Chapter 164
Lynette's POV
The car door slammed shut behind me. The sound echoed in the estate driveway, too loud in the thick silence. Kael walked around to the driver's side without a word. His shoulders were still rigid, that same tension from the plaza encounter locked into every muscle.
I slid into the back seat. Elara climbed into the front passenger side, her movements careful and quiet. She glanced back at me once, her eyes asking questions I couldn't answer right now.
The engine started. Smooth and expensive, barely a whisper. We pulled out of the garage and onto the estate's main road. Streetlamps cast pools of yellow light across the windshield as we passed. Nobody spoke.
I watched Kael's reflection in the rearview mirror. His jaw was tight. His hands gripped the steering wheel like it might try to escape. The encounter with his father had done something to him, carved something raw and exposed under that controlled Alpha exterior.
Elara shifted in her seat. She opened her mouth like she wanted to say something, then closed it again. Smart girl. She turned to look out the window instead, watching the estate grounds slide past in the darkness.
Ten minutes. That's how long the silence lasted. I counted them, marked by the passing streetlamps and the gentle hum of the engine. My wolf was restless under my skin, picking up on the tension radiating from the front seat.
"Starting tomorrow," Kael said suddenly. His voice was flat and professional. "I'll arrange for one of my female pack members to act as your assistant."
I sat forward slightly. "Assistant?"
"You'll need help coordinating training schedules, managing equipment requisitions, communicating with pack members." He kept his eyes on the road. "These things require someone who knows how Pinehollow operates."
I waited. There was more coming. I could feel it.
"And," he continued, "whenever you need to enter Pinehollow territory, she'll accompany you. No exceptions."
There it was. The real reason.
"I understand," I said.
And I did. This wasn't about helping me. This was about control, about monitoring, about making sure the rogue Alpha without a pack didn't become a threat to his people. In his position, I would have done the same thing. Probably worse.
Hell, I had done worse. Back in the north, anyone who wanted to enter my territory had to be vouched for by three different pack members and submit to a full background check. And even then, they got an armed escort.
So yeah. I understood perfectly.
Kael's eyes flicked to the rearview mirror. For a second, our gazes met in the reflection. I kept my expression neutral. Professional. The face of someone who knew how this game was played.
He looked away first.
"Besides training my people," he said after another stretch of silence, "where do you plan to start recruiting?"
I leaned back against the seat. "Black Ridge Forest. The rogue packs there."
His shoulders tensed. "That's more dangerous than I thought you'd choose."
"Everything's dangerous right now."
He didn't argue with that.
"I need to understand how they survive. What they need. Who might be willing to join something new." I kept my voice casual, like this was just practical planning and not something that had been eating at me since I'd seen those desperate wolves in the forest.
What I didn't tell him was the real reason. When I'd been in Elara's body, when we'd gone to Black Ridge Forest together, I'd seen them. The rogues. The outcasts. Wolves who'd been kicked out of their packs for reasons that ranged from legitimate crimes to just being born wrong. They lived like animals, fighting over scraps, dying from infected wounds because they had no pack healer.
They reminded me of what I could have become if I hadn't been strong enough to take what I needed.
They reminded me of what Elara had been before I took over her body. Powerless. Alone. Waiting to die.
I couldn't fix what happened to Elara. But maybe I could help the ones who were still fighting.
The car slowed. We were approaching the edge of the estate now, heading toward the main road that led back to town. Kael took the turn smoothly, and the manicured grounds of Pinehollow gave way to dark woods on either side.
"We're here," he said eventually.
I looked up. We weren't at the front of our house. We were parked at the entrance to Kael's garage, right next door. The headlights illuminated the closed door.
Kael turned in his seat to look at me. Really look at me, not just a glance in the mirror. His amber eyes were shadowed in the dim light. There was something in his expression I couldn't quite read. Something that looked almost like he wanted to say more but didn't know how.
"Goodnight," he said finally. Just that one word.
"Goodnight," I replied.
Elara scrambled out of the front seat. I opened my door and stepped out onto the driveway. The night air was cool against my skin, carrying the scent of pine and earth. Home was right there, just a few yards away. Warm lights in the windows. Safety.
I started walking. Elara fell into step beside me. But I could feel Kael's eyes on my back the whole way to the front door. Watching. Always watching.
We reached the porch. I had my hand on the doorknob when Elara suddenly spun around to face me.
"Lynette!" Her voice was sharp.
I blinked. "What?"
She crossed her arms and gave me a look that would have been intimidating if she didn't look like she was trying not to smile. "You've been hiding things from me."
My stomach dropped. "What are you talking about?"
"Your relationship with Kael." She put her hands on her hips. "Don't even try to deny it. The way he looks at you? The way you two act around each other? That's not just 'cooperation' or whatever you want to call it."
Oh. Oh no.
"Elara, you're misunderstanding—"
"Am I?" She raised her eyebrows. "Because at dinner tonight, when Hansen was talking, Kael kept looking at you. And in the car just now, he barely said two words but he couldn't stop checking on you in the mirror. And don't even get me started on how he acted when we first showed up. The whole 'I'll personally test you' thing? Please."
I opened my mouth. Closed it. Opened it again. "We're just... we have an arrangement. Resources for training. That's all."
"Uh huh." Elara's expression was pure skepticism. "And I'm sure that's why he personally drove us home instead of letting Hansen send a car. Because of your 'arrangement.'"
"Elara—"
"And I'm sure that's why he defended you to his father. A man he clearly has issues with. Because you're such great 'business partners.'"
I felt heat creeping up my neck. This was ridiculous. Yes, there was... something between Kael and me. Something complicated that I didn't fully understand and definitely didn't want to examine too closely. But it wasn't what Elara was implying.
Was it?
No. No, it wasn't. I'd been in Elara's body when things happened with Kael. That connection was with a version of me that wore her face. He doesn't know the real me. That's all.
Except her face was back on her body now. And Kael had barely looked at her all night. All his attention had been on me.