Chapter 39 Thirty nine
The breakfast table had never felt so crowded.
Sunlight poured through the tall dining hall windows, spilling over polished wood and silver cutlery. The long table was filled—guards at one end, close pack members at the other, and at the center sat the Alpha and Samantha, composed as ever, as if the chaos of the past few days had never existed.
As if a son hadn’t just broken out of a dungeon.
Samantha’s voice floated warmly over the clink of utensils. “I can’t tell you how relieved I am,” she said, reaching across the table to touch Koda’s hand. “It feels like I finally have my son back.”
Koda gave her a small smile—controlled, gentle. “Thanks, Mother.”
The word seemed to soften her immediately. Samantha’s eyes glistened faintly, pride and affection woven together.
Across the table, Harper tried not to stare.
He looked… normal.
Too normal.
Clean clothes. Calm posture. Golden eyes clear and steady. No trace of the volatile energy she had seen in her dream. No sign of the chains that had once wrapped around him.
And yet—
He kept looking at her.
Not casually.
Not accidentally.
His gaze lingered, steady and unblinking, as if he were reading something written across her face that only he could see.
Her throat tightened.
She reached for her cup of water to steady herself and ended up coughing slightly instead.
Kai noticed immediately.
Of course he did.
He followed Koda’s line of sight and caught the way his brother was watching her. A muscle ticked in Kai’s jaw before he deliberately looked away and resumed cutting his food with exaggerated focus.
“So,” Samantha continued brightly, unaware—or pretending to be—of the tension crackling across the table, “are you all excited for tonight?”
The Bloom Moon.
The air shifted almost imperceptibly at the mention of it.
Kai shrugged. “Not really.”
Samantha gave him a playful look. “You say that now.”
He stabbed a piece of fruit with unnecessary force. “It’s just a ceremony.”
“It’s not just a ceremony,” she corrected gently. “It’s sacred. Some of you may meet your mates tonight.”
Her eyes drifted meaningfully between her sons—and then to Harper.
“Maybe Harper will,” Samantha added lightly. “It might help her wolf fully awaken.”
Harper rolled her eyes instinctively, trying to brush off the comment. “I’m fine.”
But she wasn’t entirely.
For the past few days, something had been shifting inside her.
It wasn’t exactly her wolf clawing to get out. It wasn’t the usual restlessness or agitation that came with nearing transformation.
It was something else.
Something sharper.
More precise.
Like energy gathering at the edges of her skin.
She hadn’t told anyone.
Not even Kai.
Especially not Koda.
“Powers tend to surface more clearly near the Bloom Moon,” Samantha continued thoughtfully. “It wouldn’t surprise me.”
Harper forced a tight smile and nodded faintly, hoping the conversation would move on.
She needed to act normal.
She needed to breathe.
The clinking of cutlery resumed, small conversations sparking up along the table. The Alpha remained silent, observing everything with the quiet authority he carried effortlessly.
Harper reached for her glass of juice beside her plate.
She didn’t touch it.
She didn’t even brush the rim.
The glass slid across the table smoothly—
And lifted.
Straight into her hand.
Her fingers closed around it automatically, as if she had expected it to be there.
Silence fell.
It wasn’t loud. It wasn’t dramatic.
But those closest to her noticed.
Harper’s eyes widened slightly before she quickly masked the reaction. Her heart began pounding violently in her chest.
No one else had moved.
She hadn’t reached for it.
“Are you okay?” Samantha asked gently, her gaze narrowing slightly as she caught the flicker of nervousness in Harper’s expression.
“Yes,” Harper answered too quickly. “I just— I have to do something.”
She set the glass down carefully, hoping no one would comment further, and stood from the table.
Her chair scraped lightly against the floor.
The Alpha’s gaze followed her.
So did Koda’s.
He didn’t speak.
He simply watched.
Kai, on the other hand, kept his eyes firmly on his plate, though his grip on his fork tightened subtly.
Harper walked out of the dining hall as steadily as she could manage.
The moment she stepped into the corridor—
It happened again.
A decorative vase near the wall trembled slightly as she passed.
