Moonless Mate: The Eye of Fate

HIDDEN AGENDAS

KADE

I felt like a damn i***t.

There I was, standing like some brooding statue in the garden, and all it took was her scent of vanilla and wildflowers to turn me into a complete mess.

Of course, it had to be Ivy. And of course, I had to freeze like a deer in headlights. Because nothing screams stability like your heart doing jumping jacks over the girl you rejected.

Yeah. Rejected. That was me. Smart move, Alpha Son. Bravo.

I pushed her away like she was fire, and now I was the one burning. Karma had a sick sense of humor.

"What were you doing with that girl?"

Sophia's voice sliced through the fog in my brain like a blunt axe. I blinked. Forgot she was even there. Her nails were digging into her crossed arms like she was holding herself back from throwing something. Maybe me.

I didn’t even look at her. "None of your business."

"Excuse me? It is my business. We're partners. Everything you do reflects on me."

I clenched my jaw. I wasn't in the mood for another one of Sophia's 'I'm the center of the universe' episodes. "I am not in the mood for this Sophia." I said really exhausted, it's been barely twenty four hours of being her partner and I had regretted it more than a hundred time.

She huffed, took a step closer, and grabbed my arm. "Okay, I'm sorry. That came out wrong. I just…I'm trying. Really."

Yeah. Sure.

I looked down at her hand on my arm. It felt like a foreign object. I didn’t pull away, but I didn’t lean into it either.

"I just want us to be on the same page," she continued, her voice softening. "This place... it's brutal. I want to be Luna. I need to be. And you… you're my way there. We need to show a united front. Like a team."

There it was. The truth with a sugar coating. She didn’t care about me. She cared about the title. The crown. The power. And I was the unfortunate golden ticket.

"You don't have to worry," I muttered. "I'll play my part."

I turned to leave, but she wasn’t done. "Kade. This place can get lonely. If you ever need... someone. You can call me."

I paused. I knew exactly what she meant. The look in her eyes wasn’t even trying to be subtle. My wolf growled low inside me, disgusted.

"Duly noted."

I walked away before I said something I’d regret. Again.

The corridor smelled like old stone, lavender oil, and secrets. My boots echoed softly against the floor, but my mind was louder. Screaming, actually. Ivy’s face wouldn’t leave me. The way she looked at me like I meant nothing. Like she was over it. Like I hadn’t torn her in half, two days ago.

I deserved it. I was the i***t who told her she didn’t matter.

I was halfway down the hall to the garden when I saw them.

Blaise. Holding her hand.

My steps slowed. My breath stopped.

My wolf surged.

Blaise's hand was wrapped around hers, not in a casual way, but in a way that screamed tension and heat. And Ivy? Ivy was looking at him. Actually looking. With those eyes that looked at me that day.

Jealousy punched me in the chest like a battering ram. I couldn’t breathe. My wolf started pacing inside, snarling. Not Blaise. Not that smug, perfect, Eye-favorite bastard.

I turned sharply, heart racing.

No. No no no.

I couldn’t lose control.

If anyone found out my wolf was no longer suppressed it would be over. Instant disqualification. They'd think I was cheating. That I used my wolf to gain an edge in the Trials.

I leaned against the cold wall and closed my eyes.

"Keep it together," I whispered under my breath. "You can't screw this up."

The rage, the possessiveness, the urge to rip Blaise’s smug face off his skull… it all needed to be buried. Deep. I forced myself to focus on the rhythm of my breath.

In. Out. In. Out.

But the image stayed. Ivy's hand in his. Her lips parted. That glint in her eyes.

It should've been me.

No, scratch that. It was me. It had been. I was the one who held her. Touched her. Knew the sound of her moan when it cracked in the middle, like a poorly tuned violin. I knew her, that night she had surrender herself to me, all of her being. And I gave her up.

Stupid. I was so stupid.

I didn’t even know why I pushed her away. Fear? Duty? The constant weight of expectations on my shoulders? I was the Alpha’s son. I didn’t get to have distractions. And Ivy... Ivy was a wildfire. Beautiful, destructive, impossible to contain. She didn’t belong in a cage like this place. Like me.

But now she was here. And Blaise was looking at her like he saw something he liked. And worse, she was looking back.

I shoved off the wall and stormed down the hall, needing to put distance between me and the chaos in my chest. My hands curled into fists. My wolf howled. I forced him back down. Forced the heat in my veins to cool.

"One year," I muttered. "Just survive one year."

I could deal with Blaise. I could pretend Ivy didn’t make my heart feel like a war drum every time she blinked. I could pretend I wasn’t still in love with her.

Because I had to.

I had to win. Not just for me. For my father. For what I would lose if I didn't.

Even if it meant letting her go. Again.

