Page 76 of Luna's New Reign
Kehlani steps forward, his expression sharp, his lips curling into a sneer that has my hackles rising. He was standing at the edge this entire time, the rest of his pack in the heart of the Redstone packlands. It was agreed upon that they wouldn’t fight beside us and I accepted it but Kehlani’s antagonizing behavior is too much. “Legends don’t win battles, Mateo,” he says coldly. “Strength does. Blood does.”
I grit my teeth, my wolf bristling beneath my skin, but Asani’s voice cuts in before I can respond. “And yet you’re standing here because ofher. Because of the magic you can’t explain but feel every damn day.”
Kehlani’s eyes flash—red.
A collective gasp echoes through the crowd as every wolf takes a step back. I freeze, my instincts screaming at me even as I fight to keep my composure. For a split second, it’s not Kehlani standing there—it’ssomething else, something darker, like a shadow wrapped in flesh.
And then it’s gone. His eyes return to their usual stormy blue, but the damage is done. Everyone saw it.
“Kehlani,” I say, my voice a low growl. “What thehellwas that?”
Lawrence steps forward immediately, his face pale as he holds out his hands in a placating gesture. “Alpha Mateo, please—this isn’t normal. Something’s wrong. Kehlani’s been… off. I should’ve said something sooner.”
Asani glares at Kehlani and then Lawrence for several seconds before speaking. “Clinic. Now.” When one of them starts to protest, he just growls at them. I try to calm everyone’s fears, letting them know that they’ve helped protect the pack from further damage but that we’ll be setting out shortly to finish this.
There’s tired murmurs and head nods as they stay in their wolf forms and head back. There’s been no serious injuries but I’m sure some of them will show up at the clinic at some point. For now, there’s a certain Sapphire Alpha that has to be dealt with. I’ve been avoiding this moment but we can’t hold off any longer.
The room feels thick with tension—like the air itself is holding its breath. I stand at the center of it, facing Kehlani, whose glare could cut through steel. He doesn’t like being here, doesn’t like being called out, but this isn’t about his pride. This is about something darker.
Something that could tear us apart from the inside.
I fold my arms across my chest, leveling him with a look I know carries my full Alpha weight. “The outbursts,” I begin, voice calm but hard, “they’re not random. They’re not justyoubeing angry, Kehlani.”
Kehlani snorts, shifting his weight. “You sound insane, Mateo. What do you think it is, then? Magic? A curse?”
“Worse,” I reply, the word like a blade slicing through the silence. “It’s the serum.”
The room stills.
Lawrence, standing just behind Kehlani, pales visibly, his hands curling into fists at his sides. Asani’s sharp gaze flicksbetween them, a dark kind of satisfaction lurking behind his calm façade.
Kehlani laughs—a bitter, humorless sound. “That’s bullshit.”
“It’s not,” I snap, my wolf pushing at the surface, demanding helisten. “You think you’re the first to have these outbursts? The first to lose control?” I take a step closer, watching as his jaw tightens. “The earlier batches of the serum were far more primitive. Wolves thought they were just getting stronger, faster—unbeatable. But it was a lie. That strength came with a cost.”
“What cost?” Kehlani challenges, his voice sharp as glass.
“They lost themselves,” I say simply, my gaze unrelenting. “The wolf takes over. Rational thought disappears. What starts as strength ends in destruction.”
Kehlani’s nostrils flare, but I can see it in his eyes—the doubt. Heknowssomething is wrong. He’s felt it.
Asani clears his throat, stepping forward with his usual clinical calm, though his eyes gleam with something far darker. “If you don’t believe us, let me take a little blood,” he says, holding up his hands as if to calm a rabid animal. “We can test it. Rule it out.”
Kehlani scoffs, glaring at Asani. “What happens if you’re right? If there’s something in my blood?”
The room goes silent again, every wolf watching Asani as he lets out a slow breath. “Then we’ll have answers,” he says evenly. “And we’ll have options.”
Kehlani narrows his eyes. “Options?What the hell does that mean?”
“It means,” Asani says, his voice hardening slightly, “that the only way to neutralize the serum in your system is to use the anti-serum we’ve been developing for the super wolves.”
A strangled noise escapes Lawrence, who suddenly steps forward, grabbing Kehlani’s arm like he can somehow protecthim. “He’d lose his wolf?” Lawrence’s voice is hoarse, panicked. “Is that what you’re saying?”
Asani nods, his expression unreadable. “Yes.”
Kehlani jerks his arm out of Lawrence’s grasp, his face a mask of anger and disbelief. “So you’re telling me that if Idohave something in my blood, your solution is to kill my wolf?”
Asani tilts his head slightly, unbothered by Kehlani’s rising rage. “The alternative,” he says dryly, “is that we do nothing and you lose yourself completely. At that point, the pack would have no choice but to put you down.”