Mate bond vs. Love

It had been days since Lucian was released from the dungeon. Though the bruises had faded and his body no longer ached from the cold confinement, the words his father had spoken still lingered in his mind.

The lecture had been brutal, filled with warnings and veiled threats about responsibility, loyalty, and the weight of his position in the pack.

But the moment Lucian stepped out of his father's study, none of it mattered.

Because the only thing on his mind was Aiden.

It was as if Aiden had taken over his entire being, like he had become a part of Lucian's bloodstream, flowing through him, making it impossible to function without him.

Everywhere Lucian went, Aiden was there, not always physically, but in his thoughts, in his heartbeat, in the air he breathed.

And that was how it had been ever since.

They stole moments wherever they could, constantly dancing on the edge of danger.

They lived in secrecy, in the hidden spaces between duty and desire, pretending they were nothing while knowing they had become everything to each other.

At school, they were careful. Didn't walk or sit together anywhere, but the second they found an opening, the moment they could slip away unseen, they crashed together in a frenzy of whispered touches and stolen kisses.

The washrooms became their hideout, the only place they could let their guard down, if only for a few minutes.

Lucian would push Aiden against the cold tiles, pressing their lips together in a desperate, hurried kiss, hands roaming, bodies aching to get closer.

Sometimes it was just a few heated touches, other times, it was so intense they barely made it out before someone walked in.

After school, they lingered behind, waiting until the hallways emptied. Some days, they sat in the abandoned classroom at the back of the school, backs pressed against the desks, just breathing in each other's presence.

Other days, Lucian would pull Aiden into a storage closet, silencing his moans with his lips, their hands tangled in each other's hair, their bodies pressed so tightly together it felt like they might merge into one.

And at night, when the world slept, they became the most reckless.

Sneaking into each other's rooms had become second nature.

Aiden would leave his door slightly open, Lucian slipping in, pulling him into his arms.

Some nights, they just lay there, whispering into the silence, talking about nothing and everything.

Other nights, it was impossible to keep their hands off each other, kisses growing deeper, touches more daring, until they were gasping against each other's skin.

Learnt more ways of making each other shoot out.

Yet, outside these stolen moments, they acted like they were nothing.

On the training field, they returned to being enemies, or at least, that's what they let everyone believe.

Their glares were sharper, their words colder. They fought harder, making it seem like they still hated each other.

But it was all an illusion.

Because the moment the others left, the act would shatter, and they would be in each other's arms again, pressing desperate kisses against sweat-drenched skin, holding onto each other as if they could never let go.

It was reckless. It was dangerous. It was completely forbidden.

And yet, they couldn't stop.

But not everyone was blind.

Jackson had noticed.

Even if Aiden hadn't told him, he would still have figured that something was going on.

He had seen the way Lucian's eyes followed Aiden when no one was looking. He had caught the fleeting touches, the near-invisible glances exchanged between them.

Jackson hadn't spoken to them after that night when Aiden told him.

Not once.

He didn't call them out. He didn't confront them. He didn't make sly comments or tease them like he normally would.

And yet he hadn't told anyone else about it either.

~Time passed, and Aiden and Lucian only grew closer, at the point, they were not just in love, they consumed each other.

Jackson couldn't help but support them, after all-- they were both his friends and he saw that they were only getting inseparable. So he helped them sneak around.

During that past time, Lucian had already gotten eighteen.

And yet their secret relationship was never revealed, and even if they wondered where they would end up, they told themselves-- only the present mattered.

So they kept doing their own thing.

But everything changed the night war came to the Moonlight Pack.

The war horns screamed through the night, but by the time they sounded, the battle had already begun.

Fire. Blood. Chaos.

The war was inevitable.

For years, the Moonlight Pack had stood at the top, its strength unrivaled, its influence stretching far beyond its borders.

Other packs, weaker and forced to submit, resented their dominance.

Whispers of rebellion turned into secret alliances, fueled by the belief that Moonlight had ruled for too long.

They saw Alpha Noman's firm grip as a threat to their own power, an obstacle to their freedom.

And so, they struck- an organized, ruthless attack meant to wipe out Moonlight's leadership and dismantle the pack once and for all.

Lucian's father, the Alpha, led the warriors, fighting to defend their home. His mother, the Luna, stood beside him, unyielding.

But the enemy had come prepared. Four rival packs had formed an alliance, determined to erase Moonlight Pack from existence.

They outnumbered them. They overpowered them. And one by one, the strongest warriors fell.

Lucian fought with everything he had, but no matter how hard they pushed back, they were losing.

By dawn, the Alpha and Luna were gone.

The elders, the warriors, most of the pack had been wiped out.

Moonlight Pack, once unshakable, had fallen.

Lucian did not have the luxury of mourning.

His people were scattered, their land claimed by rival Alphas who wanted to erase Moonlight's legacy.

The survivors, the young, the wounded, the broken, had no one left to lead them.

Lucian had no choice. At just eighteen, he became Alpha.

With Jackson and Aiden by his side, he gathered what remained of their pack and led them into hiding. They refused to be erased.

Fighting Back

For months, survival was a brutal battle.

The enemy packs hunted them down, hoping to finish what they started. But Lucian refused to let them win.

He trained harder than ever before. Jackson and Aiden fought beside him, pushing their people beyond their limits. They turned survivors into warriors.

Then, when they were ready, they struck back.

The war that followed was relentless.

Moonlight Pack fought for every inch of land, for every survivor they had left. They refused to surrender.

Even if they were helped by some other packs that were not their enemies, Lucian did the most of it.

The enemy packs, once so confident in their victory, began to falter. They had underestimated Lucian's rage, Jackson's resilience, and Aiden's unwavering energy.

Battle after battle, Moonlight Pack took back what was theirs.

It was the bloodiest battle Lucian had ever fought. Victory was uncertain. But he had already lost everything once, he would not lose again.

With Jackson commanding the warriors and Aiden by his side, Lucian led the final charge.

Aiden wasn't just standing by Lucian's side, he was a force in his own right.

He made decisions, took risks, and carried the weight of the war just as much as Lucian and Jackson did.

Where Lucian led with strategy and strength, Aiden brought resilience and fire, never hesitating to challenge anyone who doubted their ability to rebuild.

He was determined to shape the future of Moonlight Pack alongside Lucian. And with Jackson completing their trio, they were untouchable, a united front that no rival pack could break.

Moonlight Pack had risen again.

The Legacy of Survivors

It took years to rebuild, but they never gave up.

Lucian, Jackson, and Aiden worked day and night. They strengthened their warriors, rebuilt their home, and ensured that no enemy would ever bring them down again.

Moonlight Pack was no longer just the strongest.

They became unstoppable.

-

All that time Lucian had been feeling something-- something that it was a must for a wolf to feel after they got to 18years.

The pull.

The undeniable pull of a mate bond.

And just like Jackson, Lucian felt it, and he knew very well it wasn't toward Aiden, but someone else he hadn't met yet.

It terrified him, he couldn't even talk about it. It was killing him knowing that there was someone else out there, granted by the moon goddess.

Aiden was the one he wanted to be with, and he had made up his mind that nothing and absolutely no one would change that.