CHAPTER 127: BOILING POINT

Kiel

I was supposed to be focused. Supposed to be here, standing with my Beta, listening to every word that left his mouth. But the truth? My head wasn’t in it. My body might’ve been in the strategy room, the map stretched out on the table, the scent of ink and parchment sharp in the air—but my mind... my mind was elsewhere. On her.

Always on her.

No matter how much I tried to convince myself to stay away, Josie was like gravity, dragging me back into her orbit. Even when I told myself I was angry, even when I swore to keep my distance, she lived in my thoughts, in the hollow of my chest, in every damn heartbeat.

My Beta’s voice finally cut sharp enough through the fog for me to focus. "Kiel," he said, frustration bleeding into his tone, "I need you to take this seriously. You can’t keep drifting like this."

I blinked at him, dragging my gaze back to the map. He had his finger pressed against the borderlines, his brows drawn tight. "I’m telling you, things are bad. The rogues aren’t just circling anymore—they’re testing. Probing. They think we’re weak. They think we can’t handle what’s happening inside our walls."

My jaw clenched. Weak. That word was poison. It curdled in my veins.

The Beta shook his head, letting out a sigh that carried too much weight. "This situation—goddess, Kiel, it shouldn’t have come to this. I hate that it has. But people out there are starting to whisper. They’re saying maybe the Blue Fang Pack isn’t as strong as it used to be. That maybe we can be broken." His voice dropped lower. "They’ll come if we don’t do something. And when they come, it won’t just be a test. It’ll be war."

My chest tightened. I wanted to shove down the coil of unease curling there, but I couldn’t. Not completely.

"And what exactly do you expect me to do about it?" I muttered, rubbing the back of my neck, trying to drag my thoughts away from Josie. "Thorne’s the one in charge of external threats. That’s his damn role, not mine. If you’ve got complaints, take them to him."

His lips pressed into a thin line. "I did. He told me to keep you in the loop. He told me to make sure you understood what’s at stake here."

I narrowed my eyes. "And now you’re standing here trying to give me orders?"

"I’m not giving you orders, Kiel," he shot back quickly, but there was a flicker of defiance in his gaze that I didn’t miss. "I’m telling you we don’t have a way out of this unless we act. Unless you act. You can’t keep pretending this is someone else’s problem."

The growl rumbled out of me before I could stop it, low and dangerous. "Watch yourself."

He faltered but didn’t back down completely. "With all due respect, Alpha, you should know there’s no avoiding this. The pack is looking to you and your brothers to protect them. If you keep ignoring the cracks, everything we built will fall apart."

My patience snapped. "And maybe you should remember your place," I snarled, the weight of authority bleeding into every syllable. "Don’t stand there and tell me what to do. You don’t get to decide how I lead. That’s not your role. So shut your mouth before you push me too far."

Silence slammed into the room. He stood rigid, jaw tight, fists clenched at his sides, but for once, he said nothing. Good. Because I was on the edge of tearing something apart, and if he’d pushed even a little harder, I might’ve done it.

I forced a breath out through my teeth and dragged a hand through my hair. My thoughts went straight back to her. "Where’s Josie?" I demanded.

His expression soured. "I don’t know."

The answer was too sharp, too careless. My stomach dropped, irritation blazing hot in its place. "You don’t know?" I repeated, my voice dropping low. "What do you mean you don’t know? You’re supposed to be around her at all times. After everything that’s happened—after what she’s been through—you think it’s acceptable to not know where she is?"

His jaw flexed. "With all due respect, Alpha, Josie isn’t the only one in this pack. There are others in danger too. But you wouldn’t know that, would you? You and your brothers—you don’t care about anyone else. To you, it’s only her."

The words cut. Not because they were wrong, but because there was truth in them I didn’t want to admit.

I bared my teeth, the sound of my growl vibrating through the room. "We’re a formidable pack. Stronger than any of the bastards at the borders. That’s what matters. So spare me your lectures."

His nostrils flared, but he finally snapped his mouth shut. The air between us was thick with tension, the kind that could ignite with the slightest spark.

Good. He’d finally learned when to stop.

I didn’t give him another glance. I stormed out of the strategy room, the air outside cooler but doing nothing to douse the fire under my skin. My hands clenched at my sides, then rose to drag through my hair again, trying to shove it back out of my face, trying to keep myself from shattering something against the wall.

But then I froze.

Because there she was.

Josie.

And him.

They stood too close, their voices raised in sharp tones that cut through the air like blades. Liam’s hand was still on her arm, his mouth twisted with arrogance, and Josie’s eyes—fierce, defiant, wounded—were locked on his.

A snarl tore out of me before I could stop it. My vision tunneled. The edges of the world blurred until it was just the two of them, and the heat of jealousy flared so hot in my chest I thought it might burn through my ribs.

Had it all been an act? That cold dismissal she’d thrown at him earlier, the way she’d claimed he wasn’t needed—had it just been a performance? A mask to keep us from seeing what was really happening?

The thought was poison. It burned in my gut until I couldn’t breathe.

Before I even realized what I was doing, I was moving—stalking across the space, my aura spilling out sharp and heavy. Liam barely had time to register me before my fist tangled in the front of his shirt, yanking him off balance.

"What the hell do you think you’re doing?" I snarled, my face inches from his, my teeth bared, my rage spilling out unchecked.

Josie’s voice cut in, sharp with shock. "Kiel! What kind of behavior is this?"

Her words hit like a bucket of cold water. For the first time, I tore my gaze from Liam and looked at her.

And I remembered.

Remembered that I wasn’t supposed to be near her. That I was supposed to be angry, supposed to be keeping my distance, supposed to be protecting what was left of my own damn pride.

The fury twisted in my chest, turning inward, burning me alive. I released Liam with a shove that sent him stumbling back, my hands shaking with the effort it took to pull away.

I swore under my breath, the word ripping raw out of me. And then I turned on my heel, storming away before I did something I couldn’t take back.

The rage wouldn’t leave me. It sank deep into my skin, crawling under it, thrumming in my veins until I thought I might explode. Every step I took was too heavy, too sharp. My fists slammed against the walls as I passed, splintering wood, leaving cracks in stone. Anything to release the storm inside me.

But it wasn’t enough.

It was never enough.

Because no matter how much I tried to convince myself to stay away from her, no matter how much I tried to push her out of my chest, Josie was there. Always there.

And it was going to destroy me.