đź‘‘ Kaelen's Pov đź‘‘
The air in the cavern was too thick, too warm, and far too heavy with the scent of him.
Julian Thorne was a lie. He was supposed to be a fragile peace offering, a ghost of a man I could tuck away in a corner and ignore while I waited for the blight or my brother to finally end me. But as I stood in the pulsing blue glow of the Sacred Caverns, staring at the white-wolf-turned-prince, I realized I was the one who was haunted.
He was an Alpha. The silver in his eyes wasn't just a color; it was a command. And my wolf, the beast that had spent a decade snarling at the world, was currently pacing behind my ribs, whining for a touch I had no right to give.
"You shouldn't look at me like that," I rumbled, my voice sounding like grinding stone. I stepped back, the cool air of the cavern floor hitting my heated skin.
Julian didn't move. He stood by the steaming pool, the bioluminescent moss reflecting in his eyes. "Like what?"
"Like I'm something worth saving," I said. I turned away, gripping the edge of a rock shelf until the stone bit into my palms. "You saw me out there, Julian. I don't just kill; I enjoy the hunt. There is a rot in the Iron Ridge, and I am the blade that keeps it sharp. You're a King of the North. You should be disgusted by me."
I heard the soft pad of his bare feet on the stone. He didn't stop until I could feel the radiant heat of his body against my back. He didn't touch me not yet but the bond was screaming, a high-pitched frequency that made my teeth ache.
"I saw a man who protected his pack," Julian said softly. "I saw a man who took a hit meant for his people. In my lands, we don't call that a monster. We call it a leader."
"Silas is the leader," I spat, the name bitter on my tongue. "I am the shadow. Shadows don't get to have mates, Julian. They don't get to have... this."
I turned around, intending to tell him to keep his distance, to stay on his side of the cavern. But the words died in my throat. He had shed his outer furs, leaving him in a thin, translucent tunic that clung to the lean muscles of his chest. He looked ethereal, like a spirit of the moon made flesh.
He reached out, his fingers hovering just over the scar that raked across my chest. "Is this where he hurt you?"
"One of many," I whispered. My pulse was a hammer.
"Let me see," he murmured.
He stepped into my guard, his hands sliding up my arms. His touch was like ice and fire simultaneously. Everywhere his skin met mine, the Moonlight Bond flared, sending jolts of pure, unadulterated need through my nervous system. I should have pushed him away. I should have been the soldier.
But when he looked up at me, his silver eyes wide and searching, the wall I'd built around my heart didn't just crack it vanished.
I grabbed his waist, pulling him flush against me with a desperation that scared me. He let out a small, soft gasp, his hands locking behind my neck. The height difference was enough that he had to tilt his head back, exposing the pale, vulnerable line of his throat.
"Julian," I warned, my voice breaking. "If I start, I won't be able to stop. The moon... it's too close. The fever is already in my blood."
"Then don't stop," he whispered, his breath hitching. "I didn't come to the Iron Ridge to be a prisoner, Kaelen. I came to be yours. All of me."
The last thread of my control snapped.
I leaned down and buried my face in the crook of his neck, inhaling deep. He smelled of winter air, ozone, and something uniquely him a sweet, sharp musk that made my head spin. I let out a low, possessive growl, my teeth grazing the skin over his pulse point. I wanted to mark him. I wanted to sink my teeth in and tell the world, tell Silas, tell the stars themselves that this Alpha belonged to me.
Julian arched into me, his fingers clutching at my hair. "Kaelen... please."
I swept him up into my arms, his weight almost nothing against my strength, and carried him to the bed of soft furs we'd laid out near the warmth of the spring. I laid him down, hovering over him like a predator over its prize.
The blue light of the cavern danced over his skin as I stripped away the remnants of our clothing. I wanted to see every inch of him. I wanted to know the map of his body as well as I knew the mountain trails. He was beautiful perfectly formed, with the hidden strength of a predator beneath a layer of royal grace.
I moved over him, my hands tracing the line of his ribs, the curve of his hips. Every touch elicited a shiver, a soft moan that fueled the fire in my gut. When I finally pressed my body against his, the friction was almost too much to bear.
"You're shaking," Julian whispered, his hands roaming over my scarred back.
"I've never... I've never wanted anything like this," I admitted, my forehead resting against his. "It's not just the bond. It's you."
He pulled me down for a kiss that was slow, deep, and tasted of absolute surrender. In that moment, the Shadow Wolf was gone. There was only Kaelen. And as the sounds of the cavern the dripping water, the bubbling spring faded into the background, the only thing that mattered was the heat of the man beneath me and the storm brewing in our blood.
We weren't just two Alphas in a cave. We were two halves of a broken world finally fitting together. And as I lost myself in the rhythm of his breath and the touch of his hands, I knew one thing for certain:
I would burn the entire Iron Ridge to the ground before I let anyone take him from me.