Under The Blood Moon

Chapter 4: A Bitter Connection

The courtyard of the Obsidian Hold was alive with murmurs and restless movement, wolves pouring into the open square as night deepened. Torches blazed along the walls, their flames dim beneath the crimson glow bleeding from the sky.

The moon was no longer pale. It was swollen, heavy, and red—the Blood Moon.

The fire that had been building in me for days surged hotter, clawing up my insides. My skin burned, my chest rose and fell too fast, and every muscle shook with a need I couldn’t name. I pressed my hands to my stomach as if I could hold it in.

Around me, the pack gathered in silence, their eyes tilted skyward. For them, this night meant renewal, strength, transformation. For me, it was a test I feared I’d fail.

“She doesn’t look steady.”

“Watch—maybe she’ll finally shift.”

The whispers cut sharper than blades. My throat tightened as I focused on the sky, praying the fire inside me would burst open into something more. Something worthy.

But nothing came.

Heat coiled beneath my skin, begging for release, but still—no wolf. Just me, trembling while the pack looked on with disdain.

A ripple moved through the crowd then, a shift in the air. I didn’t need to look to know why.

Xander had arrived.

His presence spread like shadow, silencing the square without a word. He stepped into the courtyard, his dark figure bathed in the moon’s red glow, the pack parting as if gravity bent around him. And then his gaze found mine.

The world tilted. The fire inside me exploded, flooding every vein. My breath caught, my knees nearly gave. The bond roared to life, no longer a whisper but a violent surge, undeniable and consuming.

Gasps rose from the wolves nearest us. They felt it too—not the bond itself, but the force of it in the air.

I tried to look away. I couldn’t. His storm-gray eyes locked on mine, hard, unblinking, but beneath the ice flickered something raw, something he couldn’t bury fast enough.

For a heartbeat, I swore my wolf—silent all my life—might finally break free. The bond demanded it.

But still, nothing.

The shame cut deeper than their whispers ever could. My wolf’s silence was louder than the bond’s roar. Their faces said it all: pity, disgust, curiosity.

And then Xander broke the stare. His jaw tightened, his mask slamming back into place. He turned away.

The crowd exhaled as the spell snapped, but the damage was done. They had seen. They all knew.

The Blood Moon had revealed what I couldn’t hide anymore. Fate had tied me to the Lycan King.

And he wanted nothing to do with me.

The grand hall was nearly empty when I slipped inside. The Blood Moon’s glow streamed through tall windows, staining stone floors crimson. My pulse hadn’t steadied since the courtyard. My skin burned, my body felt stretched thin, and that bond—whatever it was—clung to me like chains I couldn’t break.

I didn’t notice him until his shadow crossed mine.

Xander stepped out from behind a pillar, movements deliberate, eyes sharp. His presence filled the room until even breathing felt like work.

“You should be in your chamber,” he said, voice low and clipped.

“I couldn’t.” My throat was dry, but I forced the words out. “You felt it too.”

Something flickered in his eyes—just for a second before the steel returned. “What I feel is irrelevant.”

“It’s not irrelevant.” Heat rose in my voice, stronger than I intended. “Everyone saw it. Pretending it doesn’t exist won’t make it go away.”

His jaw tightened. He stepped closer, close enough for me to see the faint scar along his temple, close enough that the bond flared hot again between us. His breath was steady; mine wasn’t.

“You think this is fate?” he asked, voice quiet and dangerous. “That the moon tethered me to you, and that means I’ll bend?”

“I don’t know what I believe,” I whispered. “But I know running from it won’t stop it. And neither will hiding behind that mask you wear.”

For a moment, the air vibrated with everything unsaid. His gaze swept over me—my trembling hands, my unsteady breath—and his mask cracked just enough for me to see conflict, raw and unguarded.

Then it was gone.

“You are a complication I cannot afford,” he said, voice like a blade. “This bond makes you a liability. To me. To the pack. To yourself.”

The words cut deep. I clenched my fists, refusing to let him see the sting. “Maybe. But denying it doesn’t erase it. And if you think I’ll disappear just because you tell me to—”

His hand shot out, bracing against the wall beside my head. My breath stilled. His body didn’t touch mine, but the heat of him was suffocating. His storm-gray eyes bored into me, fierce, furious—and something else I couldn’t name.

“You don’t know what you’re playing with,” he whispered, voice rougher now. “This will destroy you.”

My heart hammered, but I lifted my chin. “Maybe. But I’d rather be destroyed than ignored.”

