Page 19 of Bond To The Alpha (Fated Bond #1)

KANE

The first light of dawn streams through the frost-covered window, spreading a comforting luminescence on Liana's sleeping face.

I lie still, barely breathing, because I’m afraid to shatter this perfect moment.

Her dark lashes rest against her cheeks, and a few strands of hair have fallen over her forehead. I resist the urge to brush them away; I don’t want to wake her just yet.

How many mornings have I dreamed of waking up next to her like this?

To see that slight furrow of her brow even in sleep— it's all exactly as I remember, yet somehow more beautiful than ever.

We're both lying on the cabin floor, huddled under the small blanket. The fire has died down to embers, but I barely notice the chill in the air. Liana's warmth beside me is all I need.

I can scarcely believe she's here or that last night wasn't just another fevered dream. The memory of her lips on mine and her skin against my skin makes my pulse quicken. I want to pull her closer to feel her heartbeat against my chest, but I hold back. I’m content for now just to watch her sleep.

Liana stirs, at the same time, her eyelids unfurl from slumber. I hold my breath as her eyes open, focusing slowly on my face. And for the next few seconds after this, we just stare at each other in silence.

“Good morning,” I whisper first.

A slow smile lights up her eyes.

“Morning,” she murmurs back.

I move in to kiss her, and Liana responds eagerly, her hand coming up to face.

I place a tender kiss on her forehead. Liana sighs contentedly, nestling closer for a moment before sitting up. I follow suit, wincing slightly as my muscles protest the night spent on the hard floor. The blanket drops around our waists, and I can't help but let my gaze wander over Liana's bare skin and marvel at her beauty in the soft morning light.

I reluctantly tear myself away from Liana, standing to stretch out the kinks in my back. The cold air hits my naked body as I begin padding over to the window. Outside, the world is still blanketed in white, but it seems better than the previous days.

“Guess today's the day we return,” I say, turning back to face Liana.

She's still sitting on the floor and the blanket is now wrapped around her shoulders. Her face is turned towards the dying embers of the fire, and a yawn escapes her lips as she blinks sleepily.

“I'll make some tea,” I offer, now moving towards the makeshift stove I cobbled together near the kitchen area.

Passing by our discarded clothes, I bend to retrieve my pants, stepping into them with a slight grimace at the coldness of it against my skin. I can feel Liana's eyes on me as I move, and when I glance back, there's a hint of appreciation in her expression that makes my heart flutter again.

The process of making tea is familiar now, after days in this cabin. I gather the wintergreen leaves I'd collected earlier and begin working on them while letting my mind wander freely last night.

It's more than just the physical intimacy I've missed. It's the quiet moments like this—the domesticity of making her tea and sharing a space where we’re simply just existing together. I've craved this normalcy with her for so long that even this rundown cabin feels like a sanctuary.

I sneak another look at Liana as I wait for the water to heat. She's pulled her knees up to her chest, chin resting on them as she stares into the fading embers. There's a thoughtful expression on her face that makes me wonder what's going through her mind.

“Here,” I say, offering her one of the cups I’m holding.

Soon we start to reheat some leftover meat on the skewers, over the fire. Liana sits cross-legged beside me.

I slide a piece of steaming meat off my stick and hold it out to her.

Liana looks at my hand, then to my face, where she just stares, and I wonder if I've overstepped. But then she leans forward and takes the meat delicately between her teeth.

We continue to eat in companionable silence, the only sound the crackle of the fire and our quiet chewing. It's a far cry from the fancy restaurants I once imagined taking her to, but somehow, it feels perfect.

“The tavern must miss you by now,” I say, breaking the silence.

A small smile plays at the corners of Liana's lips.

“I miss it too,” she admits softly.

There's so much I don't know about her life these past years and so many questions I want to ask. But I don’t want to push too hard, or too fast.

“How did you come across the Moonlight Pack?”

She’s still staring at the flames when she answers,

“It was like finding a diamond in the rough.”

“I wandered for months,” Liana continues. “There were nights I thought we wouldn't make it; times I was so hungry I could barely think straight.”

She’s absentmindedly begun to fiddle with her skewer.

I should have been there, I think to myself.

“And even when Lina came, we slept in abandoned buildings, in the woods... anywhere I could find shelter,” she says. “I took odd jobs when I could, but it was never enough. And always, always, there was the fear of being discovered, of someone recognizing me for my stigma.”

I have to resist the urge to pull her into my arms.

