Questionable Choices

Kade POV

The girl had fallen asleep before we even left the neutral zone. I watched as her head sank against the window, her breathing becoming steady yet painfully audible. My Beta, Marcus, kept throwing glances at us in the rearview mirror. I could feel his questions building like the pressure before a storm.

“Let it go,” I said.

He wisely stayed silent for another five kilometers. Then his curiosity won out. As always.

“A Moonwolf,” he said. It wasn’t really a question. “I thought they were extinct.”

“Clearly not.”

“And you just happened to witness the Nightshade Moon Ceremony when you found her.”

I didn’t answer. Marcus knew exactly why I had been there. For months we had been tracking reports of unusual wolf births in Nightshade territory. A pup born during a lunar eclipse. Twin girls with identical silver eyes who died before their first shift. Small things that added up to something bigger if you knew what to look for.

I knew what to look for. My grandmother had made sure of that before she died. But this… I hadn’t expected this. Maybe a dormant bloodline whose activation would take years. A wolf with a fraction of the lunar powers I could develop over time. Not a full manifestation, triggered by a rejected bond.

The prophecy was unfolding faster than expected. That unsettled me.

“Thorne will come for her,” Marcus said.

“Let him try.”

“Kade.” Marcus used my name, which meant he was serious. “We’re talking about a possible war here. The Council won’t approve of us harboring a Nightshade wolf. Especially not the rejected mate of their future Alpha. Just the political implications…”

“The Council will do what I tell them.” I kept my voice calm. Marcus had been my Beta since we were fifteen. He had earned the right to question me. But this decision was not up for debate. “She is a Moonwolf. Do you understand what that means?”

“I understand that your grandmother filled your head with prophecies and ghost stories.”

“My grandmother,” I said quietly, “predicted the drought three years in advance. She knew two months ahead of time about the lone wolf attacks on our southern border. She told me exactly where to find you the night you got separated from the hunting party and nearly bled out.”

Marcus’ jaw tightened. He remembered. Every wolf in the pack remembered my grandmother’s gifts.

“She said a Moonwolf would either save us or destroy us,” I continued. “She said I would recognize her by silver light and a broken bond. She said two Alphas would be bound to her fate, and only one would survive what’s coming.”

“What exactly is coming?”

That was the question I couldn’t answer. My grandmother had died before she could tell me the details. I only knew that something was hunting Moon wolves. Something ancient and powerful, strong enough to wipe out an entire bloodline over two centuries. And now it was hunting the girl asleep in my backseat.

I looked at her again. Her face looked softer in sleep. Younger. The tears had dried on her cheeks, leaving salty tracks. Blood was still caked under her fingernails where she had scratched at her dress during the rejection. A bruise was forming on her left temple, probably from where she had run into something during her escape through the forest.

Damien Thorne was a fool. You didn’t just throw away your soulmate. The bond was sacred. Rejecting it went against every wolf instinct we had. The fact that he had done it publicly, of all places at the Luna Ceremony, spoke of either breathtaking stupidity or desperate circumstances.

I suspected both. Marcus Thorne had been pressuring his son for months to seal an alliance with the Crane Pack. I had my own spies in Nightshade territory. They reported that the old Alpha was growing paranoid about Shadow Crest’s rising strength. He wanted to mate his son to a woman who offered military advantages, not the daughter of a mid-ranking warrior.

So Damien had given in. He had chosen his father’s approval over his mate. That decision would haunt him. I would make sure of it.

“What are you going to do with her?” Marcus asked. We were approaching our territory. I could see the first boundary markers through the trees.

“Train her.”

“Train her for what?”

“For everything.” I felt the girl stir beside me, but she didn’t wake. “She has no idea what she is. No idea how to control her abilities. Right now she’s a weapon without a trigger—dangerous to everyone, including herself.”

“And once she’s trained?”

“Then we use her to avert the disaster heading our way.”

Marcus was silent for a moment. “You’re using her.”

“Yes.”

“Does she know that?”

“I told her.” I remembered the look in her eyes when I explained why I was helping her. She hadn’t even flinched. That suggested either courage or a complete lack of self-preservation. Maybe both. “I won’t lie to her, Marcus. She’s had enough of that.”

We entered Shadow Ridge territory. The protective wards recognized me and let us pass without resistance. The girl shifted in her sleep and made a small sound that could have been pain, grief, or both.

My wolf growled protectively. I ordered him to be quiet. We were not forming a bond with her. This was business.

“Where are you putting her?” Marcus asked as we neared the main building. “Guest house? Barracks? We could set her up in the east wing…”

“She stays in the main house.” The words slipped out before I could think them through. “Third floor. The suite next to mine.”

Marcus’ eyebrows shot up. “Those quarters are reserved only for the Queen of our clan, and she is not that.”

“She’s not…” I paused. Took a deep breath. “She needs to be in a secure location. Somewhere I can monitor her condition. The third floor is the most defensible place in the entire complex.”

“True.”

“Exactly why.”

I ignored the sarcasm. Marcus knew better than to push me too far, but he also knew me well enough to see through weak excuses. In truth, I didn’t want her out of my sight. The prophecy had somehow linked us. Until I understood that connection, I needed her close.

We pulled up in front of the main house. Dawn was already breaking. In the east, the sky was beginning to lighten. The pack members would be waking soon. I needed to speak to them before rumors started spreading. A Nightshade wolf on our territory would cause panic if I didn’t act quickly.

“Get Elena,” I told Marcus as I opened the car door. “Tell her to prepare the suite for a guest. Medicine, clean clothes, food. Everything.”

“Your sister will have questions.”

“Everyone will have questions.” I reached for her and carefully lifted the girl into my arms. She was warm and fit perfectly against my chest. Her head settled on my shoulder as if she belonged there. My wolf purred. I ordered him to be quiet again. “I’ll answer them at the pack meeting tonight. Just do what I said.”

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