The Bloodmoon Club throbbed with bass and heat—music pounding like a heartbeat gone feral. The air was thick with sweat, perfume, and lust, heavy enough to choke on. I’d drained three glasses of flaming whiskey, but nothing silenced the howl clawing its way up my chest. The room spun in streaks of crimson and silver, but through it all, I only saw them.
Kael. My knight. My ruin.
He stood in the VIP booth, posture rigid, expression unreadable—until she leaned close. Elowen. Her fingers brushed the edge of his jaw as she whispered something in his ear, and I saw it—his ears flushed red. A blush. Genuine.
My glass shattered in my hand.
I swallowed the rest of the burn and stalked toward the dance floor, letting the music devour my fury. My red dress clung to me like armor, a declaration of defiance. Wolves watched. Then they swarmed—young, drunk, entitled. One slid a hand down my hip.
“Back. Off.” My voice dropped to a growl.
They laughed. Another reached for me. I didn’t think—I bared my fangs. But the liquor dulled my reflexes.
“Kael!” I shouted, my voice slicing through the noise.
The response was instant.
The crowd broke apart as Kael approached, his aura flaring—raw, commanding, the kind that made lesser wolves instinctively bow. The boys scattered, terror lacing their drunken bravado.
“Oh, you do remember me,” I sneered, fury overriding any hint of gratitude. “For a moment, I thought you’d forgotten your actual duty. Or were you waiting for your real Luna to summon you first?”
His eyes darkened. “I didn’t see them—”
“No,” I cut him off, stepping close enough that he could feel my breath. “You didn’t want to.” I could smell Elowen’s scent on him, faint but undeniable. “You saw her. That’s all you ever see.”
He looked away, jaw tight. “You’ve had too much to drink.”
“Good,” I laughed bitterly. “It helps me think clearly.”
He said nothing, and I might’ve struck him then—but the air split with a scream.
Chaos detonated.
A shriek tore through the club, followed by panic and bloodlust. Wolves shifted mid-step, bones cracking, claws shredding fabric. Fangs gleamed. The scent of metal filled the air.
Vampires.
I caught a blur of movement—too fast, too deliberate. Kael shifted in an instant, his wolf a towering silver-gray streak cutting through the chaos. But not toward me.
Toward her.
Always her.