Chapter Eight
780 Words
His Wolf, Her Fire ( part 2)
E . Peaceleigh
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The room wasn’t used to women who spoke like that.
Not to a stranger.
Certainly not to a once-rejected mate.
But Alina didn’t need their approval. She had come with one purpose: to see. To study the wolves who had once called her ghost. To stand before the man who once cast her aside and decide if he still deserved to lead anything—let alone her heart.
The meeting resumed with thinly veiled tension. Elders kept throwing glances at her—some curious, some resentful, and a few with the unmistakable gleam of regret.
Kael’s eyes never left her.
When it ended, no one dared tell her to leave first.
Alina stood, brushed an invisible crease from her pants, and nodded. “Pleasant chat, gentlemen.”
Then she walked out.
Not one of them stopped her.
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Kael caught up with her outside the Hall. The sun had dipped low, bleeding orange into the sky like fire fading into dusk. Shadows stretched long over the grass as if even the land was bowing to something coming.
“You were out of line,” Kael said.
Alina didn’t stop walking. “Was I? Or did I just say the thing no one else has the nerve to admit?”
He fell into step beside her. “You’re playing a dangerous game.”
“No. I’m done playing. I came to see who you’ve become, Kael. And all I see is someone still trying to protect everyone… by sacrificing himself.”
He grabbed her wrist suddenly. Not hard. But enough to make her stop.
The contact sent sparks ripping through them both—raw, visceral.
“You think this is what I want?” he hissed. “To keep you at arm’s length? To feel your scent in my chest and not be able to breathe it in?”
She stared at him, breath shallow.
“I rejected you because I had to,” he said. “Every mate before you—every one I’ve loved—has died before my eyes. I won’t bury you too.”
She searched his face, eyes softening just a little.
“And what if I told you I’m not afraid to die?”
“I am,” he snapped.
The silence that followed was thicker than rage—because it was honesty.
They stood there for a long beat, the bond humming between them like the calm before a storm.
Then she whispered, “I didn’t come back for a second chance. I came to show you I didn’t need one.”
Kael let go.
But it felt like a loss.
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That night, Alina stood on the rooftop of the Alpha’s Hall.
She hadn’t asked for permission. Just climbed, like she used to as a teenager—back before the world crashed down on her. The wind was cold up here. The stars clearer than they had been in the city.
She could feel her wolf pacing just beneath her skin.
> He’s still yours, it whispered.
> He was never mine, she answered.
But her hands trembled.
Not from weakness.
From memory.
From the ache of almost being loved… and the burn of trying not to want it again.
A sound broke the silence—a quiet shuffle of feet behind her.
She didn’t turn.
“I know it’s you,” she said softly.
Kael stepped forward.
He didn’t speak. Just stood beside her, looking out over the forest.
“The border is cracking,” he said finally. “We’ve lost three patrols in the last month.”
“Rogues?” she asked.
“Worse,” he said. “Something smarter. Something darker. The witches call them shadowbeasts.”
Alina’s brow furrowed. “I’ve heard of them. They hunt in silence. Drain power. Feed on packs.”
Kael nodded. “They’re moving south. We’re next.”
A pause.
“I need help,” he said.
She turned to him then. “You need me.”
He met her eyes, no defense this time. “Yes.”
She stepped closer, until only inches remained. Her scent washed over him like memory and battle scars.
“You still haven’t asked me the real question,” she said.
He swallowed. “What’s that?”
She leaned in, lips brushing the shell of his ear.
“If I stay… will you finally fight for me?”
Kael’s chest rose with a sharp inhale.
He turned to her slowly. “Alina—”
But she had already stepped back.
Not a rejection.
A challenge.
And Kael…
was finally ready to answer.
[ To be continued ]
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