Chapter 6: Whispers Beneath the Moon
The moon hung low tonight.
Not bright. Not silver.
Just a pale, watchful eye in the sky — as if it, too, was holding its breath.
Arielle sat on the rooftop above the west wing, her cloak pulled tight around her shoulders. Below, the pack grounds glimmered with torchlight and soft laughter, the aftermath of the full moon gathering still buzzing through the night.
But she wasn't here to laugh.
She was listening.
Every night since her return, she'd come here.
Not because she was nostalgic. But because this was where secrets traveled — in footsteps, in whispers, in broken voices that forgot the wind carried sound.
She heard them.
The ones who muttered about her return.
The ones who still feared her name.
The ones who wanted her gone again.
"She's a shadow. Nothing more."
"She should've stayed gone."
"She's dangerous now. Unnatural."
Arielle closed her eyes for a second, steadying her breath.
Dangerous? No.
Focused? Yes.
They didn't know the woman who'd survived rejection. Who'd built herself from the bones of betrayal. They didn't know she'd trained in the north under rogues, hunted in forests that taught her how to kill with silence, or that her wolf… had changed.
Even she hadn't expected that part.
There were nights she woke up with claw marks on her own skin — proof that her power wasn't just returning. It was evolving.
Kael stood at the edge of the old garden, the night wind brushing against his neck. His jaw was clenched, his fists tighter than he realized.
He'd felt her again.
Not her scent. Her presence.
It moved differently now. A ghost, yes — but not of the girl he rejected. This ghost had teeth.
She hadn't tried to speak to him. Hadn't even acknowledged him since that day on the training field. But Kael could feel her... watching.
Waiting.
And worst of all — not needing him.
That burned deeper than the mate bond he had so easily severed.
From behind him, Ronan spoke. "She's not here to beg, Kael."
"I know," he muttered.
"She's not the girl you left behind."
"I know."
There was silence. And then Ronan added quietly, "You're not the same Alpha either."
Back on the roof, Arielle opened her eyes.
The wind had shifted.
Footsteps moved below — slow, careful. She didn't need to look to know who it was.
Kael.
She could feel him like a heartbeat in the dark — familiar but distant. The same, yet entirely different.
They were orbiting each other now.
Both waiting for the other to speak first.
But Arielle had nothing to say.
Not yet.
She stepped off the ledge and vanished into the darkness, her cloak fluttering like smoke.
She didn't want him to find her.
Not tonight.
Let him search.
Let the silence between them stretch until it screamed.
[To be continued...]