Ava didn’t speak until they were well past the edge of where that man had disappeared.
She walked beside Kael in silence, her thoughts anything but calm. The forest no longer felt welcoming—it felt watchful, like something unseen had shifted its attention toward her and hadn’t looked away since.
That man’s words echoed in her mind.
You really don’t know what she is, do you?
Yeah.
That made two of them.
“Start talking,” Ava said finally, her voice steady despite the unease tightening in her chest. “Who was that?”
Kael didn’t slow his pace. “Not someone you need to face alone.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the one that matters.”
Ava stopped walking.
This time, she didn’t follow.
Kael took a few more steps before pausing. Slowly, he turned back to her, his gaze settling on her with quiet intensity.
“I’m serious,” she said. “No more half-answers. I’m already in this, whether I like it or not. The least you can do is tell me what I’m dealing with.”
For a moment, neither of them moved.
The air between them felt heavier now—not just with tension, but with something deeper. Something that had been building since the moment they met.
Kael studied her like he was measuring something.
Then he walked back.
Stopping just in front of her.
“Rogue,” he said.
Ava blinked. “That’s it? That’s your big explanation?”
“A rogue wolf,” he clarified. “One who doesn’t belong to any pack. No rules. No loyalty.”
“That doesn’t sound great.”
“It isn’t.”
Ava crossed her arms. “And he’s just… wandering into your territory like that?”
“He wouldn’t, unless he had a reason.”
Her stomach tightened slightly. “And I’m guessing that reason is me.”
Kael didn’t answer.
He didn’t need to.
Ava exhaled sharply, dragging a hand through her hair. “Fantastic. So now I’m attracting random dangerous wolf-men who look at me like I’m a prize.”
“Not a prize,” Kael said quietly.
She frowned. “Then what?”
His gaze darkened, something sharper surfacing beneath the surface.
“Power.”
The word settled heavily between them.
Ava’s breath slowed. “You keep saying things like that… but you still haven’t told me what I am.”
Kael stepped closer again.
Too close.
The space between them vanished in an instant, his presence wrapping around her like something solid, grounding—and dangerous.
“I don’t know yet,” he admitted.
That caught her off guard.
“You don’t know?” she repeated.
“No,” he said. “But I know what you’re becoming.”
Ava’s pulse picked up. “And that is?”
Kael’s hand lifted, his fingers brushing lightly against her wrist.
The mark reacted instantly.
Heat flared beneath her skin, sharper than before, spreading upward like fire through her veins. Ava inhaled sharply, her body tensing as the sensation deepened, pulling something from within her she didn’t understand.
Kael’s gaze didn’t leave her face.
“Stronger,” he said.
Ava swallowed, her voice softer now. “That’s not very specific.”
“It doesn’t need to be.”
The heat didn’t fade this time.
It lingered.
Burned.
Her breathing grew uneven, her body reacting in ways that had nothing to do with fear.
And everything to do with him.
“Kael…” she started, but her voice faltered.
He stepped closer.
If that was even possible.
His hand slid from her wrist to her jaw, tilting her face up slightly, forcing her to meet his gaze. The intensity there made her chest tighten, her thoughts scattering under the weight of it.
“You feel it,” he said quietly.
Ava nodded before she could stop herself.
Yes.
She did.
It was stronger now—this pull between them. Sharper. Harder to ignore. Like something inside her was reaching for him, responding to his presence in a way that made her feel completely off balance.
“I don’t like not being in control,” she admitted, her voice barely above a whisper.
Kael’s thumb brushed against her cheek.
“You’re not losing control,” he said. “You’re finding it.”
That didn’t feel true.
It felt like the opposite.
But before she could argue—
He leaned in.
This time, he didn’t stop.
His lips met hers with a controlled intensity that stole the air from her lungs. It wasn’t soft, not tentative—it was deliberate, claiming, like he had already decided this was inevitable.
Ava froze for half a second.
Then the bond reacted.
Heat surged through her, stronger than anything she had felt before, flooding her senses, drowning out everything except him. Her fingers curled into his shirt instinctively as her body responded without hesitation.
The kiss deepened.
And with it—
Something shifted.
The mark on her wrist flared, burning brighter beneath her skin, the heat pulsing in rhythm with her heartbeat. Ava gasped softly against his lips, the sensation overwhelming, consuming, pulling her further into something she didn’t understand.
Kael’s grip tightened slightly at her waist, steadying her as the reaction intensified.
For a moment—
Everything else disappeared.
No pack.
No danger.
No questions.
Just this.
Just him.
Then—
It stopped.
Kael pulled back just enough to break the kiss, his breathing slightly heavier now, his gaze locked onto hers with an intensity that hadn’t faded.
Ava stared at him, her chest rising and falling quickly, her thoughts completely scattered.
“Well,” she said after a second, her voice unsteady, “that was… not helpful.”
A faint smirk touched his lips.
“It wasn’t meant to be.”
She huffed lightly, though there was no real annoyance behind it. “You really have a talent for making things more complicated.”
“And you keep responding,” he pointed out.
Ava opened her mouth—
Then closed it.
Because he wasn’t wrong.
Again.
Her gaze dropped briefly to his lips before she caught herself and looked away. “That doesn’t mean I understand any of this.”
“You will.”
“There you go again with that answer.”
Kael’s expression softened—just slightly. “You’re adapting faster than you should.”
Ava frowned. “That doesn’t sound reassuring.”
“It means whatever you are,” he said, “it’s not weak.”
Something about that settled differently.
Not fear.
Not uncertainty.
Something… steadier.
Before she could respond, a distant howl cut through the forest.
Both of them stilled.
The sound wasn’t close—but it wasn’t far either.
Ava felt the shift immediately, the tension snapping back into place.
“That doesn’t sound friendly,” she muttered.
“It’s not,” Kael said.
His expression had changed again—back to sharp, controlled, dangerous.
“Stay close.”
Ava didn’t argue this time.
As they started moving again, faster now, her mind raced—but not in the same way as before.
Because despite everything—
The confusion.
The danger.
The undeniable fact that her life had just completely changed—
One thing had become very clear.
This wasn’t something she could walk away from anymore.
Not the pack.
Not the mark.
And definitely—
Not him.
