The forest was quiet again.
But it was not the peaceful kind of silence.
It was the silence that came after a storm had begun.
The warriors of Silver Ridge slowly stepped back, creating distance between themselves and me.
Not because I attacked them.
But because they finally understood something.
I was no longer the weak girl they used to ignore.
My wolf shifted uneasily beneath my skin.
They fear us now.
I could feel it too.
The change in the air.
The way their eyes followed every movement I made.
The way even Captain Rowan no longer spoke with the same authority.
But the most intense gaze came from only one person.
Damon.
The Alpha of Silver Ridge stood a few steps away, his gray eyes locked on me like he was trying to solve a puzzle that refused to make sense.
"You lied," he said quietly.
I raised an eyebrow.
"About what?"
"Your wolf."
A soft laugh escaped my lips.
"I didn't lie."
My voice stayed calm.
"You assumed."
A few warriors exchanged uncomfortable looks.
Damon's jaw tightened.
"You told the pack you couldn't shift."
"I couldn't," I replied.
"At the time."
The words clearly confused him.
His brows furrowed.
"That's impossible."
My wolf chuckled inside my mind.
Let him struggle.
He deserves the confusion.
Before Damon could say anything else, Rowan stepped forward again.
"Alpha," he said carefully.
"We should return to the pack and discuss this."
Damon didn't move.
His attention never left me.
"No."
Rowan stiffened.
"Alpha?"
Damon ignored him.
"Elena," he said slowly.
"Come back with us."
The request sounded different this time.
Not like an order.
Almost like… persuasion.
I crossed my arms.
"No."
Again.
The same answer.
Rowan sighed quietly.
"Elena, be reasonable."
"Reasonable?"
I tilted my head slightly.
"That's interesting advice coming from the people who rejected their own Luna."
The word hit harder than I expected.
Several warriors lowered their eyes.
Rowan didn't respond.
Because he couldn't.
Everyone knew the truth.
If Damon had accepted me, I would have become the Luna of Silver Ridge.
Instead, I had been humiliated in front of the entire pack.
My wolf's voice grew colder.
They made their choice.
Now we make ours.
Damon stepped closer.
The tension between us thickened.
"You are still my responsibility," he said.
My eyes narrowed.
"I'm not your responsibility."
"You were my mate."
The past tense didn't escape me.
Exactly.
Were.
"You rejected me," I reminded him.
"I released you."
Damon's expression darkened.
"That doesn't mean you leave the pack."
I stared at him for a long moment.
Then I smiled faintly.
"You really don't understand, do you?"
His brows furrowed.
"Understand what?"
I took one step forward.
Close enough that the warriors behind him grew nervous.
"You didn't just reject a mate," I said quietly.
"You rejected the strongest wolf this pack will ever see."
Silence exploded across the clearing.
Rowan inhaled sharply.
One of the younger warriors whispered,
"Strongest…?"
My wolf lifted her head proudly.
Let them hear it.
Damon's eyes hardened.
"You're exaggerating."
"Am I?"
I closed my eyes for a moment.
Then I released a fraction of my aura.
The effect was immediate.
The ground beneath our feet trembled slightly.
The wind around the clearing shifted.
Several warriors staggered backward.
Rowan's eyes widened in disbelief.
"That power…"
Damon's expression changed instantly.
Shock.
Pure shock.
My wolf spoke calmly inside my mind.
This is only the beginning.
I opened my eyes again.
And Damon finally understood something he had never considered before.
The girl he rejected…
Was never weak.
She had simply been sleeping.
Before anyone could react further, a familiar voice echoed through the forest.
"Well."
The sound froze everyone instantly.
That voice again.
The golden-eyed Alpha stepped out from the shadows once more.
His expression looked amused as his gaze moved between Damon and me.
"I leave for a few minutes," he said casually,
"And you two are already arguing."
Damon's aura flared immediately.
"You again."
The man ignored the hostility.
Instead, he walked straight toward me.
Every warrior in the clearing stiffened.
But none of them dared to stop him.
His golden eyes studied my face carefully.
Then he smiled.
"It seems you're adjusting well."
My wolf stirred.
You came back.
I crossed my arms.
"You disappeared."
He shrugged.
"I was observing."
Damon stepped forward instantly.
"That's close enough."
The golden-eyed man glanced at him lazily.
"You're still here?"
Rowan growled softly.
"You're speaking to the Alpha of Silver Ridge."
The man's expression didn't change.
"I'm aware."
His gaze returned to me again.
"And yet he rejected you."
The words landed like a stone in water.
Ripples of tension spread across the clearing.
Damon's fists clenched.
"Who are you?"
The man didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he looked toward the sky for a moment, as if considering the question.
Then his golden eyes returned to Damon.
"My name," he said calmly,
"is Kael."
The name meant nothing to most of the warriors.
But my wolf stiffened.
Ancient blood.
The whisper echoed inside my mind like a distant memory.
My heart skipped.
"What does that mean?" I asked quietly.
But before my wolf could answer—
Kael spoke again.
"And if you're smart," he added, his gaze turning colder as he looked at Damon,
"You'll stop trying to control the Silver Wolf."
The clearing fell completely silent.
Because everyone heard it.
The Silver Wolf.