Chapter 2 - Kahn
The compound was far too busy for Kahn’s sanity. He could feel the wolf growling within him, where he sat and observed the celebrations.
Celebrations that he had no interest in.
Banners stretched between buildings, bright silk catching the morning wind.
Tables lined the great hall, groaning under platters of food that had been cooking since dawn.
Wolves hurried past his study window, laughing, calling to each other, their voices pitched high with excitement.
He could hear them even where he sat locked up in his office.
All of them acted like this was the most joyous occasion. No mind was paid to the one affected most by it: him.
Kahn sat at his desk and wished they’d all shut up.
The list of ‘winners’ lay in front of him. Of course, they were winners—and he was the prize. Every single woman in the closer area hoped that they would be picked. That they would win him.
But truth be told, none of them really wanted him. They wanted the title. The power. The status that came with being Luna of the Beaumont Pack.
He wanted to throw the list in the fire and watch it burn.
His office door swung open without a knock.
Gideon strode in like he owned the place—which had it not been for Kahn, he had to accept, he would have.
Gideon was proud of his title as Pack Elder.
And Kahn supposed that he owed him a rather fair bit of loyalty.
The man who’d helped raise him after his parents died and who now seemed to think that gave him the right to walk into any room whenever he damn well pleased.
“You’re brooding.” Gideon’s voice was disapproving, and his eyes were black with irritability. “That won’t change anything. It is what it is.”
“I’m working.”
Gideon was not unaware of the growl beneath Kahn’s words, but he did not flinch.
“You’re sulking.” His uncle crossed the room and planted both fists on the desk. His eyes had a yellow tinge to them—one that was only noticeable when he was angry. “The lottery is done. The candidates arrive today. Time to stop acting like a child and do your duty.”
Kahn’s fingers tightened on the armrest of his chair. “I’m aware of my duties.”
“Are you?” Gideon straightened, though the sneer remained on his face.
“Three weeks ago, a patrol was ambushed on the eastern border. Two wolves injured. Last week, someone breached the boundary wards. Didn’t attack.
Just tested. Poked at our defenses like they were looking for soft spots. And they will find it unless you…”
“I doubled the patrols.”
“That’s not enough.” Gideon’s voice dropped lower, and the rough edge to it sounded like a roar. “The rogues aren’t just circling anymore. They’re organized. Someone’s leading them. Someone who knows exactly what they’re doing. And every day you sit here unmated, you make us weaker.”
Kahn could no longer bear to face his uncle, yet he did not lower his gaze.
He stared back with a confidence he felt none of.
Despite his uncle’s belief, none of this surprised him.
He’d read the reports. Studied the maps.
Spent hours trying to figure out who was coordinating the attacks and what they wanted.
He knew as well as the rest of the pack that something was afoot.
But he had no idea what it was or how to stop it.
“An unmated Alpha weakens more than just himself.” Gideon crossed his arms. “The bond between Alpha and Luna strengthens the territory itself. The boundary wards are tied to that bond. Right now, they’re running on fumes.
One Alpha. No Luna. No anchor. We’re vulnerable in ways we haven’t been in generations. ”
“I know.”
“Do you?” His uncle leaned forward again. “Because six wolves have died in the past year. Six families torn apart. Six funerals. And you’re sitting here acting like this ritual is some personal inconvenience instead of what it actually is: the survival of this pack.”
Eli’s face flashed through Kahn’s mind. He had believed in Kahn wholeheartedly: never doubted his ability to lead this pack.
He was wrong.
Because anyone worthy of leading the pack wouldn’t have let his own brother… No. There was no use rehashing it. What was done was done.
“The ceremony starts tomorrow,” He managed to get out, though the words were bitter in his mouth. “I’ll do what needs to be done.”
Gideon studied him for a long moment, then nodded once. “Good. The pack needs stability. They need to see their Alpha settled, strong, ready to produce heirs. What you want doesn’t enter into it. It never has.”
He left without another word, slamming the door behind him.
Kahn could feel the growl of anger burning in his throat, but he did not pay it any mind. Instead, he chose to focus on the list in front of him.
It was exhausting.
He read the names again, again and again. One of these women would be his wife. He’d be expected to marry her, to… Thankfully, another knock interrupted his tumultuous thoughts. It was Viktor who stepped through without waiting for permission, a clear sign that something was wrong.
“All twenty-three candidates have arrived.” Kahn looked at Viktor with narrowed eyes. His beta was looking everywhere except at him. It was a clear sign that something was very wrong. His Beta was never hesitant or afraid to tell him anything,
“What is it?” He asked when at last he could no longer stand it. Viktor sighed deeply before answering. “We have a situation.”
“What kind of situation?”
“One of them is human.”
The words hung in the air for three full seconds before Kahn’s brain processed them.
“What?”
“Human.” Viktor moved to stand in front of the desk. Broad shoulders. Shaved head. Calm eyes that noticed everything and right now noticed too much. “No pack affiliation. No shifter blood that we can detect. Her name is Caitlynn Williams.”
He slid a thin file across the desk. Kahn opened it.
The photograph showed a woman with auburn hair and dark green eyes. Freckles scattered across pale skin. Nothing about her explained why ancient magic designed to select shifter mates would choose her. She looked entirely ordinary, and yet… He swallowed.
There was something about her. At last, he looked up.
“The lottery draws from bloodlines and magical signatures,” Kahn said slowly. “Humans don’t have either.”
“I know.”
“Then how is this possible?”
