Chapter 15 #2
Coleman was quiet again, letting the silence stretch.
It was one of the things Adrian appreciated about his second—he knew when to speak and when to simply be present.
They’d had hundreds of conversations like this over the years, hashing out pack problems under open skies, finding solutions in the space between words.
“You could have her, you know,” Coleman said carefully, treading on dangerous ground. “Females aren’t required to be wolves. The old laws—”
“The old laws also permitted trial by combat for leadership disputes. Doesn’t mean we should bring that back.” He picked up a stone and hurled it over the cliff edge, watching it disappear into the valley below. “The elders are already furious about the modernization. If I took a human mate—”
“Mate.” Coleman’s eyebrows rose. “We’ve jumped all the way to mate now?”
He froze. He hadn’t meant to say that. He’d been so careful not to even think that word, to keep his feelings contained in safer terminology—attraction, interest, temporary insanity. But his wolf had no such restraint.
Mate, his wolf agreed fiercely. OURS.
“It doesn’t matter what I call it.” He forced the words out through gritted teeth. “The pack won’t accept a human Luna. You know that as well as I do.”
“I know the elders won’t like it.” Coleman studied him.
“I know there would be… complications. Questions about heirs, about leadership, about whether a human could truly understand pack dynamics. But Adrian—” He paused, seeming to weigh his next words carefully.
“I want you to be happy. You’ve sacrificed enough for this pack. If she’s what you want—”
“What I want doesn’t matter.”
“The hell it doesn’t. You’re the Alpha. Your wellbeing affects the entire pack. If you’re miserable…”
“I’m not miserable.”
Coleman gave him a look that eloquently expressed his skepticism.
“I’m… managing,” he amended. “The moon’s close. Everything feels more intense. Once it passes—”
“Once it passes, you’ll still want her. The moon just makes it harder to deny.”
He had no argument for that. He’d been telling himself for days that his obsession with Harper was a temporary affliction, a side effect of hormones and proximity and the particular madness of the pre-moon period.
But he knew, in the part of himself that he tried very hard not to examine, that the full moon would wax and wane and his feelings wouldn’t change.
He wanted her with a ferocity that frightened him. And for the first time in eight years, he wasn’t sure his duty to the pack was enough to make him walk away.
“What do I do, Coleman?” The question emerged before he could stop it, vulnerable in a way he rarely allowed himself to be.
“My wolf is convinced she’s meant for us.
And every instinct I have says to claim her, mark her, make her mine before another male even thinks about touching her. But the pack—”
“The pack will adapt.” Coleman’s voice was firm. “They always do. That’s what wolves are good at.”
“And if they don’t?”
“Then you make them. You’re the Alpha, Adrian. Your word is law. If you want the girl, take her. Anyone who challenges you, deal with them.”
“I can’t let this go any further. She leaves in a month, and then this… obsession… will fade.”
Coleman shook his head, a flicker of pity in his eyes. “You really think it’s that simple? That it’s just a temporary madness that will disappear when she does?”
“It has to be.”
It sounded so simple when Coleman said it.
So straightforward. But Adrian knew the reality was far more complicated.
The Moonstone Pack had endured a decade of instability under his father’s compromised leadership.
They’d only just started to trust again, to believe that their Alpha had their best interests at heart.
If he shattered that trust by choosing a human mate against the elders’ wishes…
“You should know that the elders are already meeting without you. They think you’re compromised, that you’re blinded by the human.” Coleman stood, stretching with a grunt. “Howard is saying you’re no longer fit to lead.”
A cold fury, sharp and clean, cut through the fog of lust and confusion. “Let them talk.”
“They’re not just talking. They’re gathering support. And you’re out here running from a girl instead of dealing with the problem.”
“She’s not the problem. I am.”
“Then fix it.” Coleman’s expression was unreadable. “One way or another.”
He stared out at the valley, watching shadows lengthen as the sun began its descent towards the mountain peaks.
Somewhere behind him, miles back through the forest, Harper was probably still working at his desk.
Still wearing that ridiculous t-shirt with the torn collar.
Still smelling like temptation and trouble and everything he couldn’t have.
“I should get back.” He straightened, pulling the fragments of his control back together. “The official celebration starts in an hour.”
“Want me to stay?”
“No. Just do a quick patrol before you head back to the house.” He managed a thin smile. “And Coleman? Thank you. For…” He gestured vaguely at the cliff, the conversation, the rare moment of vulnerability he’d allowed.
Coleman just nodded. They didn’t need words for this part.
He shifted back to wolf form, grateful for the simplicity of four legs and pure sensation. The run back to the pack house seemed shorter than the run away, as if his body was eager to return to the source of his torment.
The pack house came into view through the trees, warm light already spilling from the windows into the gathering dusk. And there, in the window of his office, a small silhouette was visible against the glow of multiple computer screens.
Still working. Still there. Still his, whether she knew it or not.
He paused at the tree line, watching her. She was leaning forward in her chair, peering at something on the screen, her expression one of fierce concentration. His wolf watched with him, a steady, possessive rumble building in its chest.
The full moon would rise in a few hours.
The celebration—a traditional pack gathering under the full moon—was intended to channel the heightened energies into something positive.
But tonight, it felt like a test. A gauntlet he had to run while every instinct screamed at him to turn back, to drag her away from the pack, to keep her safe and isolated and entirely his.
He turned away from the window and continued to the front of the lodge, forcing himself to focus on the immediate task. Get through the celebration. Maintain control. Don’t let the pack—or the elders—see how close he was to breaking.