Chapter 13- Blood And Authority
1197 Words
Rhys felt his father before he saw him.
The bond had been restless all morning—tight, uneasy, humming with warning. Mikaela slept inside the small lakeside cabin, finally claimed by exhaustion. Rhys stood outside, arms crossed, gaze fixed on the water as if stillness alone could keep the world at bay.
It didn’t.
The air shifted.
Pressure rolled through the trees—heavy, suffocating, unmistakable.
“Step away from the cabin.”
Rhys turned slowly.
Kael, Alpha of Red Moon, stood at the treeline, hands clasped behind his back. His iron-gray hair was pulled tight, expression calm and unreadable. Two warriors flanked him, silent and still.
Rhys straightened instinctively. “You crossed into Crescent Moon territory without permission.”
Kael waved a hand. The guards retreated, vanishing into the trees.
“I crossed into a mistake,” Kael said coolly. “One you made public.”
Rhys’s jaw tightened. “You felt it.”
Kael’s eyes flicked briefly toward the cabin. Toward her.
“I felt a disturbance,” Kael replied. “An uncontrolled bond formed at the worst possible time.”
“She’s my mate,” Rhys said firmly. “The bond sealed.”
Kael studied him for a long moment, gaze sharp and calculating. “You speak as if that ends the discussion.”
“It should,” Rhys snapped. “You taught me that fate isn’t coincidence.”
“I taught you that fate is power,” Kael corrected. “And power must be managed.”
The bond surged violently in protest.
Rhys took a step forward. “Ronan contacted you.”
“Yes,” Kael said simply. “And he was… reasonable.”
Rage flared. “He wants her.”
Kael inclined his head. “He wants stability. He wants Crescent Moon secure. And he understands what you seem to have forgotten.”
“And what’s that?” Rhys demanded.
“That mates are liabilities,” Kael said calmly. “Unless they serve the pack.”
Rhys stared at him. “You don’t believe that.”
Kael’s expression hardened. “I believe it because I’ve watched alphas fall to it.”
Silence stretched between them, heavy and dangerous.
“She’s not a political tool,” Rhys said quietly. “She’s not leverage. She’s not theirs.”
Kael stepped closer, Alpha pressure flaring deliberately, testing.
“You are Alpha-in-training,” Kael said. “You belong to Red Moon. Your future belongs to Red Moon. And if keeping that future intact means breaking a bond formed in ignorance—”
“You’ll what?” Rhys growled.
Kael met his gaze without flinching. “I will do what alphas have always done. I will choose the pack.”
Rhys’s voice dropped. “You would destroy her to prove a point.”
Kael didn’t deny it.
“She will remain with Crescent Moon,” Kael said. “You will return to Red Moon. Distance weakens instinct. Time dulls bonds.”
“And if it doesn’t?” Rhys asked.
Kael’s eyes darkened. “Then I escalate.”
The word landed like a threat carved in stone.
Rhys shook his head slowly. “You’re asking me to abandon my mate.”
“I am ordering you,” Kael corrected.
The bond flared, hot and furious.
Rhys stepped forward, meeting his father’s dominance head-on.
“No,” he said.
The single word echoed through the trees.
Kael studied him, something like disappointment flickering briefly in his eyes.
“You have until the next full moon,” Kael said at last. “After that, I stop negotiating.”
He turned away, voice carrying over his shoulder.
“Choose wisely, son. Mates can be replaced.”
Rhys stood frozen as Kael disappeared into the forest.
Inside the cabin, Mikaela stirred—her wolf waking with a soft, distressed whimper.
Rhys exhaled shakily, pressing a hand to his chest where the bond burned bright and defiant.
“They will not take you,” he whispered to the night. “Not from me.”
The moon rose higher.
Mikaela woke with a gasp.
Her heart was racing, breath shallow, her wolf pacing restlessly beneath her skin. The bond pulsed—hot, unsettled, aching with absence.
Rhys.
She sat up abruptly, the blanket sliding to her waist. The cabin was quiet. Too quiet. The other side of the bed was cold.
“Rhys?” she called softly.
No answer.
Panic curled low in her chest as she stood, pulling on her sweater and boots with shaking hands. The bond tugged at her—not toward him, but away, stretched thin like a warning.
Something was wrong.
She stepped outside.
The lake lay calm beneath the pale morning light, mist drifting lazily over the water. The railing where Rhys had stood the night before was empty. No warmth. No scent strong enough to comfort her.
He wouldn’t leave without telling me.
Her wolf whined, ears flat, pacing inside her mind.
Mate… gone.
“I know,” Mikaela whispered, pressing a hand to her chest. “I feel it too.”
She followed instinct back toward the pack grounds, boots crunching softly against frost-kissed earth. With every step, the bond hummed—tight, distressed, like it was being pulled from the other end.
Voices reached her before she reached the clearing.
Sharp. Controlled. Dangerous.
She slowed, heart hammering.
Through the trees, she saw them.
Ronan stood near the council hall, posture rigid, arms crossed. Beside him was Eirik, tense and watchful.
And across from them—
Rhys.
He stood straight-backed, jaw tight, eyes blazing with a fury barely contained. Kael was there too—Alpha of Red Moon—his presence dominating the space like a storm waiting to break.
Mikaela’s breath caught.
Her wolf surged forward, howling in recognition.
Mate.
She took an unconscious step toward them—
And stopped.
The air between the three males was thick with power, words too low for her to hear but heavy enough that she felt them in her bones. Kael’s gaze flicked briefly past Rhys—toward the trees.
Toward her.
Mikaela’s stomach dropped.
He knows I’m here.
She retreated instinctively, slipping back behind the cover of the forest before anyone could notice her fully. Her heart pounded as she pressed a hand to her mouth, steadying her breath.
They were talking about her.
She didn’t need to hear the words to know that.
Her wolf whimpered softly, confused and anxious.
They want to take him.
Mikaela swallowed hard, forcing herself to stay quiet.
Rhys turned slightly then, as if sensing her—his gaze sweeping the trees, sharp and searching.
For one breathless second, she thought he might find her.
But Kael spoke, sharp and commanding, and Rhys’s attention snapped back—his shoulders stiffening as if bracing for impact.
Mikaela backed away silently.
If Rhys had gone to face them, it meant something serious had already been decided.
And whatever it was—
It terrified her.
She turned and hurried back toward the cabin, bond thrumming painfully in her chest.
She didn’t know what Kael and Ronan were planning.
But she knew one thing with chilling certainty:
They were trying to pull her mate away.
- Writer
