Luna's POV
The knock on my apartment door comes exactly four hours later.
I freeze on the couch, my heart hammering so hard I think it might explode. Storm goes wild inside my mind, recognizing our mate before I even open the door.
He's here! Our mate is here! She practically screams.
Shut up, I hiss at her. He's not our mate. Not anymore.
Another knock, harder this time. Luna. I know you're in there. I can smell you.
That voice. Deep and commanding and full of authority. It's been three years since I heard it, but my whole body remembers. My wolf wants to open the door and throw herself at him.
I want to run out the back window.
Open the door, Kael says, and there's something different in his voice now. Please.
The please breaks me. Kael Thorne doesn't say please to anyone.
I walk to the door on shaking legs and open it.
The sight of him punches all the air from my lungs.
He's bigger than I remember more muscles, broader shoulders, harder edges. His black hair is longer, touching his collar. Those golden eyes that haunted my dreams are staring at me with an intensity that makes my knees weak.
But it's the expression on his face that shocks me. He looks desperate. Almost scared.
Luna, he breathes my name, and takes a step forward.
I step back immediately. Don't.
He stops, his jaw clenching. We need to talk.
So talk. I cross my arms over my chest, trying to protect myself. You have five minutes, then I want you gone.
Can I come in?
No.
Kael's eyes flash gold his wolf is close to the surface. Luna, please. We can't have this conversation in the hallway.
I glance behind him and see my elderly neighbour Mrs Chen peeking through her door with wide eyes. Great. Just what I need.
Fine. Five minutes. I step aside to let him in.
Kael walks into my tiny apartment, and suddenly the space feels impossibly small. He's too big, too powerful, taking up all the oxygen. His eyes scan everything my second hand furniture, my photography equipment, the life I built without him.
Nice place, he says quietly.
You didn't come here to admire my apartment. I stay by the door, ready to run if I need to. Say what you came to say.
Kael turns to face me, and the raw emotion in his eyes makes my breath catch. I felt it. The power signature. You're pregnant with my child.
It's not a question, but I answer anyway. Yes.
How? The word comes out strangled. I rejected you three years ago. The bond broke. This shouldn't be possible.
But it is, I say, lifting my chin. The baby was made before you rejected me. During the Blood Moon Festival. That one night when you pretended I mattered to you.
Kael flinches like I slapped him. Luna
Don't. I hold up my hand. Don't you dare try to explain it away. You used me, rejected me, and humiliated me in front of the entire pack. You don't get to show up now and act like you care.
I do care, Kael says, his voice rough. I've always cared. That's why I
Rejected me? I laugh bitterly. Strange way of showing you care, Alpha.
I was trying to protect you! Kael shouts, and I jump. He takes a breath, forcing himself to calm down. My father... he taught me that love makes you weak. That caring about someone gives them power to destroy you. When I felt the mate bond with you, it terrified me. The intensity of it. I thought if I kept you close, something bad would happen to you.
I stare at him, not believing what I'm hearing. So you broke my heart to protect me?
Yes, Kael admits. And it was the stupidest thing I've ever done. I've regretted it every single day for three years.
My eyes burn with tears I refuse to let fall. You don't get to say that. You don't get to show up and tell me you regret it when I've spent three years trying to survive what you did to me.
I know. Kael takes a step closer, and this time I don't back away. I know I hurt you. I know I don't deserve your forgiveness. But Luna, you're carrying my child. Our child. That changes everything.
Does it? I ask bitterly. Or are you just here to deny the baby is yours like you denied our mate bond?
Kael's face goes pale. I would never
Wouldn't you? I interrupt. You told the whole pack I wasn't good enough to be your mate. What makes you think I'd believe you'd want our baby?
Because it's mine! Kael roars, and his wolf flashes in his eyes. That baby is mine, Luna. I don't need a DNA test. I don't need proof. I felt the power signature. My wolf recognized our child. She's mine.
I freeze. She?
Kael's expression softens. It's a girl, isn't it? I can feel it.
I touch my stomach without thinking. How did you know?
Because I'm her father, Kael says simply. The bond might be broken between us, but I'm connected to her. I've been feeling her since the moment she announced herself this morning.
This is too much. I turn away from him, trying to breathe. What do you want, Kael? Why are you really here?
I want you to come back to Silverpine, Kael says. Both of you. I want to protect you during the pregnancy. I want to be there when our daughter is born.
I spin around. Are you insane? The pack hates me! They think I'm a traitor's daughter. They'll make my life hell!
No one will touch you, Kael says fiercely. I'm the Alpha now. My father is dead. Anyone who threatens you or our child will answer to me directly.
My heart skips. Your father is dead?
He died two years ago, Kael says. I've been Alpha of Silverpine Pack since then. Things are different now, Luna. I'm different.
I want to believe him. But I've been hurt too badly.
I need time to think, I say.
You don't have time, Kael says urgently. You felt what happened this morning. The baby's power signature reached every pack in the Pacific Northwest. By now, rogues know you're pregnant and alone. They'll come for you, Luna. Pregnant she-wolves are valuable targets.
Fear crawls up my spine. I can protect myself.
Can you? Kael asks. While pregnant? When you can't shift without risking the baby? When you're getting weaker every day as the baby drains your strength?
He's right, and I hate it.
Come back with me, Kael pleads. Not as my mate. Not as anything except a pregnant pack member who needs protection. I'll give you your own space. You won't have to see me if you don't want to. But please, let me keep you both safe.
I'm about to answer when my phone buzzes. I glance at it and my blood runs cold.
It's a text from an unknown number: Congratulations on the pregnancy. Pity you won't live long enough to give birth. Some debts must be paid in blood.
My hands shake as I show Kael the message.
His face transforms into something terrifying. When did you get this?
Just now.
Kael pulls out his phone and makes a call. Tobias, I need a security team at Luna's apartment in Seattle. Now. We have a threat. He rattles off my address. Yes, immediately.
He hangs up and looks at me. Pack your things. You're coming with me tonight.
Kael
That message wasn't a random threat, Kael says, his voice deadly serious. Someone knows you're pregnant with my child, knows where you live, and just threatened to kill you. This isn't negotiable anymore, Luna. You're coming home to Silverpine where I can protect you.
How do I know you're not the one who sent it? I challenge.
Kael looks at me like I stabbed him. You really think I would threaten my own child?
I don't know what to think anymore, I whisper.
Another text comes through, and this time there's a photo attached. I open it and nearly drop the phone.
It's a picture of me taken through my apartment window. Tonight. Just minutes ago.
Someone is watching me right now.
Kael sees the photo and moves so fast I barely process it. He's at the window, looking out, his whole body tense. They're out there. Watching. Waiting.
Storm is howling in my mind. Danger. Protect the baby. Run!
How fast can you pack? Kael asks without turning around.
Ten minutes.
You have five. He finally looks at me, and his eyes are glowing pure gold. Pack essentials only. We leave in five minutes, Luna. Because whoever sent those messages is planning to move soon, and I will not let them touch you or our daughter.
I run to my bedroom, throwing clothes into a bag with shaking hands. Through my bedroom window, I see a shadow move in the alley below.
Someone is definitely watching.
And they're getting closer.