Chapter 50: The Alpha’s Hunt
Kael's pov
The forest was alive with whispers.
Every step I took pressed into damp earth, every breath filled my lungs with the sharp tang of pine and frost. My wolf was restless beneath my skin, pacing, snarling, tugging me forward like a hound straining at the leash.
Because I had felt her.
Her presence slid across the bond I refused to admit existed, faint as smoke but undeniable. It didn’t matter how far she ran, how carefully she cloaked herself with lies and shadows—she could not hide from me.
Not anymore.
“Elena,” I muttered under my breath, though the name tasted wrong now. Empty. As if I were speaking to a ghost.
I stopped, flexing my hands as my claws threatened to break through. No. She wasn’t just Elena. She was something more. My wolf knew it. Every instinct screamed it. That girl wasn’t simply a runaway with secrets.
She was mine.
And yet, even as I admitted it, fury clawed through me. Because she dared to stand at Derek’s side. She let him close. She allowed his scent to cling to her like he had any right.
The thought made my vision blur, a low growl breaking free before I could stop it. Birds scattered from the trees above, startled into the night sky.
Behind me, one of my scouts shifted uneasily. “Alpha, her trail is fresh. She’s not far.”
“I don’t need you to tell me that,” I snapped, sharper than I intended. My wolf was already leading me, drawn to her like a moth to flame.
And then I caught it—her scent.
Not faint this time. Strong. Raw. Like moonlight and ash, threaded with something wilder, something ancient. My chest tightened. I had chased her scent for weeks, but tonight it felt different. Like she was finally within reach.
My wolf surged. Mine.
I broke into a run.
Branches whipped against my arms as I tore through the forest, faster, harder, the world blurring into nothing but the thread pulling me closer to her. I didn’t care about traps. I didn’t care about Derek’s men. I would tear down anyone who stood between us.
When I broke into the clearing, I saw her.
She stood at the edge of the campfire glow, her cloak wrapped tightly around her shoulders, but I would know that stance anywhere. Rigid. Defiant. Trembling beneath the surface but never breaking.
Elena.
Her head snapped up as if she felt me too. Our eyes met across the distance, and for one breath, everything stopped.
The world shrank until it was just her and me.
Her lips parted, her chest rising and falling quickly. My wolf howled inside me, demanding I go to her, demanding I take her back, away from Derek, away from lies, away from everything.
But then Derek stepped from the shadows.
His hand brushed her arm. Possessive. Deliberate.
My vision went red.
“Kael.” Derek’s voice carried across the clearing, calm, sharp, mocking. “Still chasing ghosts, I see.”
“Step away from her,” I growled. My voice wasn’t mine—it was my wolf’s, raw and edged with a promise of blood.
Derek smirked, but he didn’t move. Instead, he looked at her, as if waiting to see what she would do.
And gods help me—she didn’t push him away.
Something inside me cracked.
“Elena.” My voice broke softer this time, almost a plea. I stepped forward, every muscle shaking with restraint. “Come with me. Now.”
Her eyes widened. For a heartbeat, I thought she would. My chest clenched with hope.
But then she shook her head. Just once.
And it destroyed me.
My wolf roared, tearing through me with fury and grief. I staggered forward anyway, ready to fight Derek, ready to drag her away if I had to—
But then Derek’s voice cut through the firelight, low and poisonous.
“She isn’t Elena.”
The words stopped me cold. My breath froze.
“She’s been lying to you, Kael.” Derek’s smirk deepened, his hand tightening on her arm. “That’s not the name she was born with.”
The earth tilted beneath me. My wolf went silent, stunned.
I stared at her, my heart hammering. “What is he talking about?”
Her face drained of color, her lips parting as if to speak, but no sound came.
I took a step closer, my voice raw. “
Tell me he’s lying. Tell me.”
But she didn’t.
And in her silence, the world shattered.