Chapter 49: Whispers of the Bond
Fianna's pov
The night air was sharp with cold, carrying the scent of pine and storm. I stood outside the camp Derek’s men had built, the firelight flickering across the edges of the forest. Shadows moved where guards patrolled, their eyes sharp, but none of them dared to stop me. Not when Derek had already made it clear: I was not to be touched.
It should have made me feel safe. Instead, it felt like another cage.
I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to quiet my wolf. She paced inside me, restless, her hackles rising every time Derek’s gaze lingered too long, every time his voice softened just enough to tempt me with the promises of what we could become together.
But it wasn’t Derek that haunted me now.
It was Kael.
The way his voice had cracked the last time he’d spoken my name. The confusion, the fury, the hurt I’d glimpsed in his eyes when our paths had crossed again. He didn’t know who I was—not yet—but something inside him did. His wolf recognized me, even if he refused to believe it.
And that was dangerous.
I clenched my fists. Why couldn’t he have just let me go? Why does he keep pulling at strings I’ve already cut?
“Elena.”
The sound of my false name pulled me from my spiraling thoughts. I turned sharply to find Derek stepping out of the trees, his presence swallowing the air between us. His hair caught the moonlight, his blue eyes burning with a hunger that was more than desire. It was ambition.
“You shouldn’t wander alone,” he said softly, though his voice carried the weight of command. “Not when Kael is hunting for shadows that lead back to you.”
I stiffened, masking the jolt in my chest. “You’re watching him.”
“Of course.” His lips curved, but it wasn’t a smile. “Kael doesn’t let go easily. But he doesn’t realize yet what I already know.”
He moved closer, his steps measured, until the space between us was charged with an electricity that made my wolf bristle.
“You’re mine,” Derek murmured.
My breath caught—not in agreement, but in defiance. “I don’t belong to you.”
His head tilted, his gaze sharp. “No. Not yet. But the moon chose you for something greater than scraps at Kael’s table. With me, you’d never be caged again. With me, the packs will kneel. And when I claim the title of Alpha King, you will rule at my side.”
The words dug into me, tempting and terrifying all at once. Because some part of me—dark, wounded, vengeful—wanted it. To burn the world that had scorned me. To watch Moonstone bow, to see Kael’s cold mask finally shatter.
But another part of me recoiled. Because I remembered what it felt like to love Kael, once. To believe in him, before he broke me.
My silence stretched too long, and Derek leaned closer, his voice low, his breath brushing my ear.
“You’re not Elena to me. You’re the storm the Moon sent to tear everything down. And I’ll make sure you never forget that.”
I forced myself to meet his eyes, even as my pulse raced. “And if I choose neither of you?”
For the first time, his expression flickered. Then, slowly, he smiled again. “Then the world will tear itself apart fighting over you.”
Before I could respond, a howl split the night. Low. Familiar. It carried across the valley like a blade carving into my chest.
Kael.
My wolf surged, claws pressing against my skin, desperate to answer. I bit it back, trembling. No. Not here. Not now.
Derek’s eyes narrowed, studying me with a predator’s precision. “Interesting,” he murmured. “Your wolf still remembers his call.”
I froze.
He stepped back, his gaze lingering on me as if he’d just uncovered a secret I hadn’t meant to reveal.
“I wonder,” Derek said softly, “what Kael would do if he knew the truth of who you really are.”
The ground beneath me seemed to tilt. My throat closed.
Because for the first time, I realized Derek wasn’t just circling me like prey.
He was circling the truth.
An
d sooner or later, one of them—Kael or Derek—would rip it out of me.