Lycan Prince’s Secret Baby (Moonlit Forbidden Love #1)

Chapter 12

Kyle

I dragged in a great lungful of Alaskan air. With the sun peeking through the scattered clouds, Mark and I had taken to the training ring outside the Council Chamber today. The ground was compacted, smoothed by countless feet and paws over the years, like the scars crisscrossing a seasoned warrior. Wooden poles marked the perimeter, etched with runes—inscriptions for strength, bravery, and speed, silent calls for the moon goddess’s blessings.

Mark stood opposite me, his dark hair gleaming like polished mahogany under the sun. Droplets of sweat trickled down his forehead, glistening against his tanned skin. He lowered his stance, muscles taut under his training gear. “You ready to go again?” he shouted, a challenge dancing in his alert eyes.

“Bring it on,” I responded, adrenaline surging through me. The fabric of my T-shirt clung uncomfortably to my skin, drenched with sweat, yet I wasn’t ready to stop. The ring had become my sanctuary, and the only place where I could lose myself.

A small crowd of Moonlight Pack members gathered on the edge of the ring, their murmurs fading as I focused.

Mark lunged first, his footwork a blur as he weaved toward me. I adjusted my stance, grounding myself against the onslaught of his energy. His fist flew toward my face. I ducked low, feeling the rush of air as his fist narrowly missed my cheek.

With a feral grin, I retaliated with a quick uppercut aimed at his torso. A satisfying ‘thud’ reverberated through my knuckles as I connected, eliciting a grunt from him that sent him teetering back.

“Nice shot!” Mark acknowledged, his breath rasping as he circled, eyeing me.

Despite the burst of triumph, guilt gnawed at my insides, growing heavier with every heartbeat. Each thump brought forth memories of Leah’s beautiful body laid out before me. My mind spun. I’d never experienced such ecstasy, and it seemed to have become threaded into my very being. Recollections of Leah’s sweat-slicked skin and the taste of her sweetness surged vividly, stealing my focus.

Mark landed a hit to my side, and I grumbled, pain flaring through me. I pivoted away, breath coming in steady puffs as I squared up to him. He advanced again, jabbing toward my face. I swiped my forearm out, deflecting his strike and feeling the sting of his skin brushing mine—a reminder that I was alive, even as memories of Leah threatened to drown me.

I opened up the distance between us with measured steps before weaving in, channeling the adrenaline surging through me. I leaped toward him with a punch aimed at his jaw.

His reflexes were solid—he darted away just in time. I ducked to evade another, then countered with a swift sidekick that caught him off guard, the impact jolting through my leg and knocking him back a step.

The crowd erupted in a chorus of cheers, but the hollowness inside me couldn’t be filled with their praise. And, deep down, I knew that no matter how many blows I landed, nothing would fill this chasm—the one that was only growing ever since that reckless evening with Leah.

My muscles strained, aching to burn in the rhythm of the fight because it was the only thing I’d found that dulled this guilt that threatened to eat me alive.

Scowling, I tried to suffocate the torturous memory. Again, as Mark and I clashed, throwing a flurry of punches, it wasn’t my assistant’s fists causing the ache in my chest but the memory of Leah’s resentful voice, “The Blood Moon tricked you. Otherwise, why else would a noble Moonlight like you say what you did to a lowly slave like me?”

Each punch was a release, a manifestation of the frustrations I’d bottled up and smothering me because this was all I had. The devastating truth was we couldn’t be together. Enemy packs. Nothing could change that.

With the fog threatening to descend, I gritted my teeth, launching myself at Mark, turning my desperation into power as I swung at him. He ducked again, and I seized the moment, pivoting on my heel to execute a spinning backfist.

Thwack! My strike connected with his jaw, and he staggered, hitting the dirt.

The small crowd erupted in a chorus of applause.

I stretched out a hand to help him up, and he took it, shaking his head. “Even when you’re distracted, you give a mean right hook,” he said, grinning and stretching out his jaw.

