C6 Between a Brother and the Woman He Loves

The first sound I heard was shouting, and it was not coming from outside my window. It was coming from inside the palace.

I sat up too fast, and my ribs screamed in protest. Seven days of confinement had barely begun, and already the royal family had found a new reason to drag my name through the halls.

I threw open the door. Two guards blocked it immediately, spears crossed.

To

"Prince Kael, you are ordered to remain inside," the older one said, not meeting my eyes.

"Then why can I hear half the palace arguing?" I shot back.

He hesitated. "Your brother is in the eastern hall. With Lady Lyra."

My stomach dropped. Then came her voice, sharp and frightened, cutting through the stone corridor. "Move away from me!"

I did not think. I shoved past both guards, ignoring the hand that closed around my shoulder, until a voice thundered down the hall and froze everyone in place.

"Let him go."

Beta Ronan stood at the far end, arms folded, eyes hard. The guard released me instantly. Ronan studied my face for a long moment, something almost sympathetic crossing his features before he sighed. "Of course you heard her." He stepped aside. "Come.".

The eastern hall looked like a storm had torn through it. Damien stood rigid near the windows, jaw set. Lyra stood opposite him, chin lifted, refusing to shrink. Adrian leaned against a pillar with his arms crossed, watching everything like a man waiting for the right moment to strike. My father sat at the center of it all, and the second I entered, every head turned toward me.

My mother's eyes narrowed. "I specifically ordered him confined."

"He is my concern now," Ronan said evenly, standing beside me.

"You are becoming too protective of him," she snapped.

Ronan did not blink. "And you are becoming too careless with your own son."

The silence that followed was suffocating. I had never heard anyone speak to my mother that way.

Damien stepped forward, his voice low. "This is not about Kael."

"It became about Kael the moment you attacked him," Lyra said, turning on him.

"I defended myself."

"You grabbed me first."

He stared at her, something raw breaking through his composure. "Do you love him?"

The room went utterly still. My heartbeat pounded so loud I was certain everyone could hear it. Lyra froze, her hands curling at her sides. I looked away, unable to watch her answer, terrified of what it might cost her to say it here, in front of all of them.

"I do not know," she finally said, and my chest caved in. Then she lifted her chin higher. "What I do know is that I do not want you deciding who I am allowed to care about."

Damien flinched, just barely, before his expression hardened again. He took a step toward her. I moved on instinct, but Ronan's hand clamped around my arm.

"Do not," he murmured.

Lyra glanced at me, gave the smallest shake of her head. Trust me. I forced myself still. It was harder than any fight I had ever survived.

My father rose slowly, and the hall went silent around him. "I will not watch this family tear itself apart." His gaze moved between Damien and me, delivering judgment to each of us in turn, until finally he looked at Lyra. "You will not be forced into marriage simply because the pack expects it."

Damien's face changed. My mother's eyes went wide. And Damien, quiet now, asked the only question that mattered. "If she is not promised to me, then what am I fighting for?"

No one answered.

That evening, I sat by my window, drained in a way that had nothing to do with my body. A soft knock came at the door, and I already knew who it was before I said, "Come in."

Lyra slipped inside and closed the door behind her. "You should not be here," I said.

"You say that every time," she said, crossing the room toward me, a small smile tugging at her mouth.

"Because it is true."

"Then stop looking happy when I come." She sat beside me, close enough that our shoulders touched, and reached for my hand. Her fingers slid between mine, and warmth spread up my arm, steady this time, without fear behind it.

"Do you know what you do to me?" she asked quietly, watching my face.

My breath caught in my throat. "I do not think I should answer that."

"Why not?"

"Because I am already struggling enough."

Her smile faded into something softer. She lifted her hand and brushed her thumb across the bruise on my cheek, slow and careful, as if giving me the chance to pull away. I did not move.

"I hate that he hurt you," she whispered.

"I hate that it frightened you," I answered.

She leaned closer, resting her forehead against mine, and I could feel her breath against my lips. "Then do not make me afraid again."

"I will try."

"Try harder." Then she smiled, and I could not help myself.

"Yes, Luna," I said.

She pulled back instantly, cheeks flushing. "Do not call me that."

"Why?"

"Because when you say it, it sounds different." She shook her head, flustered, and I grinned wider. Before I could tease her further, she leaned forward and pressed her lips gently to my cheek, lingering there far longer than either of us expected. When she pulled away, her eyes met mine, shy and bright.

"Goodnight, Kael," she whispered, and slipped out the door before I could find my voice.

I sat there long after she was gone, my fingers pressed to the place her lips had touched, understanding for the first time how dangerous it was to finally have someone worth losing everything for.

The next morning, I was summoned to the training grounds, certain punishment awaited me. Instead, Commander Gareth pressed a wooden sword into my hands and said only, "Your father's orders."

Damien stood across the yard already, arms crossed, refusing to look at me. Lyra watched from the balcony above, and the moment my eyes found her, something in my chest loosened.

"Today, you learn to fight beside each other," Gareth said, looking between us.

Neither of us smiled. But neither of us walked away.

My father's voice carried down from the balcony. "Bloodmoon will soon send its princes beyond these walls. This is your first test."

I gripped the sword tighter, glanced once more at Lyra, and felt the weight of everything unspoken between us settle into my bones.

For the first time in my life, I was not fighting to survive my family.

I was fighting to keep her.