LOGINCHRISTINEThe rain stopped sometime before dawn.I noticed it the moment my eyes opened slowly against the pale morning light stretching across the windows.Moonfall looked strangely calm today like the city exhausted itself emotionally after yesterday’s chaos and finally collapsed into silence overnight.For a few quiet seconds, I simply lay there staring at the ceiling while exhaustion pressed heavily against my body.I barely slept.Every time I closed my eyes, my mind dragged me back towards everything that happened yesterday. The rain, the humiliation, whispers and somehow, Kael.My chest tightened slightly before I rolled onto my side with irritation.This was ridiculous.Out of everything that happened yesterday, why was my mind replaying him the most?I could still recall vividly the way he arrived, the way he stood beside me without forcing conversation, the way he stayed and the way his coat settled around my shoulders while rain soaked the city beneath us and worst of all,
HARLANThe council chamber felt suffocating tonight.The scent of tension and dominance was thick beneath the air while elders and senior advisors sat around the massive table pretending this discussion was still respectful but it wasn't.I leaned back slightly in my chair while one elder continued speaking carefully from across the chamber.“Trade negotiations along the western border weakened again this month.”Another added immediately after. “Moonfall city keeps expanding influence faster than expected.”“Kael is swallowing neutral territories through merchant alliances.”My jaw tightened slightly. Everything somehow circled back to Kael lately, it's always him.Another advisor slid reports across the table.“Several noble families already shifted negotiation prefer
STEPHANIEThe moment I walked into my private space, I knew something was wrong not because the room looked different but because the atmosphere did.The city lights stretched beyond the glass walls of the upper district while muted conversations from Moonfall’s nightlife drifted faintly from below, but the silence inside the suite felt wrong somehow.My heels clicked softly against the marble floor as I crossed the living area slowly.One untouched glass of wine still rested beside the couch from earlier.Three communication screens remained active across the table and my phone had accumulated seven missed calls from noble contacts within the last hour alone.I removed my gloves carefully before finally picking up the nearest screen.The update waiting there made my chest tighten instantly.“Alpha Kael departed Moonblade pack before the elder negotiations concluded.”That was the first message and I stared at it twice.That didn’t make sense.Kael did not abandon political meetings
KAELThe rain fell harder between us after my words settled into the silence.Christine looked away first not because she was dismissing me but because she looked emotionally exhausted.I stared at her another second before pulling my coat off silently and stepping closer.She noticed immediately when I placed it carefully around her shoulders.Her fingers tightened slightly against the fabric from the reflex.Then her eyes lifted toward me slowly.“You came back fast.”There was no accusation in her voice, just a quiet realization.I leaned against the concrete railing beside her while the city glowed beneath the rain below us.“Yes.”That single word seemed to hit her harder than an explanation would have because Christine was intelligent enough to understand what it meant.I abandoned Moonblade pack immediately after Darius contacted me.I left the elders, the council, the succession discussions and the political pressure waiting for me there.I left all of it unfinished just for h
CHRISTINEI knew something was wrong the moment I walked into the living room.Nathan was already awake which wasn't unusual anymore lately but this time, the atmosphere felt heavier, too quiet and tense.Three different screens glowed across the dining table while lines of code and message traffic moved rapidly across them.Nathan didn’t look up immediately when I entered the kitchen and that alone unsettled me.
KAEL“Alpha Kael has returned.”The announcement echoed across the massive stone gates just before dawn as the vehicle crossed into my pack. Cold mountain air hit immediately once the gates opened fully and the scent of pine, snow and werewolf territory spread sharply through the air.Moonfall city always smelled like steel, rain and crowded ambition but Moonblade pack smelled ancient and alive.







