MY ALPHA'S BROTHER: THE FORBIDDEN LUNA

"Eliana, if you change that dress one more time, I'm going to hide all your clothes."

Eliana looked at Mira through the mirror. "You said the blue one was too serious."

"Because it was. But you've tried on four dresses now. You're going to dinner, not meeting the king."

Eliana laughed and held up a black dress against herself.

"What about this one?"

Mira tilted her head. "Better. Much better."

Eliana put it on and adjusted the straps. She wanted to look good for Kael. It had been almost a week since they'd spent an evening together without him being called away for pack business. Between council meetings, border patrols, and his father's endless demands, Kael was always needed somewhere else. She understood that. He was the Alpha's heir.

Still, she missed him.

Mira sat on the edge of the bed, watching her.

"You're going to ask him tonight, aren't you?"

Eliana paused. "Ask him what?"

"Don't do that. You know exactly what I mean. You've been dating him for how long now? And every time I mention the future, you suddenly find something else to talk about."

Eliana picked up her earrings. "I just want to know if we're thinking about the same things."

"Then ask him."

"What if he thinks I'm putting pressure on him?"

"Then he can open his mouth and tell you that. You're his girlfriend, Eliana. You're allowed to ask where this is going."

Eliana looked at herself in the mirror again.

"I think he loves me."

"I think so too," Mira said. "But love and making plans are two different things."

Before Eliana could answer, her phone buzzed.

Kael: I'm outside. Take your time.

Mira snatched up a cushion and pointed it at her. "Go. And please, for once, come back with an actual answer."

Eliana grabbed her bag, laughing. "I'll tell you everything tomorrow."

"You'd better!"

---

Kael was leaning against his car when Eliana came outside. He straightened as soon as he saw her, and the tired look on his face disappeared.

"There you are."

"You make it sound like I kept you waiting for hours."

"Only twenty minutes."

"That's not true."

He laughed and opened the passenger door for her.

"You look beautiful, by the way."

Eliana smiled as she got in. "You say that every time."

"Because you keep giving me reasons to."

She rolled her eyes, but she couldn't stop smiling.

For the first few minutes, they talked about ordinary things. Eliana told him about a disagreement she'd had with a neighbor - Mrs. Hargrove, who had complained that Eliana's roses were growing through the fence. They were, in fact, growing through the fence. Eliana had no intention of moving them.

"And then she said I was doing it on purpose," Eliana finished. "As if I have time to plot against a hedge."

"Clearly you're a menace," Kael said.

"I said, 'Mrs. Hargrove, if I wanted to ruin your garden, I'd have started with the hydrangeas.'"

Kael laughed. She didn't hear that sound enough lately.

He complained about a meeting that had lasted nearly three hours, going on about budget allocations and boundary disputes until Eliana started nodding at the same places he did.

"My father wants everyone to agree before the next full moon," he said, shaking his head. "As if that has ever happened in the history of this pack."

"Is it always like that?"

"Pretty much." He put his phone facedown on the dashboard. "Being the Alpha's heir means people expect you to have an answer for everything. Even when you don't."

"You always seem to have an answer."

"That's because I don't want anyone to know when I'm confused."

She laughed, and he reached across the console to take her hand.

His thumb brushed over her knuckles, slow and familiar. Her wolf settled at his touch. Warm. Content. It only ever did that around him, and Eliana had decided a long time ago that the quiet in her chest meant they belonged together.

Mira's voice echoed anyway. Love and making plans are two different things.

"Kael, can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Have you ever thought about what things will be like when you become Alpha?"

He glanced at her. "More meetings. More problems. Probably less sleep."

"I'm serious."

"I know." His expression softened. "What is it?"

She looked down at their joined hands.

"When that happens, everything will change. The pack will expect things from you. Your father will have his own ideas about how you should lead, and the council will probably want you to make certain decisions."

"That's true."

"And what about us?"

He didn't answer immediately. Her stomach tightened.

"I mean, where do I fit into all of that?" she asked. "I don't want to spend years waiting for something you're not sure you want."

Kael pulled the car over beneath a row of trees before the restaurant came into view. He turned to face her fully.

"Is that what you think you're doing? Waiting for me?"

"Sometimes, yes."

He looked genuinely surprised. "Eliana, I thought I'd made myself clear."

"You tell me you love me. I know that. But we've never really talked about what comes next."

He was quiet for a moment. Then he reached up and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"I want you beside me when I become Alpha."

She searched his face. "You do?"

