CRESCENT BOUND

CASPIAN

Kaelen's POV

​Morning didn't bring relief. It only dragged a heavy, suffocating weight behind it.

​I hadn't slept. Not a wink. Every time I closed my eyes, seeking even a fraction of peace, my mind violently drifted straight back to her. The way her hair fell across her face when she leaned over her notes, shielding her expressions from the world. The soft, unconscious curve of her lips when she was deeply concentrating on a difficult problem. The way she nervously chewed the very tip of her pen without even realizing it. Every single little thing about her had etched itself into my memory. I had to admit it to myself, she was heavenly, breathtakingly beautiful, and

I despised the fact that I had noticed at

all.

​Dammit. I had caught myself glancing at her over and over again throughout the entire day at school. Her scent was a slow-acting poison, completely intoxicating. It had been even more deadly during our time in the cramped, quiet rows of the library, sitting directly across from her, close enough to breathe her in with every intake of air. Something deep and primal had stirred in my chest — an ancient, buried instinct I hadn't felt in months.

​"Caspian."

​My wolf. He hadn't spoken a single word to me, not a single grunt or growl, since the day I had officially accepted the suffocating engagement to Lila. Four long months of absolute, chilling silence—his way of punishing me for turning my back on the sacred concept of a fated mate just to play the dutiful son, become the next Alpha, and meet my father's impossibly brutal standards. And Caspian had hated me for every second of it.

​Now, his voice rolled through the corridors of my mind like a gathering storm, dark and rumbling.

​"Fool."

​I stiffened against the pillows, my jaw clenching.

​"She's ours," Caspian snarled, his voice vibrating with a desperate hunger. "This is our chance, Kaelen. A true Alpha is nothing without his fated mate, and you are throwing away our soul for a crown of ash. Do you smell her? Rain-soaked earth and wild honey. It drives me completely insane. Imagine the day we finally mark her and make her ours. I know you want her, Kaelen, no matter how much you try to lie to yourself.

And forget about that witch Lila. She disgusts me."

​"Shut up, Caspian," I growled under my breath, dragging a hand down my face. "Humans only make us weak. Remember? Their small, fragile bodies, their mortality. I need a strong Luna to stand by my side, not some defenseless human weakling. Yes, Lila is annoying as hell, and yes, I can't stand being near her, but I will use her to secure my bloodline and give me an heir. I don't love her, and I don't need to."

​"Use her?" Caspian's bitter, mocking laugh echoed hollowly in my skull. "You can't even stand being in the same room as her for more than five minutes. You physically flinch every time she touches your arm. You held your breath the entire time she kissed your cheek last week just to pose for the pack elders. Do you honestly think I don't notice?"

​"That's because she smells like cheap artificial perfume and pure desperation."

​"And the human smells like—"

​"Don't."

​"—rain and honey and everything good left in this wretched world."

​"I said drop it, Caspian."

​"You're impossible, Kaelen. You're marching us straight to an early grave."

​"Finally, something we can actually agree on."

​Before he could retort, a sharp, demanding knock on my bedroom door shattered the silence of my thoughts and pulled me back to the cold reality of my life.

​"Master Kaelen, please," a muffled, trembling voice called out from the hallway. It was one of the younger omegas, sounding thoroughly terrified. "Alpha Roderick wants to see you in his study immediately."

​"Brat," Caspian sneered, pulling back into the shadows of my mind. "Still cowering under your father's thumb. So what's your grand plan? Are you going to avoid her until when? Until we're old, gray, and legally bound to that screeching harpy of a Luna?"

​"Kaelen, listen to me for once in your miserable life—"

​"Enough, Caspian. I liked it much better when you weren't speaking to me at all."

​I felt him retreat heavily into the mist of my mind. Gosh, he was such an insufferable blabbermouth when he actually decided to talk.

​I threw off the heavy bedsheets, forced my aching body to move, and went straight down the hall to face my father.

​The massive brass doors of his private office loomed in front of me like a death sentence waiting to be carried out. His office was always large, imposing, and lined from floor to ceiling with ancient, leather-bound books that smelled of dust and old power.

The air inside was cold.

​Yet, the one peculiar, thing about his office was every single wall held a different portrait of my mother.

​She had been breathtakingly beautiful. I had inherited most of her delicate features: her striking hazel-green eyes, her sharp, elegant face structure. But everything else came from my father—his broad, brutal shoulders, his towering height, his unforgiving posture. It always hurt, knowing I would never get to meet her.

She had died bringing me into this cruel world, and my father had never let me forget a single second of it.

​He had never treated me like a son. I was always just his soldier, his ultimate heir, his living tool. And here I was summoned once again, forced to stand at attention and listen to whatever decree he had prepared.

​"Oh, Kaelen. You're here." He didn't even

look up immediately. He set down a small, silver-framed picture of my mother and finally raised his gaze. His voice was cold, flat, and entirely distant. "What is this disturbing rumor I'm hearing... that you've been partnered up with that human girl for a school project?"

​I kept my facial expression utterly blank, giving nothing away. "It was randomly assigned by the teacher, Father."

​"I gave you clear, explicit instructions to stay away from her," he said, his tone dropping an octave as he rose slowly from his oversized leather chair. He moved with a slow, deliberate grace. "Your life belongs to this pack. There is no room for pathetic distractions. Your official public introduction of Lila as your future Luna is fast approaching, so I strongly urge you to build whatever relationship you can with her. She is going to provide you with a powerful heir, and that is all that matters. The council has already spoken."

​He walked leisurely around his heavy oak desk, stopping far too close to me, invading my space.

​"Whatever trivial project you have with that human — get it over with. Soon. Fast. And make proper time for Lila. She is going to be your Luna." He paused, narrowing his eyes slightly. "Tell me... has your wolf finally spoken to you yet?"

​The lie slipped off my tongue easily, practiced and cold. "No, Father. Still silent."

​"Very well, then. That is for the best." He studied me intently for a long, agonizing moment, and I felt the physical weight of his gaze like a sharp blade pressed directly against my throat. "If he ever dares to discover your true mate, you are ordered to reject her immediately without hesitation. Lila is the one fated for you by blood and pack law. She is perfect. Is that completely clear, Kaelen?"

​"Yes, Father."

​"Good. Now go see Beta Gavin regarding the recent border issues. You're to lead a patrol unit to the fourth territory immediately. Our scouts reported rogues attacking our people near the outer tree line. Make sure you annihilate every last one of them." He turned his back to me dismissively, staring back at the portraits. "You are dismissed."

​I turned sharply toward the heavy door, muscles tense.

​"Kaelen."

​I froze mid-step, my hand hovering over the brass handle.

​His voice had completely shifted. It was no longer just cold. It was chillingly deadly.

​"Remember... keep your absolute distance from that human girl. If you disobey me, or if you bring any harm to my plans, you will put her life directly in mortal danger." A terrifying pause stretched out. "Understand this, boy. This is not friendly advice. This is a lethal threat."

​I didn't turn around. I didn't dare trust myself to look at him.

​"Yes, Father."

​I pushed the door open and walked out into the corridor. The exact moment the heavy brass doors clicked shut behind me, echoing loudly in the quiet hallway, Caspian's voice rushed back into my mind — softer this time, almost unrecognizably gentle, yet heavy with dread.

​"He'll kill her, Kaelen. You know he will," Caspian whispered, panic bleeding into his tone. "Protect her, Kaelen."

​"I know," I thought back angrily, a knot tightening in my throat. "And I can't do a damn thing about it."

​"Coward," Caspian hissed, letting out a deep, furious animal growl before abruptly fading away, disappearing back into the thick, stormy mist of my mind.