Chapter 1: The Price Of The Crown

Keira's POV

The council chamber smelled like silver polish, old power, and people who already decided they hated me.

I felt it the moment I walked in. Eyes from every corner followed me like I was a plague.

It was expected. The outer crescent belonged to people like me. And people like me did not walk into rooms like this.

I kept my chin up and walked forward anyway, looking straight at him.

Kael.

My mate, my Alpha. The one who had summoned me here. He looked different from the night he had saved my life in the outer crescent—dressed in a black leather jacket, heavy boots, and neatly combed hair, composed in a way he hadn't been then. His gaze found mine and held it with a flicker of acknowledgement.

The Elders sat in a circular fashion around him, the Alpha at the head. Their gazes were piercing.

No one offered me a seat.

"This is her?"

One of the elders asked, glancing at Alpha Kael. I took a quick glance at his face as I stopped beside Kael and stood there. I knew him... Elder Gromul. The man who held the most power after the Alpha himself.

"Yes, this is my mate." Kael replied, gesturing to me. "She is the one who will be Luna.”

"Alpha Kael…" Elder Gromul leaned back in his chair gently, the perfect picture of patience, like a man watching a child. 

"We already presented a suitable Luna. Carefully selected, carefully prepared for this role since birth…" His eyes moved to me briefly, stained with the mild distaste of someone who had noticed something unpleasant on the sole of their boot. "This… was not what any of us anticipated."

My eyes moved to the other woman in the room. Her gaze swept over me once and moved away, like I wasn't worth a full second. She had the kind of presence that was built for rooms like this. The way she stood, the way she breathed, like the air owed her something.

My body shuddered with a cold sense of inferiority, but I didn't allow it to show. Neither did I let it settle in my mind. 

She didn't get to make me small. Not yet.

"She ceased to be an Omega Werewolf the day she became my Fated Mate." Kael replied, his tone firm. "Why would I choose someone else simply because of her status?"

"She shouldn't even be in this room, let alone be Luna," another elder answered.

"Your father rejected his fated mate because he found someone more suitable," a third added. "It would be wise to follow in his steps."

"Reject her," Gromul said simply, his gaze still patient. "Compensate her for the pain and move on."

Kael went silent for some moments, the atmosphere making me tense up. 

Then, he suddenly rose to his feet and swept his gaze across the room before turning to face me. His arm came around my neck and pulled me slightly toward him. My nerves spiked and I couldn't tell what he was about to do.

His lips curved into a soft smile as he opened his mouth... 

"Alpha Kael!"

...and sank his fangs into my neck.

"Aah~!"

The sharp pain tore through me, searing, and then suddenly warm in a way that made it worse. The bond between us thickened into something I could physically feel, a pull so deep it throbbed under my ribs. My wolf surged with a fierce joy that almost made me stumble. 

'Mine! Mine! Mine!'

I wanted to strangle her.

Because this didn't feel like safety. This was ownership declared in front of people who already hated me, and every one of them had just seen my body betray how much I wanted it.

Their gazes were filled with disdain.

He pulled away and cleaned his mouth with a cloth.

"This is my decision," he said simply.

Elder Gromul shot to his feet. "This is wrong!"

Kael sank back into his seat and smiled. "Any objections?"

Gromul waited until the room was fully quiet. Then he smiled briefly at me before turning back to the Alpha.

"Since you have made your choice so... decisively," he said, letting the word sit briefly, "the council has no choice but to invoke the Luna Trial. It is our right. And our responsibility." He folded his hands. "We would be failing our Alpha if we did anything less."

The words made me flinch.

The gentle smile had disappeared from Kael's face

"W-What is a Luna trial?" My voice barely came out.

Another elder answered in my place, malice woven through every word.

"A series of trials you must pass in order to be Luna."

A cold shiver ran down my spine.

"My mother never had to undergo the trial." Kael objected.

"That was because your father selected a Luna the council approved of," Gromul replied, unmoved. "There was no need."

He paused. “As you know, Alpha Kael… only a select few can pass this trial.” He added, almost smiling. 

‘You mean survive…’ I cried inwardly.

Kael's hand found the arm of his chair and gripped it, making his knuckles turn white. He turned to look at me. Not the elders. Me.

He wasn't meant to be looking at me. He was meant to cancel the trial.

I held his gaze and said nothing. He had promised me protection. He was the only one in this room with the power to honour it. The choice was entirely his.

The silence stretched one beat too long.

He looked away first.

"Fine." His voice came out quieter than before, slightly worn out at the edges. "What are the challenges?"

My heart dropped.

Just like that?

That wasn't what he told me. He had promised to protect me. And now he was letting them send me into a trial that already sounded like a death sentence, judging from the expressions on their faces.

A thick lump of hurt formed in my chest as an elder cleared his throat.

"It's simple. Retrieve a sacred flower from the Moonthorn Forest before dawn."

"What?"

The Moonthorn Forest. At night.

This wasn't a trial. It was a death sentence.