"Yes. I don't want my father choosing a Luna for me just because she comes from the right family or has the right connections. I'm not going to spend my life with someone I don't love."

"And you think the council will accept that?"

"The council can complain all it wants. I'll deal with them."

"You make it sound so easy."

"It's not going to be easy." He squeezed her hand. "My father has been pushing an alliance with the Vane pack for months. They're not friends of ours, but they're powerful, and my father thinks a marriage would settle the border disputes."

Her wolf stirred at the name. Even the boldest wolves in the territory went quiet when the Vanes were mentioned.

"And what do you think?" she asked.

"I think I'd rather have peace than a wife I don't want." He looked at her. "But I'm not asking you to figure everything out tonight. I'm telling you I see a future with you. I want that future."

"Even when things get difficult?"

"Especially then."

"Promise me something."

"What?"

"Don't make plans for my life without me. If something changes, tell me. Don't leave me guessing."

He didn't look away. "I promise."

She nodded, and something in her chest let go.

Kael lifted her hand and kissed her fingers. "Now, can we finish dinner without you questioning my ability to be a decent boyfriend?"

"I never said you were a bad boyfriend."

"Good. I'd hate to lose my position."

"You're ridiculous."

"And you love me."

"Unfortunately."

He laughed, and the conversation moved on.

For the rest of the evening, they talked about where they might travel together and what kind of house Eliana would want someday. Kael listened as she described a place with a large kitchen, a garden, and enough room for friends to visit.

He teased her about the kitchen being bigger than the living room. She threatened to choose the house without his opinion.

"You wouldn't dare."

"Try me."

"You're cruel, Eliana."

"And yet you love me."

"Unfortunately," he echoed, making her laugh again.

It was an ordinary evening. The kind she wished they could have more often.

When Kael drove her home, he walked her to the door and kissed her goodbye. His lips lingered against hers, warm and gentle.

"I'll see you soon."

"You'd better."

He smiled, brushed a strand of hair away from her face, and left.

Inside, Mira was already waiting, sprawled across the sofa with a cushion over her face.

"Well?"

Eliana dropped her bag. "He says he wants a future with me."

"And do you believe him?"

"Yes."

Mira moved the cushion. She looked at Eliana for a long moment, then nodded. "All right. I hope he's as serious as you think he is."

"So do I."

---

Later that night, Eliana lay in bed with her phone in her hand.

Kael: Goodnight, my future Luna. I love you.

She read it twice. He didn't usually talk like that - not in writing, not so plainly. It made her smile anyway.

Eliana: Goodnight. I love you too.

She set the phone beside her pillow and turned off the light, already thinking about the next time she would see him.

She had no reason to doubt him. That was what she told herself, anyway.

Her phone lit up again. Not Kael.

Unknown: You should ask him where he goes after he leaves you.

She stared at the screen. Her thumb hovered over the reply box. Then she laughed - a short, uneasy sound - and deleted the message.

A prank. Someone who knew she was dating the Alpha's heir and wanted to rattle her. It happened. People were cruel.

She put the phone down and closed her eyes.

She did not sleep for a long time.

Eliana woke up to the smell of coffee.

For a second, she thought she was dreaming. Then she remembered the message, and sat up too fast, her heart already pounding.

She grabbed her phone. No new messages. Just the same one from last night, still sitting there where she hadn't deleted it after all.

Unknown: You should ask him where he goes after he leaves you.

She stared at it for a long moment. Then she heard the knock - soft, like someone trying not to wake her.

Not even eight o'clock on a Saturday.

She dragged herself out of bed, pulled on a sweater, and opened the door with her hair still a mess.

Kael stood there with a paper bag in one hand and two cups of coffee in the other.

"Good morning."

"It's eight o'clock."

"I know. I brought breakfast."

"You could have texted first."

"Then it wouldn't be a surprise." He lifted the bag. "I got the cinnamon rolls you like. From that place near the bridge."

Eliana tried to stay annoyed. It didn't last.

"You're lucky I like cinnamon rolls."

"I'm lucky you like me too."

"Debatable."

He laughed and kissed her cheek as he walked past her. He moved around her small kitchen like he had been there a hundred times. He found the plates without asking and set the rolls out while she sat at the table with her coffee, still half asleep.

She left her phone on the counter, face down, and tried not to look at it.

"Where's Mira?" he asked.

"Her sister's place. She won't be back until tomorrow."

"So I have you all to myself."

"For now."

He sat across from her and watched her take the first bite of her roll.

"What?" she asked, her mouth full.

