Chapter 38: The promise
Kaelan POV
He slapped my shoulder once solid, grounding. “Then lead the way, Alpha.” I turned back toward the pack house. The moonlight cut silver across the walls as we moved. The world felt sharper, colder, too still.
Something was coming, something bigger but as I reached the door to the room Elara slept in, my wolf settled, the rage shifting, softening.
Because her scent was in the air warm, familiar and mine. Rhylen paused outside. “I’ll keep watch. You go in.” I hesitated. “You just arrived”
“There’s no safer place for me than outside the door of the girl you’d burn the world for,” he said simply. “Go.” I nodded once.
When I stepped inside, the room was quiet except for the soft rhythm of Elara’s breathing. The moon spilled across her face, smoothing her expression, easing the lines of fear she carried before sleep claimed her.
But even in sleep she looked troubled, her fingers twitched, like she was reaching for something or someone.
I closed the door quietly, her eyes fluttered open. “Kaelan?” she whispered, voice thin, sleep rough. I moved to her side instantly. “I’m here.” She exhaled softly, relief loosening her entire body. “I woke up and you weren’t”
“I wouldn’t leave you,” I said, sitting beside her. “Not tonight. Not any night someone’s still hunting you.” Her hand lifted hesitated then rested lightly on my chest.
Her next words were small, raw. “Did you find the traitor?” “Not yet.” I brushed my fingers along her temple. “But I found something.”
Her eyes widened slightly. “What?” “A hidden passage in Caius’s grounds. Someone used it tonight.” Elara’s breath hitched. Fear flickered through the bond but so did something sharper.
“Kaelan” Her voice trembled. “What if the traitor is someone close to Caius? Someone he trusts?” I swallowed. “Then it will hurt him. But it won’t stop me.”
Her lips parted, trembling just slightly. “Promise me you’ll be careful.” I leaned down, brushing my forehead against hers. “I promise.”
Her fingers curled in my shirt again the way they always did when she was afraid she’d lose me. She pulled me closer. I kissed her a slow, lingering kiss that tasted of fear and relief and everything we couldn’t say yet.
When we parted, her eyes softened. “Thank you for coming back.” “I’ll always come back to you.” Her lashes lowered. Sleep pulled at her again, heavy and sweet. “Stay,” she whispered.
I lay beside her carefully, mindful of every pain she still carried and she curled against me like she had been waiting for it within minutes, her breathing evened, her body sinking into the safety she rarely allowed herself.
I stayed awake, watching the moon sweep across the floor, watching the door andistening to the silence, because tonight, the traitor had shown their hand and now?
Now the hunt was no longer a question. It was now a promise.
The corridors of Caius’s hall were too quiet. Not silent quiet but the kind of quiet that carried breath, footsteps and even lies. I could feel it in the walls, in the stone floors and in the way warriors avoided meeting my eyes.
Someone here had opened the gates for the assassins and they were still watching.
I closed the door behind me with a soft click. Elara was resting now, her breathing steadier, her heartbeat less frantic through the bond. Liora and Darius stayed with her, which was good. She needed friends just as much as she needed protection.
My wolf prowled beneath my skin, restles, I stepped outside into the night and froze.
A familiar scent drifted toward me pine smoke, cold steel and stubbornness.Rhylen.
A shadow separated itself from the tree line and walked into the moonlight. “About damn time,” he said, dropping the hood of his cloak.
I exhaled in relief. “You shouldn’t be walking yet.” He snorted. “The healer said I was fine and even if she hadn’t, you really think I was going to stay behind in the south knowing assassins tried to kill you and Elara?”
His steps were slower than he pretended, but his eyes were sharp. Unwavering.“I heard everything,” he said. “The council. The prophecy and the attack.”
He stepped closer. “I’m not leaving your side again.” A knot of tension eased in my chest one I didn’t admit had been there. “Good,” I murmured. “Because this territory isn’t safe anymore.” Rhylen’s jaw clenched. “Where do we start?”
I nodded toward the forest, the same direction the assassins had retreated. “Tracks, wrong scents just anything that doesn’t belong.”
But before we could move, a soft crunch sounded behind us. It was Elara.
She stood barefoot in the doorway, wrapped in a cloak, moonlight brushing her skin. Her hair tumbled around her shoulders, still slightly damp from where Liora cleaned the blood from her face.
For a moment just one everything in me stilled.
“Elara,” I said quietly. “You should be resting.” She shook her head. “I felt you leaving.” Her voice was a soft exhale, fragile but stubborn.
“And I didn’t want you going without telling me.” I moved toward her, slowly, like she was something made of trembling light.
When I reached her, she looked up at me. “You think the traitor is still watching us,” she whispered. “Yes, I replied.”
Her eyes darted between me and Rhylen. “If someone here betrayed Caius, then, they’ll hate me even more for stirring suspicion.”
The pain in her voice cut deeper than any blade. I cupped her cheek gently. “You didn’t stir anything. You survived.” She leaned into my palm, breathing me in like she needed it to stay steady.
“I don’t want to cause a war inside this pack,” she whispered. “If people start pointing fingers because of me, they’ll never forgive it.” “Let them be angry,” I murmured. “Let them doubt and let them whisper.”
I tilted her chin up. “I’m not letting you die to keep them comfortable.” Her breath caught. Her hand rose, resting against my chest, just over my heart.
“You always say things like that,” she whispered. “And I never know if I should kiss you or argue with you.” I brushed my lips over hers barely there, a ghost of a touch. “Choose the first one,” I whispered and she inhaled sharply.
Rhylen groaned behind us. “Oh for the love of the goddess can you two stop making me a third wheel for five minutes?” Elara flushed crimson and backed away slightly, though her fingers lingered in mine as if they didn’t want to let go.
I shot Rhylen a glare. “You could leave.” “No,” he said flatly. “Because then you two will get distracted again and get yourselves killed.” Elara bit her lip, smiling for the first time in hours and I was happy.