Chapter Twenty-One: Alpha Alone
Rina stood on the high platform overlooking the heart of Blackridge.
Below her, the pack gathered — not in celebration, but in uncertainty. Her presence had shifted the balance. Where once stood a healer and outsider, now stood something new: an Alpha not born of bloodline, but of fire.
Kael hadn't spoken to her since the ritual.
He'd watched her. Followed her with those golden eyes. But the bond between them, once pulsing and warm, now trembled beneath the weight of change.
When she stepped down into the circle, the crowd parted — not out of submission, but hesitation.
Until a pup — small, limping, curious — reached for her hand.
Rina knelt. She smiled gently and touched his head, letting the smallest flicker of warmth pass from her fingers to his skin. Healing. Not magic meant to rule. Just care.
The pup giggled.
That broke the silence.
A murmur rose among the pack. One of recognition. Of hope.
Still, Kael stood apart.
That night, Rina found him in the training fields, swinging his blade at ghosts.
"You're avoiding me," she said.
He didn't deny it. "You've changed."
"So have you."
Kael turned, face grim. "The pack respects you. But they fear you. And I'm not sure that doesn't include me."
That hurt more than it should've.
"You said you'd stand with me through fire," Rina whispered.
"I did." He looked away. "But I thought I'd be holding your hand… not chasing your shadow."
A pause. The ache between them tangible.
"Then let me say this," Rina said. "I love you. But I will not shrink to make you feel tall beside me. I chose this. And I will lead."
Kael met her eyes. "Then lead. But know this — the bond doesn't hold when one walks ahead, and the other stays behind."
She stepped close, barely breathing. "Then catch up."
And she walked away, the fire trailing faintly in her wake.
Above them, in the forest beyond the ridge, a pair of glowing red eyes watched the keep.
And smiled.
The real war had only just begun.