Chapter 30 THE BREAK IN
Night in the pack house was supposed to be quiet.
Kael had finally managed to get Adam to relax, if only a little, by lying beside him and letting Adam rest his head on his chest. They weren’t asleep, just breathing together in a slow, warm silence. Adam’s fingers curled weakly into Kael’s shirt, and Kael held him like he might disappear if he let go.
The calm didn’t last.
A heavy crash shook the hallway.
Adam jerked upright. “What—”
Kael’s wolf reacted before thought. He grabbed Adam by the waist and pulled him close, ears sharpening at the sound of boots, snarls, and metal clashing outside their door.
“Stay behind me,” Kael said, voice low, already shifting into command. His scent spiked and thick Alpha pheromones filled with danger and warning.
Adam choked on the pressure instantly.
Kael cursed softly, tore off the hem of his own shirt, and pressed it over Adam’s nose and mouth. “Don’t breathe it in. You’re human— your body can’t handle this.”
Another crash hit the wall. Someone screamed. The door shuddered, dust falling from the top frame.
Adam clung to Kael’s arm, trembling so hard his teeth chattered. “Kael, they’re—”
“I know.” Kael’s voice dropped into a growl that didn’t sound human anymore. “They’re not getting to you.”
The hallway erupted into chaos.
Kael moved them backward, positioning himself between Adam and the door just before it was kicked open. Wood splintered in huge jagged pieces. A wolf warrior with black clothing and silver weapons stumbled in with a snarl, only to be tackled instantly by one of Kael’s guards.
“Star Moon!” the guard yelled. “They breached the east wing!”
More wolves stormed the hallway behind him, claws out, eyes glowing with bloodlust.
Kael pushed Adam back toward the far corner of the room, keeping one hand behind him to feel Adam’s presence. The air grew thick, choking, vibrating with Alpha aura as Kael let more of his dominance spill out to help force the intruders out of his chamber and far away from Adam.
Adam’s knees buckled. Kael held the shirt tighter over his mouth. “Keep breathing slow. Don’t faint on me.”
The fight outside was vicious. Bodies slammed into walls. Claws raked across the floor. Growls echoed like thunder.
A guard shouted, “Alpha, don’t step out! They came for—”
His sentence never finished. A Star Moon warrior slashed him across the chest, sending him crashing into the broken doorway. Blood sprayed the tiles.
Adam’s heart nearly stopped.
Kael’s wolf surged.
He stepped forward once, and in a blur he wasn’t beside Adam anymore. He was in the hallway, catching the attacking wolf by the throat mid-swing. The intruder choked, kicking, claws scraping uselessly against Kael’s arm.
Kael’s voice dropped to a dangerous rumble.
“You dare bring a fight to my pack… and right to my doorstep?”
The intruder tried to raise his blade.
Kael didn’t give him the chance.
He snapped his claws across the man’s neck in one clean, brutal motion.
The body dropped.
Adam swallowed a cry as he saw the blood splash the floor. His stomach twisted. His vision blurred at the edges. It was the first time he had seen Kael kill. Even if the moment was quick, even if he knew it was self-defense, the shock punched the breath out of him.
Kael didn’t look back, he couldn’t afford to. Two more Star Moon wolves lunged from the hallway. Kael shoved the corpse aside and stepped into the fight, blocking the doorway with his own body so none of them could look into the room.
His claws flashed, catching metal blades, pushing attacks aside. His expression was sharp, focused, furious. Every move he made had one single purpose:
Keep them away from Adam.
Adam’s legs shook harder as more guards joined the fight. The hallway became a blur of limbs, snarls, silver weapons, and sparks flying off claw strikes. Kael commanded with his voice alone, the sound cutting through the chaos like a whip.
“Push them back! Do not let any of them inside this room! Keep formation!”
Two Star Moon warriors attempted to break through the guard line, but Kael intercepted them himself, grabbing one by the collar and slamming him into the wall so hard Adam felt the vibration under his feet.
Another warrior swung at Kael’s ribs. Kael blocked with his forearm and retaliated, sending the man collapsing with a kick to the chest that cracked bone.
Adam couldn’t breathe.
This wasn’t like seeing a wolf fight from a distance.
This wasn’t like hearing stories.
Kael was a storm.
His body moved with a fierce, fluid precision; deadly, protective, and unstoppable.
Everything around him was blood and steel and snarls, but his eyes… his eyes kept flicking to the corner where Adam hid. They were not wild. They were focused. They were afraid for Adam, not of anything else.
It made Adam’s hands shake even more.
The fighting pushed farther into the hall as Kael and his warriors forced the intruders back step by step. Bodies hit the floor. Growls echoed. Someone was dragged away. Someone else screamed as Kael broke their weapon in half with his bare hands.
Adam’s chest tightened painfully. The smell of blood was thick. The sounds were overwhelming. His vision swam from fear and the heavy Alpha aura in the air.
Finally, the hallway seemed to thin out. The danger felt like it was being pushed farther down the corridor.
Kael was still fighting near the wall, claws dripping, eyes glowing.
Adam let himself breathe. Just a little.
Just enough—
For something cold to wrap around his wrist.
Adam flinched violently, looking down.
A hand.
A hand that wasn’t Kael’s.
One more Star Moon warrior— injured, but alive— had crawled across the floor, hidden under the bodies. His fingers dug into Adam’s skin like hooks.
Adam gasped, stumbling back. “K-Kael—!”
The warrior tightened his grip. “Found you…”
Kael turned at the sound of Adam’s voice.
His eyes went red and he snapped.
The growl that left him shook the air, shaking dust from the ceiling. His body blurred toward Adam with terrifying speed.
And the last thing the intruder saw was Kael launching at him, teeth bared, eyes full of murderous rage.