Chapter 6: The kiss that broke the bond

*Chapter 6: The Kiss That Broke The Bond*

The council room was a war zone.

Six elders sat around the stone table. All of them staring at Kade’s neck.

At her mark.

“You marked her!” Elder Rowan slammed his fist on the table. Spit flew. “After you rejected her publicly! After you called her a traitor!”

Kade sat at the head of the table. Unmoving. Luna stood behind his chair. The mark on his neck was visible. Glowing faintly silver.

“She was poisoned,” Kade said flatly. His voice was cold. “I saved her life.”

“By binding her to you?” Rowan sneered. “Convenient. Now no one can question her. Now no one can touch her.”

Luna stepped forward. Her hands were shaking but her voice was steady. “I found the vial. I found the note. My sister is framing me.”

“Lies,” Rowan said. “The traitor’s daughter lies to protect herself. Just like her father did.”

Kade’s wolf surged. _Mine._

The bond pulsed between him and Luna. Hot and angry and desperate.

“Say it again,” Kade growled. The room temperature dropped.

The other elders shifted in their seats.

Since the transfusion 2 days ago, the bond was getting worse. Every time Luna was near, Kade could taste her on his tongue. Hear her heartbeat in his ears. Feel the ache in her chest.

And she could feel him too. He knew it. Because she kept her eyes down. Because she stood 3 steps behind him instead of beside him.

Rowan threw a folder across the table. Papers scattered.

“Explain this.”

Kade picked it up. Photos.

Luna’s sister Elara. Meeting with rival alphas in the mountains.

And one photo: A woman with Luna’s face, entering the old storage last week. Hood up.

“That’s not me,” Luna said quickly. “That’s Elara. She looks like me. She’s always looked like me.”

“No one believes you,” Rowan said. “Your blood is tainted.”

Kade stood slowly. The chair scraped.

“Meeting’s over,” he said. “Luna, with me.”

He didn’t wait for arguments. He walked out, and Luna followed.

---

They didn’t speak until they reached his room.

The door shut with a heavy thud.

“You’re going to explain,” Kade said. He was pacing. “Now.”

Luna turned on him. “You think I did this?”

“I think someone’s trying to make me think that.”

The bond tugged. _Trust her. She’s scared._

Three years of regret hit him all at once. Three years of watching her from afar and pretending he didn’t care.

“I was scared,” he admitted. Rough. Honest. He stopped pacing. “3 years ago. If I claimed you, Elara would use you. The rival packs would use you. So I thought if I pushed you away, you’d be safe.”

Luna laughed, wet and broken. “You were an idiot, Kade.”

“Yeah.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Still am.”

She crossed her arms. “So what now? We’re fake-mated because you poisoned me to save me?”

“You weren’t poisoned. I was.” He stepped closer. “And it’s not fake. Not to the bond.”

The bond flared.

Pain. Longing. Anger. Love.

All of it crashing between them at once.

Kade could feel her. The way her heart was breaking. The way she still wanted him. The way she hated that she wanted him.

He couldn’t take it anymore.

His hands came up, framing her face. His thumbs brushed her cheeks.

“Luna,” he whispered.

“Don’t,” she said. But she didn’t pull away.

“Don’t what? Don’t touch you? Don’t want you? I’ve been doing that for 3 years. I’m tired.”

And then he kissed her.

It wasn’t soft. It wasn’t sweet.

It was 3 years of grief and anger and need and regret.

Her hands fisted in his shirt. His hands tangled in her hair.

The mark on his neck burned like fire.

For one second, the world was quiet.

No traitor. No poison. No council.

Just them. Just the bond, finally whole again.

She pulled back first, gasping. Her lips were red. Her eyes were wide.

“That didn’t mean anything,” she lied. Her voice shook.

Kade touched his lips. Tasted her.

“The bond says otherwise,” he whispered.

And the silver mark on his neck glowed brighter.

A crash sounded downstairs. Glass breaking. Someone shouting.

A guard burst in without knocking. “Alpha! The antidote is gone! All of it!”

Kade and Luna broke apart instantly. Alpha mode.

Elara had made her move.

“Lock the pack down,” Kade ordered. “No one in or out.”

As the guard ran, Kade looked at Luna.

“We have a problem,” he said.

Luna nodded, already grabbing her medical bag. “And only 3 days to fix it.”

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