Chapter 4 Mate ?

Elena 

“Don't let Kai convince you that you belong in his shadow, Elena. Stand next to me, and you'll never be invisible again." He said and I felt heat spreading from the jaw he touched through my body. Like I was on fire.

Mate, Solara whispered deep in my chest. That’s when it hit me, making my stomach twisted.

I’d completely forgotten today was my birthday.

But today I turned nineteen. I remember on my eighteenth birthday. The day every wolf was supposed to find their mate. But nothing had happened to me that day. No pull. No bond. Solara was hidden deep in my mind. I’d already given up on it.

So why now? Why, of all people, Alpha Lucian?

My wolf had called him mate. That couldn’t be right. Could it?

I stepped back before I could think about it. Two quick steps, putting distance between us, with my dagger in my hand.

"Touch me again without asking, and you lose a finger.”My voice shook and I hated that.

Lucian didn't look threatened. If anything, he looked pleased, his lips curving into a smile, his eyes dropped to the blade and came back up to meet mine. "Fierce," he said. "Good. A Luna should know how to hold a weapon."

"I'm not your Luna." I kept the dagger up between us. "You show up here making demands like I'm a prize in some game. You don't care what I actually want."

Something shifted in his face. The amusement dropped away, and what was left underneath looked almost honest. "You think Silver Moon gives you what you want, Elena? Look at what they've made you. A walking memorial to a dead woman. A reminder people feel guilty looking at. Kai only noticed you today because I forced him to."

That one landed harder than I wanted to admit. Because it was true. Until this morning I'd been furniture in my own pack.

"Maybe." I let the blade drop an inch. "That still doesn't mean I let you use me to make your pack stronger."

"I don't need you for power." He took a step closer, his hand up in surrender. "Bloodfang pack is indeed facing threats. We lose people to rogues and rival packs more than I'd like to admit. I need someone who can actually stand and fight, not just look pretty at my side while I'm off dying somewhere. You've got a warrior's heart. You deserve somewhere that's celebrated instead of buried."

Before I could answer, I heard footsteps behind me.

"Get away from her!" Kai said as he walked into the garden with his sword already drawn, his amber eyes filled with fury. He stood between me and Lucian putting the sword at Lucian's throat.

"You were confined to the eastern lodge." His voice had gone low, rough, an Alpha's growl under the words. "This is trespassing, Lucian."

Lucian didn't reach for a weapon. He just stood there, calm, looking at Kai's sword like it was a toy. "Relax, young prince. We were just talking."

"She's got nothing to say to you."

"Actually..." I stepped out from behind him, because I was done being hidden like something fragile. "I've got plenty to say. Just not with a sword drawn in the middle of the night."

Kai glanced back at me, and he looked like he was hurt. "Elena. He's manipulating you."

"I can speak for myself, Kai." I turned to Lucian. "Go back to the lodge. We'll settle this at the council meeting."

He looked at me for a long moment, then dipped his head. "As you wish." No argument. He turned and disappeared back into the dark like he'd never been there at all.

The garden was quiet all of a sudden. Kai put down his sword, but his shoulders stayed locked tight.

"Why were you out here with him?" His voice cracked with something that wasn't quite anger. "Do you understand how dangerous he is?"

"I can take care of myself." That came out sharper than I meant, all the frustration from the whole day finally cracking through. "I've been training since I was six years old. Stop talking to me like I need protecting."

Kai closed his eyes. Took one breath, long and shaky. When he opened them again, the anger was gone, and what replaced it made him look younger somehow. Exposed.

"I'm not trying to treat you like a child," he said, quiet now, taking a step toward me. "I'm scared, Elena."

"Scared of what?"

"Of losing you." He reached out, holding my arm, it wasn’t like Lucian’s electric jolt; it has no electricity. No pull. Just warmth. And somehow that was worse. Because my wolf didn’t move away from him either.

"I know I was blind. I know my own guilt kept me away from you for years. But watching him look at you today, thinking he might actually take you from here..." He stopped and Swallowed. "It felt like something in my chest was tearing in half."

My heart did something complicated and unwelcome.

"Kai..." I started, and didn't know how to finish it.

"Give me a chance." His voice cracked around the word chance. "Don't go with him. Stay. Let me prove I don't just see my mother's ghost when I look at you. Let me show you what you actually mean to me."

I stood there in the dark, caught between two men.

One was offering me a future built on danger and power, the other offering me acceptance. I had no idea which direction was actually safe to walk in.

Somewhere beneath it all, my wolf told me the real storm hadn't even started yet.