LUCA

The roaring in my ears wouldn't stop.

It was the sound of hundreds of Kindred Rogues howling, stamping their feet, beating their chests. Approval. Awe. It echoed in the giant cavern until the stone itself seemed to vibrate.

I stood in the center of the ash circle, which was now just dull, grey powder again. My whole body hummed. The lunar power that had erupted from me was settling under my skin like a warm heartbeat.

Kael, the scarred leader, stepped into the circle, he didn't smile, but his eyes held a fierce respect.

He raised a hand, and the roaring slowly died to a restless murmur.

"Luca Throne has passed the trial!" he announced, his voice carrying across the cavern.

"The moon's mark is upon him, the Lunar Omega is real."

More howls filled the cavern, the rogues were celebrating. But it didn't feel real, to me I felt like a lightning strike had gone through me and left only smoke and sparks behind.

My eyes darted to where Caleb had been standing. He was gone, like he vanished into thin air.

Two rogues, a man and a woman with stern faces entered the circle. "Come with us." the woman ordered softly.

I had no choice, my legs felt like water. I let them guide me out of the cavern, down a side tunnel, away from the noise. They took me to a small room carved into the rock.

It had a cot, a bucket of water, and a torch in a sconce. It looked like a cell, but cleaner than I expected.

"Wait here, and don't move an inch." the male rogue commanded.

"The council will speak with you soon."

"Where's Rafe?" I asked, my voice cracking.

They didn't answer, rather they went out the door, a heavy slab of oak reinforced with iron and swung it shut.

I sank onto the cot, my head in my hands, the glow was fading from my skin, leaving me feeling cold and empty.

I'd done it, but at what cost? I'd shown my power to everyone, Caleb had seen it, and now Rafe was somewhere in this maze, probably in a worse cell, because of me.

I don't know how long I sat there, perhaps long enough for the torch to burn lower.

When suddenly I heard the sound of a struggle, outside the door..

My head snapped up, staring intently at the door.

The lock rattled, and the door flew open.

Two large rogues shoved someone inside. Someone tall, with broad shoulders and brown hair.

Rafe.

They threw him into the room with enough force that he stumbled, catching himself against the far wall.

He whirled around, fists up, a snarl on his lips. The door slammed shut behind him.

He was breathing hard. His shirt was torn. A fresh cut bled over his eyebrow. But he was here alive with me, in the same room.

"Rafe." I breathed.

He blinked, his eyes adjusting to the dim light,when they found me. The snarl vanished, replaced by pure, stark relief.

"Luca." He called gently

We crossed the room at the same time, he grabbed my arms, looking me over like he was checking for breaks.

"Are you hurt? What did they do to you?"

"I'm okay, they just... put me in here." My own hands were on his chest, feeling the solid beat of his heart. "Your head..."

"It's nothing." He swiped at the blood with the back of his hand, his eyes never leaving my face.

"I heard the howling. I felt... something through the bond, what happened?" He questioned.

"The circle... it pulled the power out of me, like tearing it from my bones, I couldn't stop it." I shuddered at the memory. "It was like the moon reached down and grabbed me."

His thumb stroked my cheek. "But you controlled it."

"No," I whispered, the truth spilling out. "I didn't. I let go. I thought of you. And it just... exploded."

Something flashed in his eyes. Wonder. Fear. He pulled me into a rough hug, his face buried in my hair. "You're incredible." he murmured, his voice soothing and thick.

We stood like that for a long moment, just holding on. The bond, which had been filled with panic, swelled into a warm, humming river of relief. He was here. We were together. For now.

He finally pulled back, but kept his hands on my shoulders. His expression turned serious as he looked around the room. "This is a test."

"What?"

"Putting us together. It's another trial." He let go of me and walked to the door, running his fingers along the seam.

"They want to see what the bond does, if it makes us weak, if we lose control, if it's a strength or a liability."

The warmth I'd felt chilled instantly. He was right. This wasn't kindness. It was observation.

"So what do we do?" I asked, hugging myself.

He turned from the door, his gaze landing on me. The torchlight made his hazel eyes look like dark gold. "We give them nothing to see."

"How?"

"By acting normal." He came back to me, but didn't touch me. He sat on the edge of the cot and pointed to the bucket. "Is that water clean?"

The shift was so sudden it took me a second, he was right, we couldn't just stand here clinging to each other. That's probably what they wanted.

"I think so," I answered, walking toward the bucket. I dipped a corner of my shirt in it, wringing it out. "Here, for your cut."