My heart clenches at the pain in her voice, and at the thought of her alone and vulnerable, with a child to care for

“There was one pack I’d settled into right before coming here to Moonlight, and I thought...I really thought I could make a home there.”

“What happened?” I prompt gently.

Liana shakes her head as a bitter smile twists her lips.

“Things got bad. Really bad. I was forced out again, with nothing but the clothes on my back and a baby to protect.”

I can picture it all too clearly…and I kind of hate that I can because the image makes me want to howl with rage.

“I found Moonlight Pack about three years ago,” she then shrugs, “Or maybe they found me. I wasn't expecting much. I'd learned not to hope by then.

"But Sam..." Liana's voice warms with affection and gratitude. "He took one look at me, at Lina, and he just knew. He didn't ask questions or demand anything. He just offered us a place to stay with no strings attached."

I feel a bit of jealousy at the fondness in her tone, but it’s quickly followed by shame. I should be grateful to Sam for helping them when I couldn't.

“It wasn't easy at first,” Liana admits. “Some of the pack were wary of us. But Sam vouched for us and gave me a chance to prove myself. The tavern was his idea, you know?” She smiles at me, and I return it.

“He thought of it as a way for me to support myself and Lina so we can better become part of the community. Moonlight Pack became more than just a refuge. It became home. I owe Sam so much for that.”

While Liana speaks, and while I listen intently to everything she’s saying, I also notice what she doesn't say . There's no mention of Lina's father. There’s no explanation of how they met or why he's not in the picture. I’m very curious about him and I want to know every detail of her life in those missing years.

But I push the questions down.

It's clear from everything I've seen that whoever Lina's father is, he's irrelevant in their lives now. And truthfully, I'm not sure I want to know about another man who was with Liana and Lina. Just thinking about it makes my wolf growl possessively. Liana is here with me now, that’s what matters. Most importantly, we’ve got a second chance to build the life we should have had all along.

I shift closer to wrap an arm around her shoulders. Liana tenses for a moment then relaxes into my embrace.

I press a kiss to her temple, breathing in her scent.

“I'm so sorry you had to go through all that," I say against her skin. “But I swear to you, Liana, you'll never have to face anything like that again. Not as long as I'm breathing.”

She turns her face towards me, her eyes searching mine. There's a vulnerability there, but also a spark of the fierce, independent woman I fell in love with all those years ago.

By noon, the snowfall has finally begun to taper off. Everything outside our cabin sanctuary is blanketed in white that sparkles under the weak winter sun. It's beautiful, but treacherous because the snow is still deep, and the path back to town will no doubt be challenging.

Now that Liana's with me again, surely this means she's forgiven me, and we have a real chance at the future we should have had all along. I imagine proposing to her once this rogue mess is sorted out — something grand, romantic, and worthy of everything she is to me. I will make her my Luna and she’ll rule Blood Moon Pack by my side.

We trudge through the deep snow. The landscape feels alien under all that white blanket, and more than once we have to backtrack for landmarks to guide us. When we skirt the edge of a partially frozen lake, Liana quickly and eagerly bends down to brush away the snow off something, which turns out to be a small stone with a deep and rich blue —azure, I think it's called, because it’s shot through with veins of darker blue.

“Oh, Lina loves these! She calls them dragon eggs,” she holds it up to me.

I grin. “Really?"

“Let's find some more for her, then,” I happily join her, and we spend the next few minutes combing the lakeshore.

I find another stone and hold it up triumphantly. “Got one!”

Liana laughs. “That should be enough,” she says, but I shake my head.

“Three's a charm,” I insist as I resume my search with new vigor. When I do find a third stone, I beam at Liana, feeling ridiculously proud of myself. I can’t stop smiling.

“Lina's going to love you a hundred times more when she sees these,” Liana says.

I shrug excitedly. “It's only fair. I already love her a thousand times more.”

I've known Lina for such a short time, but she's already claimed a huge piece of my heart.

“I'll always treat Lina like she's my own.”

Liana's smile falters slightly like a shadow has just passed over her face.

Concerned, I ask, “Is something wrong?”

She shakes her head quickly. “No, it's nothing.”

We walk in silence for a while, but I can sense Liana's unease. She keeps opening her mouth as if to speak, then closing it again.

She stops abruptly. Her eyes meet mine with an intensity that roots me to the spot.

“She's your daughter.”

“What?” I’m certain I must have heard wrong.

“You're Lina's father,” Liana repeats.

My mind is still spinning and grasping at straws.

“Yes, of course, I'll be her father…” I try to say, in case she meant something else.

“No, Kane. I’m not asking you to be her father. Lina is your biological child. You're her real father.”

