Kade's POV:
"No!" I said firmly. "You handle it."
Cassian narrowed his eyes at me, with his arms folded. "Kade." He began. "You need to address this yourself. They'll only understand the severity of what happened if it comes from your mouth."
I leaned back in my chair, and glanced at the open parchment spread across the study table—battle strategy, land surveys, border reports. "I have other concerns than a gaggle of girls trying to drown each other over a crown I never wanted them to wear."
Cassian exhaled. "That 'gaggle of girls' will tear each other apart if you don't show your teeth. Today it's attempted murder, tomorrow it's open bloodshed. Is that the kind of Luna you wish to crown?"
I hissed and rose to my feet, pacing toward the window where the forest stretched beyond the Pack walls. "I didn't want a Luna at all. This entire contest was your foolish idea."
He stepped beside me. "Be that as it may, you agreed to it. And now it's begun, there's no turning back unless you wish to appear weak in front of the entire Pack."
I turned sharply. "Weak? They should know by now I'm anything but."
Cassian only stared.
After a long pause, I sighed through clenched teeth and barked toward the door. "Guard!"
The door creaked open instantly and a guard stepped in, saluting stiffly.
"Gather the contestants in the garden. All of them." I said. "Tell them their Alpha wishes to speak."
He bowed and vanished.
Cassian gave me a single nod. "You've done the right thing."
I didn't reply. I didn't care. I only wanted this entire farce over with. When the door closed behind the guard, I muttered under my breath. "This is becoming intolerable. I swear I'll end this contest sooner than expected."
Cassian folded his arms again. "Then you'll do it properly. If you want a Luna, Kade, you must endure the burden. It's part of the duty—"
"I didn't want this title." I growled. "I inherited it. And I sure as hell don't need a woman sitting beside me to prove my strength."
Without another word, I stormed out of the study. The main building was deathly silent as I passed through its corridors, down the marble stairs, and into the sunny courtyard.
When I arrived at the garden, eleven girls stood waiting. Only Eleven.
The twelfth I didn't have to ask.
I cleared my throat sharply and all heads turned. Their chatter ceased, the tension in the air intensified.
A guard rushed forward, dragging one of the white garden chairs toward me. I raised my hand. "That won't be necessary."
He halted instantly, then I turned to face the girls. Their eyes were filled with something between fear and awe. Good, I preferred them silent.
"What happened earlier today was a disgrace." I began. "A Luna—if any of you are even fit to be called such—ought to possess restraint, and above all, honor."
No one dared speak.
"Dragging one of your own into the river?" I sneered. "Was a cowardly act. A rabid mutt would've shown more honor."
Three girls—Genevieve, Lira, and Joan lowered their heads, trembling.
"I should have each of you flogged. But I find punishment more effective when it's final."
Their knees hit the earth all at once. "Alpha, please—" Joan gasped.
"We were provoked." Lira cried. "She insulted us—"
"I do not care." My voice rang out. "This is not a marketplace for gossip and petty grievances. This is my Pack."
As they wept bitterly, their voices overlapped.
"Silence." I snapped. "I gave you one chance to prove yourselves worthy. You failed."
"But—"
"Guard." I said, not looking away from them. "Get them out of my Pack."
There was a gasp, followed by the rustle of leaves as the girls were dragged away. Then I turned on my heel and walked.
Somehow… my legs carried me away from the courtyard and not back to my study. Instead, I found myself at the clinic.
I hadn't stepped inside that place since the last border skirmish, when a warrior nearly lost his arm.
My injuries and sickness were treated in my chambers. That was the order of things.
So when I entered, the silence was deafening. Staff froze mid-step, eyes widened, and one woman dropped a bandage roll.
A nurse stepped forward timidly. "Alpha Kade… is everything—?"
"I'm looking for the contestant who was pulled from the river yesterday."
Her eyes widened. "Thalia?"
I nodded.
"She's in Room Three… Do you want me to take you there?"
"I'll find it."
I moved down the corridor, aware of their whispers behind me. They thought I'd chosen her. That I was here because she meant something.
Because I went up against Ronan just to have her—but the rumors were all baseless.
The truth? I hate Ronan.
That's why I sent my men after her. Not because I wanted her, but because I could not stomach the idea that Ronan dared to hold back a woman that belonged to me.
His arrogance was unbearable.
But now, visiting her… it would stir another storm of rumors.
Let them speak.
Standing outside Room Three, I inhaled, then I entered.
She was seated with her back against the headboard, looking far more fragile than she had from the training field, from where I'd watched her all the way up in my study window everyday.
Her hair was still damp, and I could see the bruise near her collarbone, as she turned. "Alpha." She whispered. "You came."
I stepped forward. "How are you feeling?"
I meant it as a courtesy—nothing more.
But the moment I neared her, something happened.
Heat.
It exploded within my chest, tearing down every barrier I had built inside. My hands trembled, my jaw locked.
And her scent—gods, her scent.
' No.' I staggered slightly, as my wolf growled deep within. "MATE!"
She frowned. "Are you alright?"
I couldn't answer.
My knees nearly buckled from the pull of the bond, as my vision blurred, and my heart pounded like a war drum.
No. No, no, no.
This wasn't happening.
And worse, she didn't react nor did she flinch. It was like she couldn't feel it.
OF COURSE!
She's Wolf-less.
The Fates must be laughing.
I turned abruptly. "Rest." I said and left without another word.
I fled to the study. My hands shook as I pushed the doors open, desperate to find Cassian still there and luckily he still was.
He glanced up from a map. "What's happened? You look as if you've seen death itself."
I stared at him for a short while. "I need you to do something for me. Personally."
He frowned. "What is it?"
I took a deep breath then replied. "I need to kill the Wolf-less girl from Ronan's Pack."
Cassian reeled back. "What?! Why?"
"Because she's my Mate."
Silence followed, but I broke it.
"After all this." I growled. "After everything I've done to avoid it… she's the one. The Wolf-less one. The girl that nearly drowned just for being from a slave."
"Kade…" He murmured, "Are you certain?"
"I felt it." I clapped back. "And this is all your fault." I added.
He looked at me, eyes filled with disbelief. "You're blaming me for this?"
"If you hadn't talked me into this Luna nonsense—"
"And what was the alternative?" he snapped. "A breeder? A Pack with no female voice? No Luna to settle internal disputes, oversee the infirmary, aid in alliances?"
"I'd rather have that than this weakness!"
Cassian moved closer. "You don't have to mark her. You can keep her by your side. She doesn't even feel the bond, does she?"
"No," I admitted.
"Then let her be. She may not win. But killing her? You'll feel it, Kade. And you'll definitely regret it."
I shook my head. "I cannot allow her to live. If I do… I will give in. I will Mate her. And then… she becomes a vulnerability."
Cassian's voice dropped. "There's always a choice."
"No." I said, but it sounded less certain than before.
"You can break the bond." He replied. "Then make her your Luna and let her carry both your name and heirs. Nothing else."
He was right.
I thought to myself. 'But I would rather have her killed before she looks at me with those eyes and I forget why I ever hated the Mate Bond in the first place.'