The Prince was waiting at the forest's edge when I arrived.
I recognized him immediately. Ten years had sharpened the lines of his face, added weight to his shoulders, but the way he stood—utterly still, like the forest itself held its breath around him—that hadn't changed. My pulse kicked hard against my ribs. I forced it down.
"Lilith Campbell." His voice was exactly as I remembered it. Low. Measured. The kind of voice that didn't need volume to command attention.
"Yes, Your Highness." I kept my eyes level. Not challenging. Not submissive. Neutral.
He studied me for a long moment. His gaze moved over my face, down to the grey scar on my neck, then back up. No reaction. No pity. Just assessment.
"We'll run the northern boundary," he said. "Keep pace. Don't fall behind."
I nodded.
He shifted mid-stride—a fluid, effortless transformation that left a massive charcoal-grey wolf standing where the man had been. His Beta, Dorian, shifted beside him. I stayed human. I had no choice.
They took off.
I ran.
The forest blurred around me. My lungs burned within minutes. My legs screamed. I ignored both. I'd spent three years doing near-Omega labor at Ironridge—hauling supplies, scrubbing floors, work that built endurance even if it didn't build status. I used every bit of it now.
Castiel's wolf moved like water through the trees. Effortless. Dorian kept pace beside him. I stayed ten yards back, close enough to prove I could, far enough to avoid presumption.
We covered miles. The terrain shifted—flat ground to rocky incline to creek bed. I adjusted. My breathing stayed controlled. My stride stayed steady.
Dorian glanced back once. I caught the brief flicker of surprise in his wolf's eyes before he turned forward again.
Good.
We were nearing the end of the run when it happened.
A bead of sweat rolled down my throat. It hit the pulse point where I'd applied the wolfsbane tincture that morning. The chemical heat dissolved. Just for a second. Just long enough.
Castiel stopped dead.
Not a slow halt. A full predator freeze—every muscle locked, head snapping toward the treeline, nostrils flaring. His wolf's entire body went rigid.
I stopped running. My heart slammed against my ribs.
Dorian circled back, confusion clear in his posture. Castiel didn't move. He was scanning the forest like something had just walked past that shouldn't exist. His head turned slowly, methodically, searching.
I pressed my hand against my neck. The tincture's burn was already reasserting itself. The honeysuckle scent—my real scent, the one I'd been suppressing for days—vanished back under the chemical mask.
Castiel's wolf shook himself once, hard, like throwing off water. He shifted back to human form. When he turned to look at me, his expression was unreadable.
"You kept pace," he said. His voice was rougher than it had been at the start of the run.
"Yes, Your Highness."
His eyes held mine for three seconds too long. I felt the weight of his gaze like a physical thing. Then he looked away.
"Provisional pack membership granted," he said. "Report to Beta Dorian for quarters assignment."
He walked past me without another word.
I stood there, trembling, until Dorian shifted back and cleared his throat.
"This way," he said.
I followed.
The quarters were small. Clean. A bed, a desk, a narrow window that looked out over the training grounds. Better than anything I'd had at Ironridge.
I set Waffles's carrier down and opened it. He tumbled out immediately, sniffing every corner, tail wagging.
"Stay close," I whispered.
He sat at my feet and looked up at me with absolute trust.
I pressed my fingers against the cold scar on my neck and tried to stop shaking.
The complaints started within forty-eight hours.
I was scrubbing the main hall floors when I overheard two Delta wolves talking in the corridor.
"—runt doesn't belong in the main house. Should be in the omega kennels with the other defectives."
"She's wolfless herself. What does she expect?"
I kept scrubbing. My hands didn't shake. I'd heard worse at Ironridge.
But the complaints reached Dorian by midday. I was carrying linens to the laundry when he found me.
"The Prince wants to see you," he said.
My stomach dropped. "Now?"
"Now."
I followed him to Castiel's office. The door was open. Castiel sat behind his desk, reading something on a tablet. He didn't look up when I entered.
"There's been a complaint about your pup," he said.
I kept my expression neutral. "Yes, Your Highness."
"Several pack members believe he should be moved to the omega kennels."
I said nothing. My fingers found the scar on my neck. Pressed once.
Castiel set the tablet down. He still didn't look at me. "The pup has full pack membership. He stays with you."
I blinked.
He picked the tablet back up. "That's all."
I stood there for a beat too long. He glanced up, one eyebrow raised.
"Thank you, Your Highness," I said quietly.
He nodded once and returned to his reading.
I left.
Back in my quarters, I sat on the edge of the bed. Waffles climbed into my lap immediately. I buried my fingers in his fur.
Something behind my carefully maintained distance shifted. Just a fraction. Just enough to notice.
I shoved it back down.
Mara Ellis made her move at the morning pack run.
I'd been at Silverfang for five days. I kept my head down, performed my duties, spoke only when spoken to. Exactly as Sebastian had instructed. But Mara had been watching me since the moment I arrived.
She was beautiful—tall, blonde, with the kind of confidence that came from never being told no. And she'd clearly decided I was a problem.
The pack assembled at dawn. Fifty wolves, ranked by status. I took my place near the back with the other low-ranking transfers.
Mara appeared beside me.
"You're in the wrong position," she said loudly. Loud enough for the wolves around us to hear.
I looked at her. Said nothing.
"Wolfless transfers run with the omegas," she continued. "Not the main pack."
Several heads turned.
I held her gaze. "Beta Dorian assigned me here."
"Beta Dorian made a mistake." Mara stepped closer. "A dead-bond scar and no wolf? You belong in the omega dormitories. Not the Prince's wing."
The air went very quiet.
I counted to three in my head. Then I smiled. It wasn't a warm smile.
"If you have a concern about my placement," I said evenly, "take it up with the Prince."
Mara's eyes narrowed.
The run started before she could respond.
I ran two positions ahead of her the entire way.
When we returned, Castiel was standing at the edge of the training grounds. Watching. His expression was unreadable, but his eyes found mine across the crowd.
I looked away first.
That night, lying in bed with Waffles curled against my side, I pressed my fingers against the cold scar on my neck and thought about the way Castiel had frozen in the forest. The way he'd scanned the trees like he was searching for something that shouldn't exist.
The way his voice had roughened when he'd granted me pack membership.
I closed my eyes and reminded myself why I was here. What Sebastian expected. What I needed to do.
But my heart was beating too fast, and the suppressant tincture burned in my throat, and I couldn't stop thinking about honeysuckle and smoke.
