Moonblooded

Chapter 2 Conflict

The rogue’s scent still clung to Kade’s skin.

It didn’t matter that she was locked away in the infirmary, silver-cuffed and barely breathing. The bond unseen, unbidden wrapped around his senses like a snare. Every breath was a reminder.

Varric prowled beneath his skin, restless.

You left her alone. Weak. Unclaimed. Fool.

Kade’s hands curled into fists as he stalked through the halls of Blackfang’s estate. His estate. Wolves parted before him, their heads bowed, bodies shrinking beneath the weight of his Alpha aura. The pack knew better than to meet his gaze when his mood sharpened like this.

But whispers still flickered through the mind link.

With a thought, Kade’s aura flared, heavy, suffocating. The whispers died instantly. Submission radiated from every corner, a ripple of bowed heads and bared throats. Yet beneath the surface, the pack vibrated with unease.

Darian was the first to voice what others dared not.

“This is reckless, Kade.” His tone was sharp, his stance just shy of insubordinate. “Bringing her here puts us all under scrutiny. You know what the Council will think.”

“I know exactly what they’ll think,” Kade said, his voice cold steel. “And I don’t give a damn.”

Varric’s approval rumbled low.

Good. Stand your ground.

Ronan fell into step beside them, always the balance between Darian’s bluntness and Kade’s fury. “It’s not just the Council. Lucien’s wolves have been testing our borders. Without a treaty, they’ll keep pressing.”

“They won’t cross me,” Kade growled.

But even as he said it, his gut twisted. His grip on the pack was iron, but iron rusted. This rogues presence her mere existence threatened to corrode the order he’d built.

They reached the southern terrace, the estate sprawling out in polished stone and glass, a stark contrast to the ancient pines that guarded their land. Here, Kade’s enterprise thrived. Contracts. Investments. Power. His pack wasn’t a relic of the past. They adapted. Evolved. And through that, they dominated.

Yet the rogue’s scent still lingered.

You can feel her even now, Varric taunted. She calls to us. You deny what is already yours.

Darian’s lips curled. “If the Council sends envoys, you’ll need more than snarls to keep them at bay.”

“They send envoys because they fear me,” Kade said, his aura pressing down once more. Darian’s wolf visibly lowered his head, submitting beneath the weight.

But Kade’s control was not as absolute as it had been. His temper frayed faster. His patience, always scarce, now thinner than ice.

The mate bond’s pull gnawed at him.

Ronan’s voice broke through his thoughts. “We’ve reinforced the borders. Hollowfang won’t breach without a fight.”

“Good,” Kade muttered, but his thoughts had already drifted.

To her.

The bond was a living thing quiet, but persistent. No matter how far he walked, how much he tried to bury himself in duty, it thrummed beneath his skin.

He didn’t notice the way his steps slowed until Darian spoke again.

“You’re distracted, Kade. That’s not like you.”

Kade’s glare was immediate, but Ronan’s quiet observation followed.

“The pack senses it. You’ve always been their anchor. If you waver, so will they.”

Kade’s lips thinned. “I haven’t wavered.”

But even as he spoke, his wolf snarled in his mind.

You lie. You ache for her. The bond festers because you refuse to claim.

The words grated. Because they were true.

They continued in tense silence, every wolf they passed instinctively shrinking from Kade’s volatile aura. Yet beneath their submission, he felt the question burning: Why is she here?

The Council’s influence loomed larger than he cared to admit.

The Blackfang pack was among the strongest wealthy, disciplined, brutal when needed. His warriors trained relentlessly. His enterprise funded their dominance. But all of it balanced on a knife’s edge.

And that edge dulled with every moment the rogue remained alive within his walls.

Still, he couldn’t bring himself to end her.

At the far edge of the estate, warriors sparred beneath the afternoon sun. The crack of bone against bone echoed as young wolves tested their strength. Kade’s gaze swept over them, his aura enforcing precision, discipline.

They were his legacy.

He wouldn’t let it crumble.

Not for one rogue.

But fate cared little for what he wanted.

A sharp pulse tugged at his senses, sudden and visceral.

His head snapped toward the mansion, though she was nowhere in sight. The bond thrummed, electric, undeniable.

She stirs, Varric growled, pleased. Her wolf calls to us.

Kade ground his teeth. He could feel it now her heartbeat, quickening. Her scent, spiking through the air despite the distance. No longer faint. Sharper. Insistent.

His claws elongated slightly, unbidden.

Damn it.

He turned sharply, striding back toward the estate. Darian exchanged a glance with Ronan but said nothing. They followed, silent shadows at his back.

“She remains locked down,” Kade said, more to himself than them.

Yet the bond laughed at his defiance.

You can chain her wrists, but not this.

His steps quickened.

In the infirmary, she lay motionless, but her body betrayed signs of awakening. Subtle twitches. A flutter of lashes. Her pulse, once thready, now strong beneath the monitors.

And beneath it all, Kade felt Lira her wolf pressing against the void. Not words. Not thoughts. Just a persistent hum. A spark trying to ignite.

He stood at the glass, fists clenched, breath shallow.

“She’s a threat,” he told himself.

