Chapter 8 The Confrontation

Adrian's wolf pushed harder against his control. Lila watched his pupils elongate, watched claws extend from his fingertips. The air in the corridor grew thick with power, with the wild dangerous energy of an Alpha on the edge.

"Adrian, listen to me." She dropped her bag and held up both hands. "You're losing control. If you shift here, guards will come. Celeste will come. Everyone will see."

"Let them see." He moved closer, each step deliberate. The bond between them pulsed with his wolf's hunger, with three months of suppressed need and denial. "Let them see my mate. Let them see what the Moon Goddess chose for me."

"That's your wolf talking. Not you."

"My wolf and I want the same thing." He backed her against the stone wall. His hands came up on either side of her head, caging her in. "We want you. We've always wanted you. Since the moment you dropped those flowers at the wedding and looked at us like your world was ending."

Lila pressed herself against the cold wall. Adrian loomed over her, massive and powerful and barely restrained. She could see the struggle in his face, human and wolf warring for dominance. His scent surrounded her, pine and snow and something wild that made her own wolf whimper with longing.

"You married Celeste." She forced the words out. "You made vows. You can't break them just because your wolf wants what it can't have."

"My wolf doesn't care about vows." Adrian's voice roughened further. "My wolf cares about pack. About mate. About protecting what's ours." His face dropped closer to hers. "And you're ours."

"I'm Celeste's sister."

"You're my mate."

"Stop saying that." Tears spilled down her cheeks. "Stop making this harder than it already is."

"Hard?" Something almost like a laugh escaped him. "You think leaving will make this easier? You think distance will kill the bond?" His forehead pressed against hers. "I'll feel you every day for the rest of my life. Every breath you take. Every tear you cry. Every moment you suffer because we're apart." His eyes flashed pure gold. "And my wolf will hunt you. He'll take over completely and hunt you across every kingdom until we find you."

"You can't abandon your throne."

"Watch me." The words were a promise and a threat. "You run, I follow. You hide, I search. You try to build a life somewhere else, I burn it down and drag you home." His hands moved from the wall to frame her face. "There is no version of this where you get away from me."

Lila's breath came in short gasps. His touch sent electricity through her skin, the bond singing with completion and rightness. Her own wolf surged forward, demanding she submit, demanding she accept their mate. It took everything she had to keep speaking.

"If you come after me, you'll lose everything. The kingdom. The alliances. Your marriage. Your reputation. Everything you've built will crumble because you couldn't let one person go."

"Then it crumbles." Adrian's thumbs brushed across her cheekbones. "I've been holding up the weight of this kingdom since I was fifteen years old. I've sacrificed everything for duty. My childhood. My happiness. My chance at love." His voice cracked. "But I won't sacrifice you. I can't."

"Adrian." His name came out as a plea. "Please don't make me choose between destroying you and destroying myself."

"You're not destroying anything. You're accepting what the Moon Goddess already decided." He leaned closer, his breath warm against her lips. "We're mates, Lila. That's not something we can run from or bury or pretend doesn't exist. It's written into our souls."

They stood frozen, inches apart, both trembling with the effort of not closing the final distance. Lila felt his need through the bond, felt her own need rising to meet it. It would be so easy to give in. To let him kiss her. To let the bond snap into place and claim each other properly.

Her hands came up to his chest, intending to push him away. But the moment she touched him, feeling his heart hammer beneath her palms, her resolve wavered. He felt so solid. So real. So right in a way that nothing else in her life had ever felt right.

"We can't do this." But even as she said it, her fingers curled into his shirt.

"We're already doing it." Adrian's hands slid into her hair. "We've been doing it since the moment our eyes met at that ceremony. This was always inevitable."

His lips hovered a breath from hers. Lila could feel the heat radiating from his body, could smell his scent wrapping around her like a claim. Her wolf howled for her to close the distance, to take what was theirs, to complete the bond that had been screaming for completion since the day they met.

Adrian's eyes burned gold and his mouth descended toward hers.

A scream shattered the moment.

They sprang apart, both gasping. The scream came again, high and terrified, echoing through the palace corridors. Female. Coming from the Queen's wing.

Celeste.

Adrian's wolf receded slightly as alarm replaced hunger in his eyes. They stared at each other for one frozen heartbeat, the almost-kiss hanging between them like something broken. Then they ran.

The palace came alive around them. Guards poured into hallways. Servants rushed from rooms. Everyone converged on the Queen's chambers where the screaming continued, now mixed with sobs.

Adrian hit the door first, throwing it open with enough force to crack the frame. Lila was right behind him.

Celeste knelt in the middle of her bedroom floor, both hands pressed to her stomach. Her white nightgown was stained with blood that spread in a growing circle. Her face was paper-white, her eyes wide with terror.

"The baby." She looked up at Adrian with desperation. "I'm losing the baby."