“Distracted.” The word echoed through me. I felt like it was eating me alive—like my wolf had decided to devour me from the inside out. I wouldn’t be surprised. He’d been sullen and furious since I’d blown it with Leah. We’d gotten our mate, and then we’d shredded everything apart. I hadn’t told Mark about Leah, of course. I hadn’t told anyone. No one could know. That was the point.

“Distracted,” I shot at him a smile. “Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

He laughed, shaking his head and puffing out great heaving breaths.

I told myself that this was all I needed. More of this, and I’d be right as rain. I let my racing heart, my sweat-slicked skin, and the great cleansing breaths that I shared with my assistant be enough.

But just as I began to feel my heart’s rhythm settle, a cacophony of voices cut through my semblance of hard-won calm. The crowd was growing around us. This was a far bigger crowd than a training session drew. Mark and I generally had a few spectators, but Moonlight Pack members were emerging from the doorways of their houses and work buildings.

My gaze darted toward the treeline, snapping onto gray wolves: Moonlights. All Moonlights had gray coats, while Blood Moons were red-furred. My heart thudded with anticipation as I discerned the largest one. His fur shimmered like polished steel in the sunshine. Each ripple of muscle beneath his coat commanded attention as he led the returning Moonlight wolves behind him: my father.

He and six other wolves padded over to the Council Chamber. A crowd of Moonlights had surrounded the training ring, drawn to their Alpha. In a moment, my father’s beast had been replaced by his human form.

Reginald was almost as tall as me, just shy of my six foot three. He commanded respect with his height and wide bearing. At fifty, his body was still toned and lean, and the many battle-earned scars glimmered on his skin with pride. He looked everything like a warrior from the ancient myths and legends, crafted by the moon goddess herself.

“I want reports from all members of the Council.” His voice wasn’t raised, but the quiet strength in it and his deliberate movements commanded respect that resonated through the crowd like a drum. “All council members are to convene in the chamber in ten minutes to issue their individual reports to me.”

The whole council, that meant me and the ten members of elders. I shared a moment of understanding with Mark, our serious gaze locking. The tension between us thickened. This was what we’d spent countless days and sleepless nights drafting documents for and the reason we’d investigated every crumb of evidence about Sam’s embezzlement. I was finally about to share everything with my father, the truth I’d unearthed.

My pulse spiked with anticipation. I’d present the information to him once I’d given my initial report. I only had ten minutes, after all. Tension settled on my shoulders as I strode out of the training ring. I had just enough time to wash my face and drink some water. As I approached the Council Chamber, I knew I was stepping into the true battleground now.

The elders clustered in the corridor, each forming their own group. Fragmented whispers and mutterings interrupted the heavy expectations.

I felt hot and disheveled in my training gear, but there wasn’t time to go and get changed. My father wasn’t a man who liked to be kept waiting. Besides, I had important things to discuss. I was determined to present my reforms to him before any of the stuffy traditionalists could gripe about them. My heart drummed as I thought of the other matter I had to discuss: Elder Sam’s crimes.

As anticipated, as the Alpha heir, I was called into the council hall first. Reginald sat at the center of the High Table. He’d donned one of the rune-marked tunics, the gilt markings decorating the cuffs and collar, and a pair of slacks and dress shoes. His Beta, Charlie, sat beside him, similarly dressed.

I came to stand before them at the High Table. No seat was put out for me, making this feel more intimidating than I thought it would.

My father’s glacial blue eyes drank me in. His short black hair was like mine but peppered with gray.

“Kyle,” he greeted me. “How is Mark working out for you? Are you all caught up on things?” His casual tone caught me off guard.

He spoke as if I’d just returned yesterday, while I had actually been back two months now. The urgency to show him my grasp of pack matters swelled through me.

“Mark’s been great at catching me up,” I said, forcing a steadiness into my voice. “After the first couple of weeks, I was caught up on pack processes. Since then, I’ve done my own investigations into pack matters and unearthed some uncomfortable inconsistencies.” I drew my hands behind my back to ground myself.