He took the cloth from me, our fingers brushed, a spark shot up my arm. The bond pulsed, hungry for more contact. I saw his jaw tighten. He felt it too.

He pressed the cloth to his brow, wincing slightly. "Talk to me," he said, his voice low. "About anything, not about bonds or trials or Caleb. Just... talk."

I sat on the floor, leaning my back against the stone wall opposite him. What did people talk about? My mind was blank. "I... I don't like cauliflower."

He stared at me for a second, then a slow smile spread across his face. It was the first one I'd seen since the forest. It lit up his whole face, even with the cut and the bruise. "What?"

"It's the worst vegetable," I said, the absurdity of it making me feel a little hysterical.

"It smells like feet when you cook it, and it has no purpose."

He let out a short, surprised laugh. "I'll never feed you cauliflower."

"Good." I nodded, smiling happily.

"I hum when I'm nervous." I blurted out.

"Random songs just to drive my aunt crazy."

"I know," he said softly.

"You were humming that day behind the stables, before your shift."

Suddenly the door lock rattled interrupting our small talk.

We both froze.

But the door didn't open. Instead, a small narrow slot at the bottom one I hadn't noticed slid open.

Two wooden bowls were pushed through, followed by two cups.

Kael's cold voice came from the other side of the door.

"The power of the bond, is it a chain of or a lifeline?"

"Only the night will tell." He chuckled.

RAFE

Everything became quiet after Kael's words, leaving us alone again. Luca stood by the bed, his back towards me, his shoulders were hunched and frail, he looked smaller than I'd ever seen him.

I shifted closer to him, I didn't know what to say, so I just put my hands on his shoulders and hugged him.

"I'm scared." he mumbled into my skin, his breath warm and shaky.

"I know." I held him tighter.

"I'm here, I got you baby."

We stood there for a long time, just holding each other in the dark, the candles were gone. The only light was a faint grey glow from a crack under the door.

Slowly, the hug changed, It wasn't just comfort anymore, it was a need. A desperate need to feel that we were real, that we were here, together.

Luca tilted his head back. In the dim light, I saw the track of a single tear down his cheek. I wiped it away with my thumb.

He kissed me.

It wasn't like last time, the last time was fire and need. This was slow. Sad. Searching. His lips were soft against mine, asking a question.

Are we still us?

I answered by kissing him back. Gently I poured every promise I couldn't say out loud into that kiss.

We moved to the bed without breaking apart. It was a slow, quiet move. We helped each other out of our clothes, our hands fumbling but careful. There was no rush. No frenzy.

When we were both naked, we lay down facing each other on the furs. I traced the line of his jaw, his collarbone with a light-feather kiss.

"Talk to me." I whispered.

He shook his head, his eyes glistening. "I don't have any good words right now."

"Then don't talk."

I kissed him again, I kissed his eyelids, his temples, the corner of his mouth. He shuddered, his hands coming up to tangle in my hair.

I loved him with my mouth, slow and thorough, until he was gasping, his back arching off the bed.

His pleasure was a bright, warm wave through the bond, cutting through the cold fear for a moment.

When he came back down, breathing hard, he pulled me up to him. He wrapped his legs around my hips, guiding me to him. Our eyes locked.

"Look at me," he breathed. "The whole time."

I lifted him over slowly upon my chest, and lined my cock, behind his rectum, slowly I pushed inside him, we both gasped.

It felt different. Deeper. It wasn't just our bodies. It was our souls touching in that dark, sacred place.

I moved, a slow, rocking rhythm that had him clutching at my back. His face was so close to mine. I could see every flicker of feeling in his eyes.

"You're real." he whispered, his voice cracking. "You feel so real."

A knot tightened in my throat. I couldn't speak. I just kissed him, swallowing his words, his breath, his fear.

We moved together slowly, there were no loud cries. Just broken breaths and whispers against sweat-slick skin.

"I won't let them take you." I promised into the hollow of his shoulder.

"I don't care what I am." he gasped, his nails pressing into my skin.

"As long as I'm yours."

"Always."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

The pleasure built slowly, a heavy pressure that wasn't just physical. It was the weight of everything we were fighting, turning into heat between us.

The bond was a conduit, carrying his trust, my devotion, our shared terror, mixing it all together until we couldn't tell where one ended and the other began.

When we finally fell over the edge, it was quiet. A trembling release that felt more like relief than triumph.

I held him through it, and he held me, and for a few perfect seconds, there was no Caleb, no Goddess, no prophecy. Just us, tangled together in sweet pleasure.

We lay like that for a long time, catching our breath, his head was on my chest, my arm around him. Our hearts beat against each other, slowly returning to normal.

