Kieran's POV
I catch her before she hits the ground.
Kira's body goes limp in my arms, silver light crackling across her skin like lightning. Her moon mark glows through her shirt burning so bright I have to look away.
Nobody move! I roar at the Council warriors, Alpha dominance rolling off me in waves.
The mate bond screams in my chest. She's not breathing right. Whatever power exploded from her is killing her from the inside out, and I'm helpless to stop it.
Cassius recovers first, of course. Fascinating. I've never seen that much raw power. His eyes gleam with scientific hunger. She'll be extremely useful for our research.
She's not going anywhere.
That wasn't a request, Alpha Bloodmoon. Cassius nods to his warriors. Seize her. Now.
Five years I've protected her. Five years of watching from a distance, keeping her safe. Now it's all falling apart in minutes.
I said nobody touches her! Alpha dominance rolls from me harder. Lesser wolves drop instantly. But Council warriors keep coming, their training overriding instinct.
I'm outnumbered ten to one. If I fight, my pack dies. If I surrender Kira, she gets dissected in a Council lab.
There's only one card left to play.
I invoke Alpha rights, I say, my voice carrying. She's my purchased mate.
Cassius smiles and that smile tells me he was waiting for this. Purchased breeder, technically. And after five years with no offspring, you've breached contract terms. She reverts to Council property.
He's right. The breeding contract had terms I never read closely enough produce pups within five years or return her.
I never intended to breed her. I just needed to keep her safe. To protect her from people like him.
Give me thirty days, I say through gritted teeth. We'll fulfil the terms.
Thirty days? Cassius considers this, drawing it out. With her in Council custody, of course.
No.
The mate bond twists painfully. I feel Kira's pain burning through our connection like acid.
Fine, I bite out, hating every word. Thirty days. She stays here, under guard. But she needs immediate medical treatment first.
Agreed. But if you fail Cassius's smile turns predatory. I'm taking her. And I'll discover exactly what makes moonmarked wolves so powerful. Even if I have to dissect her piece by piece.
He leaves with his warriors, but I know they'll be watching. Waiting.
I'm running before he's out of sight.
Elena! I carry Kira's limp body toward the healer's cottage. ELENA!
Elena meets me at the door and pales when she sees Kira. Inside. Quickly.
I lay Kira on the examination table. Silver light pulses under her skin in waves, each one making her body convulse.
Her power exploded. Knocked down every wolf in the clearing except Cassius.
Elena checks the moon mark with practiced hands and inhales sharply. It's glowing so bright I have to shield my eyes.
The power surge triggered an awakening. Her mark is evolving, but her body can't handle the transformation. She starts crushing herbs into paste with urgent movements. She'll burn out completely within hours.
How do I stop it?
You can't. Only she can. Elena spreads the paste over Kira's mark. The glow dims slightly. We can slow it down. Give her time to learn control. But Kieran She meets my eyes. she needs an anchor. Something to ground all that power.
I pull a chair beside the table and take Kira's hand. It's burning hot.
You know what you have to do, Elena says softly, pity in her eyes.
Complete the mate bond. It's the only way to give Kira the strength to control her power. The one thing I swore I'd never force on her.
Five years ago, I bought her to save her life not to trap her with a monster. I killed her friends in that raid. Slaughtered people she loved. She deserves better than being bound to me forever.
But if I don't claim her now, she dies anyway.
Leave us, I tell Elena.
She squeezes my shoulder and slips out, closing the door behind her.
I sit beside Kira in the dim light. Even unconscious and dying, she's beautiful. Strong. Everything I don't deserve and never will.
I'm sorry, I whisper, leaning closer. For everything. For killing your pack's allies. For buying you. For not being strong enough to protect you from Cassius.
I lean down to complete the bond
Kira's eyes snap open, glowing pure silver.
Her hand shoots up, grabbing my throat with impossible strength. I choke, clawing at her fingers.
Where am I? Her voice echoes with power, ancient and terrible. What did you do to me?
Kira, it's me
I know exactly who you are. Those silver eyes pulse brighter. The executioner. The butcher. You think I'd ever let you claim me?
You passed out. I brought you to the healer
Liar! Her grip tightens, cutting off my air. I felt it through the bond. The contract. Thirty days to breed me like an animal or they take me to a lab.
She heard everything. Through our incomplete bond, even unconscious.
You sold me. Again. Tears stream down her face, cutting through the silver glow. You're just like them. Just like everyone who's ever hurt me.
Kira, listen
Power explodes from her center.
The blast throws me across the room like a ragdoll. I slam into the stone wall with a sickening crack, feeling ribs shatter.
Kira stands over me, silver light radiating from her body in waves. She looks like an avenging goddess.
I'd rather die than let you touch me. I'd rather burn out completely than be your breeding slave.
Then she runs.
Through the door. Into the night. Away from me.
Every instinct screams to chase her, to protect her. But I can barely stand. My ribs are broken. That blast should have killed me outright.
Rafe bursts through the door, taking in the destruction. Where's Kira?
Gone. I force myself up, ignoring the screaming pain. In thirty days, if we don't find her, the Council takes her.
So we track her down.
She thinks I betrayed her. And she's right. The words taste like ash.
Did you? Rafe asks quietly.
I made a deal to keep her alive without asking her first. Trapped her in a breeding contract. I meet his eyes. I'm exactly what she thinks I am.
Kieran
She's running alone with power she can't control. She'll burn out or lose control and kill someone.
Then what do we do?
Get the pack ready, I order, straightening despite the agony. We're going after her.
Kieran, if she doesn't want to be found
I don't care if she hates me for the rest of her life. I grab my jacket with shaking hands. But I won't let her die alone in the dark.
Rafe leaves to gather warriors.
I limp toward the door, then stop.
That smell.
Blood. Fresh blood. Not Kira's.
Coming from the forest path she took.
I run, broken ribs forgotten.
Three Council warriors lie dead on the path. Throats torn out. Bodies mangled.
But not by wolf claws. The wounds are wrong. Too big. Too savage.
I examine the tracks in the dirt, my blood running cold.
That's impossible.
The massive paw prints following Kira's scent belong to a creature from nightmares. A creature that shouldn't exist.
A Shadowbeast.
And judging by the tracks, it's hunting her.
Kira just ran straight into a death trap.