The Alpha's Heir Forbidden Mate

What father never explained

(Cassian)

I found Lysander near the training grounds after lunch. He had just finished working with two younger warriors and was putting away the practice weapons. I waited until the others left before walking over to him. Ronan had been pushing me to tell someone I trusted since yesterday.

Lysander looked at me as I approached. "You look like you're about to tell me something serious." He placed the last practice sword on the rack. "Should I be worried?"

"Maybe." I looked around to make sure no one was close enough to hear us. "I need you to keep something between us." I knew Lysander would understand once I told him.

He studied me for a moment. "You know I can keep a secret." He leaned against the wooden rack. "What's going on?"

I thought about Kiara before answering. She had trusted me when we agreed to keep the bond private, and I wasn't going to tell anyone without a reason. Lysander was different because he was my brother and someone I knew wouldn't use the truth against her. More than that, I needed someone who understood our father.

"Kiara is my mate." I watched his face as I said it. "Ronan recognized Nyra yesterday." Saying it again still made something inside me feel right.

Lysander stared at me. "Kiara?" His surprise lasted only a few seconds before a grin appeared. "That actually makes more sense than it should."

I frowned at him. "What does that mean?" I had expected questions, not amusement. "You don't seem very shocked."

Lysander crossed his arms. "You've been following her around with your eyes since we were old enough to notice girls." His grin grew. "I just thought you were too stubborn to admit you liked her."

I wanted to argue, but there wasn't much point. He wasn't wrong. I had spent years finding reasons to be near Kiara without ever naming what I felt. The mate bond had only forced me to stop pretending.

"She doesn't want anyone to know yet." I looked toward the pack house in the distance. "She's afraid of what father will do when he finds out." I understood that fear more now than I had before.

Lysander's amusement disappeared. "I don't blame her." He looked toward the pack house too. "Father already watches everything involving Kiara more than he should."

That caught my attention. "What do you mean?" I had noticed father's behavior, but I wanted to know what Lysander had seen. "Has he said something to you?"

Lysander shook his head. "Not recently." He looked as if he were trying to remember something. "But Silvercrest always made him act strange when we were younger."

I stayed quiet and waited for him to continue. Our father rarely spoke about Silvercrest after Kiara arrived. I had assumed it was because the pack had been destroyed and there was nothing left to discuss. Now I wondered whether there had been another reason.

"I remember asking about Kiara once when we were kids." Lysander looked toward the trees as he thought. "I wanted to know why she didn't live with another family instead of working in the pack house." His expression changed as the memory returned.

"What did father say?" I asked. I couldn't remember ever hearing that conversation. "Did he explain why he made her a servant?"

"He told me it was none of my concern." Lysander looked back at me. "Then I mentioned Silvercrest, and he got angry enough to send me away." He paused before adding anything else.

That didn't sound like enough to mean anything on its own. Father could become angry whenever someone questioned one of his decisions. Still, Kiara's name and Silvercrest seemed to cause a reaction that went beyond irritation. I remembered his face whenever I challenged him about her.

"There was another time." Lysander rubbed the back of his neck as he searched his memory. "Mother mentioned Silvercrest during dinner, and father changed the subject right away." He looked more serious now.

"Do you remember what she said?" I asked. Every small detail suddenly felt important. "Anything about Kiara or her family?"

Lysander thought for several seconds. "She asked whether anyone had ever searched for survivors." He looked at me. "Father said there were none worth looking for because Silvercrest was gone."

Ronan became restless inside me. Kiara had been standing in our territory at the time, which meant father knew there was at least one survivor. He had known exactly who she was from the night she arrived. Calling Silvercrest completely gone now sounded wrong.

"Kiara told me father warned her about me before we discovered the bond." I kept my voice low. "He told her I needed a Luna suitable for Blackridge." I hated thinking about how long he'd made her believe she wasn't good enough.

Lysander's expression hardened. "That sounds like him." He looked toward the pack house again. "But if you're asking whether I'll help him keep you away from her, the answer is no."

"I wasn't asking you to choose between us." I didn't want father creating that kind of problem between my brother and me. "You're my brother, and I don't want this turning into something that puts you in the middle." That was the last thing I wanted.

Lysander faced me again. "Then don't put me in the middle." His answer came easily. "Tell me the truth, and I'll decide what I think for myself."

I nodded because that was fair. Lysander had never shown any interest in taking my place as heir, and I trusted him more than anyone else in the family. If father tried using him against me, I knew he wouldn't make it easy. That gave me one less thing to worry about.

"For now, nobody can know about the bond." I thought about Maris watching Kiara this morning. "Kiara is already dealing with enough because people notice when I'm around her." I needed to do better at protecting our secret.

Lysander gave me a knowing look. "Then stop staring at her during breakfast." He picked up one of the practice weapons and placed it back where it belonged. "You're terrible at hiding anything when Kiara walks into a room."

I let out a short laugh because he was right. Ronan didn't help either, but I couldn't blame everything on my wolf. If keeping Kiara safe meant learning to hide what I felt, I would do it. I only hoped we wouldn't have to hide much longer.

As I headed back toward the pack house, Lysander's memories stayed with me. Father had been avoiding questions about Silvercrest long before Kiara became old enough for him to worry about my interest in her. That meant his problem with her had started before either of us understood what we felt. I wanted to know why.