A stack of folded linens slid off a side table without being touched.
She gasped softly.
“No, no, no…”
She quickened her pace.
The hallway seemed to react to her movement. A framed painting tilted sharply before straightening itself. A wall sconce flickered as she walked beneath it.
Her breathing grew uneven.
She needed to get to her room.
Now.
Behind her, footsteps echoed.
Measured.
Familiar.
“Koda,” she muttered under her breath without turning around.
“You’re not controlling it,” his voice said calmly from several steps behind her.
She froze.
A small table beside her lifted an inch off the ground before dropping back down with a dull thud.
Her stomach dropped.
“Stop following me,” she whispered harshly.
“I’m not following,” he replied evenly. “I’m walking.”
She turned sharply to face him.
“Go back downstairs.”
His eyes flickered briefly to the trembling light fixture above her head before returning to her face.
“You’re afraid,” he observed.
“I’m not.”
The chandelier above them swayed violently.
She sucked in a breath.
He stepped closer—not aggressively, but deliberately.
“Harper.”
His voice lowered.
“Breathe.”
“I am breathing!”
“Not properly.”
The air around her felt heavy, like pressure building inside her veins. The floor beneath her feet vibrated faintly.
“Don’t tell me what to do,” she snapped, but her voice cracked at the edges.
A nearby chair scraped loudly across the marble floor as if shoved by invisible hands.
Koda stopped only inches away from her now.
“Look at me,” he said quietly.
“I don’t want to.”
“Look at me.”
Something in his tone—steady, grounding—cut through the chaos.
Against her better judgment, she lifted her eyes.
His golden gaze locked onto hers.
The hallway seemed to hold its breath.
“Focus,” he murmured. “Not on the fear. On me.”
Her chest rose and fell rapidly.
The energy buzzing around her skin pulsed once more—
Then hesitated.
“You’re not losing control,” he continued. “You’re gaining it.”
The words settled into her mind differently than she expected.
Gaining it.
Not losing.
The light above them steadied.
The chair stopped moving.
The air felt slightly lighter.
Her breathing began to slow.
“How do you know?” she whispered.
A faint, almost knowing look crossed his face.
“Because I felt it too.”
The admission hung between them.
“You’re not the only one changing,” he added quietly.
Footsteps sounded from the far end of the corridor.
Kai.
He had finally followed.
He slowed when he saw the scene—Harper standing rigid, Koda close to her, the hallway slightly disordered.
“What’s going on?” Kai asked cautiously.
“Nothing,” Harper said immediately.
A picture frame behind her slid off the wall and shattered against the floor.
Kai raised an eyebrow.
“Doesn’t look like nothing.”
She clenched her fists.
“I just need to be alone.”
Koda’s gaze lingered on her for one more second before he stepped back slightly, giving her space.
“Go,” he said softly.
She didn’t argue.
She turned and hurried the rest of the way down the corridor.
As she moved, small objects trembled but did not fly this time. She focused on her breathing the way he had told her.
Inhale.
Exhale.
By the time she reached her door, the air had stilled.
She slipped inside and slammed it shut behind her, pressing her back against the wood.
Her heart pounded wildly.
Her hands shook.
Slowly, she lifted them in front of her face.
They were steady now.
No visible energy.
No crackling power.
But she could feel it beneath her skin.
Waiting.
Outside in the hallway, Kai folded his arms.
“You’re going to tell me what that was,” he said to Koda.
Koda didn’t look at him.
“She’s stronger than she thinks.”
Kai’s jaw tightened. “And you suddenly know everything?”
Koda finally glanced at him.
“No,” he said calmly. “But I know what it feels like when something inside you refuses to stay buried.”
Kai didn’t respond.
The tension between the brothers hung heavy.
From downstairs, Samantha’s voice called faintly, asking if everything was alright.
The Alpha’s deeper voice followed, firm and controlled.
“Leave them.”
Koda’s gaze drifted toward Harper’s closed door.
Tonight, the Bloom Moon would rise.
And whatever had awakened inside her—
Would not stay quiet much longer.