Chapter 8

Ravynna’s POV

The words landed like a slap.

I opened my mouth, ‘He wasn’t using me,’ I tried to argue then closed my mouth again.

“You felt something,” she pressed. “Didn’t you? For one foolish heartbeat, you were happy when you heard ‘Luna’ and forgot the rest.”

Heat crawled up my neck as shame coiled tight around my neck.

‘Stop,’ I whispered, squeezing my eyes shut. ‘Just stop.’

Her voice softened lightly as she threw another blow, “That is what frightens me, Ravynna. Not his audacity but how easily you would stand in his defence against YOURSELF?!”

“Ravy… you deserve more than this even…”

A knock on the door stopped Lyra saving me temporarily from admitting things I wasn’t ready to face.

I assumed it was the maid again.

“Luna Ravynna,” Kael’s future Beta, Aiden called from behind the door.

I was yet to familiarise myself with him so I wondered why he was here.

His voice was uneasy, “You have to come out, the Alpha King’s envoy has arrived ahead of schedule.”

My stomach dropped.

Why?

Before I could process anything, the Beta continued, “The king’s youngest son, Prince Zephyr...”

His words blurred as my blood turned to ice.

Zephyr Alistair Corvain? Just hearing his name made me sit bolt upright in bed, the blankets pooling around my waist.

If there was one person I absolutely did not want to see right now, it was him.

He was my age and a menace, if I wanted to be specific, he was a tyrant in training and for the past six years at the Alpha King’s training camp, he had used his privilege to torment me.

“I’ll kick you out myself,” he used to sneer.

“Such a useless crybaby.”

“You don’t belong here, princess.”

He had said it so many times I could still hear it now.

Six years of relentless day-and-night training finally paid off when I defeated the strongest warriors selected from every pack in the camp, and was finally noticed by the king.

So why was he here?

“Luna…” Aiden pressed and I called out, “Just tell him I’m not here!”

But before the Beta could respond, my door burst open.

Of course it did.

That rude, boorish guy…only an arrogantly entitled royal brat, would dare to slam open the room of a newly mated Luna without an ounce of hesitation.

Zephyr strode in like the room belonged to him.

His eyes swept over me for a brief second, from my tangled hair, to my wrinkled pajamas causing my cheeks to burn with humiliation.

“You look pathetic,” he said and before I could throw my comeback, he crossed the room in three long strides.

With one hand, he yanked me out of bed., snatching a coat from the nearby chair, he tossed it around my shoulders, ignoring the fact that I had nearly tripped over the sheets.

“You’re coming with me,” he declared like he could make me.

“Zephyr! You can’t just…” I snapped, digging my heels into the floor, trying to stall him, when he picked me up and threw me over his shoulders like a sack.

“What the hell are you doing?” I hissed.

Shit! I was being manhandled like a fucking theif.

I was tempted to drum at the back of his head but my vision spun for a minute. “Exactly what I should have been doing all along instead of allowing you to go about acting like a fool in the presence of everyone.

If I claimed to understand the first thing about whatever he was saying that meant that I was nothing but a liar.

Just as we rounded the door, Aiden appeared out of nowhere. "What is going on here? You cannot just take our luna away." He growled.

I wanted to sigh out loud, but he was no match for the man that was currently rough handling me.

Apart from the fact that he was a sprout brand I knew that he wielded a level of strength that not everybody was blessed with so I didn't want him to get caught up in the mess.

Zephyr would easily bench press Aiden even with me in his hands and I wasn't kidding about that.

"Get out of my way." He commanded and Aiden stepped even closer.

“Finally some excitement… TWO men… packs fighting over us!” I heard Lyra squeal but this was no time to fuel her excitement.

Beta Aiden glared harder, “I'm telling you that you cannot just take away our Luna, you should observe basic courtesy by telling us what exactly is going on.” He answered in a challenging tone.

Zephyr glared back at him, setting me on my feet, not caring about the fact that I wobbled at the sudden tilt.

"Aha, is that all you've got? Talks and no action?" Aiden goaded Zephyr.

Big mistake because now one person's head was going to roll on the floor and I knew who exactly it was.

"Aiden..." I called, placing myself in between them.

Zephyr let out an evil laugh as his eyes turned pitch black as he moved even closer, his voice carrying the formidable power of royal blood, "You dare question me!" His voice caused a rumbling beneath my feet.

Aiden quivered at the pressure of his growl.

Zephyr laughed harder, “Isn’t this the same pack where your Alpha brought both his mate and his Luna to the altar at the same time?”

Aiden flinched while Zephyr’s lips curled upwards.

“If your Alpha can publicly humiliate her like a wimp he is,” he said, “then I can take what’s mine–-MY MATE— even from his bedroom.”