But Varric’s snarl was clear. She is ours. The threat is you, Alpha.

Kade didn’t look away.

He couldn’t.

The packhouse was too quiet, that night.

Not in the way of peace but in the way of a brewing storm.

Kade could feel it. The thinly veiled tension that clung to every conversation, every glance. His wolves were disciplined, but they were not blind. The rogue’s presence had fractured something beneath the surface.

And it grated.

They wait for weakness, Varric growled within him. They sense your restraint and mistake it for hesitation.

“I show them strength every day,” Kade muttered under his breath, striding through the eastern wing where warriors trained in brutal rotation.

Yet even here, among the finest blades of his pack, his focus fractured. The mate bond coiled tighter, each breath laced with her scent though she was nowhere near.

The crack of bone echoed across the yard as two young males sparred viciously. Their snarls vibrated through the link, but Kade felt every brush of fur, every scent flare as if his senses sought only hers.

His Beta approached.

“Kade,” Ronan said, calm as ever, though his wolf was unsettled beneath the surface. “You’re needed in the main office to. Reports from the northern borders.”

“Hollowfang?”

“They’re probing. Not quite violating the treaty but close.”

Kade’s jaw tightened. “Lucien is testing me.”

Darian was already there when they arrived, lounging with the deceptive ease of a predator. His gaze was sharp, cutting through the tension as if he relished it.

“We should strike first,” Darian said without preamble. “A show of force will remind them who owns these woods.”

“That’s precisely what Lucien wants,” Ronan countered, leaning against the table where a map of their territory sprawled. “A reckless retaliation gives the Council cause to intervene.”

Kade’s fingers drummed against the table’s edge. His instincts warred with reason. Varric, of course, had no such conflict.

Let them come. We’ll bleed them for every step they take.

“I won’t start a war we don’t need,” Kade said, though his tone was far from soft.

Darian’s lips twisted. “But you’ll house a rogue that draws their attention?”

The air chilled.

Ronan’s warning look did nothing to stop Darian’s bluntness.

“You’ve always been deliberate, Kade. Strategic. Now you’re acting like a wolf in rut—irrational, distracted.” Darian’s mouth flattened. “It affects us all.”

Kade’s Alpha aura unfurled, slow but suffocating. The temperature seemed to drop as his dominance pressed against the room’s walls.

But Darian stood his ground. For now.

Varric’s growl coiled through Kade’s bones. He challenges because you allow it. Remind him who leads.

Ronan interjected smoothly. “We’re not questioning your leadership. But the pack is unsettled. They see you falter, even if they don’t dare say it aloud.”

Kade’s hands flexed.

“You think this is faltering?” His voice cut through the air. “I’ve bled for this pack. Built it into something the Council fears.”

For a moment, silence reigned.

Then the mind link buzzed, faint but sharp.

“Amara requests an audience, Alpha,” came the crisp voice of his secretary through the link. Polite. Neutral. But Kade caught the undercurrent of anticipation. Gossip traveled fast.

He waved Ronan and Darian off. “Handle the border surveillance. Double patrols. Quietly.”

They obeyed, though Darian’s narrowed gaze lingered longer than Ronan’s.

Amara didn’t wait to be announced.

She was already there, gliding into the room with practiced elegance, all soft smiles and veiled daggers.

“You’re busy,” she said, eyes gleaming. “But not too busy, it seems, to be reckless.”

“I have little patience left today, Amara.”

“You never had much to begin with.” She approached slowly, circling him like a predator dressed in couture. “But you’re slipping, Kade. The Council whispers louder. My father’s influence can only shield you so far.”

He said nothing.

Her smile was brittle now. “You think you’re untouchable. But even Alphas answer to the old laws.”

“Why are you bothering me with this,” Kade said, voice flat.

“You forget our alliance.”

“I remember it’s a contract. Nothing more.”

Her composure fractured, just a crack but it was enough.

“You’ve kept me as your bed warmer for years, Kade. You chose me, even if it was just a contract we’ve enjoyed each other.” She stepped closer, hand brushing his arm in a calculated caress. “But now, you’re distracted..”

Varric’s snarl rippled through him. Because she is ours. This one is not.

“You were convenient, Amara. Nothing more.” Kade’s words landed like a blade.

She recoiled slightly, masking the sting with a tight smile. “Convenience holds value in politics, Kade. Remember that.”

Without waiting for dismissal, she turned and left.

Kade remained still, but inside, Varric’s fury was a relentless pulse.

She knows nothing of bonds. But you do. And you still run.

Across the estate, the bond tugged again.

Though her body lay in the infirmary, her wolf stirred stronger now. Flickers of sensation bled through the bond anger, confusion, pain. Lira wasn’t speaking, not fully. But her presence was undeniable.

His claws elongated slightly, unbidden.

Varric’s voice was quieter now, but no less firm. She is rising. You cannot keep denying her. Or yourself.

Kade’s control wavered.

He stepped out onto the balcony, letting the cold bite into his skin. The forest stretched endlessly before him. His domain. His burden.

But the truth gnawed at him.

And the more he denied it, the more his control slipped.

His reflection caught in the glass ice-blue eyes rimmed in gold.

He was running out of time.