Chapter Three: Blood Between Brothers
Kael's POV
The woods had never felt so damn loud.
Every branch that cracked beneath my boots sounded like a warning shot. Every shift of the wind carried danger with it. I could still feel Aria's warmth on my skin, her nails in my back, the taste of her lips like a drug I was already addicted to.
But none of that mattered now.
Because he was standing in front of me.
Lucian.
He stepped out from behind a pine trunk like he'd been waiting for me all along. The moonlight caught his face sharp cheekbones, dark hair slicked back, eyes like frostbite. The air between us thickened.
"Going for a midnight run, little brother?" he asked, voice low and casual. Too casual.
I didn't answer right away. My fists clenched at my sides. My heart pounded, but my face stayed unreadable.
He didn't know. Not for sure.
Or maybe he did.
"You're a long way from the patrol zone," I said evenly, eyes scanning his stance. Lucian didn't move like a man at ease. He moved like a predator trying not to pounce too soon.
"So are you," he replied, taking a step closer. "Funny how the alarm was triggered right after you disappeared from the compound."
The silence that followed said everything.
He was fishing.
Testing me.
I tilted my head. "You think I'm the rogue they're hunting?"
"I think," he said, circling me slowly, "you've been playing with fire. And you're about to get burned."
He was close now. Too close. But I didn't flinch.
"If you have something to say, Lucian," I muttered, "say it."
"Oh, I will," he said darkly. "But first, answer this: What were you doing in her wing of the compound tonight?"
There it was.
I met his gaze head-on. "Walking."
"In her corridor?"
"Free territory," I shrugged. "Didn't realize you patrolled every square inch of your bride's shadow."
His expression didn't shift, but something in his eyes cracked. Just a little.
"She's not just my bride," he said, voice colder now. "She's the future of this pack. The bloodline. The legacy. And I've watched you sniff around her for years like a goddamn stray."
He was baiting me. That same arrogant tone, the one he'd used since we were boys always a few minutes older, always trying to shove me back into his shadow.
But I wasn't that boy anymore.
I stepped forward, voice low and sharp. "You've never looked at her like she was anything but a means to an end."
He laughed, but there was no humor in it. "And you have? What, you think love makes you worthy of her? You think a second-born, soft-hearted Beta could ever protect a woman like Aria?"
My jaw tightened.
He saw it. Smiled like he'd won.
"I don't need to protect her," I growled. "She's not yours to possess. She's not a crown or a trophy or a fucking breeding token."
Lucian's smile vanished.
"Careful," he warned. "You're treading on sacred ground."
"She's not sacred," I snapped. "She's suffering. And we both know it."
That hit a nerve.
Lucian's hand twitched toward the knife at his belt. I saw the flicker of the wolf behind his eyes, the shift beginning.
And then he lunged.
We collided hard, the breath knocked from my chest as we hit the forest floor. His fist cracked against my jaw, but I rolled and slammed him back with my shoulder, flipping him off me. Leaves exploded around us as we fought fists, teeth, claws threatening to break through skin.
But this wasn't about dominance.
It was about Aria.
Lucian threw me against a tree, his hand closing around my throat. "Tell me the truth," he snarled. "Have you touched her?"
I couldn't speak. Could barely breathe. But the fire in my eyes said enough.
He saw it.
He knew.
His grip loosened.
"You bastard," he whispered, like the truth finally landed in his gut.
I shoved him off me, coughing as I stumbled back. "It wasn't supposed to be like this," I rasped. "But it happened. And I won't apologize for loving her."
Lucian's expression twisted into something ugly.
"You've doomed her."
"No," I said, straightening, blood dripping from my lip. "You did. When you treated her like a duty. When you let the pack bind her without even asking if she wanted you."
"She doesn't have to want me," he snapped. "She's fated to me."
"No," I said coldly. "She was assigned to you."
The difference mattered. Maybe not to the pack. But to us? It was everything.
Lucian stared at me, chest heaving. I could see the war behind his eyes part of him wanted to kill me right there. The other part knew it wasn't that simple.
"Get out of my sight," he said finally, voice shaking with fury. "Before I tear your throat out."
I didn't move.
"You can scare the others, Lucian. You can play king in a kingdom built on fear. But you'll never have her heart."
His eyes darkened.
"You touch her again," he said, "and I'll make sure no one ever finds your body."
Then he turned and disappeared into the shadows, his rage moving through the forest like a storm cloud.
I waited until I couldn't hear his footsteps anymore before collapsing against the tree, chest burning, body aching.
I'd survived this fight. Barely.
But the war was coming.
And the woman we both loved was right in the middle of it
Footsteps were approaching and I didn't know whose they were