"Nothing. I like seeing you like this."

"Messy and tired?"

"Real." He shrugged. "Everyone I see all day is trying to impress me. You just show up and don't care what I think."

"I care a little."

"A little," he agreed.

She kicked his foot under the table. He caught her ankle with his own, and for a while they sat like that, not saying much. It felt easy. It always did when they were alone.

When they finished eating, Eliana went to get dressed. Kael stayed in the kitchen. Through the thin wall, she heard him on the phone, his voice low and calm.

"No. Tell them I'll look at it Monday... No, not today. I said not today."

She stood very still in her bedroom, the message from last night flickering through her mind. Ask him where he goes after he leaves you.

By the time she came back out in jeans and a loose shirt, he had put the phone away.

"Everything okay?"

"Council again." He smiled like it was nothing. "They can wait. I told them I'm busy."

"Doing what?"

"Spending the day with my girlfriend. If she'll let me."

Eliana crossed her arms and pretended to think about it. "I suppose I could fit you in."

"That's generous."

"I'm a generous person."

He stood and pulled her into a hug. She leaned against his chest. He smelled like pine, soap, and something warmer underneath - the scent she had always thought of as his.

"Where do you want to go?" he asked.

"Anywhere. As long as it isn't a meeting."

"Deal."

---

They spent the morning at the market near the river, walking slowly between the stalls. Eliana stopped at every table with candles or handmade soap. Kael carried the bags without complaining.

At one stall, an old woman was selling little silver charms. Eliana picked up one shaped like a crescent moon and turned it over in her fingers.

"That's pretty," Kael said.

"It's too expensive."

"It's not."

"It is for what it is."

He took it from her before she could put it back, paid the woman, and slipped it into her palm.

"Kael."

"You liked it."

"You can't just buy me things whenever I look at them."

"Why not?"

"Because then I'll never stop looking."

He grinned. "That's the plan."

She shook her head, but she put the charm in her pocket and kept her hand over it for the rest of the walk.

Around noon, they stopped at a small café with tables outside. Kael ordered for both of them without looking at the menu. He already knew what she wanted.

Eliana noticed, and something warm settled in her chest. Not many people paid that much attention to her.

"Can I ask you something?" she said while they waited.

"You always say that right before you ask something big."

"It's not big."

"Go ahead."

"Your family. Your father and everyone. I've never really met them. Not properly."

Kael's smile stayed in place, but he took a sip of water before answering.

"They're busy people."

"I know. But I'm your girlfriend. At some point, I should probably meet your father."

"You will."

"When?"

"Soon." He reached for her hand. "I just want to pick the right time. My father isn't an easy man, Eliana. If he meets you at the wrong moment, he'll find a hundred reasons to be difficult. I want it to be when I can protect you from that."

"Protect me?"

"From his opinions." He laughed softly. "He has a lot of them."

Eliana thought about it. It made sense. She had heard enough about the Alpha to know he was strict and old-fashioned. If Kael wanted to wait for the right time, she could understand that.

"Okay," she said.

"Okay?"

"As long as it's not forever."

"It won't be forever." He lifted her hand and kissed it. "I promise."

She believed him. Why wouldn't she? He had promised her only the night before, and he had meant it. She could tell.

When the food came, they talked about other things. Kael told her about the time he and his friends got lost in the northern woods as teenagers and had to spend a night in a hunting cabin that smelled like old socks.

Eliana laughed so hard she had to put her fork down.

---

After lunch, they walked to the little bookshop where Eliana worked on weekdays. It was closed, but she had a key. She wanted to show him the new window display she had put together.

"It's good," Kael said, standing outside with his hands in his pockets. "I like the lights."

"Mr. Haldane said they were too bright."

"Mr. Haldane doesn't know anything."

"He owns the shop."

"He still doesn't know anything."

She laughed and leaned her shoulder into his arm.

He looked down at her, and his smile faded into something softer.

"What?" she asked.

"You're good at making things beautiful," he said. "I don't think you know that."

Her cheeks went warm. "It's just a window."

"It's not just a window."

She didn't know what to say, so she stood on her toes and kissed him. He kissed her back, one hand at her waist, right there on the sidewalk with people walking past.

She didn't care.

When they pulled apart, he rested his forehead against hers.

"I could do this every day," he said quietly.

"Then do it every day."

"I'm trying."

He said it easily. She was still smiling too hard to notice that he answered a little too fast.

