The next few days passed in uneasy silence between them.
Kael didn't ask about Rael again. He didn't press Selene for answers. But he also didn't look at her the same.
Not like before.
Not like she was a puzzle he wanted to solve.
Now, he looked at her like she was a lock he was determined to break open.
Selene kept her walls high, her answers vague, her footsteps quiet. But Kael wasn't just an Alpha. He was a hunter.
And she could feel his patience thinning.
"You move like someone who's been trained in more than just self-defense," he said one morning, tossing her a dagger. "Let's test your instincts."
Selene caught it without flinching.
"You want me to spar you with this?"
He smirked. "Afraid you'll lose?"
"I'm afraid I might win."
Kael chuckled, low and amused. "Try me."
They circled each other on the field, boots crunching over gravel, the early sun painting gold streaks across their skin. His stance was open, confident, like he didn't believe she'd even land a blow.
So she did.
A clean cut across his side. Shallow but sharp.
He didn't flinch.
He stepped closer.
And pressed his own blade to her neck.
She hadn't even seen him move.
"Never lower your guard," he murmured. His breath brushed her ear.
Selene swallowed hard. "That wasn't a fight. That was flirting."
He stepped back with a smirk. "Same thing, isn't it?"
Her wolf whined in her chest. Not from fear.
From desire.
Selene hated that she felt it.
She hated that her body leaned toward him, even as her mind screamed to pull away.
She wasn't here to feel. She was here to kill.
Later that night, Kael summoned the pack's tech head.
"Find everything you can on the rogue omega named Lina. Cross-check her story. Use council records, rogue logs… anything."
The young wolf blinked. "Is she dangerous, Alpha?"
Kael's jaw clenched. "That's what I'm trying to figure out."
Because deep down, even as the bond tugged at his instincts, his gut told him something wasn't right.
She fought too well.
She healed too fast.
She watched everyone like she was memorizing escape routes.
And most of all. she looked at him like he was both a stranger… and a target.
Selene felt it the moment the search began.
Her instincts, sharp as ever, prickled down her spine.
Someone was digging.