Bound by Moonlight

Episode 3: The Breaking Point

Episode 3: The Breaking Point

Kael’s POV

I used to think I was strong.

Not just physically—I’m the Alpha’s heir, trained since birth to lead, fight, kill if I had to. But disciplined. Controlled. The kind of wolf who didn’t let instinct cloud judgment.

Then Selene started looking at me like that.

And suddenly, strength felt like a damn joke.

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She was wearing that stupid black dress again—the one that hit her mid-thigh and made my entire existence feel like a test I was failing.

She laughed at something Marcy said across the yard, throwing her head back, full of light and sunshine and everything I couldn’t touch.

I watched from the shadows.

I told myself I wasn’t stalking.

I was protecting.

From what? I didn’t know. Maybe from me.

Because I wasn’t supposed to want her. Not Selene. The girl my father raised like a daughter. The one I used to help braid flower crowns for on summer nights. The one who once made me eat a worm on a dare and then cried because she thought I’d die.

She was my not-sister.

But the Moon... The Moon didn’t care.

It didn’t care that we grew up together. Didn’t care that every elder would tear me apart for even thinking what I’d been thinking. And it sure as hell didn’t care that her scent was driving my wolf mad.

She wasn’t in heat.

But she was close.

And I was crumbling.

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The moment she walked into the training arena today, I knew I was doomed.

“Train me,” she said.

I almost laughed. Train me? How about tie me up before I throw my entire legacy away because you smell like temptation wrapped in moonlight?

But I said yes.

Because I’m a coward.

She moved like a flame—wild, unpredictable, too close to burning everything I’d built.

When I caught her wrist and pulled her into my chest, it was instinct. And it was a mistake. A massive, irreversible mistake.

Because the second her body pressed against mine, my wolf surged.

Mate.

The word hit me like a blade to the chest.

No.

No. No. No.

This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen. Not with her.

I leaned my forehead to hers, trying to anchor myself.

She smelled like rain. Like violets and danger and forever.

“Kael…” she whispered.

And I almost kissed her.

Almost ruined both of us.

But I let go.

Because I still had some strength left.

Barely.

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Later that night, I stood under the cold shower until my skin was numb.

I gripped the tile, head bowed, chest heaving.

“I’m not supposed to love you,” I whispered to the empty air.

But the bond didn’t care.

The Moon didn’t care.

And I wasn’t strong enough to stop what was coming.

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