Their group moved swiftly through the borderlands—Aria, Kael, Nyla, and Raekon flanked by a small delegation from the High Council. Though there was no physical cage, the air around them felt like iron. They rode beneath watchful skies, the echo of past battles clinging to every breeze.
Kael barely spoke.
Aria noticed the change. His gaze often lingered on the distant mountains, his fingers clenching the reins too tightly. When they camped, he wandered from the fire and returned hours later with shadowed eyes.
Finally, on the fourth night, she found him standing on a ridge, his silhouette bathed in silver moonlight.
"You haven't said a word since we left the sanctum," she said softly.
Kael didn't turn. "I've been thinking."
"About the Council?"
He shook his head. "About my people."
Aria stepped closer. "We've never talked much about where you came from."
Kael's jaw tightened. "Because there's not much left to talk about."
She waited.
After a long silence, he said, "I was born to a northern bloodline. My father ruled the Stonebane Dominion—one of the last pure Alpha kingdoms. But when the old wars broke out, and magic began to rot the earth, our lands were cursed. My people scattered. Those who stayed were hunted."
Aria's eyes softened. "You never went back?"
"I couldn't. I was too young to lead, too marked by loss to fight. I wandered. And eventually... I stopped believing I deserved to rebuild."
She placed a hand on his arm. "You do deserve it. More than most."
His voice broke slightly. "The Alpha throne still exists. And if I claimed it, I could challenge the Council. But I've spent so long running, Aria. I don't know if I'm the man I was born to be."
She turned him to face her. "Then become the man you choose to be. Not what your blood demands."
He studied her for a long moment, and in that gaze, something ancient stirred. Not just Kael the warrior—but Kael, heir to a kingdom lost to time.
---
The Capital rose like a blade in the earth—towers of glass and iron scraping the sky, ringed with walls laced in runes. Magic hummed beneath every stone.
Their arrival was quiet but not unnoticed. Council guards lined the gates
The journey to Stormbane was long, winding through snow-laced forests and across the shattered bridges of old alliances. With every mile, Kael grew quieter, his jaw set and eyes unreadable. Aria walked beside him, the Moonsunder blade at her back, drawing nervous glances from their companions—even Nyla had stopped cracking jokes.
It wasn't just Kael's silence that weighed on them.
Stormbane's name had become legend and warning, a kingdom of wolves hidden behind walls of snow and secrets. Few dared enter its territory, fewer returned. For Kael, it was home—a title long carried like armor and chains.
They crested a hill as the storm began to break. Below lay Stormbane: an ancient fortress of black stone carved into the mountainside, shrouded in mist and snow. The towering gates were flanked by stone wolves, their eyes glowing faintly with ancient enchantments.
Aria slowed. "It's beautiful," she murmured.
Kael's expression was unreadable. "And dangerous."
Raekon moved closer. "Will they welcome you?"
"They'll kneel," Kael said simply. "Or they'll fall."
---
The gates opened with a groaning echo of time. Inside, armored guards knelt at the sight of Kael, their hands crossed over their hearts.
"Alpha King," the lead guard murmured.
Aria's eyes widened. "You didn't tell me it was like this."
"I left it behind," Kael said, not looking at her. "But it never left me."
The pack elders waited in the throne chamber—a hall of obsidian pillars and runes etched by moonlight. The throne itself was built of onyx and wolfbone, towering and cold. When Kael stepped into the chamber, the murmurs died.
Elder Vareth, the oldest of the pack council, stepped forward. "You return not as the prodigal son, but as the storm reborn."
"I return as king," Kael said. "And I bring with me the one who ended the Whisperer's reign."
All eyes turned to Aria. Her red hair blazed like flame under the skylight. The Moonsunder blade shimmered faintly behind her.
"She carries power not seen in centuries," Vareth said carefully. "And danger."
Aria stepped forward. "I am not your enemy."
"That remains to be seen," Vareth replied.
Kael's growl rumbled through the chamber. "Enough. She is mine. My ally. My equal. Any who doubt her answer to me."
Silence fell like snow.
---
That night, Aria stood on a balcony overlooking the frozen valley. Below, wolves howled—a song of welcome and warning.
Kael joined her, his cloak heavy with fur.
"You're a king," she said.
He nodded. "And a mate, if you'll have me."
She looked at him, unsure. "You still want that? After everything?"
"I want what I've always wanted—your fire beside mine."
She didn't answer with words. She took his hand and pressed it to her heart.
---
But peace was fleeting.
At dawn, messengers arrived—bloodied, frantic.
A border village had burned.
The banners left behind bore a symbol they all knew: Celene's. Her reach had grown.
Kael's council called an emergency gathering.
"She dares strike our kin?" Vareth growled.
Aria rose, her voice steel. "She's moving faster than we thought. If we wait, she'll devour the north."
Kael's voice rang like thunder. "Then we don't wait. Stormbane rides to war."
The room erupted with howls.
Aria touched the Moonsunder blade. "Let her come. Let her learn that we are not broken. We are forged in moonfire."
Kael took her hand.
Together, they would bring the storm.