Chapter 162

Chapter 162
Nolan POV
I stood on the balcony outside the guest quarters Alaric had offered me, my hands braced against the railing, the cold wind lifting my hair. The scent of pine and rain still clung to the air.
It wasn’t the only scent that was lingering. I could smell Ellie and the boys. Not nearby, but the ghost of their scent lingered in the halls of the Moonstone packhouse.
They spent a lot of time here, apparently. I found the thought oddly comforting. They were safe here, with Alaric and Cassian. As much as it hurt my pride and made my wolf whine to know that someone else was protecting my family, it was better than thinking of them being out there unprotected.
Or worse, with Kieran.
I could hear the sounds of Moonstone life below: faint laughter from the courtyard, a wolf’s low bark in the distance, the steady rhythm of a pack at peace.
Peace. I almost didn’t recognize it.
Silver Fang had always been too sharp for peace-too rigid, too watchful. Even when I had managed to bring peace to the pick, it picked itself apart with petty grievances and drama.
Here, things moved at their own pace. I could understand why Ellie had found comfort in it.
I exhaled slowly and pulled my phone from my pocket. For a moment, I thought
about calling Cassian back, about asking questions I had no right to ask. But before
I could talk myself out of it, there was a knock at the door.
Cassian didn’t wait for an invitation. He stepped inside, one hand shoved into his jacket pocket, the other carrying a bottle and two glasses.
“I thought we could use a truce drink,” he said.
I arched a brow. “A truce?”
Cassian shrugged. “You didn’t punch me today, even when I probably deserved it. That feels like progress.”
My mouth twitched despite myself. “Fair point.”
Cassian set the glasses down on the small table by the window and poured. “Moonstone brandy,” he said. ” Careful. It sneaks up on you.”
We drank in silence for a while. The burn of the alcohol in my throat was a welcome distraction from the ache in my chest. The quiet wasn’t uncomfortable, just heavy with things neither of us quite knew how to say.
Finally, Cassian broke it. “You didn’t react the way I expected.”
I glanced at him. “About what?”
“Kieran.”
Ah.
I set my glass down carefully, watching the light ripple through the amber liquid. “No.
I suppose you expected shouting. Maybe a few threats.”
“Something like that.”
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Chapter 162
+25 Bonus
I shook my head. “I’ve done enough shouting for one lifetime. It never changed anything.”
Cassian studied me with that same infuriatingly calm expression he always wore. “You weren’t surprised, though. You knew he’d come sniffing around.”
My jaw flexed, the old instinct to bristle still there, though muted. “Kieran’s always been predictable that way.”
“What happened between you two?”
My eyes narrowed slightly. “You want the long version or the simple truth?” “The truth.”
I was quiet for a long time. The wind outside shifted, carrying the faint sound of distant thunder.
“When we were teenagers,” I began slowly, “we trained together under the Alpha Council’s mentorship program. Young heirs from all the major packs-Silver Fang, Pine Ridge, Frost Hollow. The idea was to prepare us for future alliances.”
Cassian nodded. “I was a few years behind you in that. And?”
“And Kieran and I were paired often. We were evenly matched-physically, at least. But we were opposites in everything that mattered.”
Cassian leaned back in his chair. “Meaning?”
“I followed rules. He broke them. I believed in discipline. He believed in charm. It made him dangerous in a way no one saw.”
“No one but you?”
I didn’t answer. I drummed my fingers against my forearm and paced.
My voice stayed calm, but there was a tension beneath it that I could still hear, a faint edge of old bitterness.
“One day, there was an… incident,” I said after a pause. “A training exercise that went wrong. He crossed a line I couldn’t ignore. We haven’t spoken as friends since.”
Cassian tilted his head. “You’re not going to tell me what he did?”
“No,” I said quietly. “Because it won’t change who he is now. Or who I was then.”
Cassian frowned. “That sounds like you’re protecting him.”
My gaze lifted, steady and cold. “I’m protecting what’s left of my restraint.”
We both went silent again, the air between us charged but not hostile.
I knew that he wanted more of an explanation, enough to make his own moral
judgement. Cassian was smart enough not to trust the man who was sniffing around
his sister. He knew as well as anyone that Kieran had his own motivations.
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