Lunara’s POV
My eyes were still on the ancient tome as I muttered, “Nothing.”
“Is this about what you saw at the Healing Den?” Kael’s tone sharpened. “You saw Ashira and together, didn’t you?”
He folded his arms, voice thick with frustration. “I’ve explained this, Lunara. Ashira and I-”
I cut him off before he could continue weaving lies. “I said I’m fine.” I didn’t look up. “You and Ashira are so close now, practically sharing a den. Good for you. Now can I please read in peace? This text on ancient Luna lineages is getting very interesting.”
His jaw ticked with irritation, and I could feel the Alpha in him bristling. Without another word, he stormed into the bathing chamber, the door slamming shut behind him.
I tossed the book aside and stood up, my limbs trembling from the tension. I padded barefoot to the kitchen hollow, needing water–anything to cool the storm rising inside me.
Leaning against the carved stone counter, I tried to breathe evenly, tried not to feel.
Then I heard his boots. Heavy. Deliberate. Each step echoing through the quiet of our den like a
warning.
“You’ve been off all day,” Kael growled, entering behind me. “If something’s wrong, just spit it
out.”
I turned to face him, arms folded, cloak swaying slightly. “I already told you–I’m fine. No need to fuss over me. Why don’t you go back to the maternity wing? Ashira could probably use some extra care… and attention.”
His golden eyes gleamed with anger. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
I shrugged, pushing past him. “It means you seem more invested in her well–being than your mate’s.”
“You’re being ridiculous, Lunara!” he snapped. “Ashira is your older sister, and you’re acting like some petty omega in heat. You need to stop this jealousy-“.
“I’m not jealous.” My voice was ice. “You two deserve each other.”
Something in him snapped. He growled–deep, low, not quite human–and shoved me. Hard.
I staggered, my back slamming into the corner of the stone counter with a sickening thud. Pain exploded through my spine and lower stomach. I gasped sharply as my knees buckled and I collapsed to the floor, instinctively curling around my belly.
“No…” I whispered. My wolf whimpered deep inside me, terrified.
Kael stood over me, breathing heavily. “I have Council duties. Don’t wait up.”
His voice was flat. Emotionless. He didn’t even look back as he yanked open the door and vanished into the night.
The moment it slammed shut, a pain unlike anything I’d felt before tore through my body.I lay on the floor, the cold stone biting into my skin, and a warm wetness pooled beneath me. My heart
Chapter Four
dropped.
Blood.“No… no, please no…” My voice cracked as my trembling hand reached down and came away stained crimson.
The air shifted violently with panic and grief.I fumbled for my comm crystal, hands shaking. I barely had enough strength to whisper the activation word before Kael’s name lit up in the glyph
runes.
It rang once. Twice. Then he answered.
“Kael-” I choked, tears already falling.
“Don’t call me again until you’re done acting like a child,” he snapped, and the light went dead.
I stared at the glowing shard in disbelief. My fingers tightened. “No…”
I tried again. Nothing. His line was dead.
Gritting my teeth, I activated the emergency runes instead. “Moonveil Guard… emergency,” I rasped.
The pain became unbearable. My vision dimmed. My body went limp.I can’t lose this pup. Not again. Not like this.
As the shadows closed in, one thought burned in my mind:If I survive this… Kael will pay in
blood.
And then–darkness.
When I woke, the scent of wolfsbane and healing salves filled my senses. I was lying on a bed of moon–thread linens. My limbs were heavy, my soul even heavier.
A female healer stood beside me, her aura calm but sorrowful.
“Luna Winslow,” she said softly. “You’re awake.”
I blinked slowly, heart pounding in my chest as memories returned like a flood. The kitchen. The fall. The blood.
“My pup…” I croaked. My hands moved to my stomach. It felt empty. Too empty.
The healer’s eyes glistened. She took my hand. “I’m so sorry… the injury was too severe. You lost the pup.”
A scream tore from my throat before I could stop it. The walls trembled with my anguish. I wailed, sobbing so hard it felt like my soul was breaking apart.
My son–gone. My unborn pup–gone. All because of the male who once vowed to protect me.
I cried until I could cry no more. Then I lay silent.Wishing I hadn’t survived. Wishing the spirits of the forest had claimed me too.
The door creaked open.Footsteps. Slow. Deliberate.I didn’t even glance up.
“Lunara,” a voice called, deep and cool like ice.
My eyes fluttered open. A tall figure stood beside me, his silver armor still dusted with battle ash. His eyes–cold gray–stared down at me with something unreadable.
Killian Romano.Ashira’s mate. The male she had been betraying me–and him–with.
Chapter Four
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13.11
4:15 am G
I didn’t have the strength to speak. He sat beside me without invitation.
“I heard,” he said simply. “I’m sorry.”
His words rang hollow in my ears. Seeing him only reminded me more of her. Of everything I’d lost.
“Ashira’s not here,” I rasped, my voice dry and cracked. “You don’t need to keep pretending.”
His jaw tensed. A snarl ghosted over his lips.
“I’m not here for that cheating whore,” he said darkly.
I blinked, surprised. “You know?”
He nodded once. “Since last moon. You?”
“This week.”
A pause passed between us. An eerie silence, filled only by the hum of protective runes. “That’s why I’m here,” Killian finally said, his gaze meeting mine with quiet intensity.
I furrowed my brow. “Why?”
“I have a proposition,” he said, voice steady. “How would you like to have revenge?”
My heart stuttered. And for the first time since the pain began, I felt something flicker to life again inside me.Hope.