---

The sun was going down by the time they reached the edge of the forest outside town. This was the place Eliana loved most. The trees were tall and thick, and the air smelled like wet earth and leaves.

"Do you want to run?" Kael asked.

"Right now?"

"Why not? Nobody comes out here this late."

She hesitated, then smiled. "You'll lose."

"You always say that."

"Because it's always true."

He laughed and pulled off his jacket. She did the same. They walked deeper between the trees until the road disappeared from view.

Eliana closed her eyes and let her wolf rise. She felt the familiar pull beneath her skin, the stretch and shift of her body, then the cool ground under her paws. Her fur was pale gray, almost silver in the fading light.

Kael's wolf was bigger. Darker. Black, with a lighter patch on his chest. He stood beside her for a moment and bumped his head against hers.

Then she bolted.

She heard him behind her - branches snapping, his breath heavy as he tried to catch up. She was faster in the twisting parts of the forest, where she could duck under branches he had to go around. He was stronger on the open ground.

They raced like that for a long time, each taking the lead, then losing it again.

At last, they reached the small clearing by the stream. Eliana slowed and stopped, panting. Kael nearly crashed into her. He nudged her side, and she nipped at his ear. The two of them tumbled onto the grass in a tangle of fur and legs.

They stayed there, wolves side by side, until it was fully dark.

Eliana had never felt so peaceful. Her wolf was quiet. Kael's warmth pressed against her side, and the stars came out above the trees.

She wished the night would never end.

---

Later, back in human form and wrapped in the jacket Kael had brought for her, Eliana sat on a fallen log by the stream. Kael crouched at the water, splashing his face.

"You cheated," he said without turning around.

"I did not."

"You took the shortcut by the oak tree."

"That's not cheating. That's knowing the forest."

"That's cheating."

She laughed. "You're just a bad loser."

He looked back at her over his shoulder, water dripping from his jaw.

"I'm only a bad loser when it's you."

"Why?"

"Because I want to impress you."

"You don't have to."

"I know." He dried his hands on his trousers and came to sit beside her. "That's the strange part."

She leaned her head on his shoulder, and he put his arm around her.

For a while, neither of them spoke. The stream moved softly over the rocks.

"Kael?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you happy?"

He turned to look at her. "Right now?"

"In general."

He took longer to answer than she expected.

"With you, yes," he said finally. "I'm happier than I've ever been."

"That's not what I asked."

"I know." He kissed the top of her head. "But it's the true answer."

She didn't push. She assumed he meant his family and the pressure from the council. She didn't know there was another kind of weight behind his words. She only knew she was warm, and tired, and did not want to move.

---

It was almost midnight when he drove her home. Her apartment was dark, and Mira's shoes weren't by the door.

Kael stopped on the front step and looked at his phone. His face tightened for a second before he put it away.

"I have to go."

"Now? It's midnight."

"I have an early meeting. I should have been home an hour ago."

"Home?" she said, tilting her head.

"The pack house," he said quickly. "I stay there most nights. You know that."

"Right. Sorry. I forgot."

She didn't forget. She just didn't want to ask again.

"It's fine." He smiled and cupped her face. "Thank you for today."

"Thank you for breakfast. And the charm."

"Wear it."

"I will."

He kissed her, slowly this time. When he finally let go, he stayed close.

"Goodnight, Eliana."

"Goodnight."

She watched him walk back to his car. He turned once to wave before getting in, and she waved back like she always did.

Inside, she took the little silver moon from her pocket and set it on her nightstand. She looked at it for a long time before turning out the light.

She thought about how he had held her at the shop. How he had laughed in the forest. How he had said he could do it every day.

She had no doubt that he meant every word.

And the strange thing was, he did.

He just never told her the rest of it.

---

Across town, Kael pulled into a driveway he had not mentioned to Eliana. The house was dark except for one light in the upstairs window.

Someone was waiting up for him.

Seraphina heard the front door close a little after midnight.

She had been sitting in the small sitting room upstairs with a book open on her lap for almost an hour. She had not read a page. The fire had gone low, and the house was too quiet.

Kael came up the stairs slowly. He found her in the sitting room doorway with his jacket over one arm. His hair was messy, and he looked exhausted.

"You're late," she said.

"I know."

"That's it?"

He dropped his jacket on the chair by the door. "The meeting ran long."

"You said you'd be home before eleven."

"I know."

"You always know, Kael."

He came and sat beside her. He reached for her hand, and for a second she let him hold it. His fingers were warm. She hated that it still calmed her.

"Where were you?" she asked.

