Moonblooded

Chapter 12

The next morninghe stood on his balcony looking down at where his little mate spent most of her night, arms folded across his chest, shoulders tense beneath his fitted black shirt. Below him, the training grounds stirred with unease. Warriors stopped mid-spar, their attention shifting toward the treeline at the far end of the courtyard where the forest thinned into gravel road.

A sleek black SUV emerged from the tree line like a shadow with purpose.

Kade didn’t move. He didn’t need to.

Ronan appeared at his left shoulder, silent and steady. “That’s Hollowfang’s crest on the hood.”

“I know,” Kade said.

Darian followed on the right, already growling low under his breath. “Bold bastard. We didn’t agree to a meeting.”

“He’s not here for a meeting,” Kade replied, voice flat. “He’s here to be seen.”

The SUV coasted to a halt at the edge of the courtyard, right in front of the central pack emblem scorched into the stone. The doors opened slowly.

Lucien stepped out with the casual grace of a man who knew exactly how far he could push without drawing blood. His black coat swept around his boots as he moved, perfectly tailored, his silver cufflinks catching the morning light. Behind him, a younger Hollowfang warrior in plain clothes followed, expression unreadable, a digital tablet tucked under one arm.

Kade’s wolf stirred violently beneath his skin.

“Varric,” he warned internally.

“I smell manipulation.”

“You smell blood,” Kade corrected. “And I won’t give him the satisfaction.”

But Varric didn’t settle. The moment Lucien set foot on Blackfang soil, the beast inside him growled in warning.

Lucien scanned the pack members gathered around the courtyard. His gaze was cool, clinical, unbothered by the tension rippling in the air.

Then he looked up.

Right at Kade.

The corner of his mouth lifted, not quite a smirk. “Alpha Blackfang.”

Kade descended the steps without a word. Every step he took was measured, deliberate. His aura rippled outward, pressing down on the pack like a storm rolling in.

Pack members stilled. Heads bowed.

Ronan and Darian flanked him, mirroring his pace. The gravel crunched beneath their boots in rhythm.

Kade came to a halt a few feet from Lucien, his blue eyes locked with the Hollowfang Alpha’s silver-gray.

“Lucien,” he said, voice like stone dragged across ice.

“Kade,” Lucien returned with the calm of someone who enjoyed poking lions with sticks. “You look well.”

“You look lost.”

Lucien chuckled. “Not lost. Just maybe ,unannounced.”

“You came onto my land without approval. That’s not diplomacy. That’s disrespect.”

“Ah,” Lucien said smoothly, spreading his hands. “And yet here I am, unharmed. I’ll take that as reluctant hospitality.”

Varric growled again. Kade didn’t let the sound reach his throat, but he felt the sharp edge of his canines pulse beneath his gums.

Behind him, the pack watched in tense silence. Even the younger warriors who didn’t know the full history of Hollowfang could sense the undercurrent.

Lucien stepped slightly closer, as if surveying the courtyard. “You’ve rebuilt well since the last council audit. I see discipline hasn’t slipped.”

“What do you want?”

Lucien smiled. “To talk.”

Kade’s nostrils flared. “Then talk. Quickly.”

“I’ve been thinking,” Lucien said, voice casual, “about the future of our lands. Hollowfang and Blackfang have always existed in opposition. But times are changing. Treaties, trade, shifting loyalties. It makes one wonder… what if the next generation didn’t carry old grudges?”

Kade’s jaw flexed. “You’re not here to talk treaties.”

Lucien’s smile sharpened. “No. But it makes a nice excuse.”

Behind Kade, the heavy manor doors opened.

Selene stepped into view.

Lucien’s eyes immediately tracked to her—and stayed there.

And Kade felt his entire body tighten.

Selene hadn’t meant to step outside.

She told herself she’d just watch from the window, maybe glimpse whatever caused the strange static in the air. But her feet had moved before her mind caught up. By the time she opened the heavy doors of the manor, the courtyard had gone still—and all eyes turned.

Except his.

The man at the center of it all—Lucien—was already watching her.

Selene’s breath hitched.

The world tilted just slightly. Her hands curled at her sides, and for a moment, she didn’t feel her feet beneath her. The pull wasn’t like the bond with Kade. This was quieter. Heavier. A weight that curled around her spine and whispered of things she couldn’t name.

“Who is he?” she asked silently.

Lira stirred within her.

“He’s familiar.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“It’s all I have.”

Lucien took a single step forward. “Selene.” He sounded shocked, his voice was deep and husky.

He said her name like it meant something. Like he’d said it a hundred times before.

She didn’t reply.

Her legs moved slow, cautious until she was standing just behind Kade’s right shoulder. Close enough to hear his breathing, sharp and shallow. Close enough to feel the tension pouring from him in waves.

“Bold of you,” Kade said darkly, his voice low enough that only those nearest could hear, “to say her name like you know her. A stray rogue that was found half dead.”

Lucien didn’t even blink. “Should I pretend otherwise?”

“You don’t know her.”

“Yes I know her very well actually.”

