Alpha Kaelen Ironshade walked beside me, his large frame moving silently through the forest. He had been the one to meet me at the border, insisting on accompanying me back to the heart of the pack. His loyalty had never wavered, even after I left. He was our Alpha, and his rule had been strong and just. But there was something about him tonight—something in the way he looked at me with those sharp blue eyes, as if he knew a secret I didn’t.
“You’re quiet,” Kaelen said, breaking the silence.
I glanced at him, his rugged features half-hidden in the shadows. “Just thinking.”
“About Draven?”
I didn’t answer right away. The truth was, I had been thinking of Draven since the moment I began my journey home. But it wasn’t just thoughts of him that weighed on me—it was the feeling that something was wrong. That the reunion I had dreamed of wouldn’t be as I had imagined.
“I’ve been gone a long time,” I finally said, my voice quiet. “Things change.”
Kaelen gave a noncommittal grunt. “Not everything changes. Not the important things.”