Not a trace of the composed Pack Steward she played before the pack.
"You said he looked at it carefully?"
Selene's voice came through, soft and coy, with an undercurrent of tension she couldn't quite hide.
"Flipped through several pages. Even paused on mine."
Kael chuckled, his fingers trailing higher along her thigh.
"What's wrong—scared?"
"Just... surprised, that's all."
Selene hesitated, then leaned closer into him, her wolf clearly responding to his presence in a way that should have been reserved for her bonded mate.
"He never used to look twice at anything I brought him. Always just sealed it without question."
"Worried he caught your scent on the documents?" Kael shot her a sidelong glance, lips curling. "Relax. That old fool's got nothing in his head but territory and silver-tribute. Spends all day scheming how to expand his hunting grounds. Never occurs to him his own den is already burning—and the horns on his head are glowing bright green."
Selene swatted his arm, the touch playful, barely a tap. "That mouth of yours."
"My mouth?"
Kael laughed outright, his hand sliding higher, fingertips slipping beneath the hem of her skirt. The gesture was possessive—the kind of touch that marked territory.
"I can say worse. Want to hear? Last night, someone was whimpering my name, begging me to—"
"Shut up!"
Selene clamped her hand over his mouth, her face burning redder now, but her eyes—her eyes shimmered, dark and inviting. I could see the way her pupils had blown wide, the telltale sign of a wolf responding to its chosen partner.
The shadow-mount slowed at a crossing. The carriage stopped.
Kael caught her wrist, drew it to his lips, and pressed a kiss to her palm—right over the pulse point where her scent glands lay beneath the skin.
Then he turned and kissed her, claiming her mouth the way only a bonded mate should.
It wasn't a fleeting brush of lips—it was deep, lingering, consuming.
Selene pressed her palm against his shoulder, but the resistance held no real force. Within heartbeats, she softened into him, her arms winding around his neck as she returned the kiss with matching hunger.
I watched through the ward-stone's shimmering surface. My expression remained blank. My pulse stayed steady.