Chapter 6

Aria’s pov

 

The pack house smelled like betrayal and polished wood as I stepped through the grand doors two days after the hospital discharged me, and every pair of eyes in the foyer flicked toward me before dropping away.

 

Whispers trailed in my wake like smoke and I lifted my chin higher, forcing my legs to move steadily even though my knees still felt like water.

 

The fake mark on my neck had scabbed over, ugly and itched constantly, a reminder that nothing about my mating was sacred. I wore a high-necked blouse anyway, I was still the Luna in every way that mattered and I wasn’t going to waste away in my room anymore.

 

First stop: the kitchen.

 

 I hadn’t eaten properly in days, and if I was going to survive this pack, and whatever cruel game Kade and the Moon Goddess were playing; I needed strength. The omegas froze when I walked in, trays mid-air.

 

“Luna Aria,” the youngest one squeaked, bowing so low her braid touched the floor.

I offered a small smile.

 

 “Could someone make me a plate? Eggs, toast, whatever’s fresh. I’ll eat in the….”

 

“Lila, darling,” Claire said sweetly as she descended the stairs. “I need you to bring fresh coffee and those little berry pastries to the sunroom in five.”

 

Lila curtsied awkwardly. “Y-yes, Miss Claire. Right away.”

 

She turned back toward the pastry counter abandoning my eggs.

 

Something cold and sharp uncoiled in my chest.

“Lila,” I said quietly.

 

The girl halted like she’d walked into a wall. The other omegas stopped moving too. “Finish my plate first,” I continued, calm and even. “The Luna’s breakfast comes before guests’ requests.”

 

The word guest landed softly, but everyone in the room heard the edge beneath it.

Claire’s smile didn’t falter, but her eyes narrowed a fraction.

 

 “Oh, Aria. I didn’t see you there.” A deliberate lie; she’d walked in behind me. “No need to trouble the staff over titles. Kade isn’t even home to enforce them.”

 

There it was, the blade she loved to twist.

My heart gave a painful thud, but I didn’t flinch. I’d spent days bleeding from that wound already. I wasn’t going to bleed in front of her again.

 

I turned fully to face her, meeting those ice-blue eyes without looking away.

 

“Fortunately for me,” I said, letting my voice carry just enough Luna authority to make the omegas still further, “the Alpha isn’t here. Which means the pack house runs by pack law. And pack law is very clear: the Luna’s word is second only to the Alpha’s.”

 

I took one step closer, just enough to remind her whose roof she stood under.

 

“You are a guest, Claire. A privileged one, at that. But guests do not countermand the Luna in her own house.”

 

Claire’s smile thinned. She tilted her head, studying me like I was a mildly interesting curiosity.

 

“Brave words,” she murmured as she leaned in just enough for her jasmine scent to choke the air between us. “Enjoy giving orders while it lasts, darling. We both know whose name he whispers when the lights go out.”

 

My hands curled at my sides, nails biting into my palms. For a brief moment, we stood locked like that, two wolves circling without shifting.

Then Claire straightened, smoothing her robe with deliberate grace.

 

“Pastries in the sunroom, Lila,” she said lightly, as though nothing had happened. “Whenever the Luna is finished.”

 

She turned and walked out, hips swaying, victory claimed in posture if not in words.

The door swung shut behind her.

I let out a slow breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.

 

After the kitchen standoff with Claire, I left the dining hall and went straight to the Alpha’s study, staring at the pile of pack correspondence cluttering the desk. Invitations, border reports, alliance requests. Someone had to handle them and Kade certainly wasn’t going to do that. So I sat down, rolled up my sleeves, and started sorting.

 

Hours passed, and the afternoon light slanted through the windows, turning dusty and gold. My eyes kept snagging on the northern border report; vague mentions of unfamiliar scents, and tracks that vanished too cleanly.

 

It needed an expert opinion, and the first expert that came to my mind was Riven.

I told myself it was only about the pack, but my heart hammered the entire time I waited after sending the guard.

 

When the door opened and he stepped in, the air shifted. His scent flooded the room, wrapping around me like arms I wasn’t allowed to want. My wolf, Saela, surged forward, pressing against my skin, whining low and desperate.

 

Mate. Mate. Mate.

 

Riven froze just inside the threshold. His shoulders went rigid, jaw clenched so tight I saw the muscle jump. His dark eyes locked on me, then flicked away like I burned him.

“Luna,” he said, voice rough and carefully blank. “You sent for me?”

 

I stood slowly, smoothing invisible wrinkles from my skirt to buy time. Every inch of me vibrated with awareness. The bond hummed between us, alive and demanding.

“Yes,” I said, proud that my voice didn’t shake. “I’m reviewing patrol rotations. And I’d like your input as Beta.”

 

A muscle in his cheek twitched, but he stepped forward anyway, stopping a careful arm’s length from the desk, close enough that his scent drowned me, far enough that nothing touched.

 

We bent over the maps together and somehow, his forearm brushed mine as he reached for a marker. Just once, and barely a contact, but the spark that shot through me was violent.

 

 Heat raced up my arm, down my spine, pooling low in my belly. My breath caught. His did too—

for the briefest second.

 

I glanced up. He was already staring past me, eyes fixed on the wall, wolf gold flickering and then forcibly banked.

 

“Riven,” I whispered, unable to stop myself.

He jerked back as though I’d struck him.

“I'm sorry,” he growled more to himself than to me. “I shouldn't have stayed so close.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Because you're Luna”

 

“Marked with a fake fang,” I said, sharper than I intended. “By an Alpha who hasn’t come near me since the ceremony. Tell me, Riven—why exactly do you keep avoiding me?”

His nostrils flared. A low, dangerous growl rumbled from his chest, purely wolf.

“Don’t Luna,” he warned, voice gravel. “Don’t say things like that.”

 

“Why not?” I stepped around the desk, closing half the distance. “Because you feel it too? Because every time you’re in the same room, your wolf screams the same word mine does?”

He backed up until his spine hit the bookshelf. Books rattled softly.

 

“I am loyal to my Alpha,” he bit out, eyes blazing. “I will not betray him.”

 

“Not even if he betrayed me first?”

His eyes flashed gold again, fierce and pained. For one breathless heartbeat, I thought the wall might crack. I saw the war raging inside him; duty against instinct, and loyalty against fate.

Then the mask slammed down, harder than before.

 

“I will not betray him,” he repeated, colder now. “And you should not ask me to.”

He shoved past me, shoulder brushing mine hard enough to stagger me and strode to the door.

 

“I have patrols to check,” he said without looking back. “If you need anything else, send a warrior.”

 

He was at the door when the words tore out of me.

 

“You said it in the hospital. Why do you keep denying it?.”

 

“You heard wrong, Luna.”

The door closed firmly behind him.