Chapter 30 Moonlight
Chapter 30 Moonlight
Sierra
My heart jumps painfully in my chest.
“I was just finishing my duties,” I say quickly, gesturing vaguely toward the railing I’d been polishing moments earlier. The excuse feels thin the moment it leaves my mouth.
Kaelen doesn’t call me on it. Instead, he glances briefly down the corridor, checking for anyone nearby before stepping closer. His voice lowers when he speaks. “How much did you hear?”
“Enough.” The word slips out before I can soften it.
A muscle tightens in his jaw, but his expression doesn’t turn angry the way I half expect. If anything, he looks… concerned.
“We shouldn’t talk about this here,” he says quietly.
My eyes flick toward the closed office door behind him. “That’s probably wise.”
For a moment, it seems like he’s considering something carefully, weighing possibilities the way members of this pack always seem to do so intensely. Then his attention returns to me. “Meet me tonight.”
The words catch me off guard. “What?”
“In the forest,” he clarifies. “The same place we met before.”
Moonlight flashes through my memory—the quiet clearing, the moment I first realized the enormous wolf watching me wasn’t just another creature of the woods.
My stomach twists. “You heard what your father said,” I remind him. “About the alliance.”
“I did.”
“And you still want to meet?”
His answer comes without hesitation: “More than ever.”
The certainty in his voice makes something in my chest flutter in a way that’s equal parts hope and fear. I glance again toward the office door. “You’re asking me to walk straight into a problem,” I say quietly.
“After moonrise,” he says gently. He isn’t forcing the decision. But he’s clearly hoping for it.
I study his face for a moment, searching for some sign that this is a reckless impulse rather than something more deliberate. Instead, I find determination. “I’ll come if I can,” I say finally.
Relief flickers briefly across his expression before he smooths it away. Footsteps echo faintly from the far end of the corridor, and the moment fractures. I step back immediately, lowering my gaze as another servant rounds the corner.
By the time I look up again, Kaelen has already turned down the opposite hallway.
The encounter took less than a minute, but as I continue down the hallway toward my next assignment, the weight of it follows me like a shadow.
The rest of the afternoon passes in a blur of small tasks and careful breathing.
After moonrise. I’d agreed before my mind had fully caught up with the moment. Now, the hours seem to stretch endlessly ahead of me, and every one of them gives my thoughts more room to spiral.
I force myself to focus on work. It’s the only thing keeping the storm inside my chest from becoming visible to anyone passing through the halls.
By late afternoon, my duties bring me to the library. Besides the gardens, this magnificent room is one of the few places in the estate that feels almost peaceful. Tall windows stretch along the wall, letting pale light spill across rows of dark wooden shelves. The scent of old paper and polished wood fills the air, a quiet reminder that not every kind of power needs teeth.
Lena is already there when I arrive, standing on a small stool to reach the upper shelves.“You’re late,” she says lightly without turning.
“I had other assignments.”
“Alpha’s wing again?”
I pause for half a second. “Yes.”
She glances over her shoulder, her sharp eyes immediately picking up something in my expression. Lena is always observant—too observant, sometimes. “What happened?” she asks.
I set my basket of dusting cloths on a nearby table and begin wiping dust from the window frame, hoping the repetitive motion will make the conversation easier. “Kaelen returned today.”
Lena stills slightly. “And?”
“And I overheard a conversation between him and the Alpha.”
That earns her full attention. She climbs down from the stool and crosses the room, leaning against the edge of a long table while studying my face. “Overheard,” she repeats. “As in… accidentally?”
“Mostly.”
She smirks faintly. “I’m sure.”
I sigh quietly and continue polishing the glass. “Darian told him he’s expected to form an alliance with the Volaris Pack,” I say.
Her brows rise slightly. “Ah.”
“Ah?” I echo.
“That’s not surprising.”
“It isn’t?”
“Not at all,” Lena replies. “Political pairings between powerful packs happen all the time, especially when an heir is involved.”
I knew that already, of course. But hearing someone else say it so plainly makes the reality settle heavily in my chest.
“He said Kaelen would partner with their Alpha’s daughter,” I continue. “That it wasn’t optional.”
Lena exhales slowly through her nose. “That sounds exactly like Darian Draven. I’ve been around long enough to understand how this pack operates–always at the helm of exactly what the Alpha declares.” She reaches for a cloth and begins dusting the long table beside me, her movements steady and practiced. “And Kaelen?” she asks after a moment.
“What about him?”
“What did he say?”
“I didn’t hear.”
Lena pauses mid-swipe. “You didn’t hear?”
“I’m not sure that he said anything…” I recall. “But a few seconds later, he walked out of the office and found me standing there.”
That definitely gets her attention.
“Oh,” she says slowly.
“Yeah.”
“And?”
“And he asked me to meet him tonight.”
The cloth freezes in her hand. “Sierra.”
“In the forest.”
“Sierra.” The way she says my name makes me stop cleaning altogether.
“What?” I ask.
She sets the cloth down carefully and faces me fully now, her expression serious in a way I’ve only seen a few times before. “This is exactly what I warned you about.”
“I know.”
“You’re standing in the middle of something far bigger than you realize.”
“I realize plenty,” I say quietly.
“Do you?” she presses. “Because the Alpha of this pack just arranged a political marriage for his heir. That kind of decision isn’t made lightly.”
My stomach twists again at the reminder. “I didn’t ask for any of this.”
“I know you didn’t.”
“Then why does it feel like everyone thinks I’m the problem?”
Lena’s expression softens slightly. “Because in situations like this, the outsider always is.”
The words aren’t cruel–just honest. I look down at the cloth in my hands, twisting the fabric between my fingers. “He told me earlier that he wants a future that I’m in,” I admit quietly.
Lena’s silence stretches long enough that I eventually look back up. Her gaze is thoughtful now, calculating in a way I can’t quite decipher. “And what do you want?” she asks. The question feels dangerously simple.
“I don’t know,” I admit.
“That’s probably the smartest answer you could give right now.”
I huff out a weak laugh. “Encouraging.”
“I’m serious.” Lena picks up the cloth again and resumes dusting, though her tone remains thoughtful. “You may care about him. He may care about you. Unfortunately, that doesn’t change the reality of what his position demands.”
“So you think I should stay away.”
“I think,” she says carefully, “that getting involved with Kaelen Draven is like stepping into the middle of a storm. And storms rarely care who gets caught in them.”
The library falls quiet for a moment, except for the soft sound of cloth against wood.
After a while, Lena adds more gently, “You deserve a life that isn’t built on someone else’s political war.”
I lean against the window frame, staring out at the forest in the distance. The trees look dark from here—mysterious. Dangerous, even. And yet, the thought of meeting Kaelen there later tonight sends a strange warmth through my chest. “I already agreed to meet him,” I say quietly.
Lena sighs. “I figured.”
“You think I’m making a mistake.”
“I think that you’re walking a path that could end in heartbreak.” She pauses, studying my face again. “But sometimes people need to walk those paths anyway.”
The honesty in her voice surprises me.
“So you’re not going to try to stop me?” I ask.
Lena smiles faintly. “No.”
“Why not?”
“Because warnings only work if someone is willing to listen.”
I return my attention to the window, watching the last light of evening fade behind the trees. Moonrise isn’t far away now. And whether Lena thinks it’s wise or not, I already know where I’ll be when the forest begins to glow silver.