Chapter 3

The Sacred Grounds was too pure for a lone wolf like me.

Its power hit too hard, and the wolf power inside me began to slip out of control.

My body burned as if I’d been thrown into flame.

A red glow pulsed beneath my skin.

I’d even had three nosebleeds.

I crouched by the mountain path, clutching a moonstone and drawing in its faint energy.

At that very moment, in the Red Sand Desert, Seraphina twisted her ankle during the festivities, and Kael carried her to the healing tent.

Later, she posted a message:

Lucky I had you. You value my life more than I do.

That was why he had taught me to hunt alone.

So he could go take care of another wolf.

I heard it from the other young wolves too.

Kael and Seraphina had taken the same Griffin Express to the Red Sand Desert.

So it hadn’t been impulsive. Maybe he had known from the start—

I was going to confess to him at the Sacred Grounds.

Maybe Seraphina had told him.

During coming-of-age season, travel passes to the major territories were almost impossible to secure.

Kael’s trip to the Red Sand Desert wasn't last-minute.

He and Seraphina had booked it together long ago.

I covered my face, wanting to cry, but I was too drained to manage even that.

I lay in a cave at the Sacred Grounds all afternoon. Only then did I have the strength to call Kael.

The call connected almost immediately.

Kael answered.

Distance and interference blurred his usually gentle voice.

The moment he spoke, tears spilled down my face.

“Elara? What’s wrong?”

“Are you having fun over there?”

Fun?

I had spent the whole afternoon miserable on a freezing stone bed.

He must have heard the hurt in my silence. He sighed and gave in.

“I’ll stay in the Red Sand Desert for three days. Then I’ll come to the Sacred Grounds for the other four, all right?”

“Don’t worry. I won’t leave you behind.”

I could hear howls and laughter in the background.

Then Seraphina’s voice drifted over the line:

“Which compartment did you put my silver-thread armor in?”

I froze.

My mind went blank with a roar.