My chest burned. That was my first thought as consciousness returned. Not a dull ache–but fire, white–hot and fierce, radiating from my ribcage like lightning through bone. My eyes fluttere open, the silvery glow of enchanted moonlight filtering through the high glass ceiling of the infirmary chamber.
I tried to move. A sharp jolt of agony surged through my ribs, and a pained whimper escaped me “She’s awake,” a voice said, rough with exhaustion and relief.
Killian.
I turned my head toward the voice, every movement a protest. Killian sat beside my bed, his midnight armor cracked in several places, dried blood clinging to his collar and forearms. His normally sharp silver eyes were dulled by sleeplessness.
“You look like death,” I croaked, my throat raw from disuse.
His mouth twitched in a tired smirk. “You should see yourself.”
I tried to laugh, but the pain made me suck in a shaky breath instead. “How long?”
“Three days,” he said quietly.
Three days since the ceremony. Since Richard–the traitor–had shifted mid–bonding and attacked me in front of the entire Circle. Since I saw Ashira watching from the shadows with a satisfied smile. Since I felt the blast of dark magic rip through my chest.
And now I was here. Alive.Barely.
“You stayed,” I whispered, unable to mask the surprise in my voice.
Killian frowned. “Of course I did. You were attacked during our sacred bonding. You’re my mate now, Lunara. Whether you believe in it or not.”
Mate. The word echoed through me like a pulse. This was supposed to be a political alignment. A mutual vengeance pact. A means to an end.
But the way Killian was looking at me–with fury, grief, and something dangerously close to tenderness–I wasn’t so sure anymore.
“What happened to Richard?” I asked.
Killian’s face darkened, his voice cold steel. “He ran after striking you with the corrupted blade. My wolves cornered him at the riverbank before dawn. I would’ve torn him apart myself, but Alpha Malric–his father–intervened. Begged for his life. Swore blood–oaths that Richard would be exiled beyond the Ironwood border and never step paw in these lands again.”
My eyes widened. “And you let him live?”
Killian clenched his jaw. “Only because his father’s life is bound to the oath. If Richard crosses into Ashfang territory again, I’m bound to kill them both. And I will. Without hesitation.”
I stared at him in stunned silence. He wasn’t bluffing.
“I told Malric,” Killian added, his voice barely above a growl, “next time, I won’t stop at one heart.”
Before I could think, my hand reached for his. He tensed, startled by the contact, but he didn’t
Chapter Thirteen
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pull away. His hand was rough and warm beneath mine.
“Thank you,” I murmured, not sure what else to say.
He glanced down at our joined hands. “You don’t need to thank me,” he said quietly. “You’re under my protection now. No one touches what’s mine.”
Mine. My heart fluttered with an emotion I wasn’t ready to name. But I pulled my hand away
anyway.
Killian stood, brushing down his tattered armor. “You need food. I’ll have it sent up.”
I didn’t stop him. When the door clicked shut behind him, I stared up at the glowing moonstone lights and tried not to let my heart hope for things it couldn’t have.
Over the next week, I expected Killian to return to his usual cold distance. Instead, he became something else entirely.
Gentle, Watchful. Steady.He didn’t delegate my recovery to a healer or pack nurse. He fed me himself, often with his own hands. Changed my bandages. Kept vigil during my fevers. I once caught him asleep, slumped in a chair by my bed, his hand still wrapped around mine.
The same man who had threatened to spill blood in the sacred circle… was now placing a warm cloth on my forehead.
It was getting harder to remember this was all a ruse. That none of it was real.
When I was finally strong enough to return to Killian’s den–his mountain fortress above the Ashfang valley–he insisted on carrying me over the threshold. I didn’t argue. I was too tired, and secretly… I didn’t want to.
But with every small touch, every fleeting look, I began to wonder–What if it wasn’t fake anymore?
I was sipping wolfberry tea by the hearth in Killian’s study when I saw it.
My name. Trending.
I frowned and clicked the glowing rune–stone screen. The enchanted script flickered to life, and my heart stopped.
Ashira Windrider Speaks Out: Betrayed by My Own Blood!
Lunara Windrider, the True Luna Thief?
My throat went dry as I tapped the first video. Ashira appeared on the screen, tears glittering in her eyes.
“I never thought I’d say this,” she sobbed, holding a blood–silk cloth to her face. “But my own sister… she stole my mate. I tried to forgive her, even stood by her after Ethan’s death. But she betrayed me. She’s been in love with Killian all along, and now… now she’s stolen him from me while I carry his child.”
I stared at the screen in horror.Killian had never been Ashira’s mate. She and Ronan had rejected each other moons ago. This was pure manipulation–designed to stir sympathy and turn the realm against me.
4:39 am G
The comments were worse.
> “Disgusting. She stole her own sister’s mate?”
“That’s why Killian left her–she’s trash.”
“Poor Ashira. Pregnant and betrayed. She deserves better.”
My breath caught in my throat.
Then the image appeared–me and Killian during the press conference last moon–cycle. I was brushing a kiss to his cheek, smiling softly.
> “See? They’ve been together. This wasn’t sudden.”
“Snake in wolf’s clothing.”
“Fake Luna. False bond.”
My claws extended without meaning to. Rage pulsed through me.Ashira.That venomous, lying viper.
She was trying to rewrite history. Frame me as a villain. Use her pregnancy to gain sympathy.
I was shaking when Killian stepped into the room. His eyes immediately scanned my face. “What happened?”
I couldn’t speak. I handed him the screen.
His silver eyes flickered over the contents. The video. The comments. The headlines.
They darkened with every passing second.
His power spiked, sending a pulse through the room.
“They’ll regret this,” he said flatly.
And I believed him. Because Ashira had just made a mistake.A very, very fatal one.
