(Damien's POV)
The campfires burned low by the time I returned.
The wolves had already begun to celebrate.
Drums beat in uneven rhythms, mugs of ale clanged together, laughter rolled like thunder. Victorious howls pierced the night sky, sharp and wild. My soldiers reveled in bloodshed the way only wolves could feast on the glory of battle as if tomorrow didn't exist.
But the moment I stepped into camp, silence fell like a blade.
Dozens of golden eyes turned toward me. Some dropped to their knees. Others bowed their heads. The respect was absolute, but so was the fear. I was not just their king. I was their alpha.
"Your Majesty!" one of the younger wolves shouted, raising his mug in salute. "The vampires will think twice before crawling onto our lands again!"
A chorus of agreement followed, cheers rising once more. My wolves were drunk on victory, and I should have been the loudest voice among them. But the beast inside me was silent, restless.
Because my hunger tonight had not been sated by war.
It had been sated by him.
I forced a smirk, raising a hand in acknowledgement. "Drink. Feast. Tomorrow we remind the world why wolves rule the night."
The cheers erupted again. It bought me enough distance to stride past them, cloak billowing, my face carved into the mask of dominance they expected.
But Kael wasn't fooled.
I felt his eyes on me the moment I entered my tent. The heavy flap fell shut, cutting off the noise outside, but the air inside was taut with tension. Kael was already there, standing rigid, arms folded across his broad chest. His armor gleamed, freshly polished despite the battle, a sign of his relentless discipline.
"You disappeared." His words weren't a question. They were an accusation.
I pulled off my gauntlets, tossing them onto the table. "I was scouting the borders."
Kael's eyes narrowed, glowing faintly gold in the dim firelight. "Alone? After a battle?"
"Yes." My voice was clipped, final.
Silence stretched between us. Kael was one of the few wolves who dared to test my patience, not because he lacked respect but because his loyalty ran deeper than fear.
He'd been with me since before I claimed the throne, before I carved my name into legend.
Which made him dangerous. He knew my tells.
His nostrils flared, and I cursed inwardly. Wolves lived and died by scent, and no matter how faint, Adrian's lingered on me like a bruise. Smoke. Night-flowers. Blood not spilled in battle.
"You smell of..."
"Enough," I snapped, my voice cracking like a whip. My beast surged forward, daring him to challenge me further. "Remember your place, Kael."
His jaw tightened, but he bowed his head. "As you command, my king."
I turned away, pacing to the far side of the tent where shadows clung. My chest felt tight, the weight of secrets pressing harder than armor.
For centuries, wolves and vampires had ripped each other apart. Children grew up suckled on hatred. Elders told stories of blood feuds by firelight. And I...their king, was supposed to embody that hatred. To fuel it.
Instead, I craved the enemy like he was air.
Kael finally left, his footsteps heavy with unspoken suspicion.
But I wasn't alone for long.
"Brother?"
I froze. Selene's voice drifted in like a breeze, soft but sharp enough to cut. My sister stepped through the tent flap without waiting for permission. Her dark hair spilled over her shoulders, her wolf's eyes glimmering like molten silver.
"You should be celebrating," I said, keeping my back to her as I unclasped my armor.
"I could say the same to you," she countered. There was always steel beneath her sweetness, a trait that made her both adored and feared within the pack. "Instead, you sulk in shadows."
I forced a chuckle, though it sounded hollow even to my own ears. "A king doesn't sulk. He plans."
She circled me, her gaze sharp, assessing. Unlike Kael, Selene didn't confront me directly. She was subtler, watching for cracks in my mask, waiting for me to slip.
"You've been… different," she murmured. "Restless. Distracted. You disappear after battles, return with strange scents."
My jaw tightened. "Careful, Selene."
Her lips curved, though her eyes gleamed with something colder. "You forget, I'm your sister. I know when you're lying."
The silence between us stretched like a drawn bow. She didn't press further, not yet. But I knew she would. Selene was clever, far too clever, and her loyalty to me did not outweigh her loyalty to the pack.
If she discovered the truth…
No. She couldn't. She wouldn't.
I turned away, dismissing her with a growl. "Leave."
For a moment, she lingered, and I could feel her eyes burning into my back. Then she was gone, the tent flap whispering shut behind her.
Alone once more, I collapsed into the chair by the table, pressing my palms into my eyes. My head throbbed with exhaustion, my body aching from both battle and restraint.
Every instinct screamed that I was playing with fire. That this secret, this hunger, would burn not just me but everything I ruled.
And yet, even as guilt gnawed at me, I couldn't erase the memory of Adrian's lips, swollen beneath mine. His voice, whispering my name like a plea. His submission, hidden from the world but given wholly to me.
Gods help me. I wanted him again.