"At the pack house. My father wanted to go through the border reports again."

"And after that?"

"I drove around for a while. I needed to think."

She looked at him. Kael was good at hiding things. He always had been. Even when they were younger, he could smile at someone and be thinking about something else completely.

"You could have called," she said.

"I know. I'm sorry."

"Don't keep saying sorry if you're going to keep doing it."

"Seraphina."

"No." She pulled her hand away and stood. "You disappear for hours. You come home late. You say you were busy, and I'm supposed to accept it because you're the Alpha's heir and everyone needs something from you."

"That's not fair."

"Isn't it?"

Kael stood too. "My father is preparing me to take over. The council questions everything I do. The elders watch every move I make. I can't just disappear whenever I feel like it."

"I'm not asking you to disappear. I'm asking you to come home."

He didn't answer straight away.

"I am home," he said finally.

Seraphina looked at him for a moment, then turned toward the bedroom.

"Come to bed when you're ready."

"Sera."

"I'm tired."

She didn't wait for him to say anything else.

---

In the bedroom, she changed into her nightdress and sat in front of the mirror. She brushed her hair slowly, though she wasn't really looking at herself.

She and Kael had been married for three years.

Three years of quiet dinners, hidden visits, and nights spent in this house instead of the main estate. Three years of pretending their marriage was ordinary, even though most of the pack did not know it existed.

Her father had arranged it. The Veyras had old blood and land along the southern border, and the Blackthorns needed allies. A marriage between Kael and Seraphina made sense to both families.

It did not matter that she had barely known him when the agreement was made.

At first, she had hated it.

She had thought she was being traded like property. Another daughter offered up to strengthen another alliance. Her father called it duty. Her mother called it an honor.

Seraphina had called it a cage.

But Kael had been kind.

He did not treat her like a business arrangement. He asked what she liked. He learned how she took her tea. He noticed when something was wrong, even when she tried to hide it.

Slowly, the resentment became something else.

She loved him.

That was the problem.

Because loving Kael meant wanting all of him. And lately, she felt like she was only getting pieces.

Some nights he did not come home at all. He took calls in another room. Sometimes she would say something and he would look at her like he had forgotten she was there.

It had not always been like this. For the first two years, he had been attentive. Then, slowly, something had shifted. She couldn't say exactly when. Only that it had.

She told herself it was pressure. That he was preparing to become Alpha. That every wife of an Alpha heir learned to share her husband with the pack.

She had told herself all of it.

Lately, she was starting to wonder if any of it was true.

---

When Kael finally came into the bedroom, Seraphina was already in bed. She kept her back to the door.

The mattress dipped behind her.

"I thought you were asleep," he said.

"I was waiting."

He touched her shoulder. "I said I was sorry."

"I heard you."

"Then why are you still upset?"

She turned to face him. "Because you keep making me feel like I'm asking for too much when all I want is my husband."

Kael went quiet.

"I know things will change when your father steps down," she said. "There'll be more duties. More meetings. More people needing you. But I need to know I still come first with you."

"You do."

"Do I?"

"Yes."

The word came out too fast.

"You promise?"

"I promise."

She wanted to believe him. She wanted to believe the distance between them was only because of pressure and responsibility.

Kael leaned down and kissed her forehead.

"Get some sleep," he murmured. "Tomorrow will be better."

She closed her eyes, but she did not sleep for a long time.

---

The next morning, Seraphina woke to an empty bed.

At first, she thought Kael had left early again. Then she smelled coffee coming from downstairs.

She found him standing by the kitchen window with a cup in his hand. He was already dressed, though it was still early.

"You're up," she said.

"Couldn't sleep."

"Because of the council?"

"Among other things."

She walked to the counter and poured herself some coffee. "What other things?"

Kael turned toward her. He opened his mouth, then closed it.

Then his phone rang.

He glanced at the screen. His face changed. Softened. He turned away from her before he answered.

"Hey. No, it's fine. I can talk."

Seraphina stood very still with her coffee in her hand.

She had not heard that tone in months.

"Kael-"

"I'll be back later."

He kissed her quickly - on the cheek, not the mouth - and left before she could stop him.

Seraphina stood alone in the kitchen with her coffee going cold.

The house felt too quiet.

She looked at the chair where he had sat the night before, then at the door he had walked through without looking back.

Something was wrong.

She could feel it.

Kael was hiding something from her.

And for the first time since their marriage began, Seraphina wondered if the man she loved was not only busy.

Maybe he was keeping a secret.

Maybe it had a name.