His nostrils flared. His jaw worked, as if holding back words—or something more dangerous. Then, slowly, he pulled back, the mask slamming shut again.

“You’ll learn soon enough,” he said, turning away. “Stay out of my way.”

He disappeared into shadow, leaving me pressed against the wall, shaking from the echo of his nearness. The bond pulsed in my veins, louder now, impossible to silence.

No matter how cold his words, no matter how fiercely he buried it—he felt it too.

The council chamber buzzed with whispers when I entered. Alphas crowded the long table, their voices a low hum circling the same truth: the Blood Moon had revealed a bond between me and the Lycan King.

Their eyes slid toward me, curiosity sharp as knives. My chest still burned from the courtyard—Xander’s gaze locking with mine, the violent surge of the bond, the pack’s collective gasp. My wolf’s silence left me raw with shame.

And then Selene arrived.

Her gown shimmered like molten silver under torchlight, each step calculated. The Alphas shifted as she passed—some with grudging respect, others with wariness. Her smile was for Xander, but her eyes cut to me.

“Quite a spectacle tonight,” she said, her tone smooth as silk. “The Blood Moon reveals truths we’d rather keep hidden. Sometimes it blesses us. Sometimes…” Her gaze lingered on me, predatory. “…it exposes weakness.”

A murmur rippled across the room. My skin flushed hot, but I didn’t drop my eyes.

Selene tilted her head, violet eyes gleaming. “A wolf without a wolf. The daughter of Alphas who cannot shift. And yet this is the one fate ties to our King?” She laughed, sweet and cruel. “The moon must be mocking us.”

The words sliced deep, dragging every old insecurity into the open. My throat tightened, pulse hammering. I should have stayed quiet. I didn’t.

“Careful, Selene,” I said, my voice steady though my insides shook. “The moon has a habit of humbling those who laugh too loudly.”

The chamber stilled.

Her smile froze. For a flicker, fury flashed in her eyes before she smoothed it over with charm. “How bold.”

I pressed on. “Sneer at me if you want, but the bond isn’t yours to claim, no matter how hard you reach for it.”

Gasps broke around the table. One Alpha chuckled. Another muttered, “She has a tongue on her.”

Selene’s smile returned, slow and deliberate, but her gaze promised something darker. “How refreshing,” she purred. “A little wolf with no teeth, pretending she can bite.”

The sting landed, but I refused to flinch.

Then I made the mistake of glancing at Xander.

He stood at the head of the table, face carved from stone. He didn’t correct her. He didn’t defend me. He just watched.

The cut went deeper than Selene’s words.

I forced myself to breathe, to mask the wound. If she saw it, she’d dig deeper. She sank gracefully into her chair, the chamber buzzing again, her eyes locked on mine. A promise.

This wasn’t over.

My chamber was bathed in red.

The Blood Moon still clung to the sky, its glow pouring through the window, staining the walls like blood. I sat on the bed’s edge, fists curled in the blanket, shame bitter on my tongue.

I hadn’t shifted. Not even now.

Tears pricked, but fury followed close behind—at my body, at Selene’s mocking, at Xander’s silence. Wolf without a wolf. The phrase had haunted me all my life. Tonight Selene had branded me with it in front of every Alpha in the Hold. And Xander… he’d let her.

I slammed my hand against the bedframe, the c***k of pain grounding me.

“I hate this,” I whispered. “I hate him.”

But even as I said it, the words burned with a lie. Hate wasn’t what curled in my chest when the bond flared alive between us. It was something far more dangerous.

Restless, I paced the chamber. The fire inside me clawed hotter, unbearable. Sleep was impossible. I pushed open the balcony doors, cool air rushing over my skin.

And then I saw him.

Across the courtyard, on his balcony, Xander stood. His silhouette was sharp against the red moonlight, his hands braced on the railing. When I stilled, his head lifted.

Our eyes locked.

The bond roared alive, worse than before. It burned through every nerve, pulling me forward though I didn’t move. My chest rose too fast. My skin tingled alive under his stare.

For a heartbeat, his mask cracked—raw, pained, human. A man at war with himself.

Then it was gone. He looked away, stepping back into shadow.

The spark remained, pulsing through me long after he vanished.

I gripped the railing, breath unsteady. I couldn’t leave. Not with this bond tying me here. Not with Selene circling, waiting for me to falter.

Fate had bound me to the Lycan King. And whether it remade me or destroyed me, I was already his.