CHAPTER EIGHT: BLOOD IN THE MOONLIGHT
1126 Words
The moon hung low over Blackthorn territory, silver and unforgiving.
Seraphina wandered the outer courtyard alone—she had insisted on practicing the shifting techniques Kael taught her earlier. She didn’t want him to hover over every move, and he allowed it—barely. His warning lingered in her ears: One misstep, and the pack won’t hesitate to kill you.
She ignored it.
Mist curled around the stone columns. The air smelled of pine, snow, and something metallic that made her wolf stir nervously.
Kael’s words echoed in her mind: You are unpredictable. That makes you dangerous—and dangerous gets wolves killed.
She flinched at the thought but continued her slow, deliberate movements—mimicking the stances he had drilled into her all day.
A sound came from the shadows.
A whisper. Soft. Almost too quiet to hear.
Her wolf stiffened.
Seraphina froze.
The shadow moved—fast. Faster than any wolf should.
Her heart slammed. Her senses screamed.
Something slammed into her back, knocking the breath out of her. Pain shot down her ribs as she hit the stone floor hard.
“Kael!” she screamed.
But he wasn’t there.
The shadow raised a dagger—long, serrated, glinting in the moonlight.
Instinct took over.
She rolled, narrowly avoiding the strike. Her wolf surged—fight or flight, roaring inside her. She pivoted and swung her elbow back, striking her attacker hard in the stomach. The man grunted and staggered.
Her wolf urged her to run, but she didn’t.
A second assailant emerged, and she realized—this wasn’t random.
Nyra’s doing. Or worse.
Before she could react further, a blur struck the second assailant from behind. He screamed—metal clanging against stone.
Kael stood there, dark as midnight, eyes burning, teeth bared—not human, not entirely wolf.
“You,” he growled at the first attacker. “Touch her again, and you die before you draw another breath.”
Seraphina scrambled to her feet. The bond pulsed violently between them, fierce and alive. Pain, fear, adrenaline—all mixed in a firestorm inside her. Her wolf snarled in delight at his presence.
Kael moved with impossible speed. One motion and the first attacker was pinned, dagger thrown across the courtyard. Another step and the second assailant was disarmed, both men lying crumpled, gasping for breath.
“You’re reckless,” Kael said, voice low, cold, lethal. “Do you understand the danger you’ve just courted?”
Seraphina’s chest heaved. “I… I thought I could handle it.”
“You almost didn’t survive,” he snapped, eyes narrowing dangerously. “And now they know your bloodline is vulnerable.”
“Vulnerable?” she asked, fear and curiosity mingling.
Kael didn’t answer. He simply reached for her, pulling her flush against him. The bond screamed between them—pain, relief, anger, desire, and protection all wrapped together.
“You were supposed to be safe,” he hissed. His wolf prowled beneath the surface, dangerous, impatient, claiming.
“I’m alive,” she said softly, though her voice trembled.
“Yes,” he said. “But if anything happened to you—if they touched you—I would rip this pack apart.”
The sheer intensity in his eyes made her knees weak.
“I can protect myself,” she whispered.
Kael’s hands tightened around her shoulders—not crushing, not gentle, but dominant, marking her as his responsibility.
“You are unpredictable,” he said, voice dropping low. “And unpredictable makes me… lose control.”
Her wolf howled at the words. Her heart raced.
“Kael…” she breathed.
He leaned closer, chest brushing hers, but did not cross the line. Not yet.
“I… don’t want you to die,” he said quietly. “Not to their hands. Not to anyone.”
“I know,” she said softly. “And I don’t want to be weak.”
He studied her for a long moment. The bond pulsed, violently alive.
“Then you will learn,” he said, voice cold but edged with something else—something raw, unrestrained.
From the shadows, Nyra’s laugh echoed—a thin, cruel sound that cut through the night air.
Kael’s eyes snapped toward the sound, dangerous, deadly.
“You’ll pay for this,” he growled.
Nyra stepped into the moonlight, eyes bright with malice.
“Alpha Blackthorn,” she said smoothly, “perhaps your precious mate isn’t as protected as you think.”
Kael’s hands clenched into fists. His wolf surged inside him, powerful and unrelenting.
“She is under my protection,” he said, low, lethal, trembling with barely contained fury.
Nyra’s smile widened. “We’ll see.”
The tension snapped like a drawn bow. The bond flared violently between Kael and Seraphina. Her wolf raged, his wolf raged, the air thick with power, fear, and the promise of violence.
Kael stepped forward, slow, deliberate, predatory.
“Stay close,” he ordered her, voice rough. “And don’t move unless I tell you.”
Seraphina’s wolf shivered, wild and alive, but she obeyed.
The night held its breath.
The pack—the whole courtyard—watched as Kael and Nyra faced each other.
Kael’s aura expanded, silencing every whisper. He didn’t need to attack.
He needed only to exist.
His wolf surged in the bond with her, sharp, protective, unyielding.
Nyra’s bravado faltered slightly as the force of it washed over her.
Seraphina shivered—not with fear, not entirely.
The bond was alive. Fierce. Protective. Possessive.
Kael’s eyes, dark as a storm, locked on hers.
“You survived,” he said quietly. “And I will make sure you keep surviving. Even if the pack turns against you. Even if she—”
He didn’t finish. The word Nyra hung between them, dangerous and heavy.
“You will never be alone,” he added softly, and the bond answered with a roar—mine, mine, mine.
Seraphina felt it deep in her bones.
And she knew, beyond any doubt:
The night was far from over.
Nyra smiled once more, stepping back into the shadows.
But Kael didn’t move until she was gone.
He stood there, holding Seraphina close, the bond pulsing violently, the wolf inside him screaming to claim her fully, to protect her at all costs.
She pressed her forehead to his chest, heartbeat against heartbeat.
“You saved me,” she whispered.
“No,” he said quietly, voice tight. “I didn’t save you.”
Her eyes widened.
“I protected what I can’t afford to lose,” he finished, deadly calm.
The moonlight bathed them both.
And the bond—angry, protective, alive—howled in agreement.
The pack would never forget this night.
And neither would Kael.
- Writer
