Chapter 40 Fourty
Harper had barely found a moment of quiet since breakfast.
After the incident in the hallway—the trembling lights, the sliding furniture, Koda’s voice steadying her—she had retreated into her room with the desperate need to think. Or perhaps to not think at all.
Now she sat on the edge of her bed, elbows braced against her knees, fingers laced together so tightly her knuckles had turned pale.
Tonight.
The Bloom Moon ceremony.
The words alone made her pulse quicken.
By nightfall, the courtyard would be transformed. Lanterns glowing. Wolves dressed in ceremonial white and silver. Music echoing beneath the open sky. The moon rising high and merciless, revealing bonds that could not be denied.
Mates.
The very idea felt suffocating.
She pressed her palm to her chest. The strange power that had flickered through her earlier had settled, but she could still feel it beneath her skin—like something waiting patiently for darkness to fall.
A sharp click broke through her thoughts.
The door opened.
Not knocked.
Opened.
Harper’s head snapped up.
Koda stepped inside as if he had every right in the world to do so. The door shut quietly behind him.
She stood immediately. “You can’t just enter my room whenever you want.”
He didn’t even look apologetic.
“Well,” he said calmly, “I don’t care.”
Her eyes narrowed. “That’s not how boundaries work.”
He leaned back slightly against the door, arms folding loosely across his chest. “You’re not doing anything important.”
“That’s not the point.”
His gaze moved over her face carefully, taking in the tension she was trying—and failing—to hide.
“You’re thinking too much,” he observed.
She scoffed. “Oh, and you’re not?”
“No.”
“Liar.”
A faint smirk tugged at his lips.
The silence between them was different from before. It wasn’t charged with panic like in the hallway. It wasn’t sharp like at breakfast.
It was… curious.
Unfinished.
“Why don’t we go out?” Koda said suddenly.
Her brows furrowed. “What?”
“Out,” he repeated. “Away from this house. Away from everyone. Just for a little while.”
Her eyes widened slightly.
“What do you mean, go out?”
“I mean,” he said patiently, pushing off the door and stepping further into the room, “why don’t we go somewhere. Clear your head. Have fun before tonight.”
The suggestion caught her off guard.
“You want to… have fun?” she repeated, skeptical.
“Yes.”
“With me?”
His smirk deepened. “You’re the only one in this room.”
Harper crossed her arms instinctively. “I’m good.”
“Come on,” he pressed lightly. “The ceremony isn’t until nightfall. We have hours. Do you really want to spend them sitting in here spiraling?”
She opened her mouth to argue—
Then closed it.
He wasn’t entirely wrong.
Ever since Samantha married the Alpha and everything shifted, she, Kai, and Koda had barely had normal moments together. It had been chaos. Dungeon chains. Tension. Unspoken feelings.
Complicated.
Very complicated.
And the walls of her room were starting to feel tight around her lungs.
She exhaled slowly.
“Well… okay,” she muttered. “Sure. It won’t hurt to relax.”
Koda’s lips curved into a satisfied smirk.
She narrowed her eyes. “What’s that smirk for?”
“Nothing.”
“That’s not nothing.”
“Just happy.”
She studied him for a moment, then softened slightly. “I’m glad you’re back to yourself.”
His expression shifted subtly at that. “Me too,” he said, and let out a quiet chuckle.
Before she could respond—
“What are you two planning?”
Both their heads turned toward the doorway.
Kai stood there, leaning casually against the frame as if he had been listening for longer than he should have.
Harper’s stomach flipped instantly.
The memory of last night flashed through her mind without permission—the way his lips had felt, the warmth, the shock.
Heat rushed to her face.
She quickly looked away.
Koda noticed.
Of course he did.
“Nothing, dear brother,” Koda replied smoothly. “We were just thinking about going out.”
Kai’s brows lifted slowly. “Dear brother?”
His tone dripped with suspicion.
“Since when do you call me that?” he added.
