Chapter 4: An Unwelcome Bond

I tore into his back, heartbeat slamming against the cage of my ribs, with the woods closing in on me with every step I took. Loren's words replayed in my mind-"People have a way of leaving when you need them most." Even beginning to admit a bitterness sometimes held warning… I can't help but wonder what possible connection Loren might have with my Mother, all that was a bit unsettling.

Kael was striding the wood quite far ahead, never slowing down, as I steadily picked up my pace.

"Kael!" I said with growing frustration. He never turned around or acknowledged me but I closed the distance to him and repeated, "Kael, wait!"

With a suddenness he turned, back tense, shoulders rigid. And then he faced me with icy and defensive eyes. It was as if he had set up fortifications whose walls I could never get around.

"What do you want, little wolf?" His voice was insistently cold, almost dismissive, yet in those keen blue eyes, I glimpsed a fraction of pain.

"Who was he?" I pressed on, not about to let him squirm into silence. "And why was he here to torment you?"

Kael clenched his jaw and looked away, eyes dark with barely masked fury. "Loren's nothing more than a reminder of everything I lost. He's the one who--" He halted, the Allrel on his face twisting with exasperation. "But it doesn't matter. He's dangerous, he shouldn't be here."

"It does matter, Kael!" One step toward him, voice raised in anger. "You can't keep shutting everyone out. If I want to belong to this pack, then I deserve to know what is going on."

A coarse laugh escaped him, metallic and bitter. "You are a part of this pack? You have just set foot in this territory, and you already demand things?"

“You saved my life, Kael; surely I deserve a little more than that?”

He looked into my eyes as though weighing whether I deserved his trust. For one instant, I thought he was about to warm towards me and let me in; but then his face froze, his guard slamming back down again.

“Trust doesn’t come easy to me,” he said, his voice freezing. “I learned the hard way that it is one’s weakness, and I cannot afford to be weak.”

There was a hot, fierce swell of anger in me. “You'd rather just push everyone away? Keep them at a distance so you wouldn't have to feel anything?”

He moved menacingly close, his eyes aflame. “You don't know anything about me.”

“Then let me in!” The words tumbled out before I could stop them, echoing in the stillness. I did not know why I said it or what I expected him to do, but I couldn't call it back. I was simply fed up with his silence, with all this distance of his that was riling me up.

Kael’s expression softened, just a little, and I thought, for once, he would speak, that this wall of his would finally crack. Yet he stepped back, and his demeanor became cold again.

“This is your last warning,” he said, barrels of ice that he was. “Stay away from my past.”

He turned around and just walked away, leaving me standing there, my heart hammering with anger and with something else, something much deeper. I watched him go with an unreadable ache in my chest, but one thing was clear couldn't turn back now. Not until I saw the light on the truth.

---

Arriving back at camp, Ren stood waiting, his face wearing a look of intensity. "I saw Loren leaving," he said quietly. "Kael's not going to talk, is he?"

I shook my head, still steamed. "No. But that doesn't mean I'm going to quit."

Ren studied me for a moment and then he nodded, a flicker of approval in his gaze. "Good. You're braver than most. Loren...He's dangerous, Willow. Kael doesn't want you to be involved, and I understand that. But you should know this."

I leaned in, hanging onto every word. "What is that?"

Ren hesitated, casting a glance around as he made sure no one else should hear. "Loren was Kael's second-in-command, back when they were still part of the pack. They were like brothers until Loren ripped the knife out."

Shivers coursed through my spine. "Betrayed him-how?"

"He framed Kael for traitorism," Ren said, anger constricting his voice. "Made it look like Kael was leaning with rogues. The council balanced Kael into exile, because of Loren, and then Loren swooped in to take his place."

I put all the pieces together within my mind, and my heart twisted. No wonder Kael was so tight-lipped, and untrusting. Loren was the one he had trusted most; Loren had betrayed him.