His eyes chipped away at me. “Oh?”

“It’s come to my attention that Elder Sam has been reducing the Blood Moon Pack’s rations and pocketing the deficit from council funds. He’s also been selling herbs from the infirmary for profit.” The seriousness of what I was accusing Sam of filled the council chamber, and I hurried to say, “I have documented evidence of his embezzlement. Figures that prove what he’s been doing.”

My father’s brow furrowed, and he steepled his hands on the table. “I am aware of these proceedings, Kyle. In fact, I instructed Sam to do these things.”

My breath hitched, feeling far more winded than any of the hits Mark had managed to land in the training ring. I blinked in shock. I’d thought that Sam’s embezzlement would rock the foundation of the hierarchy. The ten council elders were an essential part of our pack’s successful running. The pack’s trust was its foundation, and I’d been prepared to try to keep things quiet, to do damage control so that this crime didn’t bring our pack crashing down. But what I hadn’t been prepared for was for this to be old news. Or, no news at all.

“What do you mean? Why would you order such a thing?” I demanded.

A shadow fell over my father’s face, and I sensed that he wasn’t used to being spoken to. After a moment, he said deliberatively, “I’ve been funneling those funds into hunting the escaped Blood Moons.”

His words seemed to strike me in my chest, and I felt as if I’d been sent sprawling. My breath escaped me. Despite standing still, the disorientation made my head spin. The funds Sam had been embezzling were actually being used to hunt down the escaped Blood Moons.

Cold, cruel comprehension sank through me. I’d thought my father was being hoodwinked by one of his elders while he’d been absent from the pack. But he was well-informed about its affairs, unlike me. Jealousy tore through me. He’d trusted Sam more than me, more than his own son. Hollowness beat through me as my throat tightened.

I had been away for years, largely out of touch with pack business, and now I understood that he’d turned elsewhere for help. Guilt sank its claws into me, and anger and shame fought for space within me.

My father’s stoic gaze pierced me, and I watched him take charge. “Kyle, let’s clear this up. I want you and Sam to be on good terms. I’ll call Sam in now so we can have this out between the two of you.”

With his words, I braced myself as the silver-haired, impeccably dressed Sam joined us. He wore the air of confidence reflected in his weathered face. He looked calm, a different man than I had faced when emotions had spurred him on during our last council meeting.

As I stood there, our roles felt reversed. I was sweaty and grimy from training and uncertain with doubts and my stung pride.

As expected, Sam proceeded to report my efforts to improve the Blood Moons’ conditions. “The largest change, Alpha, since you were last here is undoubtedly Kyle’s changes to the Blood Moon pack’s rations and implementing health care for them. He’s allocated significant expenditure to their wellbeing.”

My father’s expression darkened. The lines on his face become more pronounced. “Kyle, I thought I made it clear that you were to be guided by Sam in my absence. Now I return to find you giving clemency to the very enemy I’m expending my energy and time hunting down.”

“My reforms were motivated by cost, father,” I justified. “I have all the data that shows giving the Blood Moons proper rations and health care is better for our bottom line in the long run. That was my reasoning for implementing these improvements.”

My father’s expression lost its stony look as he reluctantly accepted my reasoning. Yet, his tension lingered in his tight shoulders. “Let’s get one thing clear. The slavery system will not be abolished,” he affirmed, his voice clipped. “The Blood Moons must atone for their sins.” His biting stare flashed with the thirst for vengeance. It was the thirst that had driven me toward reform. As I looked at my father, I wondered if he'd finally be cleansed of this when he found the runaway Blood Moons. Disappointment twisted through me as I thought of all the reforms I’d been drawing up to bring to him. I knew how much my mother would have wanted them. Yet all of her desires had been distorted by my father’s vengeance.

“Which brings me to our next order of business,” Reginald said. “While we were hunting, once again, the Blood Moons were one step ahead of us. It was as if they’d been informed of our movements in advance.”

