Chapter 4

The next morning, the door to the glass cell opened.

Elara stood up, wary. Kaelen stood in the doorway, not wearing his tactical gear, but a soft gray sweater and jeans. He looked human. He looked tired.

"Pack your things," he said.

"Am I being released?" she asked.

"You are being moved," Kaelen corrected. "I am moving you to the guest wing. The dungeon is... inappropriate. You have proven your loyalty."

Elara gathered the books he had given her. She felt a strange flutter in her stomach. She was leaving the cage.

She stepped out of the glass cube.

It was the first time they had been in the same room without a barrier. The air in the hangar felt charged, electric.

Kaelen stepped closer to escort her. As he did, he inhaled.

He stopped dead.

Elara froze. "What?"

Kaelen was staring at her with wide, horrified eyes. His nostrils flared. He took a step closer, invading her space, sniffing the air around her neck.

"Your scent," he choked out. "It’s different."

Elara touched her pocket. "My pills... I ran out yesterday. I didn't think it mattered since I was in the box."

Without the suppressants masking her biology, her true scent—the scent of her soul—was flooding the air. To a werewolf, it was unmistakable. It smelled of rain, old paper, and *home*.

*Mate.*

The realization hit Kaelen like a physical blow. He staggered back, his face draining of color.

"No," he whispered. "No, no, no."

Elara reached out. "Kaelen?"

"Do not touch me!" he roared, backing away.

He looked at the glass cell. Then he looked at her.

He had imprisoned his mate. He had kept her in a cage for weeks. He had interrogated her, threatened her.

The guilt was a crushing weight. But beneath the guilt was a darker, colder terror.

*She will hate me,* his paranoia whispered. *Once she knows what she is to me, she will realize I am a monster. She will use her brilliance to destroy me. She will leave.*

Panic, irrational and primal, seized the Alpha’s mind.

"Get back inside," he commanded, his voice shaking.

"What?" Elara blinked. "Kaelen, you said—"

"I said get inside!" Kaelen snarled, his eyes flashing gold. He grabbed her arm—too hard—and shoved her back into the glass cube.

He slammed the door. The magnetic locks engaged with a heavy *thud*.

Elara stood on the other side of the glass, stunned. She saw the look on his face. It wasn't anger. It was devastation.

"Why?" she mouthed.

Kaelen couldn't answer. He turned and fled the hangar, locking the heavy steel doors behind him, leaving her alone in the silence.