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

Chapter 29

Leah

The ground trembled beneath my paws, a thunderous echo of chaos as the battle raged on. The air crackled with feral growls and the sharp clang of claws. The mingled scent of churned-up earth, sweat, and blood assaulted me. My heartbeat quickened as a new wave of wolves loyal to Reginald surged from the compound, their dark forms amplifying my fear. They’d emerged like shadows, answering Elder Sam’s howl.

Though we had the support of the Moonlight females, Reginald’s wolves were better-trained warriors, and Sam’s howl had reignited the fervor of combat. I wove through the chaos, dodging strikes and landing blows. Every bone-crunching thud of a downed wolf drove me forward, desperate to reach Kyle and Roman. The growls around me rang sharp and close, sending icy tendrils of fear coursing through my veins.

A sharp howl pierced the night, drawing my gaze upward. My blood ran cold as I saw the dark shapes cascading down the hill.

Are more of Reginald’s men coming?

I narrowly dodged a muscular gray wolf, anxiety roaring to life within me and my ears straining for the sounds of Kyle and Roman.

Then, a flash of vibrant yellow caught my eye on the hilltop—dozens of yellow-coated wolves charged down the hill, their golden fur like sunlight slicing through the darkness.

The Shadow Moon Pack has arrived.

A huge wolf appeared at the forefront, flanked by a cadre of formidable warriors. Judging by his intimidating size and presence, I reckoned this was Alexis, the Alpha of the Shadow Moon Pack. The yellow-furred coats of the Shadow Moons made me think of the brightness of Lyvia’s sikin crystals. The warmth of their arrival bloomed in my chest, a promise of hope amidst the turmoil.

Kyle had told me tales about his alliance with Alexis during our time in the safehouse. They had planned for this moment, hoping to confront Reginald together. They’d forged their alliance in the neighboring Shadow Moon Pack lands. Alexis had pledged his allegiance to Kyle, promising to help oppose Reginald’s rule and help restore our lands to us Blood Moons.

Yet here we were, surprise sharpening our edge as Alexis and his pack soared into the fray, their skill and speed dazzling as they swept past me, moving like fleeting shadows.

Kyle had sent word to his ally before we’d left the safehouse a night ago. But we hadn’t dared to hope, given the vast distance that Alexis and his pack had to travel, that they could arrive the same night as we.

Amazement shone through me as I marveled at the red and yellow coats blending together as they took on the hefty, gray-coated males. Like fall leaves, they scattered through the night, chasing the shadows away as they struck and brought the Moonlight wolves to the ground.

Yet, my dread returned as I caught sight of Kyle and Roman, engaged in their intense battle with Reginald. My pulse quickened—each moment stretched taut as I watched Kyle’s fluid form dart with a fierce mix of power and speed. Roman’s solid bulk was unwavering as he threw himself against his adversary. Yet, Reginald’s imposing form shimmered in hues of gray and silver, each glimmer of his fur like a warning in the moonlight. With his tactical precision, he countered every strike with deft movements, his keen eyes calculating their next maneuvers. Even together, Kyle and Roman found themselves challenged; the Moonlight Alpha’s experience and proficiency matched their fierce energy.

My focus splintered as adrenaline surged through me again, my instincts urging me into the fray. I engaged the next foe, a lithe wolf lunging with ferocity. Sweat mixed with blood on my fur, the stench suffocating. Every breath was a reminder of what was at stake—every heartbeat, a desperate plea for survival.

And then, in a heart-stopping moment, Reginald landed a vicious blow on Kyle.

No.

A primal snarl tore from my throat. I fought on, desperate to reach my mate. The chaos blurred, and time seemed to stretch while every victory felt bittersweet because I wasn’t where I needed to be—by Kyle’s side.

I saw the glimmer in Kyle’s fur, swathed in a reddish hue. Blood poured down his flank as he fought fiercely. Then, I was where I was meant to be. I reached Kyle, flanking him, with Roman on his other side. I launched myself into the final onslaught against Reginald with them.

Each strike carried weight beyond mere physical strength; it was laced with fury, desperation, and a lifetime of oppression. Together, we lunged at the tyrant, our fangs and claws clashing against his thick hide. The ground felt alive beneath us, thrumming with the intensity of our battle, our spirits primed to annihilate the suffering he had inflicted.

As I added my strength to the fight, determination seared through me. We were going to end this any moment—the three of us—we who had lost our loving parents to this man’s greed and ambition. My red wolf surged forward like flame, confident and sure of her power.

Then, Reginald feinted left. I felt an instinctual pulse ripple through me. Before I could react, he lunged toward me. His fangs glinted like daggers in the unforgiving light of the moon. A rush of air swept towards me, dauntingly close, suffocating as he aimed for my throat. But before he reached me, Kyle lunged in front of me, his body shielding mine, and I felt the shockwave of his father’s attack reverberate through my mate’s body.

