For the first time since my exile, the valley was quiet.
Not peaceful.
Waiting.
Lucien stood beside me on the fortress balcony. Below us, warriors doubled patrols. Everyone felt it—the shift. News of me was spreading.
"They won't attack immediately," Lucien said.
"Why?" I asked.
"They're deciding whether to fight you… or recruit you."
I hated that word.
Before I could respond, a guard approached.
"Alpha Kaiden requests a meeting."
My chest tightened.
Lucien didn't react. "He doesn't request things."
"I know."
"Will you see him?"
I hesitated.
Running wasn't strength anymore.
"Bring him," I said.
Minutes later Kaiden entered alone. No warriors. No intimidation tactics.
Just him.
That alone told me this was serious.
His eyes immediately found me. That same intense focus.
"You look different," he said quietly.
"I am."
A pause.
Then something unexpected happened.
"I made a mistake."
Lucien stiffened slightly.
I froze.
Kaiden continued:
"Rejecting you was a strategic decision."
That hurt more than if he had said nothing.
"But now?" I asked.
"Now I know you are the most dangerous asset in this region."
Asset.
Not Selene.
Still.
Lucien stepped forward.
"She is not joining your pack."
Kaiden ignored him.
"I didn't come to take her."
That surprised both of us.
"I came because Darius is mobilizing."
The temperature seemed to drop.
Lucien frowned. "Already?"
"Yes."
Kaiden looked directly at me.
"If he moves first… you will be forced into a war you cannot win yet."
Yet.
That word mattered.
"So what do you want?" I asked.
Kaiden answered simply:
"A temporary alliance."
Lucien immediately rejected it.
"No."
Kaiden didn't look away from me.
"She decides."
My heart pounded.
An alliance with the man who rejected me?
Dangerous.
But refusing might be worse.
"What are the terms?" I asked.
Kaiden's voice softened slightly.
"Protection. Training. Intelligence sharing."
"And in return?" I asked.
His wolf stirred slightly.
"You don't disappear."
Lucien muttered:
"That sounds like surveillance."
Kaiden corrected:
"That sounds like survival."
And for the first time…
I wasn't sure he was wrong.