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H azel

My breath feels like fire in my lungs.

The image of Nina touching my Mate is playing over and over in my head. But why? Can’t my heart just let him go?

He has shown he will do whatever he wants anyway. He will never choose me first.

Every step I took away from that scene was like walking on glass. The tears welled as I picked up a staff and poured out all my anger on the training dummy, wishing I could destroy this bond the way the first staff broke. I picked up another one but my rage was still like a vice.

How dare Nina? Were they together? Had she touched him in that way? Had he made her feel the things that he makes me feel with his tongue, did he whisper sweet nothings to her, fill her up and use her, like they were meant to be together from the beginning of time?

The thought hurt me more than anything I’d experience in my hard life.

That I’d kept myself for my Mate and this is what ended up happening.

What was even the point, then? I could have fucked any of the men back at Broadstone to kill this discomfort that I’ve been living with, to quench this primal need that had burned through me every day since Kieran rejected me .

But I didn’t, and now, I need him like I need air.

“Fuck!” I hit the dummy with a flying kick.

I hear his footsteps before I see him.

Heavy. Determined. Unyielding.

I watch him say the things he had to say, my heart opposing him at every turn.

I want to believe him so bad. I want to look into his eyes and freefall into their depths.

I want to live in the fantasy that this ruthless Alpha, who would not hesitate to kill for me, the one that every other Alpha in all the mountains fears, is mine. All mine.

But how can I, when women like Nina can still make a pass at him even when she is supposed to be watched due to her part in Damon’s schemes?

So, when he tells me that he chose me, I step back without thinking and I see the hurt in his eyes. It’s like a shattered egg and my chest aches with the weight of it.

I exhale sharply, my fingers curling into fists. “I can’t do this, Kieran. I can’t keep being your second choice, your afterthought. An option.”

I have to make it clear, let him know that there’s no playing with my heart, with my head, with my soul. Not again. It’s either he’s all for me or not. My heart cannot take another hit. Not again.

The night air is cool against my overheated skin as I try to steady my breath. But it’s no use. My pulse is still erratic, my heart a wild, traitorous thing slamming against my ribs.

Because of him.

I turn and start to walk away. The tears are falling now. I want nothing but to be locked up in my room to cry. I don’t even want to see Ayana. I don’t want to make her care for me in my suffering yet again.

My wolf whines at the discomfort she feels, the restlessness that comes with being away from her Mate.

I don’t want to lose my wolf.

I feel like my life is over. What do I do now?

I don’t turn around when he grabs my arm and stops me. The desperation in his grip digs into my skin. But I can’t let him watch me break and shatter. I try to yank my arm away but he holds me, using the sheer advantage of his weight .

“Hazel,” Kieran says, his voice raw, strained. “Let me explain.”

I close my eyes. Don’t break. Don’t let him in.

But my wolf whines at my thoughts. She doesn’t want to shut him out.

He’s saying all the right things, pushing all the right buttons.

But I have to protect her. I have to keep her heart safe, too.

And if our Mate cannot be considerate enough to think of that, then so be it.

But am I really protecting her?

I could lose her. And all her suffering under the seal would have been useless. I would never see her free and happy, running through the woods, the snow, the rain, the stream. I would never hear her panting and her barks or be the gorgeous shewolf that she is out in the open.

I would have lost her before I found a way to break the seal.

“Let me go, Kieran. I don’t want to hear anything else.” The tiredness in my voice surprises even me. And my wolf whines like she feels it too.

“I pushed her away,” he snaps, his voice laced with frustration.

“The second she touched me. I saw what she did to my men and banished her. She planned this to keep is apart…my love…” The endearment bands me gasp.

the tenderness in his tone catches me off guard.

But this is not the time to betray my anger.

I finally turn again, the fire in my chest burning too hot to contain.

His eyes darken, something wounded flickering in them, but I don’t stop.

“I trusted you,” I hiss, stepping closer. “I let myself believe—again…stupid me. Silly me. Being with you is killing me. Being away from you is killing my wolf. Either way, I’m dying every day because I’m bound to you! Because everything in my being will only respond to you.”

I close my eyes tighter.

“No other man appeals to me, no other pleasure trumps what you give me. And yet, I can’t even trust you enough to complete our bond. What else do you want Kieran? To break me until my last breath? If that is it, then you are cruel Kieran and I…”

I shake my head, laughing bitterly, holding back my words .

His breath shudders, his fingers twitching like he wants to reach for me. But he doesn’t.

“No, Kieran. You’re reacting. You don’t get to throw me away, then pull me back whenever it suits you.”

“She means nothing to me,” he says, his voice rough, desperate.

I tilt my head, studying him, my pulse hammering against my skin. “And what do I mean to you?”

The question lands between us like a thunderclap. His entire body tenses, his lips parting slightly, but no words come.

The tears flow freely now, saltwater wetting my lips.

I nod, stepping back. “That’s what I thought.”

But then, he moves.

Before I can retreat further, he pulls me in. His arms lock around me, like he’ll never let me go. His warmth is inviting, tempting, seducing. I just want to cuddle and nuzzle into his neck all night.

I expect rage from him for rejecting him. I expect another excuse.

Instead, his voice drops, low and aching. He’s really…hurt. Something about it makes my wolf yelp.

Look how much pain I’m causing him.

I shouldn’t care. But he’s bound to me. What does that say of me, that I am making him feel this way? I can’t believe I let myself turn into this person, uncompromising, unmovable. That I have let my pain dictate who I am.

He searches my eyes, his blue roaming in my grey, our eyes speaking what our lips cannot.

“You mean everything to me,” he says, almost like a moan, a plea, a prayer.

My breath catches.

His grip tightens just slightly. “Do you think I don’t hate what I did to you?

That I don’t replay it over and over in my mind, wishing I could change it?

” His voice is hoarse, strained with something real.

“I was a coward, Hazel. I was blind. I never wanted to be wrong about you. I was ready to do anything to make you my Luna. But I wasn’t man enough to live up to that.

Hazel, give me the chance to prove myself to you. ”

I swallow hard, my throat tight .

He takes a step closer, his scent wrapping around me—cedar and embers and mouthwatering him. “I was wrong. And I will spend every moment I have proving to you that I will never make that mistake again.”

The bond hums between us, an unrelenting pull, a force greater than either of us. My wolf wants to believe him. She wants to crawl into him, to bury herself in the warmth of his words.

I pull my hand away, my voice barely above a whisper. “Words are easy, Kieran.”

His expression tightens, but he nods. “Then let me show you.”

I don’t answer.

The ache in my chest is unbearable, raw and bleeding, and I don’t know what to do with it.

But before either of us can say another word—

A sharp howl rips through the night.

My entire body stiffens.

Kieran’s head snaps toward the sound, his posture instantly shifting, his aura changing into something lethal, channeling his Alpha wolf.

Another howl follows.

Then another.

Then the alarm bells.

The estate erupts in movement, warriors rushing toward the gates, their voices sharp and urgent.

Kieran curses under his breath, his wolf flickering behind his eyes. He turns to me, his entire frame coiled with tension.

“Our walls have been breached.” He loosens his grip on me and takes a step back.

“Come with me. Let's save our pack.”

The words do something to me. It makes my stomach warm and my chest swell. My heart flutters with the implication of his words. I take a breath.

“I don’t remember agreeing to join your pack,” I say as I wipe my tears.

His nostrils flare, but there’s no time to argue.

Because war has come to Moonfang.