Chapter 6

_Anya’s POV_

The car moved smoothly but I felt anything but calm. 

I sat stiffly against the leather seat, trying to keep as much distance as possible between myself and Alpha Jacob, even though there was not much room. Every time the car turned, I became more aware of him beside me. He was too close. 

My wrists still stung where the iron had rubbed my skin raw. I kept rubbing the red marks and tried not to think about everything that had just happened. Only a short while ago, I had been kneeling beneath a blade, waiting to die. Now I was sitting in a car beside one of the strongest Alphas in the region.

Nothing made sense.

He had told me I was safe with him.

Safe.

The word kept repeating in my mind but it did not feel real. How could I be safe with a stranger? How could I trust an Alpha I had only heard frightening things about?

Maya stirred inside me. He is dangerous.

I know, I answered silently. But he saved us.

That does not mean that he is good.

I swallowed hard. Maya was right. In our world, being saved did not always mean being rescued. Sometimes it only meant that one cage had been traded for another.

I lowered my eyes and tried to steady my breathing. My throat was still dry. My body still felt weak. The silence inside the car made everything worse.

At last, I forced myself to speak.

“Why would you help me?” My voice sounded small and rough.

Jacob turned to me. He looked almost surprised by the question. “Oh,” he said. “Is it not obvious?”

No, it was not obvious. None of this was obvious. Everything about this felt wrong, strange and unreal.

He must have seen the confusion on my face because his mouth curved into a faint smile. It was not mocking exactly but there was something unreadable in it.

“It is because you are my mate,” he said. “I need to protect you. Can you not feel the mate bond between us?”

For one moment I thought I had heard him wrong.

My mate?

The words struck me so suddenly that I forgot to breathe. I looked at him in disbelief. My mind could not even form a proper thought at first. Then everything rushed in at once.

No.

That was impossible.

Leon was my mate. Leon had been the one the Moon Goddess had chosen for me, even if he had rejected me. The pain of that bond breaking still lived inside my chest like a wound that had not closed. And second-chance mates were rare. So rare that most wolves only heard stories about them.

Why would the Moon Goddess give someone like me another chance?

I was nothing. I was the unwanted orphan. The maid. The girl who had been dragged to her execution while people watched.

I shook my head slowly. “No,” I whispered. “I do not feel the mate bond between us. Maybe… maybe you are mistaken.”

Jacob’s expression did not change. If anything, he seemed more certain.

“No,” he said calmly. “My wolf cannot be wrong. You are my fated mate. It may take some time for you to feel the bond. Not every pair recognizes each other in the exact same way. Some mates do not sense the full bond instantly.”

I frowned at him. That did not sound right.

Everything I had ever heard about mates said the same thing. The bond struck quickly and strongly. There was no confusion.

I had felt it with Leon: the shock, the pull and the pain.

What I felt with Jacob was not that.

But still, I was not an expert on mate bonds. No one had ever taught me much about them. Maybe there were things I did not know.

Maybe he was telling the truth. But if he was, why did it still feel wrong?

Something about this was not adding up.

Maya paced restlessly inside me. I do not like this.

Neither do I.

Jacob must have noticed my unease because he shifted slightly toward me. Before I understood what he was doing, he reached out and touched my chin. He gently turned my face toward him.

I flinched so hard that my whole body jerked. His hand stopped at once. For one terrible second we simply stared at each other. My breathing turned shallow. I hated how quickly fear had risen inside me. I hated even more that he had seen it.

Something flickered in his eyes. Then, to my surprise, his voice softened. “You should not be afraid of me. I do not bite.”

I said nothing.

He gave a low huff that almost sounded amused, then withdrew his hand and leaned back. “At least not without reason.”

That did not help.

He must have seen the new alarm on my face because he smiled again, this time a little wider, as if he found my reaction entertaining.

“I was joking,” he said.

I was not sure that he was.

The car fell quiet again for a moment. I looked out the window but all I saw was the road stretching ahead and the morning light growing slowly stronger.

Then Jacob spoke once more. “You will stay with me in my pack. My pack members will be happy that I have finally found their future Luna.”

My stomach twisted. Future Luna? 

The title felt too heavy even in my thoughts.

I had been treated like I was worthless all my life. I had lived as a servant. I had been rejected in front of everyone. I had nearly been executed. And now this powerful stranger was speaking as if I would become his Luna.

He did not know me at all.

He did not know that I was not worthy of such a title. He did not know that I was not Luna material. Sooner or later, he would find out.