It feels like a part of my life is currently being sapped out of me as I stand there and listen. A lot of memories are zigzagging through my head at once. That day when Liana told me there was someone else, and the following days of gut-wrenching pain I had to endure due to my believing another man had claimed her heart.

But all along, it was me. I was Lina's father.

My first shock slowly begins to give way to a tsunami of anger, confusion, and joy and they all make my chest tighten uneasily.

How could Liana have kept this from me?

All these years, I had a daughter I knew nothing about.

Saying nothing, I turn and start walking.

I can't look at Liana right now; not after finding out she’s deceived me for so long.

“Kane, please! I'm sorry. I was scared. I didn't want to lose her…”

Would I have ever known about Lina if I hadn't come to Moonlight?

Liana's footsteps crunch behind me as she hurries to keep up.

“I know I should have told you. But after what happened between us... I didn't know if I could trust you with her. I was trying to protect her…”

Protect her from me .

I grit my teeth and force myself to keep moving forward. Each step takes effort as if I'm wading through molasses instead of snow.

“Kane, please say something,” Liana pleads.

“We should reach town by nightfall,” I answer coldly.

Liana falls silent, but I can feel her eyes boring into my back.

My mind is replaying every interaction I've had with Lina since arriving in Moonlight. Her familiar scent, the way she looked at me with such curiosity and openness…how did I not realize? The connection, immediate protectiveness, and love I felt all make sense now.

I clench my fists in a fight against howling to the wind.

Liana's hand touches me, but I jerk away from her. I can't bear her gentleness right now.

“We should take a break, the path gets steeper from here,” she suggests.

“We'll scale it, let's just keep going,” I grunt.

The sound of our feet is the only sound for several tense moments, until a low growl breaks the silence, and I can barely turn around to pin down the source of the sound when a massive shape hurtles from the treeline, slamming into Liana.

I jump forward and sink my shifted claws into its course fur as I wrench the rogue off her. Liana tumbles down the slope and lets out a grunt of pain as her back collides with something below.

“Liana!” Her name tears from my throat, but I can't reach her. More rogues come from different sides as I shift further.

“Stay down there!” I shout to Liana, hoping she can hear me.

The first rogue attacks, jaws snapping for my throat. I duck and drive my fist into its ribs with a crack. But there's no time to savor the small victory. Another rogue is already on me, claws raking across my back.

Pain explodes along my spine, but I force it down.

I spin to catch the rogue's muzzle with a vicious uppercut. It yelps and staggers back. But there are too many. They circle me with hunger and bloodlust.

I notice Liana struggling to climb back up the slope.

“Stay back!” I yell desperately.

A rogue takes advantage of my distraction, giving its claws purchase in my thigh. I howl in agony, feeling the burn of something unusual seeping into my veins. Poison? With an angry roar, I throw myself at the nearest rogue. We tumble to the ground, snow flying as we grapple. Its fetid breath washes over me as it snaps at my face. I grab its jaws and strain to keep those razor-sharp teeth from my throat.

I eventually wrench its head to the side until the crack of breaking bone echoes across the mountainside.

One…two…three down. But how many more to go?

I stagger to my feet, chest heaving. Everything in front of my eyes is spinning slowly, but I see two more rogues charge at me. I duck under the first's lunge, using its momentum to throw it into a tree, and the thud of impact is quickly followed by the second rogue's attack.

I'm not fast enough this time.

Claws continue to dig down my chest and tear through my fur from all sides. But I continue raining blows on the rogue's snout until it falls to the ground. The victory, however, is short-lived.

My vision is blurring fast. And I feel my strength ebbing with each beat my heart makes.

I hear Liana calling my name. I want to tell her to run and save herself, but I can't find the breath.

Another rogue comes at me, but my poisoned body merely stumbles, and suddenly I'm on the ground, with snow stinging my open wounds. The rogue looms over me with victory gleaming in its crazed eyes. It raises its hand high in the air in a trajectory I’m sure is coming straight through for my heart.

For some reason, it stops.

“Kane!”

I hear Liana's voice from far away. I hear the scrabble of her hands and feet against the snowy slope as she climbs towards me.

I want to tell her to stay back. But my tongue feels too thick in my mouth to form words.

No , I think desperately.

Liana's face swims into view above me, tears streaming down her cheeks. Her lips are moving, but I can't make out the words over the roaring in my ears.

But right before an irresistible tide of darkness begins pulling me under its wings, her lips form words that finally penetrate the fog in my brain:

“Mama... Papa…”