“No idea.” Viktor shifted from one foot to the other. “The collectors followed protocol. When they arrived at her apartment, the mark was already on her wrist. Glowing. Active. The lottery chose her.”
Kahn closed the file. Opened it again. Stared at the photo like it might start making sense if he looked long enough.
It didn’t. Instead, it sent a foreign jolt through the pit of his stomach.
“She had no knowledge of our world,” Viktor continued. “She was rather… upset. They had to sedate her.”
A deep frown formed between Kahn’s brows.
“Send her back.”
“We can’t.”
“Why the hell not?”
“The lottery is binding magic. If her name was drawn, something wants her here. Sending her back without completing the ritual would break the binding.” Viktor paused. “The consequences would be fatal. For her. Perhaps for you too. It’s… never been done.”
Kahn dragged a hand through his hair. This was insane. He took a deep breath.
“I don’t…” He broke off and shook his head. It was Viktor who offered somewhat of a solution.
“She won’t make it past the first round,” he offered. “No human possibly could. Her presence here does not have to be anything more than a mere… nuisance.”
“Fine.” He stood, moved to the window. Below, wolves hung the last of the banners. Someone was testing the sound system in the great hall. Everything looked normal. Perfect. “She stays until she washes out. Anything else?”
The door opened before Viktor could answer.
Chris Williams walked in, and Kahn smiled broadly immediately, though the smile disappeared quite quickly when he noticed the tension in the other man’s shoulders.
“Chris?”
It was only recently that Chris left the territory for liaison work, and Kahn was always happy to see this other man. Usually, Chris was happy to see him as well. There was no one Kahn trusted more.
But today… Chris did not look happy to see his old friend.
Something was very wrong.
“Kahn.” Chris’s voice came out rough. Strained. “I came as soon as I heard.”
Viktor glanced between them, then quietly left. The door clicked shut.
“Heard what?” Kahn asked, though his gut already knew.
“There’s a human in the lottery.” Chris’s hands clenched at his sides. “A woman named Caitlynn Williams.”
Kahn nodded. “Yes? Why do you know this?”
“She’s my sister,” Chris got out at last, and Kahn’s eyes widened.
“Your… sister?”
“Foster sister, yes. We shared a placement when she was a kid.” The words came fast, like Chris had been holding them back.
“Eighteen months. Longest she ever stayed anywhere. We lost touch after I aged out of the system. I always figured I’d find her again...
Or at least try. And now her name shows up in a shifter lottery.
In my best friend’s pack. And nobody can explain why. ”
“The lottery chose her,” Kahn said carefully. “We don’t know how or why.”
“Can you send her home?”
“Not until the ritual’s complete. If we break the binding...” He didn’t finish. Chris knew enough about their world to understand what that meant.
Chris flinched. His jaw worked. “What if she gets hurt?”
Kahn shook his head slowly. “I don’t know… I can’t stop it, Chris. Won’t be able to.”
Chris nodded, though he swallowed rather visibly. “She’s… a tough one,” he said at last, his voice cracking. “I just… don’t want to see her… Suffer more than she already has.”
“There are measures in place to prevent loss of life,” Kahn offered—though he knew it was not much of a consolation. The measures would protect shifters from harm. But a human?”
At last, Chris met his gaze.
“I’ll be around,” he said. “But I don’t want her to know yet. She won’t understand any of this. Just... keep her safe.”
After he left, Kahn stood alone in his study. A human in a mate ritual designed for shifters. Selected by magic that shouldn’t have been able to touch her. Chris’s foster sister. An anomaly with no explanation.
None of this made sense, and there was no way to change any of it.
Without meaning to, he found himself looking at that photograph again.
Auburn hair. Dark green eyes. Freckles.
His wolf pushed forward—curious, interested, restless. He shoved it back down hard. Now was not the time.
At long last, he forced himself to move outside to watch the candidates arrive.
The driveway wound up the mountain in a long, elegant curve, and the cars came one after another. Black sedans. Expensive. Polished until they gleamed.
The women who emerged were exactly what he’d expected.
Perfect hair, braided tightly to their heads.
Sharply dressed in black from head to toe.
Some even with spiked chains around seemingly delicate necks.
They moved like they’d been trained for this—which they had.
Daughters of powerful families, raised from birth to be Luna material.
He recognized Sloane Mercer rather quickly. The only member of his own pack to be chosen. A crowd favorite. She looked at the compound, looked at the assembled wolves watching, then looked directly at Kahn.
He looked back at her, impassive. She’d made it clear even before the lottery that she had hoped to be chosen.
The last car arrived as the sun started to sink toward the mountains, painting everything gold and red.
Two collectors climbed out. They opened the back door and lifted an unconscious woman from the seat.
Auburn hair spilled over one collector’s arm, catching the late afternoon light like copper wire. Her face was slack in drug-induced sleep. He recognized her immediately.
Caitlynn Williams.
His wolf surged forward so hard that Kahn almost lost his grip on it. A growl built in his throat—instinctive, possessive, and completely irrational. Every muscle in his body tensed with the urge to move, to take her from the collectors’ arms, to…
He shoved the wolf down violently. Forced it back. Forced himself to stay still.
It didn’t mean anything. Just his wolf reacting to something strange. An anomaly. Of course, it would be curious; it was nothing more than that.
And yet, his gaze followed them until they disappeared from view, his wolf roaring wildly in his chest.
There was no way she’d pass the trials. She’d go home. Everything would return to normal.
It had to.