Three weeks.
Three weeks of waking in his arms. Three weeks of learning the pack, the bond, the life I'd somehow stumbled into. Three weeks of feeling safe for the first time in years.
His cabin became home. The forest became familiar. The wolves became family.
Sasha became my closest friend. She taught me about pack dynamics, about Luna duties, about how to navigate a world I'd never known existed. She was patient, kind, and brutally honest.
"You're doing well," she said one afternoon, watching me practice the breathing exercises that helped control the bond. "Better than most human mates."
"Most?"
"Some never adjust. The bond overwhelms them. They run." She shrugged. "You're still here."
"I'm not going anywhere."
"Good." She smiled. "Kael would be lost without you."
He would be lost without me.
The thought was strange. Empowering. Terrifying.
I'd spent so long being nothing to anyone. A target for Derek's violence. A ghost in my own life. Now I was everything to someone. The center of his world.
Some nights, I woke gasping, certain it was a dream. That I'd open my eyes and be back in that apartment, bracing for his fists.
But Kael was always there. Holding me. Grounding me.
"I'm here," he'd whisper. "You're safe. No one will ever hurt you again."
And I'd believe him.
The threat came on a Thursday.
I felt it before I heard it ,a spike of alarm through the bond, sharp and sudden. Kael's emotions shifted from calm to furious in an instant.
"What"
He was already moving. Pulling on clothes. Strapping on weapons I hadn't seen before.
"Stay here." His voice was different. Commanding. Alpha. "Lock the door. Don't open it for anyone but me."
"Kael, what's happening?"
He stopped at the door. Looked back at me.
"Derek. He's found you."
My blood turned to ice.
"No. That's not…..how could he…"
"I don't know. But my wolves scent him at the border. He's close." His jaw tightened. "I'm going to handle it."
"Handle it how?"
"However I need to."
He was gone before I could respond.
I didn't stay in the cabin.
I couldn't. The thought of Derek being near—of him finding me, touching me, hurting me again—was worse than any danger outside.
I followed the bond.
It led me through the forest, past trees I'd learned to navigate, toward the pack border. Toward the rage I could feel building in Kael's chest.
When I reached the clearing, I stopped.
Derek stood at the edge of the trees. He looked thinner than I remembered. Wilder. His eyes were bloodshot, his clothes dirty, his whole demeanor desperate.
And Kael stood between us.
"You don't get to look at her." Kael's voice was low. Dangerous. "You don't get to breathe her air. Turn around and leave, and I'll let you live."
"She's mine." Derek's voice cracked. "She belongs to me."
"She was never yours." Kael stepped forward. "She was your victim. Your prisoner. But she was never yours."
"I love her."
"You don't know what love is." Kael's hands fisted. "Love isn't control. Love isn't violence. Love is " He glanced back at me. "Love is choosing someone every day. Putting them first. Protecting them, even from yourself."
Derek's eyes found me.
"Elena. Please." He held out his hand. "Come home. I'll be better. I promise."
I should have been afraid. Part of me was the part that still flinched at loud noises, still tensed when men raised their voices.
But mostly, I felt something else.
Nothing.
I felt nothing for him.
"She's not going anywhere." Kael's voice was absolute. "She's mine. My mate. My Luna. My everything. And you will never touch her again."
Derek's face twisted. Something in his hand glinted.
A knife.
He lunged.
It happened fast.
Faster than I could track. One moment Derek was running toward me. The next, Kael was between us. His hand caught Derek's wrist. Twisted. The knife fell.
Then Kael's other hand was at Derek's throat.
"You made one mistake coming here," Kael growled. "You made another pulling a weapon on my mate."
"Kael" I started.
"Don't." His voice was strained. "Don't watch."
I should have looked away. Should have let him handle it.
Instead, I walked forward.
Stopped beside them.
Looked Derek in the eyes for the first time in two years.
"Hello, Derek."
He stared at me. Desperate. Confused.
"Elena"
"You hurt me." My voice was calm. Steady. "For years, you hurt me. You broke my bones. You broke my spirit. You made me believe I was nothing."
"I'm sorry"
"You're not sorry. You're here because you lost your toy. Because you couldn't stand that I escaped." I shook my head. "But I did escape. And I found something you'll never understand."
"What?"
"Love." I looked at Kael. "Real love. The kind that doesn't hurt. The kind that heals."
I turned back to Derek.
"You don't get to take that from me. Not again."
Kael's grip tightened. Derek choked.
"Kael." I touched his arm. "Let him go."
"He came here to hurt you. To kill you, probably." Kael's eyes were wild. "I can't let him "
"I know." I held his gaze. "But not like this. Not in front of me. Not with his blood on your hands."
Kael stared at me for a long moment. Then, slowly, he released Derek's throat.
Derek collapsed, gasping.
"Get up." Kael's voice was ice. "Get up and walk away. If I ever see you again ..,if you ever come near her again…., I won't be so merciful."
Derek scrambled to his feet. Backed away.
His eyes found mine one last time.
"She's changed you," he said. "You used to be—"
"I used to be broken." I met his gaze without flinching. "Now I'm not. That's because of him. Not you. Never you."
Derek turned and ran.
The forest was silent.
Kael stood rigid, his whole body trembling with adrenaline and rage. I moved close. Pressed my palm to his chest.
"Kael."
"He could have hurt you."
"He didn't."
"He could have….."
"Kael." I waited until he looked at me. "I'm okay. You protected me. It's over."
He pulled me into his arms. Held me so tight I could barely breathe.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I should have…..I shouldn't have let you see that "
"You protected me. That's all that matters."
"I wanted to kill him."
"I know."
"I still want to kill him."
"I know." I pulled back, looked at him. "But you didn't. You listened to me. You let him go."
"Because you asked."
"Because you love me."
He kissed me then. Desperate and fierce.
"I love you," he growled against my mouth. "I love you so much it terrifies me."
"Good." I kissed him back. "It should."
We walked home through the forest.
His arm around me. The bond humming with leftover adrenaline and fierce protectiveness. But underneath that, something else.
Peace.
He'd faced my demon. My past. The man who'd haunted me for years.
And I'd faced him too.
And won.
"What happens now?" I asked.
"Now we live." He kissed my head. "We live, and we love, and we never look back."
"That sounds perfect."
"It does."
That night, he claimed me again.
Different this time. Slower. Deeper. Every touch a reassurance. Every kiss a promise.
"Never again," he whispered against my skin. "He'll never touch you again. Never hurt you again. Never even look at you again."
"I know."
"You're mine, Elena. Mine."
"Yours." I pulled him closer. "Always yours."
He entered me with a groan, the bond flaring with pleasure so intense I couldn't breathe. We moved together, perfectly matched, perfectly connected.
When I came, it was with his name on my lips.
When he followed, it was with mine.
Afterward, we lay tangled together, sweaty and satisfied.
"I love you," I whispered.
"I love you too." He kissed my shoulder. "Forever."
"Forever."