But if Blaise touched her like she mattered...

I didn’t finish the thought.

I couldn’t afford to.

Not yet. I let out an exasperated gasp and walked to my room where I knew Caleb must have been waiting for me.

The door barely clicked shut before Caleb shot me a look. He sat on his bed, arms crossed, the kind of judgmental stare only a lifelong friend could master.

"Did you find it?"

I shook my head and threw my jacket on the desk. "No. I was... interrupted."

"Dude. Again?" Caleb groaned, flopping back on his bed like I just ruined his entire lineage. "What is wrong with you lately? You've been off your game, and that is not like you. Not Kade Thorn."

I rubbed the back of my neck. He wasn’t wrong. I’d been distracted. But if he had to smell Ivy and watch her walk away like she didn’t just shatter his ribcage with her silence, he’d be distracted too.

"I know. But it’s not that deep."

"It is that deep," Caleb sat back up, his tone serious now. "You know what this place is. What it means that you’re here. This isn't just about winning or wearing the Alpha title like a fancy cloak. It’s legacy. It’s blood. It’s vengeance. And you’re spacing out like you're on some teen soap opera."

He wasn’t wrong again. Which was annoying.

I exhaled through my nose and sank into the chair by the desk. "I know. I’m getting my s**t together. Just... had to recalibrate."

"Recalibrate by getting lost in God knows what again?"

I threw him a look. Caleb raised his hands, amused.

"Alright, alright. I won’t poke. Just... remember what we came for."

I nodded. "Speaking of enemies. What do you know about Blaise Talon?"

Caleb blinked, then narrowed his eyes. "Why?"

"Just answer. What can you tell me?"

He scratched his jaw. "If there's anyone in this place you should be threatened by, it's him. Not because of his daddy owning the Eye, though that helps. Blaise is a freak. Raw strength. Tactical mind. Cool head. He doesn’t fight with ego. He fights to win."

I muttered under my breath, "Of course he does."

"Why? Did he do something?"

"He was with that his team mate in the garden." I had not told Caleb about Ivy and it is not because I didn't trust him. I did. I just didn't know how to explain the mess I had gotten myself in, in the past 48 hours.

Caleb blinked again. "Are you hearing yourself? How is that our business, where is your priority at Kade. This is not the Kade I use to know."

I stood, already feeling the heat crawl up my back again. "It’s complicated. Everything’s complicated. Why can’t things be easy for once?"

Caleb stood too. Towering slightly. The guy never joked when it mattered.

"Growing up, I always knew you’d be Alpha, and I’d be your Beta. I accepted that. Gladly. But you need to remember something. This isn’t just about claiming a title anymore. This is about making things right."

My chest tightened. He was right. Again. The third time in under five minutes. He was on a roll.

"I know."

"Do you have what I asked for?"

Caleb pulled open the drawer of his nightstand and handed me a small, matte-black pill case. Inside it, a single blue tablet.

"My source said it’s the tablet version of the suppressant. Experimental. Not on the market. What do you need it for?"

I didn’t answer. I didn’t want to. I just nodded and walked into the bathroom, locking the door behind me.

Like the walls knew what I was about to do. I unbuttoned my shirt slowly, not bothering to hang it. The mirror stared back at me, reflecting the truth I was always trying to hide. My torso was already dusted with hair, muscles tense and twitching. The shift was close.

My wolf was clawing. Pacing. Prowling.

I slammed the pill into my mouth, swallowed dry. A shiver rolled down my spine like an avalanche. The pain hit instantly. Fire under the skin, bones cracking in protest and then snapping back into place. The wolf howled inside my skull, furious.

"Not today," I growled.

My body jerked once, then calmed. The hair receded. My breathing slowed.

I leaned against the sink, palms braced, chest heaving.

This was the price.

Suppressing the wolf wasn’t just dangerous. It was agony. But if anyone found out it wasn't surprised , that I had unleashed him unlike the others during the purge, I’d be disqualified. They’d call it cheating. Tampering. I’d be dragged before the Elders.

Worse.

I’d never find who did it.

I looked at myself in the mirror, then down to the chain around my neck. My fingers found the pendant. A small, old medallion. Silver edges worn smooth by time and grief.

The flashback hit like a truck.

She was smiling. Her voice light, like bells in spring.

"Kade!"

I reached for her, desperate. But before I could touch her, a shadow leapt. A wolf, pitch black and massive. It slammed into her side and sent her flying.

She screamed.

Then a deep unsettling silence, swept over me.

She disappeared off the cliffside.

Gone. She was gone like always.

I staggered back from the sink. My hand clutched the pendant so tight the metal bit into my palm.

"I won’t rest," I muttered to the ghost in the mirror, the ghost in my chest, "till everyone who caused your death is six feet below."