BloodMoon: Captivated by the Forbidden Lycan Alpha
Chapter 257: A LIFETIME MATE

Chapter 257: A LIFETIME MATE

{"A lifetime mate isn’t just someone you love—it’s someone you grow with, laugh with, fight beside, and never let go."}

The water clung to our skin in silver beads as we stepped onto the mossy stone. Moonlight painted the forest in soft whites and greys, and everything around us seemed to hold its breath. There was something sacred about this place at that moment. Rolan handed me his cloak, and I wrapped it around my shoulders as he ran a hand through his damp hair, the long strands falling back like ink in the night. He looked different now. Still wild, still powerful but calmer.

Like the fire had finally found a place to rest. We sat side by side on a flat rock beneath a thick willow, our legs still brushing from the closeness in the water. I leaned into him, my temple resting against his shoulder.

"I want to tell you something," I said after a long moment of silence.

His arm slid around my waist. "I’m listening."

"The bond we have... It’s not just a promise or a claim," I began. "For vampire’s true vampires of royal blood, the lifetime bond is everything. It is more than love. It is more than loyalty."

He stayed still, but I felt his focus sharpen. "It is in our blood. When we feed from our mate, it is not just for nourishment. It is... a seal. A merging. Our magic recognizes the other as part of the whole. And once that happens, there is no undoing it."

Rolan was quiet. He did not interrupt or flinch, and I went on. "The hunger changes. The need for blood narrows. I will not crave anyone else. I cannot." I looked up at him. "If I’m kept from you too long... if we’re separated by force, or death..."

My voice trembled at the edge. "It would not just break my heart, Rolan. It would unravel my very soul. I will fade."

He turned to fully face me then, his palm rising to rest against my cheek. "You would die."

"Yes."

He breathed out slowly. "And you chose me anyway."

"I chose us. Even knowing what it means."

Rolan’s fingers traced the edge of my jaw, reverent. "I have spent my whole life wondering if I was meant to be alone. If my nature, what I am, made it impossible to be truly loved. But you..." His voice cracked. "You keep looking at me like I’m worth dying for."

I placed my hand over his heart. "Not dying for, Rolan. Living for. There is a difference."

His lips met mine in a kiss that was unhurried, aching with emotion. It was not firing this time, it was a slow burn, a claiming, a shared vow spoken through breath and skin. When we pulled apart, I whispered, "We do not need a ritual. The bond has already taken root."

Rolan nodded. "Then I will never leave your side. I do not care what your world thinks. Or mine. I belong with you, Qadira."

"And I am with you," I said, threading my fingers through his.

We sat in the quiet, wrapped in his cloak and each other, the forest keeping our secret.

The forest was hushed around us, and the moon hung low now, dipping toward the horizon. My head rested against Rolan’s chest, the steady rhythm of his heart like a drum beneath my ear. But I could sense something still lingering in him, something he had not spoken yet.

So, I asked gently," You seem deep in thought."

His arm tightened slightly around me. Then he exhaled, as if releasing something heavy.

"You asked me before if I was ready to show the world my true face," he said. "The truth is... the world has forgotten what my face even means."

I lifted my gaze to him, searching for his expression. "Then remind me."

His eyes gleamed silver in the dark. "The Rogourau are not just another kind of shifter, Qadira. We are ancient. Older than the division of packs. Before the bloodlines broke apart, before the moon goddess scattered her blessings, there were guardians. Beasts born not from bloodlust or rage, but from the vow."

He looked past me, to the water, as though seeing something deeper.

"The Moon Goddess herself created us to serve one purpose: to protect the wolves. Not the packs, not the politics, the souls. The purity of the shifter spirit. We were the flame in the dark when the first corruption came. And we bowed only to two: the Moon herself... and the Alpha Lycan she chose to lead."

My breath caught. "You serve the Alpha Lycan?"

"Not just serve," he said softly. "We answer to them. Our instincts, our magic, recognize them as the living will of the Moon Goddess. And if the Alpha Lycan falls out of balance, we are meant to correct it."

I stared at him, stunned. "Then you’re more than just powerful."

He met my gaze, his eyes solemn now. "I am a weapon forged from sacred fire and ancient promise. That is why my blood burns when I deny what I am. It is why I feel every shift in the balance of our world like it is carved into my bones."

