A Wolf Without A Voice

CHAPTER FOUR

There was a wolf inside me.

I hadn't seen her yet, not fully. But I'd felt her now. Scraping at my ribs. Whispering in broken pieces. Burning against the cage I didn't know I'd built.

I didn't sleep that night. Not really.

I sat by the cracked mirror, staring at my reflection long after the glow faded from my skin. Something had shifted. In me. In the air. The bond. The mark. All of it felt… tighter. Like I was being pulled toward something I didn't understand.

No one came to check on me. No food. No words. Just silence.

Kael had vanished again. But I could still feel him. That magnetic pull tugging at the center of my chest like an anchor that wouldn't let go.

I hated it.

I hated how I could feel his moods—when he was angry, when he was near, when he was sleeping. The mark pulsed every time he stepped into the hallway, even if he didn't come inside.

I was tethered to a man who didn't want me. And yet, he hadn't broken the bond.

And I was starting to understand why.

Because even he could feel it now.

That something was waking up inside me.

Something that scared him.

---

Late the next day, the servant girl slipped in again.

Her hands were shaking.

"There's word from the outer packs," she whispered. "Rogues were spotted along the river line. Not just any rogues. Organized. Trained."

I stared at her.

She leaned closer. "They say they're looking for a girl. One with a moon-burn on her neck."

She didn't need to say more.

We both looked at the mark.

I covered it with my hand.

"Kael doesn't want anyone knowing," she whispered. "But he's furious. He interrogated three of his warriors this morning. Nearly killed one. He's unraveling."

I swallowed hard.

The girl looked at the mirror's crack, then back at me. "I think you need to remember who you are before he decides to destroy you."

Then she slipped out.

---

By nightfall, I was curled up in bed, the book clutched to my chest again. I turned to the last chapter. The text was fading, blurred by water or time, but one phrase stood out in thick, bold ink.

"The silent wolf must find her voice within or be consumed by the Alpha's wrath."

Consumed?

My fingers tightened around the page.

I didn't want to be consumed. I wanted to survive.

Suddenly, I heard footsteps.

Not just one set.

Multiple.

They stopped right outside my door.

I leapt up, heart racing.

The door burst open.

Kael stood there, flanked by three warriors. His expression was unreadable. But his eyes burned.

"We're going for a walk," he said.

Before I could protest, the guards stepped in and grabbed my arms.

He didn't ask.

He didn't wait.

He simply turned and led the way.

---

We walked deep into the forest. Far from the packhouse. Far from safety. The moon overhead was blood-tinged and heavy. A storm brewed in the distance.

Kael stopped in a clearing.

"Leave us," he ordered his men.

The guards disappeared without question.

I stood in the center of the space, arms crossed tight over my chest.

Kael turned to me.

He looked different tonight. Not just angry.

Uneasy.

"I did some digging," he said. "About you. Your pack. Your bloodline."

My breath caught.

"There's no record of your birth. No trace of your parents. Your Alpha told my scouts that you were left on their border as a child. That no one ever came looking for you."

I looked down.

He took a step closer.

"Did you know that the only other wolves in history who had white glowing eyes… were cursed?"

I flinched.

"They weren't omegas. They weren't even full-blooded wolves. They were something else. Something ancient. Something the Moon Goddess tried to erase."

He circled me now, voice dropping lower.

"I think that's what you are."

My throat tightened.

He stopped behind me.

"I think the reason I can't reject you… the reason the bond won't break… is because fate doesn't want me to."

He leaned close to my ear.

"I think you were sent to destroy me."

I spun around, eyes wide.

But before I could react—his hand came up.

And he touched the mark.

The moment his fingers grazed it, a wave of energy rippled through my body.

I dropped to my knees, gasping.

And then I heard her.

Not with my ears.

In my head.

A voice.

"Finally."

---

The world around me spun.

Kael shouted something. I couldn't hear him.

I clutched my head.

"I've waited long enough," the voice whispered. "You buried me too deep. But I'm still here."

Who are you? I thought, trembling.

"Your wolf."

I froze.

"You let them tell you you were broken. Useless. Silent. But I've been screaming for years. You just never listened."

Tears burned in my eyes.

"Now listen closely, girl," she growled. "Because we don't have much time."

Time for what?

"He's going to choose. To kill you… or protect you."

Kael?

"Yes. And right now, he's leaning toward the first."

I gasped.

The vision snapped.

I was back in the clearing, flat on my back, Kael kneeling over me.

His hands were on either side of my face.

"Arya," he said tightly. "What the hell just happened?"

I blinked up at him.

And for the first time since we met… I wanted to speak.

Not write.

Not nod.

But speak.

A sound rasped in my throat.

He froze.

My mouth opened.

And a single word escaped.

"Kael.