A horrible snarl erupted from Kyle—an anguished roar of agony. Rage consumed me, igniting a furious heat that coursed through my veins as I surged forward with Roman. We moved like a single entity, our fangs tearing into Reginald’s flesh. With every shred of my teeth, I was motivated more by the need to get Reginald’s jaws off of my mate rather than killing him. But before I could process it, there Reginald lay—a grotesque pile of flesh and bones, his lifeblood pooling beneath him, spilling across the ground.

Around us, the battle came to a heart-stopping pause as everyone fighting started to take note that Reginald had fallen. I panted hard, confusion and fear mingling as my gaze darted behind me, searching for the unique gray coat of my mate. My gaze darted through the chaos, looking for Kyle. He had saved me. His wolf had come between me and Reginald.

Where is he?

A sickening dread gripped my heart as I found Kyle’s wolf teetering on his feet, the light in his green eyes flickering. Then, with an almighty thud, he collapsed onto the ground. Cold panic surged through my veins, suffocating my breath.

I morphed into my human form in a heartbeat, rushing to him. “My hands frantically found his right flank—thick with crimson, the vibrancy contrasting sharply with the barren earth beneath him.

“Healer Maria!” I shouted, my voice cracking under the weight of fear.

The healer had been fighting alongside us, and I turned, desperately searching for her amidst the chaos of faces—both wolf and human figures starting to emerge in the pale dawn.

Maria’s wolf emerged, steadiness radiating from her even on the battlefield. She morphed into her human form, her shoulder-length brown hair streaked with gray, falling around her face as she sank down beside the bleeding wolf. “Kyle,” she uttered with such heartfelt emotion I swore I’d never accuse her of lacking it again.

With shaking hands, I pressed down, feeling the warmth in his fur fading. “Kyle, please,” I begged. Each of my breaths felt labored as if mirroring his, which were becoming shallower and shorter.

“There’s too much blood,” I murmured, despair coiling into a thick ball in my gut. With the way the ground was turning dark around us, it felt as if Reginald’s words were becoming true, as if he’d cursed Kyle like a dark witch might have, dooming him.

“The woods, Leah,” Maria said. “I need leaves for poultices before we move him.”

Understanding gripped me. Nodding, I visualized the woods nearby between the hill and what had been our slave quarters. They might shelter the herbs needed to save my mate. In an instant, I shifted back into my wolf form, racing through the underbrush, heart hammering in my chest as I scented the air. Minty pomenta met me, but I homed in on the absorbent wormweed instead.

With the herbs clenched in my human fingers, I sprinted back to Kyle and Maria. In a whirlwind of motion, she applied the leaves to Kyle’s wound as best she could. Then Roman and Mark were lifting Kyle’s wolf, hurrying toward the infirmary, their expressions grim and focused.

As Kyle was carried away, I felt my heart splinter. The moment felt surreal as if I were witnessing it from above. My heart ached at the sight of my mate sandwiched between them. The red-headed woman trailing behind them seemed so small and fragile.

My heart ached for her. She’d held so much back. Now, she might not get the chance to tell her mate how much he meant to her. I could barely breathe, my lungs constricting at the sight of him lying there. He had sacrificed himself to save me, and now he was fighting for his life. What if I lost him? What if I never got the chance to tell him how much he meant to me?

But suddenly, I was back in the thick of it, panic thrumming through my body as we reached the confines of the infirmary. Now that Roman and Mark had laid Kyle’s wolf on the infirmary bed, Roman came over to support me. I only realized then, as I held onto his forearms, how much I was trembling.

Healer Maria’s hands worked in a flurry of movement, so practiced and steady that I was reminded of Lyvia’s hands hovering over Lina and working their magic.

Lina.

I clenched my jaw, thoughts of my daughter tearing through me. What if she lost her father?

I sat down beside Kyle’s wolf on the edge of his bed, threading my fingers into his fur as each of his shallow breaths sliced through me, deepening my terror.

Once again, Healer Maria’s voice came through my haze.

“Your mate bond, Leah? Does it still exist?”

My heart climbed into my throat. I nodded vigorously. Her words dragged me back simultaneously into the moment and into the last few days when I’d been considering severing our bond.

“Good,” Maria said. She concocted a herbal potion, setting it into a bag that she attached to an IV drip, and inserted a needle into Kyle’s shoulder.

“The healing potion is all I can do, Leah,” Maria said softly as she surprised me with tenderness, squeezing my shoulder. “You need to connect to his wolf, your wolf to his.”

I nodded, knowing exactly what she meant. How many times had Kyle and I connected to our essences so as to help Lina? I thought of our auras, his emerald hued and mine, cerulean.

“It’s time to take from your wolf’s spirit, to give strength from your wolf to your mate, nurturing your bond, and hopefully giving Kyle the power he needs to heal his wound,” Maria instructed. “Talk to him. We can give you space if you prefer?” she offered, her thoughtfulness touching me deeply.

But I needed Roman, Mark, and her. I shook my head. “Stay, please. All of you.”

