The Forgotten Luna

The Things I Couldn't Say

Chapter 5

The Things I Couldn’t Say

His question ruined me.

Because I couldn’t answer it.

Not honestly.

Not without admitting truths I had spent months desperately trying to bury.

Draven watched me carefully while silence stretched across the moonlit balcony.

And somehow, that silence felt more intimate than touch.

“When was the last time your mate looked at you,” he had asked, “the way a male should?”

I opened my mouth.

Closed it again.

Nothing came out.

The Alpha king’s expression darkened slightly.

Not with satisfaction.

With understanding.

That was worse.

“I should go back inside,” I whispered.

“You should.”

But neither of us moved.

Cold wind swept across the balcony, tangling my hair while distant music drifted faintly through the closed doors behind us.

Still, Draven’s eyes never left mine.

No male had ever looked at me like this before.

Not even Kael in the beginning.

There was no softness in Draven’s stare.

No sweetness.

No gentleness.

Only devastating attention.

Like he saw every hidden fracture beneath my skin and wanted to know who put them there.

My wolf stirred uneasily.

Not afraid.

Aware.

That terrified me more.

“You’re uncomfortable around me,” Draven observed quietly.

“Yes.”

“Good.”

I blinked.

His mouth curved slightly at my confusion.

“You should be cautious around predators, little wolf.”

The nickname should have irritated me.

Instead, warmth curled embarrassingly low in my stomach.

God.

I needed to leave.

Immediately.

“I don’t even know you.”

“That’s probably the safest thing about this conversation.”

A startled breath escaped me before I could stop it.

Draven’s gaze sharpened instantly at the sound.

For one dangerous second, the tension between us shifted.

Not political anymore.

Something else.

Something alive.

The Alpha king stepped closer.

Too close.

Every instinct inside me screamed awareness as his scent wrapped around me — dark forests, cold rain, smoke, power.

My pulse stumbled.

“If you were mine,” he said softly, “you would never stand alone in a crowded room again.”

The words hit me like physical impact.

Not because they were romantic.

Because they were impossible.

No one had protected my loneliness in a very long time.

Not even the male fate tied to my soul.

Draven reached up slowly.

I froze completely.

His fingers brushed lightly against a strand of hair the wind had blown across my face.

The touch was barely there.

But my wolf reacted violently.

A sharp pulse rushed through my body so suddenly I gasped quietly.

Draven went perfectly still.

His eyes darkened instantly.

The air changed.

Dangerously.

His voice dropped lower.

“There it is.”

Panic flashed through me.

He felt it too.

Impossible impossible impossible—

The balcony doors slammed open.

“Lyra.”

Kael’s voice cracked through the night like thunder.

I jerked backward instantly.

Draven’s hand dropped away slowly, though his gaze never left mine.

Kael stood near the doorway breathing hard, fury radiating from him so intensely several nearby wolves inside the banquet hall immediately backed away.

His eyes locked onto Draven first.

Then onto me.

Then onto the space between us.

And something savage entered his expression.

For one terrifying second, I thought he might attack.

Draven remained completely calm.

That somehow made Kael angrier.

“You’re alone with my mate.”

The possessiveness in Kael’s voice made my stomach twist painfully.

Now he wanted to sound like my Alpha.

Now.

Draven tilted his head slightly.

“She seemed lonely.”

The words sliced cleanly through Kael’s control.

His dominance exploded outward violently.

The windows rattled.

The doors behind him shook.

Inside the banquet hall, silence spread instantly.

Every wolf nearby felt it.

Alpha rage.

My wolf flinched painfully beneath my skin.

“Kael—”

“Go inside,” he ordered sharply without looking at me.

The command in his voice stunned me silent.

Draven noticed immediately.

The king’s expression turned cold.

“She isn’t one of your soldiers.”

Kael took a threatening step forward.

“And you’re forgetting your place in my territory.”

“No,” Draven said softly. “I’m noticing yours.”

The tension between them became suffocating.

I could practically feel violence building in the air.

Kael’s wolf wanted blood.

Draven’s looked ready to provide it.

And horrifyingly—

Part of me knew this wasn’t only about rivalry anymore.

It was about me.

My chest tightened painfully.

This was wrong.

All of it.

The attention.

The awareness.

The dangerous pull toward a male I barely knew.

But standing here now between my mate and the ruthless Alpha king…

I realized something awful.

Draven made me feel seen.

Kael made me feel guilty for needing to be.

“Enough,” I whispered.

Neither male moved.

I stepped forward before I could lose courage.

Then, very carefully, I touched Kael’s arm.

The reaction was immediate.

His attention snapped toward me instantly, dominance easing just slightly beneath my touch.

Relief flickered across his face.

Like he’d expected me to move toward Draven instead.

The realization shook me.

“Please,” I said softly.

Kael stared at me for a long moment before finally stepping back.

But his eyes remained fixed on Draven with unmistakable warning.

“This conversation is over.”

Draven looked entirely unimpressed.

Yet surprisingly…

He obeyed.

At least partially.

The king stepped backward into the shadows near the stone archway, though his gaze lingered on me one final second.

Not triumphant.

Certain.

That certainty terrified me most.

Then he spoke quietly.

“Goodnight, Lyra.”

The way he said my name again sent heat down my spine.

Kael noticed.

Of course he did.

The moment the balcony doors shut behind us, his grip closed around my elbow.

Not painfully.

Firmly.

Possessively.

“What the hell was that?”

The anger in his voice echoed through the empty corridor as we walked quickly away from the banquet hall.

Several wolves immediately lowered their heads and moved aside.

No one wanted to witness an Alpha fighting with his mate.

I pulled my arm free once we reached a quieter hallway.

“You’re hurting me.”

Kael released me instantly.

Guilt flashed briefly across his face before frustration swallowed it again.

“You were alone with him.”

“I know.”

“You know?” He stared at me incredulously. “That male is dangerous.”

Something sharp rose inside me then.

A bitter laugh nearly escaped my throat.

Dangerous?

Interesting.

Because the most damage I’d suffered lately hadn’t come from Draven Mordaine.

It came from the mate standing in front of me.

“I’m aware.”

Kael ran a rough hand through his hair.

“You shouldn’t have been out there.”

“And you shouldn’t have brought another woman into our home.”

The words hit him like a slap.

Silence crashed between us instantly.

For a second, neither of us breathed.

Finally.

Finally I had said it out loud.

Kael’s expression hardened defensively.

“She had nowhere else to go.”

“That doesn’t make what’s happening acceptable.”

His jaw flexed.

“She’s grieving.”

“So am I.”

The quiet honesty in my voice seemed to affect him more than yelling would have.

Because for the first time tonight…

Kael looked shaken.

I stepped back slowly.

Tired suddenly.

So tired.

“I can’t keep begging for scraps of attention from my own mate.”

Pain flickered across his face.

Real pain.

But again—

Too late.

Always too late.

“Lyra—”

“No.”

My voice cracked softly.

I hated that.

“I don’t want excuses tonight.”

Kael fell silent.

The bond between us pulsed weakly once more.

Fading.

Fraying.

Exhausted.

Fear finally entered his eyes.

Not fear of Draven.

Fear of losing me.

And for the first time in months…

I think he realized that possibility was real.