Mate Me in Moonlight

Chapter 86

POV: Adeline

Night. Watch duty on the northern perimeter.

I had volunteered for the shift—not because I was the best choice, but because sleep had become impossible. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the siege tightening, the casualties mounting, the inevitable end approaching one day at a time.

Better to be useful than to lie awake counting nightmares.

The forest beyond our borders was quiet. Ironclaw wolves waited in the darkness, but they had learned not to approach the perimeter casually. Our sentries had become efficient at picking off scouts who strayed too close.

I leaned against a tree, letting my wolf's enhanced senses extend into the night. Pine. Cold air. The distant heartbeats of enemy wolves maintaining their positions.

Nothing unusual.

Then a voice slid into my mind.

Hello, Adeline.

I jerked upright, my hand going to my weapon. But there was no one there—no enemy approaching, no breach in the perimeter. Just darkness and trees and that voice, impossible, threading through my thoughts like poison through blood.

Ronan. I didn't speak aloud—didn't need to. If he was in my head, he could hear me regardless.

You remember. Good. Some wolves forget my voice after so long apart. But you and I—we share something, don't we? A connection.

My skin crawled. I tried to push him out, tried to slam mental walls against the intrusion, but he was already too deep. Some dark gift—magic I didn't understand, couldn't fight.

Get out of my head.

But I've missed talking to you. His voice was conversational, almost pleasant. The tone he'd used at dinner tables in Ash Hollow, before everything shattered. You've been fighting so hard. I've been watching, you know. Through my wolves' eyes. Through the siege line. You're magnificent, Adeline. I always knew you would be.

I said get out.

You can feel him dying, can't you? The question hit like ice water. Through that bond of yours. The Alpha. Your new mate. Every battle costs him. Every wound weakens him. Eventually—soon, I think—he won't recover. And you'll feel it happen. That's the cruelty of love, Adeline. You feel everything. Even the end.

I gripped the tree behind me, fighting the urge to scream.

He's not dying. We're holding.

Are you? Ronan's amusement curled through my thoughts. Your supplies are running low—don't bother denying it, I have eyes everywhere. Your wolves are exhausted. Breaking. The night attack alone cost you eighteen dead. How many more before you have nothing left to defend?

Enough to stop you.

Such faith. Such beautiful, misplaced faith. A pause, and when his voice returned, it was softer. Almost tender. You can stop this. You know you can. Come to me willingly. Walk out of your little camp alone, meet me at the place where we first spoke, and I will end the siege. Your pack lives. Your Alpha lives. All it costs is you.

For one horrible moment, I considered it.

The numbers didn't lie. We were losing ground, losing wolves, losing hope. Every day brought us closer to collapse. And if my death could stop it—if giving myself to Ronan could save everyone I loved—

That's it. His voice was a caress now. That's the thought. Hold onto it. You've always been willing to sacrifice for others. It's one of the things I admire about you.

My hand found the bond without conscious thought.

I reached through the connection to Aiden—not for his strength this time, just for him. His presence. The proof that he was still there, still alive, still fighting.

The response was immediate. Warmth flooded through the bond—not words, but emotion. Fierce love. Unwavering determination. And beneath it all, a message that needed no translation:

Together. Always together.

The temptation shattered.

No.

No? Ronan's surprise was genuine. Even knowing what's coming? Even knowing you could save them all?

I focused on the bond, on Aiden's presence burning steady in my chest, and pushed back against the intrusion in my mind with everything I had.

You don't understand love. I threw the words at him like weapons. You never did. You see it as weakness—something to exploit, something to use against people. But that's not what love is.

Enlighten me.

Love is why I won't surrender. Because Aiden wouldn't want to live if I died to save him. Because the pack wouldn't want survival purchased with my sacrifice. Because love means we fight together—win together or lose together. You can't break that with threats.

I can break it with death.

Then come and try. I shoved with everything I had—will and rage and the fierce certainty of someone who had lost everything once and refused to lose again.

The presence in my mind wavered. Buckled.

Then it was gone.

I sagged against the tree, gasping, my whole body trembling with the effort of forcing him out. The night air felt clean again—still cold, still dangerous, but mine.

"You don't understand love," I whispered into the darkness. "You never did. And that's why you'll lose."

Somewhere beyond the siege line, I imagined Ronan hearing those words. Feeling the rejection like a wound.

Good.

I stayed at my post until my replacement arrived, then walked back to the cabin where Aiden was sleeping. I slid beneath the blankets beside him, pressing my back against his chest, feeling his arms come around me even in sleep.

Together, the bond whispered.

Always, I answered.

And I finally slept.