I threaded my fingers deeper into Kyle’s fur, closing my eyes as I searched deep inside myself. My wolf stirred, desperate to get to her mate. I felt her protectiveness rushing through my veins, wanting to do whatever she could to keep our mate here with us.

“Kyle, please, if you can hear me, stay with me.” With a voice thick with emotion, I continued, “You said I didn’t need you. But I do. I really do. I was afraid. I was afraid to want too much. I was afraid that if I let myself want you, it would hurt too much when I lost you. But I was wrong. Not telling you didn’t protect my heart. I need you, Ilak . I thought that I had to keep you at arm’s length to stay free. But freedom is loving you, Kyle.”

Maria knelt at the foot of Kyle’s bed.

I felt it before I saw it. A warmth wound through me, and in it were all of the most magical moments from the past month: Kyle’s wolf leaning against mine; his hands winding through my hair and Lina’s, grooming and caring for us both with a tenderness that I’d never experienced before; him telling me he loved me; the way he’d reverently kissed me, then worshiped my body making me feel a fulfillment I’d never before known existed.

Just then, a gasp escaped someone’s lips, and I jolted back to the present, dread washing over me. But instead of terror, I felt an intoxicating warmth radiate from within, enveloping Kyle as a dazzling light blazed around him. It was my cerulean essence, radiating life and love, intertwining with the green glow that was Kyle’s wolf spirit.

He was fighting for his life—fighting against the darkness threatening to take him.

In a moment, Kyle’s wolf changed to his manly form. My breath hitched as I watched the deep wound across his side scab over. Around the bloodied leaves still clumped there, I saw new layers of skin as if it had been healing for days.

Tears of relief bathed my face, and I cried with a new openness, unashamed by the want and relief that I felt toward my mate. “I need you, Ilak ,” I cried as I nestled into his unhurt side, nuzzling into the pine scent of him, which was so rich even sweat and blood couldn’t snuff it out.

He inhaled more deeply and whispered, “Thank you. And I need you, always,” he added.

In a moment, both Roman and Mark were beside us, sharing in the joy of Kyle’s recovery.

But Kyle’s voice was strained as he asked, “What happened? Did Reginald—?” His voice was thick with emotion, and I squeezed his hand, understanding that he couldn’t bring himself to say it. After all, Reginald may have been treacherous and cold-blooded, but he was still his father.

“He’s dead,” I said. “Roman and I took him out after you saved me from him.” I nuzzled into his neck, breathing him in, his presence, warmth, and aliveness.

Kyle and Roman locked eyes, and once again, I felt a deep respect forming between them. My heart squeezed at the thought of their strengthening bond, my anuk and my ilak . Thankfulness for the way the battle had gone, despite Kyle’s injury, beat through me. The moon goddess had been shining down on us and guiding our way.

Even from his almost death bed, Kyle was quick to remember who had helped us attain this victory. “Mark, thank you for everything. If it hadn’t been for you, this victory against my father could never have been successful.”

Mark smiled, his brown eyes sparkling with a warmth that suffused his lean face, which was filled with more contentment than I’d ever seen it. “You’re welcome, Kyle. Besides, although I respect you and wanted to help you end your father’s corrupt rule of our pack, it wasn’t my chief motivation.”

Kyle looked bemused, and my lips twitched as I watched Roman’s azure eyes fill with affection as he looked at Mark.

“Seeing my mate restored to his lands and rightful position as Alpha,” Mark continued, “might have had a little something to do with all my hard work.” A mischievous glint shone in his eye as he looked at Roman.

My anuk looked at Mark with a smile. “And how am I ever going to thank you, Ilak ?”

“I can think of some ways,” Mark began.

But Roman’s lips silenced him as he kissed him hard, the two warriors making out, well, as if they’d four years of separation to make up for.

I grinned and then giggled as I caught the look of astonishment on Kyle’s face.

“So,” he began to me quietly, “when you said Roman broke off your engagement when he fell in love with someone else, you meant—”

“Mark,” I said, nodding, my eyes tearing up again with happiness for Roman and Mark and for me and Kyle. My heart felt full to bursting.

In a moment, Roman and Mark had excused themselves, unwilling to put off their reunion any longer, and Kyle and I were left happily with Healer Maria, who heard with joyous news about the last month Kyle had been gone from the pack and of our daughter’s existence.

Maria listened with such obvious joy to everything about Lina that I knew she was destined to become the grandmother to Lina that our daughter had been robbed of by Reginald’s treachery in assassinating Kyle’s mother and in my mom dying in the war between our packs.

A few days later, it was only with the promise of us returning with Lina that Healer Maria finally gave Kyle the green light to leave the infirmary.

“We’ll see you soon, Aanaga ,” Kyle promised, kissing Maria on the cheek as we left our pack lands. Healer Maria’s smile was beatific as she took in Kyle’s new title for her—Grandmother.

I kissed her. “Thank you, Aana .” She looked touched as I called her Granny, too. With happy thoughts of returning to our pack lands soon, we hastened away, eager to bring our little wolf back home.