Chapter 74 Hidden Threats

Chapter 74 Hidden Threats
The pack compound was quieter than usual.

Too quiet. Selene’s senses prickled, wolf humming low in her chest.

The rogue army had been weakened after the last skirmish, but she knew better than to think they were gone.

They never truly were. Shadows lingered in corners, whispers in the dark, eyes watching.

She walked through the forest near the compound, boots crunching softly over dry leaves.

Kael had insisted she come, to “train and stay sharp.” Riven had followed secretly, “to keep her safe.” Both were dangerous.

Both were distracting. Her heart hammered in her chest, wolf urging, body on edge.

Kael was silent, walking just ahead. Broad shoulders, dark coat blending into the shadows.

His presence pressed down on her, possessive, commanding. She kept close enough to feel his heat, but not close enough to tempt herself into more.

“You’re tense,” he said finally, voice low. Not a reprimand. A statement.

“I’m fine,” she lied, even to herself. She could feel Riven’s gaze on her from behind.

She smelled him. Warm, protective, intense. Her wolf snarled softly.

Kael glanced over his shoulder. “He’s… watching you.”

“Yes,” she whispered. She felt guilty even admitting it.

She wanted Riven’s warmth, just as she wanted Kael’s fire. Both of them tore at her.

“Do not play with him,” Kael said, dark gold eyes flashing. “He’s mine too.”

Selene exhaled sharply. “I’m not yours,” she whispered. But the words felt empty. Her body and her wolf would never believe her.

Riven emerged from the shadows, green eyes fixed on her. “You’re not just mine either,” he said softly, stepping closer.

His hand brushed her arm, just barely, and she shivered.

She hated how easy it was to feel both of them at once, how the fire between them made her pulse race, her heart hammer.

Kael’s jaw tightened. “Do not provoke me,” he said, voice low.

“I’m not provoking you,” she said, exasperated. “I’m just… existing.”

“Existing,” Kael repeated, darkly amused, though his tension didn’t ease.

They reached the training ground. Kael gestured to a set of targets, a wide clearing with shadows and trees that could hide an ambush. “We need to practice,” he said. “They may be hiding still.”

Selene nodded. Her body was already buzzing, wolf alert.

She could feel movement in the forest beyond the clearing, subtle ripples of energy that didn’t belong.

Someone was there. Watching. Waiting.

Riven stepped close again, voice low in her ear. “Stay sharp,” he whispered. The warmth of him made her tremble. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

She glanced at Kael. Golden eyes locked onto her. “Nor will I,” he said. His voice held fire, and his gaze was impossible to ignore.

She swallowed. Both of them. Both fires, both claims, both danger. She wanted to scream and melt at the same time.

“Enough talk,” Kael said finally. He gestured to the targets. “We train first. Then we hunt.”

Selene nodded. She drew her knives, letting her fire flicker along her fingertips.

She closed her eyes for a moment and focused. Heat and energy coiled through her, wolf growling softly.

She felt them both—the tension, the desire, the claims pressing against her. She pushed it down. She needed focus.

They moved through the clearing, Kael showing her precision strikes, Riven correcting her posture, adjusting her stance. Every touch, every brush of a hand, sent shivers through her.

Every glance carried unspoken claims, unspoken fire. She hated it, loved it, feared it, needed it.

Then movement. A shadow slipping between trees. Her wolf growled low, warning.

Kael froze, senses sharp. Riven was beside her, eyes narrowing.

“Rogue,” Kael said softly, already moving.

Selene’s fire flared. She leapt forward, knives flashing, striking at the shadow. It moved faster than she expected, striking back.

She blocked, twisted, fired heat from her hands, scorching the ground where the rogue would have landed.

Kael and Riven moved as one, protecting her, covering flanks. Their presence was electric.

Every movement in sync, yet every glance at her carried hunger, desire, warning. Her body ached with the tension, every nerve alive with fire and want.

The rogue lunged again. Selene dodged, countered, and for a moment, time slowed. Just her, her fire, her wolf.

Then she felt Kael behind her, hand on her shoulder, guiding, protecting, dominating.

She felt Riven’s hand on her other side, steady, warm, protective.

Her wolf growled, roaring, pulling at her senses. Desire and danger, hunger and survival, all mixed together.

She fought, struck, burned. The rogue staggered back, finally retreating into the trees.
Breathing hard, heart racing, she looked at them.

Kael’s golden eyes burned. Riven’s green ones softened, full of warmth and need. She wanted them both, her body alive with fire, her mind dizzy.

“You’re reckless,” Kael said, voice low, almost growl.

“I’m fine,” she said, but her voice trembled.

She wasn’t fine. Her wolf was wild, her body consumed, and the pull between them unbearable.

Riven stepped closer, hand brushing her arm.

“You don’t have to fight alone,” he murmured.

“We’re here. Always.”

Kael’s hand landed lightly on her waist. “And we will claim what is ours,” he said quietly.

Her chest tightened. One woman. Two fires. So much desire, so much danger. She wanted them both, and she hated that she did.

They stood there, three of them, in the clearing, the forest around them alive with shadows and whispers. She felt protected, desired, and torn all at once.

“Selene,” Kael said finally, stepping closer. “We can’t always be gentle.”

“I’m not afraid,” she whispered. And she meant it. But her heart raced, wolf pulsing, body alive with fire.

Riven smiled faintly. “Good. You never have been.”

They moved together through the night, training, sparring, testing. Every brush of skin, every touch, every glance carried unspoken promises and claims.

She burned for both of them, wanted both of them, and her wolf howled with longing.

Hours passed. Shadows shifted. The rogue threat seemed gone—for now. But the tension between them, the pull, the fire, didn’t fade.

If anything, it grew stronger.

By the time they stopped, she was trembling, exhausted, but alive. Her body ached from exertion. Her heart ached from desire.

Her mind ached from not being able to choose.
Kael’s golden eyes met hers, intense and dark.

“You will have to choose eventually,” he said quietly.

Riven’s green eyes softened. “But not tonight,” he murmured.

Selene exhaled, leaning back against a tree, letting them both near her, feeling their heat and claims, their fire and protection.

She wanted them both. She wanted them desperately. And she hated herself for it.

The night stretched, moonlight falling over them. Forest quiet except for her ragged breaths, their quiet murmurs, the low hum of her wolf. Desire, tension, fire, danger. All of it tangled around her.

She let herself feel it. Let herself burn. Let herself be caught between two hearts, two fires, two worlds.

Tomorrow, the rogue threat might return.

Tomorrow, she might have to make choices. But tonight… tonight she existed in fire, in desire, in tension that made her feel more alive than anything else ever had.

Because hidden threats weren’t just outside the forest. Some were burning inside her, and she didn’t want to extinguish them.