The shadow moved again.
Fast.
Too fast for human eyes.
Kael reacted instantly, shoving Lucien sideways just as something dark shot from the trees.
Steel flashed.
A blade sliced through the space where Lucien's throat had been a second earlier.
The assassin landed soundlessly in the clearing.
Black cloak.
Silver markings.
Crimson eyes.
Council.
Kael's wolf snarled violently beneath his skin.
Lucien straightened slowly beside him, expression turning cold enough to freeze the air itself.
"You sent assassins now?" Lucien asked quietly.
The figure tilted its head.
"You know the law."
Kael's jaw tightened.
"What law?"
The assassin ignored him completely.
Its attention remained fixed on Lucien.
"The bond has progressed beyond acceptable limits," the assassin said. "The Council has issued correction."
Correction.
Kael hated that word already.
Lucien stepped slightly forward.
"You don't have authority here."
"No," the assassin agreed calmly.
"But the Blood Moon does."
The bond pulsed sharply.
Like the Moon itself reacted to the words.
Kael moved beside Lucien immediately.
The assassin noticed.
Its crimson gaze narrowed slightly.
"So it's true," it murmured. "You've already chosen each other."
"No one chose anything," Kael snapped.
The assassin's gaze shifted toward him for the first time.
"You feel pain when separated."
Kael said nothing.
"You stabilize through proximity."
Silence.
The assassin smiled faintly.
"And yet you still deny it."
Lucien's voice dropped dangerously low.
"Leave."
The assassin didn't move.
"The Council offered mercy once before."
Something cold passed through Lucien's expression.
Kael noticed instantly.
Before.
This had happened before.
"The last pair refused correction," the assassin continued softly.
"They destroyed an entire territory beneath the Blood Moon."
Kael's chest tightened.
"That won't happen."
The assassin's gaze returned to him.
"You cannot promise that, Alpha."
The forest darkened around them.
Not physically.
Instinctively.
Like the world itself recognized danger.
Kael's wolf pushed harder beneath his skin.
Protect.
Claim.
Fight.
The bond surged violently.
Lucien inhaled sharply beside him.
The assassin noticed that too.
"Interesting," it murmured. "The Moon is accelerating faster than predicted."
Kael stepped forward.
"I'm done listening."
The assassin finally moved.
Fast.
A silver blade flashed toward Kael's chest.
Kael shifted instantly.
Bones cracked.
Fur burst across skin.
The black wolf slammed into the assassin before the blade could strike.
They crashed across the clearing.
The assassin moved unnaturally well — twisting beneath Kael's weight, driving silver toward his side.
Pain exploded as the blade grazed him.
Kael snarled violently.
Behind them, Lucien appeared in a blur of motion.
Too fast.
Too cold.
His hand closed around the assassin's wrist with crushing force.
The assassin hissed sharply.
Lucien's crimson eyes burned bright now.
"Enough."
The air changed.
Kael felt it immediately.
The temperature dropped.
Shadows twisted unnaturally around Lucien's feet.
The assassin froze.
For the first time—
Fear crossed its face.
"You're losing restraint," it whispered.
Lucien's expression didn't change.
"Then leave."
The assassin's gaze shifted between them again.
The black wolf standing protectively near Lucien.
Lucien standing dangerously close to losing control.
The bond thrumming violently between them both.
"You still don't understand," the assassin said quietly.
"The Moon is not creating this bond."
Kael shifted back partially, breathing hard.
"What?"
The assassin smiled faintly.
"It's recognizing something that already existed."
Silence slammed into the clearing.
Kael felt the bond pulse hard enough to hurt.
Lucien went perfectly still.
The assassin continued softly—
"That is why the curse became unstable."
Kael's voice dropped.
"What are you talking about?"
The assassin looked directly at Lucien.
"You never told him."
Lucien's expression darkened immediately.
"Stop."
But the assassin kept speaking.
"The Blood Moon Curse does not create fated pairs."
Kael's chest tightened.
"It reveals them."
The words hit like lightning.
The bond exploded violently.
Pain.
Heat.
Emotion.
Kael staggered.
Lucien grabbed him instantly.
The moment their skin touched—
Everything intensified.
Kael gasped sharply as images flashed behind his eyes again.
Not visions this time.
Memories.
A battlefield beneath a crimson moon.
Blood on snow.
Lucien—
Different.
Younger.
Standing beside him.
Not strangers.
Never strangers.
Kael tore himself free with a harsh breath.
"What was that?"
Lucien looked shaken for the first time since they met.
The assassin stepped backward slowly.
"You're remembering."
Kael stared at Lucien.
"Remembering what?"
Lucien didn't answer immediately.
That silence told Kael enough.
"You knew," Kael said quietly.
Lucien's jaw tightened.
"I suspected."
The bond pulsed again.
Not painful.
Terrified.
"What does that mean?" Kael demanded.
Lucien finally looked at him fully.
"It means this may not be the first time we've found each other."
The forest went silent.
Even the wind stopped moving.
The assassin lowered its blade.
"The Council feared this outcome."
Kael's pulse thundered.
"Outcome?"
The assassin's crimson gaze sharpened.
"Repetition."
The word felt ancient.
Wrong.
Lucien's voice turned ice cold.
"You've said enough."
The assassin studied him for one final moment.
Then slowly stepped backward toward the trees.
"The Blood Moon rises tomorrow night," it said softly.
"And when it does…"
Its gaze lingered on both of them.
"You will remember everything."
Then the assassin vanished into the darkness.
Silence remained behind.
Heavy.
Breathing became difficult.
Kael stared at Lucien.
"You were going to tell me?"
Lucien didn't answer.
The bond twisted painfully between them.
Not from distance.
From emotion.
Kael's voice sharpened.
"What memories?"
Lucien looked away briefly.
A rare crack in his composure.
"That," he said quietly,
"is exactly what I was afraid of."
Above them—
The Moon burned darker red than before.
And somewhere deep inside the bond—
Something ancient was beginning to wake up.