Chapter 17. Tether and Tension

The forest breathed around them as they walked.

Kaelen’s hand brushed hers now and again as they moved side by side—never demanding, never pulling, just a steady presence beside her, solid and grounding in a way that made it harder to stay inside her own tangled thoughts. Still, her mind churned, louder than the wind through the canopy.

Eventually, the silence grew too heavy. Mira glanced sideways at him, then spoke—softly at first, her voice like a thread stretched thin but pulled taut with something unresolved.

“Kaelen… is it normal? For mated wolves to act like that?”

She slowed a step, watching him closely out of the corner of her eye.

“I mean…” she hesitated, chewing lightly on her lip. “Sylas was so… bossy. Commanding. I didn’t expect it to feel like that.”

Kaelen gave a long sigh and rubbed the back of his neck with a hand that looked almost sheepish. “Sylas is… an Alpha. Dominant by nature, territorial by instinct, and relentless by design