And then what?

Would he reject me too, just like Leon had?

Or would it be worse?

The thoughts would not stop. My chest felt tight. I did not know how I was supposed to survive this new mess when I had barely survived the last one.

The car finally slowed down.

I looked out the window and saw tall walls and large metal gates opening before us. Beyond them stood the Fireblood pack estate.

My breath caught.

The place looked powerful. The pack mansion stood ahead, made of dark stone with wide steps and tall windows. It was grand but not soft. It felt like the kind of place where rules were strict and weakness was not tolerated.

Several people were already waiting outside.

Jacob picked up a long coat and handed it to me. “Put this on quickly,” he said. “My mom will reprimand me if she sees you in those clothes. She will say that I am not taking good care of you.”

I looked down at myself. My clothes were torn and stained with dirt and blood. Shame crept over me.

Without a word, I took the coat and wrapped it around myself. It was too big but it covered me.

The car stopped fully. Jacob stepped out, then came around and opened my door like a gentleman. That alone made me pause. I did not know what to do with such a gesture coming from a man like him. He held out his hand and after a moment, I took it.

The people waiting outside looked at me immediately. At the front stood an older woman with blonde hair touched with silver. She carried herself with quiet authority. Beside her stood servants holding trays. One tray held glasses. Others held garlands and jewelry.

I stopped walking. What was this? 

The woman stepped forward and looked at Jacob first. “Son, is this your mate?”

Jacob nodded. “Yes, mom, she is the one. Your future daughter in law.”

The woman smiled warmly and looked at me. “She is so pretty. You are very lucky that the moon goddess has blessed you with a mate like her.”

I did not know what to say. No one had ever spoken about me that way before.

Then she asked gently, “What is your name?”

I swallowed and answered softly, “Anya.”

Her smile widened. “Oh, such a cute name for you. It suits you very much.”

Before I could react, she picked up one of the glasses from the tray and held it toward me.

“Here, drink the sacred water.”

I frowned slightly and looked at Jacob.

He explained calmly, “It is an old tradition in our pack. New members drink water from the sacred well inside our territory. It is believed that the well has been blessed by the Moon Goddess herself.”

Then he added, “Drink it. It will do you good.”

I hesitated but everyone was watching me. I felt like I had no choice. So I took the glass and drank.

The taste made me pause. It was supposed to be tasteless but it was not. There was a slight sour taste to it. It was faint but I noticed it. I lowered the glass slowly.

The old woman turned to the others at once. “Adorn her with the garland and jewelry. She is your future Luna. She should be given a warm welcome and the respect that she deserves.”

The servants came toward me immediately.

They began placing the garland around my neck and fastening jewelry onto me. I stared at them in disbelief. The pieces looked real. They were made of heavy gold and diamonds. 

It felt wrong on my skin. I wanted to remove all of it. But Jacob was watching me closely and I had a strong feeling that he would be very angry if I refused.

So I stayed quiet and kept my face neutral.

The woman looked pleased. “These are our ancestral jewelry and I have been waiting since long to pass these on to my daughter in law. Now, that Jacob has brought you here, we should start the wedding preparations.”

I stared at her. “What? Wedding?”

Jacob spoke before she could continue. “Mom, it is a bit too fast. We need to give Anya some time to adapt to the pack first. Let her feel comfortable first.”

His mother sighed, then nodded. “Fine. You are right. Take her to your room, then. Give her a tour of the pack house later. I have some things to arrange. I will have dinner with both of you this evening.”

“Of course, Mother,” Jacob said.

He placed a hand lightly at the middle of my back and guided me toward the open doors of the mansion.

My entire body had gone tense again.

I had no idea what was happening. None. It felt as if I had escaped death only to fall into the hands of something I did not understand, something that looked kind but made my heart uneasy.

They believed I would make the perfect Luna for this pack.

But they did not know me.

They did not know I had spent years scrubbing floors and serving food, being told to lower my eyes and keep quiet. They did not know how badly I would fail whatever test this was. They did not know I was not suited to stand beside a powerful Alpha like Jacob.

What would they do when they found out?

As we reached the threshold of the mansion, I lifted my eyes toward the dark entrance ahead. Cool air drifted out from inside, carrying the scent of polished wood, stone and something ancient I could not name.

Maya whispered inside me. Something is wrong.

Yes, I thought as Jacob led me over the threshold.

Something was very, very wrong.

And deep in my bones, I knew this was only the beginning.