Chapter 9 – Alera
The Ghost Inside the Walls
I couldn't sleep.
Not because I was afraid—not exactly. It wasn't fear that gnawed at my chest, keeping my breath shallow and my thoughts sharp. It was the knowing.
The knowing that everything was changing again.
That Kael was back. That he wasn't lying. That what he brought with him wasn't just prophecy and paranoia—it was real. Tangible. And dangerous.
The house creaked in the cold as I slipped down the hallway barefoot, my steps silent out of habit. The packhouse slept, but uneasily. I could feel the tension in the walls, in the air, in the wolves who hadn't quite accepted that Kael wasn't the enemy.
Not yet.
Maybe not ever.
I walked past the room I'd once shared with my sister. Past the training hall where we'd all learned to shift, to fight, to survive. I paused at the long window overlooking the edge of the woods. The moon, not yet full, hung like a half-kept promise in the sky.
Kael was down there somewhere. Watching. Planning. Waiting.
He was always good at waiting. Silent patience wrapped in rough muscle and wolf's instinct. But I wasn't the girl who used to sneak into his room after curfew, just to hear him talk about his dreams of building a future outside of bloodlines and borders.
I wasn't naive anymore.
I turned from the window and headed down the stairs, drawn by something I couldn't name. It tugged at me—not magic, not instinct, something… deeper. Familiar.
The old war room was empty, but I didn't stop there. I pushed open the panel behind the fireplace and descended into the hidden wing beneath the house. A secret known only to Alphas and heirs.
And Kael, of course.
He was already there. Sitting on the floor near the far wall, his back against the cold stone, a small fire flickering in a makeshift brazier beside him.
"You always were the quiet one," he said without looking up. "I didn't hear you coming."
"You taught me how to walk silent, remember?"
That pulled a faint smile from him. One I hated for being real.
"You should be asleep," he added.
"I could say the same."
He nodded, eyes on the flame. "I've never been good at sleeping under roofs. Too many shadows. Too many ghosts."
I crossed my arms, leaning against the opposite wall.
"You really believe one of my pack is a traitor?"
"I wouldn't have said it if I didn't."
My gut twisted. I didn't want to believe it. These were my people. Wolves I'd fought beside, bled with. But the signs had been there—shifts in patrol routes, scouts going silent, sacred grounds desecrated with runes only the dark witches used.
Still, part of me hoped Kael was wrong. Because if he wasn't… I might have to put down someone I once loved.
Again.
"You trust your betas?" he asked, finally meeting my eyes.
"I'd die for them," I said.
"That doesn't mean they wouldn't kill for someone else."
I hated how easily he cut to the truth.
I crouched beside the fire, letting the warmth soak into my bones. My eyes drifted to the edge of his shirt—he'd cleaned the scar, but the wound still looked angry. Too many memories bled through that jagged line.
"You shouldn't have come back," I whispered.
"I know."
"I had to rebuild everything after you left. My pack. My name. My strength. I don't know if I can do it again."
"You won't have to," he said, and for once, there wasn't even a hint of that mocking tone I'd grown used to.