Chapter 14 — Games the Moon Remembers
805 Words
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They did not speak of the kiss.
Not aloud.
But the bond remembered everything.
Kaden and Skyler became experts at near-misses passing in corridors where fingers brushed only once, where breaths aligned for half a heartbeat too long.
They met each other’s eyes in crowded halls and looked away just late enough for the ache to settle in.
By day, Kaden wore his title like armor again.
By night, the moon softened him.
Sometimes they ran.
Never announced.
Never long.
Never close enough to invite questions.
When they shifted, Skyler instinctively veiled her alpha presence, folding it inward until her dominance felt like moonlight instead of flame.
The pack sensed nothing unusual.
Only Kaden felt the truth.
Her silver-gray wolf ran beside his black one with effortless symmetry, her stride matching his, her instincts anticipating every turn he made. The bond hummed not urgent, not desperate just aware.
Intoxicating.
And terrifying.
That was when Kane closed the mental gate.
"Let the humans rest", he said quietly.
Skyler felt it immediately. The gentle pressure of Sai doing the same pulling her awareness inward, allowing the wolves to take full control.
Their human thoughts faded.
The forest sharpened.
The world became scent and movement and pulse.
And then mind to mind Kane spoke again.
You are hiding too much, he said, voice amused.
Sai’s presence brushed against his, luminous and calm.
You are rushing too fast.
Kane circled her through the trees, black form gliding with predatory grace.
We are not rushing. We are waiting for permission.
Sai leapt onto a fallen trunk, silver fur glowing faintly under moonlight.
From whom?
Kane slowed, eyes burning with something not entirely wolf.
From you.
Sai laughed not aloud, but in feeling. A ripple of warmth through the link.
You already have it. You just don’t know what to do with it.
He prowled closer, deliberately, stopping just outside her space.
You like that I don’t know.
She tilted her head.
You like that I do.
For a moment, the wolves circled each other in perfect stillness no challenge, no submission. Just awareness. Recognition. A game older than dominance.
Kane lowered his head slightly.
If we touched…
Sai finished the thought softly.
The humans would feel it.
They stepped apart.
Not because they had to.
Because they wanted the wanting to remain.
When Skyler returned to herself, she was standing on the edge of the clearing, heart racing for reasons she could not fully explain.
Kaden stood several paces away, breathing hard, eyes dark.
Neither of them spoke.
They didn’t need to.
The game continued.
Hide.
Seek.
Almost.
Once, Skyler appeared beside him on the battlements without a sound.
“You’re avoiding me,” she said lightly.
“I’m protecting you,” he replied.
She smiled. “From whom?”
“From me.”
Inside him, Kane scoffed.
Liar.
Inside her, Sai answered gently.
Coward.
She leaned in just enough for him to feel her warmth then stepped back again.
Not yet.
Lyra saw everything.
She saw how Kaden’s gaze followed Skyler unconsciously. How his wolf calmed only when Skyler was near.
How Skyler no longer bowed the way she used to.
And inside Lyra, Leah seethed.
She walks like she already belongs here, Leah snarled. Like she has claimed the ground beneath her feet.
Lyra crossed paths with Skyler alone one afternoon.
“You walk like a Luna,” Lyra hissed. “Careful. You might start believing it.”
Skyler met her gaze calmly.
“Belief has nothing to do with truth.”
Leah growled inside Lyra’s chest.
Break her.
Lyra laughed sharply. “He hasn’t claimed you. He hasn’t named you. You’re nothing but a question he hasn’t answered.”
Skyler leaned closer, voice soft and lethal.
“And you’re an answer he’s already refused.”
That night, Lyra followed them.
She didn’t see the kiss.
Didn’t hear the thoughts.
But she felt it the shift in the air when two bonded wolves moved in harmony.
When Kaden and Skyler ran the perimeter together, circling without touching, perfectly aligned.
Inside Lyra, Leah whispered coldly:
They are not hiding. They are preparing.
Lyra’s hands curled into fists.
They weren’t sneaking out of guilt.
They were waiting.
Waiting for the moment when hiding would no longer be necessary.
And Lyra finally understood with chilling clarity
Jealousy wasn’t her weakness.
It was her warning.
Later, long after the forest went still, Lyra slipped beyond the outer watch.
She followed a path only fear seemed to remember.
Down into the ruins where shadows gathered thicker than moonlight.
And in her mind, Leah purred:
Find him.
The one who watches the watchers.
Lyra lifted her chin into the dark.
Because when the moon stopped playing games…
She would make sure she wasn’t the one who lost everything. 🌙🐺
- Writer
