Chapter 104 Shadows in the Forest
Kane led the way through the forest, silent and lethal.
Aria followed close, her senses brushing the air for residual magic. Marcus kept pace at her side, with a tablet in hand, though his thoughts were clearly divided.
The twins were safe with Elder Morgana.
That thought should have steadied Aria.
It didn’t.
Every few steps, her mind replayed the image of their faces as she left them behind. She hated separating from them when danger was in motion. Especially with everything going on. Hated the feeling of not being able to see them with her own eyes.But the last thing she wanted to do was to deliver them into the hands of the enemy too.
“Their trail fractured almost immediately after they left the containment site,” Marcus said, breaking Aria’s train of thought. “Amanda moved first. Jacob followed several minutes later. They split twice, rejoined once, and then separated again.”
Kane did not slow. “He keeps circling back to her.”
“Yes,” Marcus replied. “That makes it easier to find him first. There is no hesitation in his pattern. If she changes direction, he adjusts. If she stops, he closes the distance.”
Kane’s expression hardened. “He is not calculating. He is simply following her.”
Aria brushed her fingers along a low branch as they passed. A faint pulse of magic answered her touch. “Jacob has always been loyal.”
“This is more than loyalty,” Kane said. “He is following her no matter where she goes.”
Aria glanced at him. “That is what mates do.”
Kane finally looked at her fully. His eyes were darker than usual, thoughtful. “Even if the path is wrong.”
“If they are truly bonded, then yes,” she answered. “The bond does not vanish when choices become inconvenient.”
They walked several more steps in silence. Leaves shifted underfoot. Somewhere in the distance a bird startled and took flight.
Kane’s voice lowered. “If I chose a path that endangered the pack, would you follow me?”
Marcus pretended to study his tablet very closely.
Aria slowed until Kane had no choice but to stop as well. She stepped in front of him, searching his face. There was no humor in his expression. He was not teasing her. He was asking something real.
“You would not choose that,” she said quietly.
“Answer the question.”
She inhaled, steady and calm. “If you lost your way, I would not follow you into darkness.”
Something flickered in his eyes, but she continued before it could harden.
“I would fight you. I would argue with you. I would remind you who you are and what you stand for. I would do everything in my power to pull you back.”
Her voice softened. “But I would never leave you. Not for fear. Not for pride. Not for anything.”
The forest seemed to quiet around them.
Kane reached up and cupped her face, his thumb brushing lightly along her cheek. The tension that had followed him since the containment breach eased just slightly.
He kissed her.
It was not reckless or consuming. It was grounding. A promise sealed without words.
Marcus cleared his throat loudly. “The forest is vast. Perhaps select a more discreet section of it.”
Aria laughed softly against Kane’s mouth before stepping back. Kane did not look embarrassed.
“When you find your mate,” he said to Marcus, “you will understand.”
Marcus did not respond immediately. He resumed walking, though his pace was slower than before.
“I think I already do,” he said at last.
Kane glanced at him. “You have?”
Marcus exhaled slowly, as though he had not planned to speak yet but knew the moment would not come again. “I have been considering something for a while. I was waiting for stability. For the right time. That time does not seem to exist.”
Aria’s eyes softened. “Is everything okay?”
He met her gaze briefly before looking forward again. “I am thinking of making Maya my mate.”
The words settled heavily between them.
Kane studied him carefully. This was no small declaration. “You understand what that means?” Kane said. “She is human. She has no wolf to guide her. No instinct to anchor her to this world. Everything she does is a choice.”
“I am aware of all that, Alpha.,” Marcus said. “Regardless, I am going to ask her to be my mate. Not because fate dictates it. Because I want her. Because I choose her.”
The words carried more weight than a casual confession.
Kane’s expression shifted from teasing to assessing.
“You understand what that means for her.”
“Yes.”
“She will be scrutinized. Questioned. Some will say you weakened yourself.”
“I am well aware.”
Aria’s voice softened. “Does she know how heavy that title is.”
“She knows enough,” Marcus said. “She is stronger than you realize.”
Kane’s gaze sharpened. “You are certain.”
Marcus nodded once. “I am.”
Kane studied him another moment. “If you choose her publicly, I will recognize the bond. That will silence most of the dissent.”
Marcus nodded once. Gratitude flickered briefly across his face.
“Thank you. But I am not asking for silence,” he said. “I am asking for respect.”
“You will have it,” Kane replied.
The wind shifted, carrying a faint metallic scent that did not belong to wet soil or pine.
Aria’s expression changed instantly. “Wait.”
They all stopped.
Kane’s posture shifted from conversational to lethal in a breath. His senses stretched outward, scanning for movement. Marcus lowered the tablet slightly.
“There,” Aria whispered.
Partially obscured beneath leaves and shadow, something darker lay against the base of an old oak. For a moment it looked like nothing more than discarded fabric.
Then it moved.
Kane reached it first.
“Devon.”
Devon was slumped against the tree trunk, one leg stretched awkwardly before him. His clothes were torn. A thin line of blood traced a path from his hairline down along his temple. Dirt clung to his skin and dried leaves were tangled in his jacket.
His gold eyes opened slowly as Kane crouched beside him.
“Oh my goddess. What happened?” Aria asked.
“I saw them escape and chased them,” Devon said, voice rough. “I thought I could intercept them before they gained distance.”
“Alone?” Kane replied.
Devon’s jaw tightened. “I thought I could handle it.”
Aria knelt near his injured leg. The fabric was soaked darker near his thigh. When she pulled it back slightly, the wound beneath was deep and ragged.
“They anticipated me,” Devon continued. “Amanda changed direction twice. Each time I adjusted. The third time she circled back. Jacob cut off my retreat.”
Marcus stepped closer. “You saw them both clearly.”
“Yes.”
“And anyone else.”
Devon hesitated just long enough to draw attention.
“There was someone further back,” he admitted. “Cloaked. Watching.”
Kane’s eyes darkened. “Did they engage.”
“No. They did not need to. Amanda cast something before I could close the distance. I could not shift. My muscles locked as if bound.”
Aria frowned. “A suppression spell.”
“Yes.”
Devon glanced down at his leg. “The wound came after. They wanted me slowed.”
“Or humiliated,” Kane said quietly.
Devon’s mouth pressed into a thin line. “Perhaps both.”
Kane studied him carefully. Pride radiated from Devon even in injury. Frustration simmered beneath it.
“Why leave you alive?” Kane asked.
Devon’s gaze lifted to meet his. “I have been asking myself that.”
The forest felt heavier now. Still.
Marcus’s tablet flickered suddenly, emitting a soft alert.
“There is residual magic here,” Aria said. “Stronger than their baseline signatures. It is fading quickly.”
Aria extended her senses again. The air carried a faint pulse, as though something had been activated and then withdrawn.
“They prepared something,” she murmured.
Devon’s breathing grew steadier as he pushed himself upright with visible effort. “They were not fleeing blindly. They were moving toward something. A ridge, perhaps. Higher ground.”
Kane helped steady him, though he did not speak reassurance. His attention was split between Devon and the trees.
A branch snapped somewhere deeper within the forest.
All four of them stilled.
Marcus lifted his gaze from the screen. “Movement,” he said softly. “Ahead.”
Kane’s hand went to the hilt at his hip.
Aria’s magic stirred faintly beneath her skin.
Devon tried to stand fully and nearly faltered before catching himself against the trunk.
The shadows between the trees shifted again, not randomly but with purpose.
Watching.
Waiting.
Kane’s voice lowered into something dangerous and calm. “We are not alone.”