The fear started to creep back in. The reality of the stone walls, of Kael's words.

Luca's finger traced a lazy circle on my chest, right over the bond. "What are you thinking about?" he murmured.

I stared up at the dark ceiling. The secret I'd been holding felt like a poison stone in my chest, he'd just given me everything, his trust, his body, his scared heart. He deserved my truth, even if it broke us.

"Luca." I said, my voice sounding strange in the dark.

"Hmm?"

I took a deep breath. The words were the hardest I'd ever had to say.

"My power," I began, the confession ripping out of me. "It feels like a lie."

His tracing finger stopped. He went very still.

"What do you mean?" he asked, carefully.

"Everything Caleb said. About me being... made." I forced myself to say it. "It's true. I feel it. When I use my Alpha strength, it doesn't feel like it comes from here." I tapped my own chest.

"It feels borrowed, like I'm wearing someone else's skin."

He was silent for so long I thought maybe he'd fallen asleep. Or that he was too disgusted to speak.

Then he pushed himself up on one elbow. He looked down at me. In the near-darkness, his eyes were serious.

"Does it feel like a lie," he asked softly, "when you hold me?"

"No." The answer was immediate. "That's the only thing that feels completely real."

A small, sad smile touched his lips. He leaned down and kissed me, slow and sweet.

"Then that's the only power that matters," he whispered against my lips.

He laid his head back down. I held him, my mind reeling. He hadn't pulled away. He hadn't screamed. He'd just... accepted it.

The relief was so profound it made my eyes sting.

Maybe, just maybe, we could lie together and make something true.

Just as that thought settled, a sound sliced through the quiet a long, mournful howl from somewhere deep in the mountain.

It wasn't a rogue, it was a sound of pure, ancient grief. And it was followed by a single, clear voice that seemed to come from the stones themselves.

The voice, cold and echoing, spoke only three words that seeped into our room,

"The Seer wakes."

N/B Dual POV Ahead.

RAFE POV

The council chamber erupted into noise.

Elders shouted over each other. "The Sacred Grove is forbidden!"

"The Seer has been hidden for generations!"

"He will bring the Goddess's wrath down on us all!"

I didn't care about their myths, but I cared about the look on Luca's face, he'd gone pale, his grey eyes wide with a fear I hadn't seen even when Caleb held a knife to him.

This was bigger. It was a story that could get us killed by every wolf on the continent.

I pulled him to his feet, my hand firm on his arm. "We need to talk, now."

Kael saw us moving and held up a hand, silencing the room. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Somewhere we can breathe." I shot back, not breaking my stride, I didn't wait for permission.

I led Luca out of the chamber and into a side tunnel I'd spotted earlier, it was narrow and dark, but it was empty.

As soon as we were around the corner, Luca sagged against the wall. "A plague." he whispered, staring at the stone floor.

"He's telling everyone I'm a disease."

"He's scared," I said, turning to face him. I put my hands on his shoulders, forcing him to look at me.

"You're Luca Throne, you're powerful, and he can't control you, so he has to make everyone else hate you first. It's what cowards do."

"But the Goddess, Rafe... what if she is angry?" His voice was small. "What if I really am a mistake?"

"Then she can get in line," I said, my voice hard.

"But we're not waiting around for divine judgment or for Caleb's little show, we're getting out of here."

That snapped his head up. "What? The rogues are protecting us."

"Are they?" I glanced back down the tunnel toward the chamber. "They assess me, they make you a symbol."

"Kael's first loyalty is to his people. If the Goddess really does show up, or if enough packs threaten war, you think he'll stand with us? He'll hand us over to save the Kindred."

I saw the logic hit him. His shoulders slumped. "So we run. Again."

"We run to something," I corrected. "Caleb has the Seer, he's going to the Sacred Grove. We'll get there first."

"We find out the truth about you, about this 'judgment,' on our own terms, not as prisoners in a cave, not as pieces in someone else's game."

A spark lit in his eyes. The spark I loved. Defiance. "How? This place is a fortress."

I leaned closer, lowering my voice. "I've been paying attention, the main tunnel to the east, the one that smells like wet leaves, that's the one their hunting parties use.

"The guards change at sunset, there's a minute, maybe two, where the post is empty."

"You want to just walk out the front door?"

"No we need a distraction, something that pulls every rogue toward the center of the caverns." I looked at him.

"Something only you can do."

Understanding dawned on his face, followed by worry. "My power, you want me to... cause a scene."

