CHAPTER 4: MARCUS WARNING

Kieran’s POV

The sound of fists against the flesh, exertion-induced grunts, growls of one asserting dominance, and even one or two spats, all meant fighters were practising nearby. They get paired and spar with each other, and these are two athletes consumed in the exact movements of the senior fighters. Two of them were just going to separate when someone gave them an order again: “Begin!” They breathed heavily at each other, then reset and postured in determination.

“What do you have to prove there, Kieran?” a familiar smell warned that Marcus had come onto the grounds where the training of the warriors was taking place.

I changed my head a little to gaze at him. A pair of grey eyes, very meditative at times but mostly calculating, met my silver eyes. That had always been a characteristic of Alpha Marcus, the person who got hair streaked with grey while his muscled body stayed stronger than what people remembered from their last encounter. The Head of the Nightfang Pack was what he had been for almost 30 years. His reputation was one of ruthlessness since he was an accomplished strategist.

“I am here to make them strong. It's kind of important.”

Kieran can't let go of his grin. "Are you saying such things to me, knowing full well that I haven't known pleasure in the past?"

I clamped my jaw shut. Not in the mood for puzzles. “Say what you came to say.”

He allowed a space before giving a slight head jut toward the packhouse. "Mate. Evelyn."

That clenches my muscles when her name is mentioned. “What about it?”

“Luna in the way she walks but an outcast in her loneliness. Dangerous thing, Kieran. Neglecting your Luna.”

A low growl purred through my chest. “She is not neglected.”

"Really? When was the last time you looked at her, Kieran? Looked at her?”

I said nothing.

“I've been Alpha longer than you, boy. I've quite literally seen most Alphas who like to give their mates a mere afterthought and then regret it once it's too late.”

My fingers came into the fist. "Evelyn is my partner because Moon Devi retained her. But this does not mean I asked for him.,

Marx shrinking her eyes. "If you think you reject him emotionally, you are a fool."

A sharp appropriate answer was put on my tongue, but I swallowed it. Marcus should not fight here. He was here to warn me.

"Do you know why I came today?" He continued. "Because I saw something in it while visiting the last moon. Strengthen. Grace. She takes herself with dignity, even when she's hurt.

My wolf shook me uncomfortably inside me, but I pushed Bhavna away.

Marcus took one step closer, and his voice diminished. "A Luna's love can make an alpha invincible. But his pain?" His eyes become blind. "His pain can ruin you."

His words elaborated somewhat in the chest, but I refused to show it. "Evelyn knew what she was running."

Marcus is upset by shaking his head. "And yet she still tries." He studied me for the last time before passing away. “Take care, Kirn. You may think you have all the time in the world. But luck? Happiness is not waiting for stubborn men. ,,

As soon as Marcus went, his words were surrounded by a shadow in my mind.

I didn't need Evelyn.

I did not need any

So why did my wolf protest?

I saw that Marcus had disappeared in the distance, but his words still reflected in my head.

His pain can ruin you.

I bluffed under my breath. As if I can be destroyed by something as trivial as a friend's pain.

When I turned to the training area, I focused on saving warriors, but my brain refused to settle. Marcus had no right to intervene. He was not part of my package and was not my advisor either. He had his Luna to worry about.

Still, his words kept boring, refused to shake.

I was halfway through another command, when a scent refreshed me in the past - soft, known, with some delicate.

Evelyn.

I didn't have to turn around to know she was there. My wolf recognized her presence in front of me. This was the instinct, the way I spent pressing the weeks.

Why was she here? She never came to the training place.

When I ignored him, I focused on two fighters in front of him and watched his movements. One did a second very long and the opponent took him down.

"Pathetic," I was stuck. "You hesitate, you die. Again."

The defeated warrior turned his hands on his feet and prepared a new round.

A soft voice bites through stress.

"They try their best, are they not?"

I got stiff.

Evelyn's voice was soft, but it was an edge. Not disobedience, but something close.

I turned my head a little, so it. She stood a few meters away, just dressed in a fitted tunic and leggings, her long chestnut hair hung down her back. The wind took his scent against me and made my wolf get restless.

I kept my expression cold. "What are you doing here?"

She hesitates. "I wanted to see how things work here. To understand the warriors.,

I almost laughed. "Why? You are not a fighter."

His lips were buried in a thin line. "No, I'm not. But I'm Luna."

I grabbed my jaw. The title looked wrong on the lips. Not because she wasn't fit to use it, but because I refused to accept what it meant.

"The warriors don't need a Luna over them," I told Kurt. "They need training."

Evelyn stared at me for a long time. I hoped he would strike back when he always used to be cool.

But he didn't.

Instead, he shook a small head. "Okay."

Then she turned and left.

Something turned inside me.

She wasn't angry. She didn't quarrel for my attention.

He simply accepted my dismissal - as if I was just another responsibility he had to bear.

The recognition left a bitter taste in my mouth.

Marcus's word came back, called without.

His pain can ruin you.

I forced the thought away, turning back to the training grounds.

But even as the warriors resumed their sparring, I found myself staring at the spot where Evelyn had stood, feeling something unfamiliar settle in my chest.