Chapter 4

Kai’s POV

She was standing in the middle of nothingness—just her, me, and the space between.

The world around her shifted in shadow, but she was light. Her eyes glowed like stars. I didn’t know her name, but I knew her. My soul did. My wolf did.

My feet moved before I realized. I stepped toward her.

She stepped back.

“Wait,” I said. She tilted her head, and I caught her smile—a sad one. The kind that knew pain far too well. The kind that said come and find me... if you dare.

I moved faster.

So did she.

The distance between us shrank and stretched. My lungs burned. Not from effort but from need. A need I couldn’t name. My wolf growled low in my chest, clawing, howling, desperate. It wanted her. It needed her like a starving beast needs blood.

She reached for me.

I reached back.

Our fingers grazed—And the dream shattered.

My eyes flew open to sunlight coming in through the curtains. I was tangled in the sheets. I turned and saw that I wasn’t alone.

Two women were beside me. One had her head on my chest. The other was curled against my side. I didn’t remember their names. Or their faces from last night. I didn’t care to.

I blinked, inhaled sharply and that scent wasn’t hers.

I clenched my jaw.

The one with auburn hair stirred. “Good morning, Alpha…”

“Get out.”

Both women lifted their heads. One of them giggled like I was joking.

“I said get out,” I growled. Louder this time. The wolf bled into my tone, and they scrambled up in panic, grabbing their things, babbling apologies.

I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and ran a hand through my hair. I hated that dream. Hated that she kept haunting me. Always just out of reach. Always gone when I woke.

And worst of all… I missed her. A ghost.

How could I crave someone I had never known?

By the time I got into the shower, the women were gone. Good.

The water was cold. I let it be. Maybe it’d freeze the craving in my chest. Maybe it’d quiet the low growl my wolf had started and refused to stop. I scrubbed harder than necessary.

As I toweled off and stepped back into the room, my fingers grazed the scar across my chest. It was faint now but deep once. It reminded me of the war. Of betrayal. Of how close I came to death and how no woman, not even the Moon Goddess herself, could get under my skin since then.

Except her.

Whoever the hell she was.

I dragged on black pants and a charcoal shirt. I didn’t dress to impress. I dressed to fight.

Outside, the sun was already high. Guards and maids bowed their heads as I walked down the palace grounds.  I found Greeley, the royal trainer, near the stone archery lane, watching a pair of young wolves spar.

“Morning, Alpha,” he said, not taking his eyes off the two combatants. “Rough night?”

“Just a dream.” I sighed.

“The same one?”

I didn’t answer. He already knew.

Greeley smirked and finally turned to walk with me down the gravel path. His voice was low, casual. “The council’s growing impatient. They want to know when you'll settle on a Luna.”

“Not interested.”

He chuckled. “You’ll have to be eventually. A mate strengthens the bloodline. Unites the factions. Especially now. The three of you need to find someone.”

I grunted. “They want power, not unity. And I won’t tie myself to a woman just to shut them up.”

“Still... having someone by your side wouldn’t kill you.” He raised an eyebrow. “Unless you keep dreaming about this ghost woman and never find her. Then it just might.”

I exhaled through my nose, ignoring the jab. “Where are my brothers?”

Greeley shrugged. “Rael’s probably balls-deep in someone’s daughter…or wife. And Pierre? Brooding in a dark room somewhere, writing poetry with his shadows.”

I shook my head, half amused. “Idiots.”

“Your idiots,” Greeley said with a smirk.

I left him near the training grounds and made my way to the war room. My sanctuary. The place where everything made sense.

It contained everything I needed - Maps, runes, plans, contingency routes, and my puzzle.

A massive mosaic of the world—thousands of tiny pieces, carved in stone and bone. Each one carried meaning. Each one was part of a bigger plan.

I was halfway to the table when I stopped.

There was a woman on my couch. She was start naked. I fought the urge to roll my eyes at the sight of her.

“Helena,” I said, cold and flat.

She smiled lazily, twirling a dagger between her fingers. “You’ve been avoiding me, Alpha.”

I crossed my arms. “That should’ve been a hint.”

“You’re always so tense,” she purred, sliding off the table. Her body was toned and her curves were in all the right places. She was a weapon and a distraction, all in one. “Let me ease that tension.”

“No.”

She pressed closer anyway/

I didn’t step back.

Maybe I should’ve.

But I didn’t.

“You smell like lust,” she whispered, biting her lower lip. “Let me help you forget her.”

My fingers curled into fists.

“Fine,” I muttered, grabbing her roughly.

Her lips crashed against mine. My hands found her waist. I didn’t waste any time. I wasn’t the type to make love and she knew it.

I turned her against the table, took off my pants and thrusted inside her. She moaned—whether from want or pain, I didn’t care.

She wanted to play dangerous. I was dangerous.

I grabbed her hips and thrusted inside her with reckless abandon. With every thrust, I saw the woman in my dreams. I thrusted even harder inside Helena, trying to forget the woman in my head.

Still, it wasn’t working,

So I thrusted even deeper and harder, willing myself to forget. The sounds of flesh hitting flesh echoed in the room and the desk underneath us was threatening to break.

Still, I didn’t care..

All I cared about was this mysterious woman.

“Stop,” she whispered.

I didn’t.

Her nails dug into my arms. “Kai… please… it hurts.”

Still, I didn’t stop. The wolf was too close to the surface. Her scent wasn’t hers. Her body wasn’t hers.

“You’re killing me,” she whimpered.

And then—

“Kai.”

A voice in my head. Not hers. Not Helena’s.

Hers.

The girl from my dream.

The one with burning eyes. The one who wasn’t here.

The world snapped back.

I saw Helena beneath me and I froze.

I saw what I was doing.

And I hated it.

I pulled away and backed up, feeling disgusted with myself. My chest heaved. My skin crawled.

I didn’t argue.

I turned and left without a word, slamming the door behind me.

And even then, even with the burn of shame crawling up my spine, I wasn’t thinking about her.

I was thinking about the girl from my dreams.

And how she stopped me.

Even now.

Even when I didn’t know her name.