Chapter 6

Lana’s POV

The sting on my neck hadn’t dulled, no matter how many times I pressed my palm against it. It throbbed like a wound that would never heal, a constant reminder of Warren’s cruelty. Every step I took through the halls of the Red Moon Pack house carried that ache with me, like shackles branded into my skin.

I hated him for it. Hated him for taking away even the illusion of choice.

The corridors whispered with judgment. Warriors paused to glance at me, their gazes sharp and suspicious. I could hear the hushed murmurs travel down the hall like poison. Omega. Outsider. Spy.

Their words weren’t spoken aloud, but I didn’t need to hear them to know what they thought of me. The looks were enough.

The woman who had guided me to my quarters returned the next morning with clothes laid neatly across her arms. She didn’t say much—only bowed her head and left me with a wary glance, as though touching me might cost her something.

I dressed in silence, staring at myself in the mirror. The fabric was soft, finer than anything I had ever worn in Dark Silver, but it felt heavy on me, like a costume I had no right to wear. The mark on my neck was visible, an ugly bruise against pale skin. I tilted my head, fingers tracing over it.

Red Moon’s Luna.

That’s what they’d call me now. A title I had never wanted, chained to a man I despised.

The thought made me burn inside.

A knock sounded on my door. Sharp, commanding. My heart clenched. Only one man knocked like that.

“Enter,” I forced myself to say.

Warren stepped inside without hesitation. He didn’t wait for permission, didn’t glance around the room. He filled the space with his presence, the air bending around him as though even the walls knew who he was.

His eyes flicked briefly to my neck, satisfaction glinting there, before returning to my face. “You’ll join me for breakfast,” he said simply.

“I’m not hungry.”

His brow arched. “That wasn’t a request.”

My nails dug into my palms. I wanted to spit at him, scream that he had no right, but the cold authority in his voice made my throat tighten. He would drag me there if I refused. I knew it.

So I followed him.

The dining hall was vast, lined with long tables where warriors sat in perfect discipline. Conversations hushed the moment I walked in at his side. Every eye tracked me, some with open hostility, others with thinly veiled curiosity.

“Sit,” Warren ordered, pulling out a chair beside his own at the head table.

My chest burned with shame as I lowered myself into it, every stare drilling into me. I could almost hear their thoughts. She doesn’t belong here. She’s weak. She’s nothing.

Platters of food were laid out, steam rising from them. My stomach growled in betrayal, but I refused to reach for anything.

“Eat,” Warren commanded again, his tone flat.

“I said I’m not hungry.”

His hand suddenly gripped my wrist under the table, firm enough to make me wince. His voice dropped, just for me. “You’ll eat, Lana. If you starve yourself here, they’ll think you’re too weak to survive as Luna. And weakness is a death sentence in Red Moon.”

The warning in his tone made my skin prickle. He released me slowly, eyes still locked on mine. I forced myself to grab a piece of bread, tearing into it with shaking hands.

Only when I’d swallowed did he lean back, satisfied.

“This pack will test you,” he said loud enough for the others to hear. “They’ll question your loyalty, your strength. But they’ll learn quickly that no one questions me. And you are mine.”

The hall was silent. No one dared speak.

I wanted to scream at him, tell him he couldn’t claim me like some possession. But I sat there, rage twisting inside me, knowing that one wrong word could spark a fire I wasn’t ready to fight.

Later that day, whispers followed me through the training grounds. I kept my head down, pretending not to notice. But one voice cut through the others, sharp and mocking.

“Well, if it isn’t our new Luna,” a warrior drawled, stepping into my path. His smirk was cruel. “Didn’t think an omega could climb so high. Must’ve been a… creative negotiation.”

Laughter rippled through the others. Heat burned in my cheeks, fury clawing up my throat.

“I didn’t choose this,” I snapped.

His eyes gleamed. “Oh, I know. The Alpha never asks. He takes.”

The words sliced through me, and the laughter grew louder. My hands trembled, not from fear this time, but from the urge to strike him.

“Is there a problem here?”

Warren’s voice silenced the grounds. He strode forward, his presence slicing through the tension like a blade. The warrior stiffened but didn’t back down completely.

“She doesn’t belong here,” the man dared to say.

In one fluid motion, Warren had him by the throat, lifting him off his feet. The warrior choked, claws scrabbling uselessly against Warren’s iron grip.

“You dare question me?” Warren’s voice was deadly calm.

“N—No, Alpha,” the man gasped.

Warren dropped him like trash, and he crumpled to the ground, clutching his throat. “Let this be the last time any of you question her place. She is mine. And through me, she holds authority here.”

He turned his head slightly, his gaze sliding to me. “Anyone who disrespects her disrespects me.”

The warriors bowed instantly, murmuring obedience. The air was thick with fear.

I stood frozen, my heart hammering. He’d defended me… but not for me. For his claim. For his dominance.

As Warren walked away, leaving chaos in his wake, I followed in silence. My thoughts were a storm.

I hated him. I hated the way he controlled every breath I took, every step I made. But when he’d defended me, a twisted flicker of something else had sparked in my chest. Something dangerous.

And I hated myself most of all for feeling it.

That night, I sat alone in my quarters, staring at the faint moonlight spilling through the window. My hand found its way to my neck again, tracing the mark that burned with every heartbeat.

I whispered into the darkness, my voice trembling with both fury and desperation.

“I’ll get my revenge, Callen. I’ll make you bleed for what you did to me. But Warren…”

My chest tightened, my voice dropping to a bitter whisper.

“You will pay too. No matter how strong you think you are. No matter how deep this bond burns. One day, I’ll break free of you.”

But even as I swore it, a shiver crawled down my spine, because part of me wasn’t sure if I wanted freedom—or if the fire he lit inside me would consume me before I ever got the chance.