CHAPTER TWO Lucien’s POV

The forest was not supposed to stir at that hour.

Not with that kind of scent.

Blood. Rain. And something elsewild, ancient, feminine.

My wolf, Rheon, prowled beneath my skin, restless.

She’s not one of ours, he growled. Silvercrest. Nathan’s.

“I know,” I muttered, scanning the clearing where I’d found her.

She lay crumpled at the base of a pine, half-shifted, trembling, the soft shimmer of fur fading from her skin. The rain slicked her dark hair against her face. Even unconscious, she looked defiantjaw tight, fingers curled into the earth as if she’d fought the storm itself.

When I touched her, the jolt nearly made me lose control. Her skin burned with magicuntamed, unstable, powerful.

Rheon went silent for a breath, then said quietly, She’s Luna.

“I can see that.”

No, he snapped. I mean she’s the Luna. Nathan’s mate. The one he betrayed.

I frowned. “How do you know that?”

Rheon’s voice was sharp. Every Alpha in the North knows. Nathan’s Luna disappeared two moons ago. They said she went rogue. But look at her she didn’t run, she escaped.

I lifted her gently. Her body was cold and shaking, but the faint heartbeat beneath my hand was steady.

As I turned back toward my territory, she stirred faintly, whispering through half-conscious lips, “Please… don’t take my baby.”

The words hit harder than I wanted to admit.

A Luna carrying a pup. In Silvercrest, that should’ve been a blessing not something to fear.

“Sleep,” I muttered, though she couldn’t hear me. “You’re safe here.”

By the time we reached the pack house, the storm had quieted.

My Beta, Kael, met me at the entrance, eyes widening when he saw her.

“Moon above, Lucien. That’s”

“I know who it is,” I cut him off.

He followed as I carried her to the infirmary, lowering my voice. “Do you realize what happens if Nathan finds out she’s here?”

“I don’t care.”

Kael stared at me like I’d lost my mind. “You’re inviting war.”

“She crossed the border half-dead,” I said flatly. “War or not, I’m not sending her back.”

Kael sighed, muttering something under his breath about cursed Alphas and reckless hearts.

I ignored him.

When the healer arrived, she gasped softly. “Luna Serena?”

I shot her a look. “You can heal her?”

“Yes, but”

“Then do it. And keep your mouth shut.”

The healer nodded, hands already glowing with soft blue light.

As she worked, I stood at the doorway, arms crossed, trying to ignore the scent filling the room rain and pine and something faintly sweet, like the first breath of spring. It wrapped around me until I could barely breathe.

Rheon rumbled low in my mind. Her wolf is strong.

“She’s barely conscious.”

That’s not what I mean.

I frowned. Then what do you mean?

He hesitated before saying, Her power called to us when she shifted. You felt it too. That’s no ordinary Luna. She’s marked by the Moon.

I said nothing, but I couldn’t deny it.

I’d seen hundreds of wolves shift in my life warriors, rogues, even Alphas but none like her. Her energy had cracked through the storm like lightning, raw and pure. It wasn’t control. It was survival.

Hours later, when the healer finished, I sent everyone away.

Serena slept restlessly, her brow furrowed, breath uneven.

She mumbled something in her sleep words I barely caught. “Lily… don’t leave me…”

Lily.

Her wolf’s name.

Rheon stirred again. She’s talking to her wolf even in her dreams. That’s rare.

I stepped closer, brushing damp hair away from her face. “Rest, Luna. You’re safe.”

Her lips parted slightly, eyes fluttering open just enough to meet mine. For a moment, all I saw was confusion then fear.

“Where am I?” she whispered.

“In Nightshade territory.”

She stiffened. “You’re… Lucien Morric.”

“I am.”

Her breathing quickened. “Whywhy am I here?”

“Because you would’ve died out there,” I said simply.

She turned her face away, eyes glistening. “Maybe I should have.”

The words hit me harder than I wanted them to. “You don’t mean that.”

“I lost everything.”

“You’re still breathing. That’s something.”

She blinked, as if my calmness irritated her. “You don’t understand. He tried to kill my pup.”

Silence stretched between us.

Then Rheon growled deep within me. Nathan Gray tried to kill his own heir?

My fists clenched.

Serena flinched at the sound, mistaking it for anger toward her.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” I said quietly.

She looked at me again, eyes wide, wary. “Why are you helping me? You don’t even know me.”

I almost smiled. “Because the way you crossed my border should’ve killed you. But it didn’t. The Goddess doesn’t waste miracles.”

She blinked, confusion flickering across her features.

“Rest,” I said, turning to leave. “You’ll need your strength.”

Her voice stopped me at the door. “Lucien.”

I turned slightly.

“Thank you.”

The words were barely audible, but something in them tightened in my chest.

“You don’t have to thank me,” I said. “Just survive.”

When I stepped into the hall, Kael was waiting.

“She’s awake?”

“Yes.”

He exhaled sharply. “You realize what this means. Nathan will come for her.”

“Let him.”

Kael stared. “You’d fight Silvercrest for one Luna?”

I didn’t answer immediately. My gaze lingered on the rain dripping from the roof, each drop gleaming under the pale moonlight.

Then I said softly, “Not for a Luna. For a woman who refused to die.”

Rheon rumbled his approval. And for the pup she carries.

Later that night, when the pack house fell silent, I stood outside her door again.

Her scent still lingered in the air wild and broken and beautiful.

My wolf whispered something I didn’t want to hear.

She’s not his anymore.

I clenched my jaw. “She’s not ours either.”

Not yet, Rheon said darkly.

I pushed him back, hard. “Enough.”

But even as I turned away, I knew the truth.

This wasn’t just about pity.

Something in me had recognized her the moment she crossed the border something old, dangerous, and inevitable.

The cursed Alpha and the betrayed Luna.

Two wolves the Goddess had abandoned or maybe, just maybe, paired on purpose.