The wind shifted that night.
Wolves always knew when something was off. When someone didn't belong.
Selene smelled it before she heard anything; cinnamon bark, ash, and sulfur. A foreign scent slinking across the BloodMoon border.
She was hauling medical crates to the ward when Beta Rael stormed past her.
"Stay inside," he barked.
"What's going on?"
"Uninvited guest. Rogue. Or worse."
Selene's blood turned to ice.
She dropped the crate and ran in the opposite direction.
She found Kael near the northern ridge, flanked by five warriors, eyes locked on a figure standing just beyond the tree line.
The man was tall, broad-shouldered, wrapped in black leather. His hair was a shock of pale blond, slicked back like he didn't fear a damn thing.
But Selene recognized him instantly.
"Cassian," she whispered.
Kael turned at the sound of her voice. "You know him?"
Selene's stomach twisted.
Cassian smiled at her like the devil come home. "Miss me, sweetheart?"
The warriors tensed.
Kael stepped forward. "You're trespassing."
Cassian raised his hands in mock surrender. "Didn't mean to startle. I just came to check on my fiancée."
The silence was deafening.
Kael's eyes cut to Selene. "What is he talking about?"
Selene's throat felt like sand.
"I was engaged to him," she said, barely audible. "Before I was sent here."
Cassian stepped closer. "Oh, don't be shy, darling. Tell him how we were promised to each other. How you swore to destroy the BloodMoon Alpha and return to me."
Kael growled, low and deadly. "Leave."
But Cassian just laughed. "Or what? You'll kill your mate in front of your pack?"
The warriors stepped forward, but Kael raised a hand.
"What do you want?" Kael asked.
Cassian smiled, sharp as broken glass. "Her. She's completed her mission. She's coming home."
Selene's fists clenched. "I'm not going anywhere with you."
His smile faltered.
Kael took a slow step forward. "She's not yours to command."
Cassian's gaze hardened. "She was. Until you muddied the waters with your precious bond."
"She made a choice," Kael said coldly. "She chose this pack. Chose me."
Cassian's eyes snapped to Selene. "Then she's a traitor. And you know what our Alpha does to traitors."
Kael didn't blink. "Try to take her, and you'll find out what this Alpha does to those who threaten what's his."
Cassian's jaw ticked, but he stepped back.
"For now," he said. "But she knows the truth. She knows the real plan. And when your little house of cards falls, don't say I didn't warn you."
With that, he vanished into the shadows.
Kael turned to Selene, rage simmering under his skin.
"You were engaged to him?"
"I didn't choose him," she said quickly. "It was arranged. A political tie between our families."
"Did you love him?"
"No," she snapped. "I feared him."
Kael's brows pulled together.
"Cassian isn't just a soldier," Selene added. "He's a handler. I was his weapon."
"Was?" Kael asked, voice tight.
She nodded. "He trained me. Broke me. Rebuilt me. Every order I followed… it came from him."
Kael looked like he was trying to strangle his own instincts.
Selene took a step closer. "He won't give up, Kael. You need to prepare for war."
Kael nodded slowly.
Then, quietly: "You should've told me all this sooner."
"I was trying to forget he existed," she whispered.
Kael looked away, but he didn't walk off. He stayed. And somehow, that meant more than anything he could've said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That night, Selene sat on the rooftop of her quarters, legs swinging over the edge, staring up at the stars.
Cassian was here. Which meant Alpha Roran knew she hadn't completed her mission.
Which meant they were running out of time.
She didn't notice Kael climbing up beside her until he sat down with a grunt.
"Can't sleep either?" he asked.
She shook her head. "Not with ghosts roaming the forest."
He was quiet for a moment.
Then: "Did he hurt you?"
Selene hesitated.
"Yes."
Kael's fists curled. "Physically?"
"Not just. He made me forget who I was."
Kael looked at her for a long time.
Then he said the last thing she expected.
"Then let's help you remember."