Kade’s aura flared, golden and searing. The wolves nearby flinched, and Selene’s heart leapt into her throat. But Lucien stood unmoved, like the pressure didn’t touch him.

“The rogue had no knowledge of you. You’re trespassing,” Kade snapped.

“I’m came offering a conversation.” Lucien’s tone never wavered. “You can’t deny I know her, clearly she knows me. You see it all over her face.”

Selene’s mouth opened, then closed again.

She hated that he was right. That she was curious. That some part of her wanted to ask how he knew her. Why he looked at her like she was something sacred.

Lucien’s eyes softened. “You look like her, you know. She wore the same expression when she felt trapped.”

Selene froze. “Who?”

Lucien tilted his head slightly. “ Sel, you don’t remember her?”

“He knows something,” Lira whispered.

“I don’t trust him.”

“Neither do I.”

Kade took a single step forward, deliberately placing himself between them. “She’s got memory loss and clearly you weren’t important enough to know. She doesn’t belong to you.”

Lucien’s smile thinned. “You haven’t asked her. So who she belongs to… remains unsettled.”

The silence after that was dangerous.

Selene’s stomach twisted. The urge to speak warred with the instinct to retreat. But something kept her there, something deep.

Lucien finally stepped back, adjusting the cuffs of his coat. “I’m not here to start a war. I just wanted to discuss a treaty, and now Id like to offer Selene a choice to come home.”

“There is no choice,” Kade said, voice like steel.

Lucien’s gaze flicked once more to Selene. “That’s not for you to decide, is it?”

Then, without another word, he turned and walked back toward the vehicle that waited at the edge of the courtyard. His companion opened the door. Lucien didn’t look back.

Only when the SUV disappeared into the trees did Kade finally move.

He didn’t look at her.

Didn’t speak.

Just turned and walked back into the house, leaving her standing in the cold.

Selene’s hands trembled at her sides. She didn’t know what was worse, the things Lucien had said…

…or the things Kade refused to.

Selene gripped the railing on the second-floor terrace, breath shallow.

The chill cut through her sweater, but her mind was too loud to feel the cold.

Lucien had looked at her like he knew her soul.

And Kade… had looked at her like he wished she didn’t exist.

“Why won’t he say anything?” she whispered aloud.

Lira stirred.

“Because he’s afraid. Of you. Of the bond. Of what you make him feel.”

Selene swallowed. “And Lucien?”

A pause.

“Lucien feels… like something lost. But I don’t trust that kind of knowing.”

Selene turned from the railing and moved down the hallway, seeking solitude, but finding only tension in every corridor. Wolves bowed their heads when they passed her now—some in respect, some in wary confusion. She wasn’t pack, but she wasn’t rogue anymore either.

She was something in between.

She slipped down a side stairwell, headed for the gardens where no one lingered—until she turned the corner and stopped short.

Kade stood at the far end of the walkway, arms braced against the stone wall, his back to her.

Her heart kicked.

He heard her steps and turned. His eyes burned, not blue, but edged with molten gold.

No guards. No warriors. Just him.

Just Alpha.

“Walk with me,” he said.

She hesitated. “Why?”

“Now.”

She followed in silence, pulse hammering.

When they reached the old greenhouse wall, he stopped. The air between them snapped with tension.

“You should stay away from Lucien,” he said without turning.

Selene’s breath caught. “Why? Because you said so?”

His head turned slightly. “Because he’s dangerous.”

“You mean like you?”

Kade faced her fully now. “You don’t know what he wants.”

“I don’t know what you want.”

The silence thickened. His chest rose and fell with effort.

Then, he dismissed the nearby guards with a quick link.

Selene took a step back. “Kade…”

His gaze locked on hers. Too intense. Too much.

Varric had surfaced.

His body snapped forward, grabbing her wrist, spinning her into the wall. His hands slammed beside her head.

Selene gasped, then froze.

His mouth crashed into hers.

Not soft. Not careful.

Wild.

Claiming.

Her back arched instinctively. Her fingers curled into his shirt. Her wolf howled in her chest.

“Mate.”

They kissed like they’d been waiting lifetimes, fire and fury and aching need.

Then suddenly he tore away, shoving her back.

Selene stumbled, nearly falling to her knees.

Kade stood over her, breathing hard, teeth gritted. “That was a mistake.”

Selene’s chest heaved. Her lips were swollen. Her heart broken wide open. “You kissed me.”

“No,” he snarled. “My wolf did.”

She stood slowly, chin high. “Then let him finish what he started.”

Kade’s silence was a slap.

He turned to go.

“You don’t get to warn me about Lucien,” she said, voice shaking. “Not when you’re letting Amara ride you in your office.”

He froze.

“I see the way she touches you,” Selene went on. “The way you let her.”

Kade’s shoulders tensed, but he didn’t turn.

“You want me to stay away from Lucien?” she hissed. “Then stay away from Amara.”

She spun on her heel and left him there in the garden, still bleeding gold from his eyes.

From the edge of the woods, far beyond the walls, silver eyes gleamed through the branches.

Lucien watched her go.

And smiled.