Koda’s eyes dropped briefly, almost imperceptibly, before lifting again. “Shouldn’t I call you my brother?”
“You can,” Kai said dryly. “It just sounds weird coming from you.”
“Well,” Koda shrugged, “I don’t care if you think it sounds weird.”
Kai scoffed softly. “There he is. My arrogant brother.”
A small tension sparked between them—familiar, competitive.
Kai pushed off the doorframe and stepped inside the room fully. “So where exactly are you two going?”
“Nowhere dramatic,” Koda answered. “Just out.”
Kai looked between them carefully, lingering slightly on Harper.
She still wasn’t looking at him.
Suspicion flickered in his eyes.
“I want in,” he said finally.
Koda frowned. “No.”
Kai blinked. “No?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because.”
“That’s not an answer.”
Koda crossed his arms. “It is for me.”
Harper sighed. “Can we not turn this into a territorial argument?”
Kai glanced at her. “Why are you avoiding eye contact?”
“I’m not.”
“You are.”
She looked at him quickly just to prove a point.
That was a mistake.
The memory of his kiss resurfaced instantly, and she looked away again.
Kai noticed the subtle shift in her expression.
Koda noticed him noticing.
The air thickened.
“Why do you want to come?” Koda asked evenly.
Kai shrugged. “Because if you’re going somewhere with her, I’d like to know where.”
The possessiveness in his tone was subtle but present.
Koda’s jaw tightened slightly. “She can go wherever she wants.”
“Exactly,” Kai replied. “And she hasn’t said she wants to go alone with you.”
Both of them looked at her.
Harper resisted the urge to groan.
“I said I would go,” she clarified. “That’s it.”
“With him,” Kai emphasized.
“Yes.”
“And you’re okay with that?”
“Yes.”
Koda’s lips curved faintly at the confirmation.
Kai exhaled slowly. “Fine.”
Koda blinked. “Fine?”
“I’m coming.”
“You just said fine.”
“I meant fine, I’ll come too.”
Koda’s eyes darkened slightly. “Why?”
“Because,” Kai said calmly, “if something happens before tonight, I’d rather be there.”
Silence fell.
Harper frowned. “What does that mean?”
Kai hesitated briefly. “You’ve been… unstable today.”
“Excuse me?”
“You nearly redecorated the hallway with your mind.”
“That was one time.”
“And tonight is the Bloom Moon,” he added. “Power spikes. Emotions run high. I’d rather not risk you accidentally flipping a car.”
She glared at him.
Koda, however, was watching her differently.
Not with concern.
With understanding.
“She’ll be fine,” Koda said quietly.
Kai looked at him sharply. “And you’re suddenly the expert?”
Koda’s expression didn’t change. “I know what control feels like.”
The reminder of his own break from restraint lingered in the room.
Kai’s jaw tightened.
Harper stepped between them slightly, even if she didn’t realize she had.
“Stop,” she said firmly. “We’re not fighting today. Not before tonight.”
Both brothers looked at her.
Her voice had carried a weight neither of them expected.
For a moment, neither argued.
“Fine,” Kai said at last. “We all go.”
Koda hesitated—
Then nodded once.
“Fine.”
Harper exhaled, tension easing slightly from her shoulders.
“Good,” she muttered. “Then let’s go before I change my mind.”
They moved toward the door together, an uneasy trio bound by something none of them were ready to name.
As they stepped into the hallway, Harper felt that subtle hum beneath her skin again.
Power.
Expectation.
Fate.
She glanced briefly between the two brothers walking on either side of her.
One had kissed her.
The other had broken chains.
And tonight—
The moon would decide which thread between them was meant to bind her.
If it bound her at all.
The house buzzed faintly with ongoing preparations as they descended the stairs together.
Servants paused briefly at the sight of them walking side by side.
Whispers followed in their wake.
Koda walked with easy confidence.
Kai walked with quiet vigilance.
And Harper—
Harper walked between them, her pulse steady but her mind racing.