The Omega Crest Bond Rejection and the Alpha’s FallChapter 1

Five years after Kael Stormhowl returned to me, we went to visit my father's grave.

On our way out, I caught the scent of Raven Duskveil—the she-wolf who had destroyed my mate bond and killed my sire.

She stood hunched against the bitter wind, a few bundles of white chrysanthemums strapped to her back, offering them to passing wolves with a pitiful whine in her throat.

Kael's steps faltered for just a moment before he steered me away, his expression carefully blank. But I felt his muscles tense beneath my fingers, caught the spike of something sharp and wanting in his scent.

But halfway back to the den, he said he'd dropped something at the burial grounds.

"The wind carries ice tonight," he insisted. "Stay in the carriage. I'll go alone."

I followed him anyway.

I watched him shift into his wolf form with almost frantic haste, paws striking the frozen ground so hard they left deep gouges in the earth.

I watched him run toward that hunched figure without a second's hesitation.

I watched him wrap the cashmere coat I'd just bought him around her thin shoulders, his hands lingering on her arms.

And then they kissed—desperate, hungry, like two wolves trying to crawl inside each other's skin. Their scents mingled in the cold air, thick with longing and forbidden heat.

In that moment, I understood: a wolf never changes its nature.

The mating bond my father traded his life for had finally reached its end.

1.

It was the coldest night the Northbridge Territory had seen all winter.

I learned something new that night—when pain reaches its peak, you go numb. Even the mate bond's ache dulled to nothing.

My communication stone buzzed against my hip. A message from Kael.

"Found it. On my way back."

I stood there in the shadows between ancient oaks, watching the two figures clutching each other in the distance. His Alpha scent wrapped around her like a claiming. Like a promise.

"No rush. I bought warm cider. Waiting in the carriage."

I sent the message, then lifted my gaze to take in the performance unfolding before me—star-crossed lovers reunited at last, a tragedy worthy of the old pack ballads.

"Kael, I knew you'd come..." Her voice carried on the wind, threaded with that practiced tremor she'd perfected long ago.

His voice came out wrecked, barely a rasp. He reached up to brush the tears from her cheek, thumb stroking along her jaw.