Kael's POV
My wolf had lost his mind.
I stood outside the girl's door, my hands shaking. My hands never shook. I had killed hundreds of wolves without a single tremor. I had watched my enemies beg for mercy and felt nothing.
But now my hands were shaking like a pup on his first hunt.
*MATE*, my wolf howled inside my head. *GO BACK. HOLD HER. PROTECT HER.*
"Shut up," I growled out loud.
*SHE'S OURS. FINALLY OURS.*
I slammed my fist into the wall. The stone cracked under my knuckles. Pain shot up my arm but I didn't care. I needed to feel something other than this madness.
This couldn't be happening. Not to me. Not now.
I was Kael Nightshade. The Monster of the North. I had ripped out my own father's throat when I was seventeen years old. I had built this pack into the most feared territory in the wolf world.
I didn't have feelings. I didn't have weaknesses.
And I definitely didn't have a mate.
"Alpha?"
I spun around. Marcus, my Beta and only friend, stood at the end of the hallway. His eyes were wide with concern.
"What?" I snapped.
"The men are asking questions. About the girl." He stepped closer, lowering his voice. "You carried her yourself. You put her in the east wing. That's where your mother used to—"
"I know where it is."
Marcus studied my face. We had known each other since childhood. He could read me better than anyone.
"What's going on, Kael?"
I didn't answer. I couldn't. Because if I said the words out loud, they would become real.
"She's from Blackwood," Marcus continued. "She's Damien's. She could be a spy."
At the mention of Damien's name, rage flooded my veins. Damien. The Alpha who smiled like a saint and killed like a demon. The Alpha who had murdered my baby sister ten years ago.
I had been waiting a decade to destroy him.
"She's not his," I heard myself say. "Not anymore."
Marcus raised an eyebrow. "How do you know?"
Because my wolf won't stop screaming. Because when I touched her, electricity shot through my entire body. Because looking at her felt like coming home after a thousand years of wandering.
"I just know."
I pushed past Marcus and walked toward my office. I needed space. I needed to think. I needed to figure out why the Moon Goddess would play such a cruel joke on me.
A mate. After all these years. After I had given up hope.
And not just any mate—a broken, pregnant omega from my worst enemy's pack.
I laughed bitterly. The Moon Goddess had a sick sense of humor.
My office was dark and cold, just how I liked it. I poured myself a glass of whiskey and drank it in one gulp. Then another. Then another.
The alcohol did nothing. I could still feel her. The mate bond was already forming, pulling at my chest like an invisible rope.
I closed my eyes and remembered the moment I first saw her.
She had been kneeling in the mud, surrounded by my wolves. Covered in cuts and bruises. Terrified. Broken.
But she hadn't begged for herself.
*"Kill me if you want. But my baby is innocent."*
Those words. That fierce protection in her eyes even when she was seconds from death. She was ready to die for that child.
Something had cracked inside me then. Something I thought had died years ago.
And when I picked her up—when my skin touched hers—my wolf had erupted.
*MATE. MATE. MATE.*
The word had echoed through every part of me. My wolf, who had been silent and cold for ten years, suddenly came alive. He howled with joy. He demanded I claim her right there in the forest.
I had almost lost control. Me. The Alpha who was famous for his iron control.
A knock at my door interrupted my thoughts.
"Enter."
Nana walked in. She was the oldest wolf in my pack—nearly ninety years old but still sharp as a blade. She had been my mother's best friend. She was the only person I truly trusted besides Marcus.
"I've examined the girl," she said.
I sat up straighter. "And?"
"She's malnourished. Dehydrated. Covered in old scars." Nana's eyes were sad. "Someone has been hurting that child for a very long time."
My grip tightened on my glass until it shattered. Blood dripped from my palm but I ignored it.
"What else?"
"She's about two months pregnant. The baby is healthy despite everything." Nana paused. "There's something else, Alpha."
"Tell me."
"She has a mark on her wrist. It was hidden under dirt but I cleaned it." Nana's voice dropped to a whisper. "It's the Mark of the Moon."
I went completely still.
The Mark of the Moon. The sign of the Moon Goddess bloodline. I had heard stories about it but never believed they were real.
"That's impossible," I said. "That bloodline died out centuries ago."
"Apparently not." Nana looked at me with knowing eyes. "This girl is special, Kael. More special than you realize. And if Damien had her..." She shook her head. "He knew. He must have known what she was."
Everything clicked into place.
Damien hadn't kept this girl as a lover. He had kept her as a weapon. A tool. He wanted her bloodline—the power that came with it.
And now she had escaped. Right into my territory. Right into my arms.
My mate. Carrying ancient power. Pregnant with another man's child.
"There's one more thing," Nana said quietly. "The baby."
"What about it?"
"I sensed something when I touched her belly. Something powerful." Nana met my eyes. "That child isn't normal, Alpha. It has its mother's blood—the Moon Goddess blood. If it's born and raised by the wrong hands..."
She didn't finish. She didn't need to.
I understood perfectly.
That child could either save our world or destroy it.
I stood up slowly, my decision made.
"Double the guards around the east wing. No one enters or leaves without my permission."
"And the girl?"
I walked to the window and stared out at the moon. My wolf was still howling, still demanding I go to her.
"She stays. The baby stays. And if Damien wants them back..." I let my claws extend, gleaming in the moonlight. "He'll have to go through me."
But even as I said it, I felt a chill run down my spine.
Because somewhere out there, I knew Damien was already planning.
And the war for my mate—and her unborn child—had just begun.