The stolen heir
1035 Words
Selene lay on the edge of the bed, muscles taut, eyes fixed on the moonlight spilling through the tall windows. The chamber Kaelen had shoved her into was no prison cell, but its heavy oak door and the wolf guard stationed outside told her plainly what it was a gilded cage.
Her wolf paced beneath her skin, restless. He pinned you, claimed your freedom as if it were his right. And you let him.
“I didn’t,” she whispered fiercely to herself, fingers clenching in the bedsheets. “I’ll never let him.”
The echo of his hands on her wrists, the heat of his body pressed against hers in the forest, still clung to her skin like fire she couldn’t scrub off. She hated how her pulse had leapt beneath his touch, how her body had betrayed her even while her mind screamed enemy.
Outside, the guard shifted his weight. A low snore followed. Selene’s lips curled in a grim smile. Foolish.
Sliding silently from the bed, she padded to the door. Her wolf sharpened her senses the steady thrum of the guard’s breath, the slow rise and fall of his chest. Selene pressed a palm to the wood and breathed once, steadying herself, before easing the door open a fraction.
The hall was empty save for him. He slumped against the wall, chin sunk to his chest. Selene moved like shadow, slipping past, her bare feet silent on the cold stone floor. She did not breathe again until she’d rounded the corner and the guard was lost from view.
Find him, her wolf urged, a deep growl in her mind. Find what he took from you.
Selene’s steps carried her down passageways lit by torches, until the distant sound of laughter froze her mid-stride. Her heart stuttered. That sound—bright, unguarded, innocent—was a sound she had heard only once before, in the first hours of his life, before fire and blood stole him away.
Her vision blurred. She followed it.
The laughter led her through a courtyard bathed in silver moonlight. Training dummies stood in neat rows, scarred with claw marks. And there, in the center, surrounded by three boys his age, stood a child.
Her child.
Lucian.
Selene’s knees almost buckled.
He was taller than she imagined seven years, maybe eight, with lean limbs and a confidence that burned like a flame in his stance. His hair was dark, a tumble of waves catching the light, but his eyes… gods, his eyes were hers. Silver-grey, storm-bright, alive.
“Again,” he commanded, voice strong for one so young. The other boys obeyed without question, circling him in mock combat. Lucian ducked, quick as lightning, a grin spreading across his face.
Selene pressed a hand to her mouth, tears burning her lashes. He’s alive. He’s—he’s beautiful.
But then something happened that froze her blood.
One of the boys lunged too hard, shoving Lucian backward. His hands flung up in reflex and silver light sparked between his palms. Not bright, not steady, but enough to send the attacker sprawling back with a startled yelp.
The courtyard fell silent. The boys gaped. Lucian himself stared at his hands in wide-eyed wonder. Then, slowly, a smile bloomed across his face.
Selene’s wolf gasped inside her. Power. Our bloodline lives in him.
Her mind reeled. Her son bore the gift she had only glimpsed in herself under the Blood Moon. But if he had inherited it…
Her chest tightened painfully.
Memory crashed over her like fire.
The night of the burning smoke choking the air, the screams of her kin as flames devoured their homes. She had run with the babe clutched to her chest, her Alpha shouting orders. Then Kaelen had appeared through the blaze, his blade cutting down the man she had sworn loyalty to. Blood, a cry, and in the chaos, the newborn ripped from her arms. She had screamed until her throat tore.
And then nothing but silence.
Until now.
“Lucian.”
The name slipped from her lips, a broken whisper.
As if summoned by her voice, he turned. For a heartbeat, their eyes met across the courtyard. His gaze—so much like hers—narrowed with confusion.
But then the sound of boots struck the stone, firm and steady.
Kaelen emerged from the shadows.
Lucian’s face lit with pure joy. He ran, unhesitating, straight into Kaelen’s arms.
“Father!” the boy cried, his voice ringing with pride.
Selene’s heart shattered.
She staggered back, pressing herself against the cold wall of the courtyard arch. The mate bond roared inside her, twin forces tearing her apart—joy that her son lived, agony that he belonged to him.
Kaelen’s arms closed protectively around Lucian. He ruffled the boy’s hair, his golden eyes warm in a way Selene had never thought possible. The sight carved a raw wound into her chest.
Her lips trembled. “No,” she breathed. “He’s mine.”
Kaelen’s POV
He felt her before he saw her.
The mate bond tugged at his senses, a silver thread tying his heart to hers. He lifted his head, gaze sweeping the shadows of the courtyard—and there she was. Selene. Watching. Broken.
His wolf growled low, deep in his chest. She knows now. There’s no turning back.
Lucian pulled on his sleeve, eager to show the silver sparks that still flickered faintly at his fingertips. Kaelen forced a smile for the boy, murmured encouragement, but his eyes never left Selene’s.
Her face was pale, her eyes wet with fury and grief. His own heart clenched, an ache he did not want. She had seen too much.If she tries to take him… his wolf warned.
Kaelen’s jaw tightened. He would not let her. Lucian was his, by blood spilled and bonds forged.
But gods help him seeing her gaze fixed on the boy, he knew she would never walk away now. And he… he would never let her.
The moon slid from behind a cloud, bathing the courtyard in silver. Their eyes locked across the distance, and Kaelen felt it in his marrow: the beginning of a war neither of them could escape.
- Writer
