looking confused. "What happened?" I asked.

"I don't know." She looked around.

"I heard something fall." I scanned the room.

Nothing seemed missing. Then I noticed the drawer beside my bed. It was open. My heart dropped. I walked toward it. Inside was the old photograph I'd kept hidden for years. Except someone had moved it. I picked it up. The picture showed a woman holding a baby. My mother. I had always believed she was gone.

But there was something else in the photograph I'd never noticed. A man stood behind her. His face was partially hidden. On his neck was the same crescent symbol as my pendant. I stared. "Who is that?"

Mrs. Hale went pale. "Where did you get that?"

"It was mine."

She quickly reached for the photograph. I pulled it away. "You know him."

She said nothing.

"You know him, don't you?"

"Elena, forget about it."

"Who is he?"

Her eyes filled with fear. "Some things are better left buried." I stepped back. "Not anymore."

She looked toward the door. Then she whispered something that made my blood run cold. "They know you're alive."

---

I stood outside my house, staring at the road. Mrs. Hale's words kept repeating in my head. “They know you're alive.” Alive? As if someone had expected me to be dead.

I looked down at the photograph. At my mother's frightened expression. At the mysterious man behind her. Then I felt it. That strange warmth in my chest. The same feeling I'd experienced when Kael touched my gaze. I turned. He was standing across the street, Alpha Kael. He looked directly at me.

For a moment, neither of us moved. Then he crossed the road. His expression was serious. "Elena."

I swallowed. "Why are you here?" His eyes moved briefly to the photograph in my hand. His face changed. He recognized it. I saw it. "You know something," I whispered.

Kael stopped. "I need you to come with me."

I frowned. "Why?"

He looked over my shoulder toward the dark street. "Because you're not safe here."

"From who?"

He didn't answer. "Kael."

His eyes met mine. And this time, there was something in them I'd never seen before. Fear. "From the people who have been looking for you." My heart s

topped.

"Who am I?" Kael said nothing. And somehow, his silence frightened me more than any answer could have.