Ren looked away then, darkening in expression. "Kael's been waiting for a way to make things right. And he can't do it alone, Willow. He needs allies-and not just in this camp."

I straightened. A fierce realization had arisen within me. "Then I will help him. I will do whatever it takes to help clear his name."

Ren's eyes went wide in surprise, but he did not argue. Instead, he nodded, smiling faintly. "You could just be the ally he needs."

Later that night, I found myself walking in circles on the edge of camp; I couldn't shake those thoughts that were swirling in my mind. Loren's visit, Loren's tattoo, our connection, Kael's past, the quiet desperation in his eyes... everything was beginning to feel like a puzzle I could only start to perceive now.

The snapping twig pulled me from my thoughts, and I turned; my senses were on high alert. A figure emerged from the darkness. My heart sank, realizing it was him.

"Loren," I breathed out.

He smiled that same mocked smile he had worn before. "So, out here all alone? Not too very wise of you, little wolf."

I stepped back, every sinew telling me to run. But I stood my ground, trying to shoot back enough defiance. "What do you want?"

He tilted his head, scrutinizing me with his glassy green eyes. "You have gotten close to Kael, haven't you? What made you spring into him? Do you know who is?"

"That's none of your business," I shot back, squeezing my voice between restrained all doubts.

Loren laughed; it was sickeningly cold. "Oh, but it is. You see, Kael and I... we have unfinished business. And you, little wolf, are standing precisely in the thick of things."

Barely standing my ground, I inquired “That tattoo, how did you get it”

He stepped even closer, and by sheer will, I forced myself not to flinch. "You don't know anything about that..”

“It looks familiar; my mother has one,” I cut in.

As if interested in what I said, he turned but immediately shook it off, taking a step closer. “If you care about Kael, you will do as I say. Stay out of his past, his future. Walk away while you still can."

I snarled my fists into balls, refusing to back down. "I am not afraid of you."

"Maybe you should be," he said softly, almost as a whisper; that was danger roiling within his voice. "For, if you don't step aside, you might meet the very same fate of being betrayed, exiled, and broken."

With a last smirk, he turned around. “Some other day, you would tell me about your mother's tattoo.” he disappeared into the shadows, leaving me shaken and more resolute than before.

I did nothing but toss and turn that night. Loren's voice echoed in my ears like a bad requiem. I knew that it was dangerous, the game he was playing was one I barely understood. With everything that Kael had gone through, I certainly wouldn't let him win.

Before the dawn broke, my decision was made. I slipped out of the tent while the rest of the camp was still shrouded in the early morning's enigmatic hush. I had to find Kael and tell him what Loren had said to me, irrational though it might be.

As I made my way through the trees, I spotted a figure in front of me. My heart skipped a beat when I realized that it was Kael, sitting on a fallen log all alone, with his head bowed as if in deep thought.

"Kael," I called softly as I approached him.

He raised his head. There's exhaustion in his gaze. "Willow," he croaked. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to talk to you," I said, sitting beside him. "About Loren."

His face hardened into an instant scowl, but I was determined not to back down. "He was here again. Last night. He--- he said I should leave you alone, walk away."

Kael's jaw worked furiously, his eyes firing up with rage. "That bastard doesn't realize the meaning of 'go away.'"

"I'm not going anywhere," I said vehemently, meeting his eyes. "I don't care what he says. I'm just not leaving."

Kael regarded me for one long moment as if scrutinizing my thoughts flickering in his eyes. Then, slowly, his face softened, and he reached for me, his fingers brushing against mine.

Twilight drenched me in feelings of fresh delight, all for those words barely spoken.

But when the growl reverberated through the trees, Kael stood to full height, waiting at attention.

A dozen eyes shone like stars in the darkness, and I felt the icy grip of fear insinuate itself through me as I understood we were surrounded.

"Loren's wolves," Kael said with a snarl, his voice deep with anger. "They're here."

"Thank you," he murmured, his voice barely a whisper