Kieran's POV
I'm already moving before I realize I've left my throne.
My wolf explodes inside me, roaring one word: PROTECT.
The assassins are fast, but I'm faster. I shift mid-leap, my human form tearing away as my true wolf emerges. My guards are shouting behind me, but their voices fade to nothing.
All I see is her.
The girl with the Moon's Kiss glowing on her skin. The servant who should mean nothing to me.
The one my wolf is screaming to save.
An assassin reaches her first. His blade rises, aimed at her heart.
I slam into him with the force of a battering ram. My jaws close around his throat. Bones crack. Blood sprays hot across my muzzle. I throw his body aside and place myself between the girl and the others.
Six more assassins circle us.
I bare my fangs and growl.
The sound echoes through the temple like thunder. Several assassins actually stumble backward. Good. They should be afraid.
Behind me, I hear her gasp. Her heart is racing so fast I can hear every beat. She smells like fear and something else—something sweet and wild that makes my wolf want to howl.
Focus, I tell myself. Kill the threats first. Figure out why your wolf has lost its mind later.
Two assassins attack at once from different sides. I catch one by the leg, my fangs sinking deep. The other slashes at my shoulder, but I barely feel it. I twist, throwing the first one into a stone pillar so hard his skull cracks.
The second one tries to run. I chase him down in three strides and end him.
My royal guards finally reach us, forming a protective circle. They cut down the remaining assassins with brutal efficiency. In less than two minutes, every attacker lies dead on the temple floor.
Blood soaks into the white marble. The nobles are screaming, pushing toward the exits. Princess Seraphina is shrieking something I can't hear over the chaos.
None of it matters.
I shift back to human form and spin around.
The girl is still on her knees where I left her. Her dark hair has fallen across her face. Her thin shoulders shake. The Moon's Kiss glows silver on her pale skin, still burning with fresh magic.
Our eyes meet.
And my world tilts.
Everything I thought I knew—everything I believed about myself—cracks apart in that single moment.
Those eyes. Terrified and brave. Vulnerable and somehow knowing, like she can see straight through the walls I've built around myself.
My wolf surges forward with a force I've never felt before.
MATE. OURS. CLAIM HER. PROTECT HER. NEVER LET HER GO.
"No," I breathe.
This can't be happening. The moon was supposed to choose Seraphina. Someone appropriate. Someone I could keep at arm's length while fulfilling my duty.
Not... not her.
Not someone who makes me feel like this.
The High Priestess's voice cuts through my shock. "The moon has spoken, Your Majesty. The choice is made."
I barely hear her. I'm still staring at the girl, and she's staring back at me with wide eyes. She looks like she might pass out. Or run. Or both.
"Your Majesty," Lord Corvus appears at my side. "We need to secure her immediately. Someone planned this attack. They knew—"
"I know what they knew," I snap. My voice comes out rougher than I intended. "They knew the moon wouldn't choose Seraphina."
Gasps ripple through the crowd. The princess herself pushes through the guards, her perfect face twisted with rage.
"This is WRONG!" She points a shaking finger at the girl. "She's nobody! A servant! She can't even shift properly!"
"The Moon's Kiss doesn't lie," the High Priestess says calmly.
"Then she used dark magic to trick it!" Seraphina's voice rises to a shriek. "She's a fraud! A—"
"ENOUGH."
The word leaves my mouth like a whip crack. The entire temple falls silent.
I don't know why I'm defending her. I don't know why rage burns through me at Seraphina's accusations. I should be thinking clearly, rationally, figuring out what this means for the kingdom.
But all I can think is: No one talks about my mate that way.
My mate.
The words settle into my chest like they've always belonged there.
I take a step toward the girl. She flinches, and something painful twists in my gut. She's afraid of me. Of course she is. Everyone's afraid of me.
But I don't want her to be.
"What's your name?" My voice comes out gentler than I've spoken in years.
She stares at me like I'm a predator about to strike. Her lips tremble. "I-Isla, Your Majesty."
Isla.
My wolf rumbles with satisfaction. Isla. Our Isla.
I reach down and offer her my hand. She looks at it like it might burn her.
"I won't hurt you," I say quietly. "I give you my word."
Slowly, shakily, she places her small hand in mine.
The moment our skin touches, power explodes between us.
The Moon's Kiss on her neck flares brilliant silver. My own chest burns as an answering mark sears into my skin—the King's Bond, the mark that only appears when a moon-blessed mate is accepted.
We both gasp. The bond snaps into place like a physical thread connecting us. I feel her fear, her confusion, her shock. And underneath it all... hope. Fragile and desperate, but there.
The bond settles, and I realize I'm still holding her hand. I pull her to her feet. She's so small compared to me, barely reaching my shoulder. Fragile-looking, but I can feel strength in her that she doesn't even know she has.
"You're under my protection now," I tell her, loud enough for everyone to hear. "Anyone who harms her answers to me."
I let my eyes sweep across the crowd, making sure they understand. I see fear, shock, anger, calculation. The nobles are already scheming, already plotting.
Let them try.
My wolf is making himself very clear: No one touches our mate. No one.
"Your Majesty," Corvus says carefully. "The attackers... we should question the survivors."
"There are no survivors."
"Then we should investigate how they got past the temple guards. This was planned. Someone knew—"
"I said I'll handle it." I turn back to Isla. Her hand is still in mine. She hasn't pulled away, even though she looks terrified. "Can you walk?"
She nods, not trusting her voice.
"Good. You're coming with me to the palace."
Her eyes widen. "But I... I'm just a servant. I don't belong—"
"You belong with me now." The words come out more possessive than I intended. "The moon chose you. That makes you mine to protect."
Princess Seraphina makes a strangled sound of pure rage.
I don't even look at her. I wrap my cloak around Isla's trembling shoulders and start leading her toward the exit.
"Your Majesty!" The High Priestess calls after us. "The bonding ceremony must be completed within seven days, or the mark will fade and the kingdom's protection will fail!"
Seven days.
I have seven days to figure out why the moon chose a servant girl I've never met. Seven days to understand why my wolf recognizes her like we've been searching for her our entire lives.
Seven days before I have to bind myself to someone who makes me feel things I swore I'd never feel again.
As we step outside into the moonlight, Isla stumbles. I catch her automatically, and she looks up at me with those eyes that see too much.
"Why did you save me?" she whispers.
Because my wolf demanded it. Because the bond forced me. Because duty required it.
Those are the answers I should give.
Instead, I hear myself say: "Because no one hurts what's mine."
Her breath catches. The Moon's Kiss glows brighter on her skin.
And from the shadows beyond the temple, I see movement. A flash of a hooded figure watching us. Gone before I can react.
The attack wasn't random.
Someone knew the moon would choose her.
Someone wants her dead.
And I just claimed her as mine in front of the entire kingdom.
What have I done?