"A big one, make the stones glow, give them a spectacle that has nothing to do with Caleb, right here in their home, while they're all looking at you, I'll get to the tunnel."

He grabbed my wrist. "We split up? No please Rafe, let's stay together."

"It's the only way, Luca, I can move faster alone to secure the path, you follow the second you can break away."

"We will meet at the tunnel mouth." I cupped his face.

"It'll work. Trust me."

His eyes searched mine, I could feel his heart hammering.

"Okay," he breathed finally. "Okay."

We didn't have a plan, not a real one. We had a desperate idea. But it was ours.

I leaned in and kissed him. It wasn't soft or sweet. It was a fierce, hard press of lips, a silent promise.

A transfer of courage, I poured everything I had into it, my fear for him, my need to protect him, my absolute certainty that we were real.

He kissed me back just as fiercely, his fingers tangling in my hair, holding me to him like an anchor.

When we broke apart, we were both breathing hard.

"Don't get caught." I said, my forehead pressed against his.

"Don't get lost." he shot back, a weak smile touching his lips.

I gave his shoulder one last squeeze, then turned and melted into the darkness of the tunnel, heading east, toward the smell of wet leaves and freedom.

---

LUCA POV

I watched Rafe disappear into the dark. The kiss still burned on my lips.

Okay. You can do this. Just... make a scene.

I took a deep breath and walked back toward the main cavern, the heart of the Kindred camp was bustling. Rogues cooked over fires, mended weapons, and talked in low groups.

The news from the scouts had spread, I could feel the tension in the air, a new wariness in the glances thrown my way.

I needed a stage. My eyes landed on the Stone Circle a flat, wide platform of natural rock in the very center of the cavern, used for announcements. Perfect.

I climbed onto it. A few rogues nearby stopped to watch, curious.

Feel the bonds, my mother had said. They are your anchor.

I closed my eyes, I blocked out the noise, the smells, the fear. I reached not for the wild, scary power, but for the bond.

I followed it in my mind, feeling it stretch away from me, through the mountain, toward the eastern tunnel. He was moving. He was safe.

The bond was my truth. My power was part of that truth.

I let the feeling of it, the rightness, the love, the defiance fill me up, I didn't force it. I just let it overflow.

A gasp rippled through the crowd.

I opened my eyes. A soft silver light was emanating from my skin, just like in the trial. It lit up the immediate area around me. I held out my hands, and the light pulsed, gentle and beautiful.

More rogues were gathering, pointing. I saw Kael push his way to the front, his expression unreadable.

Now, give them a show.

I thought of Caleb, of his smug face, his words calling me a plague. Anger, hot and clean, mixed with the love from the bond. I channeled it all.

The light flared brighter. It shot up from me in thin, radiant beams, like a miniature silver sun.

The cavern walls began to shimmer, the deep, ancient stones soaked in the lunar energy and started to glow a faint blue.

The effect was breathtaking. The entire vast cavern was slowly illuminating with ethereal light. Rogues were staring, jaws slack, some reaching out to touch the glowing walls.

A low hum filled the air, it was the sound of the mountain itself vibrating, but to the wolves around me, it felt like something else.

It felt like the pack bonds those faint connections between rogue and rogue tingling, warming, strengthening for a brief, beautiful moment.

I heard whispers. "The Gift..." "He's healing the stone..." "It's a blessing..."

I had them. Every eye was on me, full of wonder, not fear.

Now, Luca. While they're dazzled.

I let the light dim, just a little, as if I was tiring. I took a step back on the platform, pretending to sway. The crowd murmured in concern.

This was my chance. I could slip off the back of the platform, into a side tunnel, and run to meet Rafe.

I took another step back.

A rough hand clamped down on my shoulder from behind, fingers digging in like iron.

"Not so fast, little light-show."

I tried to twist away, but the grip was too strong, I stumbled, falling against a broad chest covered in leather.

I looked up into the face of a huge rogue I'd never seen before. He wasn't one of Kael's usual guards, his eyes were dull and hungry yellow.

"Kael wants to keep you in a box." the rogue growled, his breath hot on my face. He started dragging me backward, away from the crowd, toward a dark, narrow tunnel I knew led to the deeper prison cells.

"But others think you're too valuable to leave lying around, we've got different plans for you."

I struggled, kicking out, but he just laughed and shook me like a rag doll. I looked desperately toward Kael, but the crowd, still buzzing from the light show, blocked his view.

The rogue leaned close, his voice a foul whisper only I could hear.

"Caleb's not the only one who knows about the Grove, and he's not the only one who wants to see what you can really do."

He said and shoved me into the dark tunnel.