My heart hammered in my chest. “You think there’s a spy?” I asked, cottoning on.

Charlie, my father’s Beta, nodded. “It’s the only thing that adds up. We were this close,” he explained, holding up his thumb and forefinger, “a couple of days ago to closing in on them, and then they were gone. They had word from someone of where we’d be. Nothing else makes sense.”

I knew exactly what Sam was going to say before the words left his mouth. “That Blood Moon Leah’s been working her charms on young Kyle here, which I bet would give her access to vital information. She was living under his roof for quite some time about a month ago.”

I squirmed beneath my father’s regard. He couldn’t know about what had happened between Leah and I. If standing before Healer Maria had made me feel ashamed of my feelings for Leah, the idea of my father catching wind of them had me feeling like there was a lead weight in my stomach and I’d been chucked into the ocean. I was going to die if he ever discovered it.

“Leah?” my father asked. “As in, the daughter of the former Blood Moon Beta?”

For the second time today in this chamber, I felt my ignorance. Leah had never mentioned that her father had been the Blood Moon Beta.

“The very one,” Sam affirmed.

“And wasn’t she the one engaged to the Blood Moon Alpha heir?” Charlie asked.

Sam nodded, and my father’s gaze looked far off as he considered this information. All the while, my pulse spiked with this new news that pulled my insides in all sorts of directions as if I was being eviscerated. Leah had been engaged to the runaway Blood Moon Alpha heir? Was she still engaged? Did she still care about him? Even as my foolish heart decided to focus on the wrong thing, my mind started to run the track that my father and the other members of my pack here were working along. With her connections to the hierarchy of the Blood Moon Pack, Leah was a prime suspect for a spy. But certainty beat through me. Leah wouldn’t do that. Leah was a Blood Moon, but I knew deep in my heart that she wasn’t the informant in our midst.

“I would never give a Blood Moon important information about our pack,” I began, defending myself.

My father interrupted, “But there could be other ways this Blood Moon obtained critical information—pack documents?”

I shook my head, even as my mind flashed with the memory of Leah and me entwined on papers, two times now, asking a question I could hardly bear to consider.

“I always keep sensitive information locked in my safe,” I retorted, pushing back against the tide of doubt threatening to steal through me.

“And can you look me squarely in the eye,” my father charged, “and tell me that this Blood Moon has never been in your office?”

Incendiary thoughts erupted in my mind; frustration simmered. My jaw clenched, fighting back the blinding rage. But I couldn’t lie to him—my father and Alpha.

“No, I can’t,” I said, the capitulation tasting bitter as I forced the words out.

A mixture of guilt and anger twisted in my gut as my father leaned back, his gaze shifting to Sam. “I’d like you to go with Kyle to his office and look for any signs of tampering with the safe.”

My world tilted on its axis as Sam shadowed me toward my office, his presence looming. I directed him to the safe where I kept pack documents, my heart pounding with uncertainty.

The moment we arrived, a sickening dread crept over me. The documents inside had been moved.

The disarray wasn’t how I’d left it.

And Leah had been the last person to visit my office with me a couple of nights ago. Charlie’s words haunted me. “They had word from someone of where we’d be. Nothing else makes sense.”

As I recalled our interactions, doubt invaded my mind, thick as fog. Had Leah deceived me? The heat had seemed so like the estrus symptoms that had previously caused me to lose my senses the first time I’d kissed her. But she’d been adamant that she’d taken her medication. But could I really trust anything she said?

I recalled her arriving just as I’d shut the safe door. Her knock had sounded just as I’d let it fall shut, but what if I hadn’t locked it? What if she’d been standing outside the door, listening to my movements and distracted me? I recalled her leaving immediately after our encounter, but I had gone upstairs to shower afterward. What if she had snuck back in to steal pack documents? What if everything between us had been a lie?

The thought sliced through me, and for the first time, I worried that I couldn’t trust my own heart.