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Lucian POVThe night pressed heavy over the Blackclaw lands, a silence so deep it made my wolf uneasy. I stood at the balcony of my chamber, staring into the forest. Somewhere out there, rogues prowled. I could feel them, thin threads of hostility tugging at my instincts.My jaw clenched. For weeks, I had felt their eyes on us, lingering too close. Tonight, the pull in the air told me they were nearer than ever.But beneath the danger, something else gnawed at me.Kai.His scent still lingered faintly on my skin from the last time our paths crossed. My wolf growled low inside me, restless, wanting him, craving him. The more I fought it, the stronger it became. A bond that should not exist, a fire that would burn everything if exposed.And still, I could not let him go.The council’s warnings echoed in my head. Elder Corvus especially had been watching me with sharp eyes, sensing cracks in the mask I wore. If he, or anyone else, saw what was inside me, I would lose the pack. The bond t
---Lucian POVThe night hadn’t ended for me. Even after the rogues’ presence faded into the trees and the pack house grew silent, my body stayed restless, my mind sharp. I stood by my window, staring out into the dark forest as if the shadows themselves might reveal their secrets.Something was wrong.Lucian had been too tense. Not just because of danger, there was something in his eyes when I told him to stay behind me. Fear. Not of rogues. Of me.My wolf growled low, pacing inside me. He hides something. Our mate hides something.I clenched my fists against the window frame. The word mate made my throat tighten, but I couldn’t deny it anymore. Every time I saw Kai, every time I breathed him in, the bond wrapped tighter around me. I could fight it with duty, with honor, with every lie I told myself, but it always returned.And yet… he was keeping something from me.I turned away from the window and stalked to my desk, shoving aside a pile of reports. I needed answers. I needed contr
Lucian’s POVOnce more, there was silence in the packhouse, but it was no longer peaceful. It weighed heavily on my ears and pulled me further into unavoidable thoughts. My body was worn out from the battle, but my wolf refused to stop fighting. He growled and demanded as he paced inside me, his claws scraping the walls of my chest.Go to him. Ours. He could have died tonight.I dragged my hands over my face, trying to steady the storm, but every time I closed my eyes, I saw him, Kai, pinned beneath the rogue’s claws, his throat exposed, his breath caught. For a heartbeat, I thought I would lose him, and something inside me had snapped. I hadn’t fought like an Alpha defending his land. I had fought like a man protecting his mate.And I knew some of the pack had seen it.I replayed the way my claws tore deeper than they needed to, the way I shielded Kai long after the threat was gone, the way my snarl had risen the instant a rogue so much as touched him. That kind of fury wasn’t about
Zara’s POVThe hall still carried the echo of chaos from the rogue attack. Warriors murmured in low voices, some pacing in agitation while others checked the doors and windows twice. But my attention wasn’t on them, it was on Lucian.He had fought like a shadow in the storm, striking fast, decisive, untouchable. Yet what caught my eye was not his power. It was where his eyes went when the fight ended.Straight to Kai.I shouldn’t have noticed. I shouldn’t have cared. But the way his hand gripped Kai’s arm, the way his voice dropped when he asked if he was hurt, too soft for an Alpha who never wasted tenderness, something was wrong.I stayed in the shadows, watching, my fingers twisting the gold pendant at my neck. Selene would call me foolish, paranoid even, but I knew what I saw.Lucian guarded everyone in the pack, yes. But this? This was different.His eyes lingered too long. His hand released too slowly. His body angled toward Kai as if drawn by invisible strings.And Kai, oh, he
Lucian’s POVIt was darker than usual, and the night pressed hard against the pack grounds' walls. The moon's silver radiance was smothered by clouds, and the forest moaned like a predatory beast and beneath my skin, my wolf shifted restlessly, ears perked up, claws ready.Then I felt it, an edge in the air, sharp as steel. A foreign scent drifted on the wind, bitter, acrid, wrong. Rogues.I froze in the middle of the courtyard, my senses flaring. Shadows moved at the treeline, too quick, too deliberate. My guards hadn’t seen them yet, but I had. Every hair on my body stood on end.My lips curled into a low snarl. “They’re here.”The bond inside me throbbed suddenly, tugging me sideways, and I didn’t need to guess why. Kai. His energy flickered close, tangled with mine like fire threads. And for the first time, I realized something, he smelled faintly of the same smoke-laced stench that clung to the rogues.My chest tightened.No. Not him. He couldn't…. Movement snapped me out of tho
-Lucian’s POVThe room was still dark when my eyes opened. The moon had sunk low behind the horizon, leaving only the faint silver trace of dawn through the window. My wolf stirred, restless, satisfied and yet uneasy.Kai’s warmth was still pressed against me. His head rested on my chest, his breath slow, deep, steady. The mark of last night lay heavy on both of us. My lips still ached from the bruising kisses we shared, and my body was alive with the memory of every desperate touch.But reality clawed its way back into me, cruel and sharp.I was the Alpha. He was… my forbidden mate.I closed my eyes, fingers tightening in the sheets. What have I done?My wolf answered in a low growl inside me. You have claimed what is ours. Finally.“No,” I whispered under my breath, my voice breaking the silence. “I’ve doomed us.”Kai stirred, shifting slightly, but he didn’t wake. His arm was draped over me, his fingers curled against my side, as if even in sleep he couldn’t let go. That simple to