"Does anyone else know?" I asked.

"Rou suspects. Tor has seen glimpses. But no one has asked outright. Most think the Rogourau blood is a myth, diluted or dormant. But in me..." He paused. "In me, it is awake. And it has been waiting."

"For what?"

His voice dropped lower. "For something worth protecting again."

And god’s help me, the way he looked at me made my chest ache. "You," he whispered. "You’ve given it purpose."

I touched his face, the rough edge of his jaw. "And you have given me more than purpose, Rolan. You have given me a home." We sat in silence again, the stars above us turning slowly, ancient watchers to a truth long buried.

We were still beneath the old trees, the water behind us murmuring like a lullaby. The night had softened, wrapping us in a kind of stillness I did not want to break. But Rolan’s voice, low and hesitant, stirred the quiet.

"You know my home isn’t like the covens or the cities," he said. "The Rogourau dwell in the highlands. In the cliffs and snowline. Where the wind speaks and the trees whisper only to those who listen."

I lifted my gaze to his.

"It’s not an easy place, Qadira," he continued. "It is wild and isolated. We live close to the mountain roots, deep in the caves where the earth remembers things older than names. That is the life I come from. It is where my beast calls home."

I reached out, threading my fingers through his. "And you wonder if I can belong there."

He gave a faint nod. "I would never ask you to change. But I will not lie I have thought about whether you would be happy in a world so different from the one you have known."

My lips curved into a soft smile. "Rolan... I did not choose you because you were familiar. I chose you because you are mine."

His breath caught.

"I’ve lived a life surrounded by beauty and shadows, ceremony and power, but none of it ever made me feel the way you do," I whispered. "If your home is in the mountains, then that is where I will go. If your beast finds peace in the snow and stone, then I will make that life my own."

I pulled him into a slow, steady embrace, pressing my cheek to his chest.

"I don’t care if we live in a fortress or a cave, in a forest or a castle," I said. "I just want you. A life with you. That is all I have ever needed."

His arms came around me tightly, and I felt the way he exhaled like something inside him had loosened, finally.

"Then we’ll make a life there," he murmured. "Together."

I nodded against his chest. "Together."

We were walking slowly through the forest path, the others still asleep back at camp, the sky just starting to lighten with the promise of dawn. The hush between us was not awkward—it was easy, warm. But something stirred inside me, unspoken. A thought I had not voiced until now.

I glanced at Rolan beside me, his gaze set ahead, lost in the shadows of the coming morning.

"Can I ask you something?" I said softly.

He looked down at me, brows lifting slightly. "You can ask me anything, Qadira."

I hesitated. "What would it mean... for us to start a family?"

He blinked, caught off guard.

"I mean," I clarified, cheeks warming, "what happens when a Rogourau and a vampire... bond fully? Is it even possible? To have children?"

Rolan’s expression shifted, softening into something tender and unsure. He looked away, his voice quieter now. "I’ve wondered that too."

When he did not speak right away, I reached for his hand and threaded my fingers through his. "Tell me, Rolan."

He inhaled slowly, as if choosing his words carefully. "In the Rogourau clan, breeding is rare even among our kind. The blood is volatile. Sacred. A union must be perfect... balanced." He paused and then looked at me. "There has never been a vampire among us. No one has ever mated outside of our kind like this before."

I studied with him. "So, you don’t know?"

He gave me a small, shy smile—the kind he rarely let anyone see. "No. But... I do not think it is impossible. Just... unheard of."

I watched the wind catch a strand of his hair and brushed it away from his face. "Rolan. I did not ask because I need children to feel complete. I asked because I needed to know if it is something you wanted, and if it hurt you thinking it may never happen."

He turned toward me fully, his eyes searching mine. "I want you. Everything else, children, home, the shape of the life we build that is secondary. You are the only thing I have ever wanted that made the beast in me feel... at peace."

My heart ached in the best way. "Then whatever comes," I whispered, "we will meet it together. If the Moon Goddess wills it, we will surprise them all."

His grin widened then, the shyness fading into something more wicked and warm. "We do have a way of doing that."

I laughed softly, and he pulled me closer, his lips brushing the top of my head.

And as the sun rose in the distance, painting the world in gold, I thought whatever we could not see ahead, we would face with open hands and bound hearts.