Return of the Rejected Luna

I smelled him before I saw him.

My wolf froze mid-step, and then she screamed inside my head: Mine!

The word hit me like a thunderbolt, and my wine glass slipped from my fingers, shattering on the stone floor of the moon lodge.

Around me, the Blood Moon Pack's celebration continued without pause; wolves laughed and danced, their bodies bare under the moonlight. Among our kind, nudity carried no shame, only freedom. But I heard none of it, and I saw none of it.

I saw only him.

He stood across the crowded room, tall and broad-shouldered, with dark hair falling across his forehead and silver eyes locked onto mine from about fifty feet away.

The music faded, and the world narrowed to the space between us. I could feel it thrumming within; a bond I had only read about in ancient texts snapped into place like a chain forged beneath the Moon's watchful gaze.

Fated mate. My fated mate.

"Rya?" Lila grabbed my elbow, her auburn hair wild around her face. "What is wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost, and you dropped your wine all over my boots."

I could not answer because he was already moving.

The crowd parted for him like water before a ship as he moved closer. He stopped three feet away, close enough that his scent wrapped around me like a second skin. I could see the muscle ticking in his jaw and I could feel the heat radiating from his being.

"You are my mate," he said, his voice low and rough, as if the words had risen from somewhere deep in his chest.

Lila gasped and took a step back, her eyes wide. "Did the Alpha just say what I think he said?"

I forced myself to speak past the lump in my throat. "Who are you?"

"Don't you know?" A ghost of a smile crossed his lips. It did not reach his eyes.

Then I saw the marking on his collar, a silver crescent moon ringed in thorns, and my heart stopped. "You are Alpha Zarek," I whispered. "Our Alpha."

"I am." He tilted his head, studying me. "And you are my fated mate, which means you are my Luna."

I shook my head in disbelief. "This cannot be right. You are the Alpha of the Blood Moon Pack, the most powerful wolf in our territory, and I am a low-ranking she-wolf without a title or a family name. Why would the moon goddess choose me for you?"

"She does not care about rank," he said simply, and he reached out to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. His fingers brushed against my skin, sending sparks dancing up my spine.

My wolf propelled me forth, demanding that I close the distance, but I held my ground. "This is a disaster," I said. "The pack will say I seduced you for power, or that you have lost your mind."

"Probably," he said, but he did not seem concerned in the slightest. "However, I do not care what the pack says. Now, my beloved, come with me."

It was a statement. His hand closed around my wrist, gentle but firm. Lila gaped at us, her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water.

"Lila, I will find you later," I said quickly.

"You better," she managed, "and you better tell me everything."

Zarek led me through the crowd, ignoring the whispers and stares, and pulled me through a side door into a narrow corridor lit by a single oil lamp. The moment the music and the voices faded behind the door, he turned and pressed me against the cool stone wall, caging me with his arms.

"I have dreamed of you," he confessed, his voice softer now, almost vulnerable. "I did not know your face, but I dreamed of your scent every night for over a year. My wolf nearly went mad trying to find you, and I was on the brink of running mad with him."

My hands trembled at my sides. "A year? The bond started a year ago?"

"It takes time to fully form, especially when the mate is not ready to be found." He braced one hand against the wall beside my head and tilted my chin up with the other. "But tonight, under the full moon, it snapped into place. You felt it too."

It was not a question, but I answered anyway. "Yes, I felt it. My wolf screamed so loud I thought my skull would crack in two."

Something dark and victorious crossed his face. "Then you know what happens next, my love."

"A claiming," I breathed.

"A claiming." His thumb slowly traced my bottom lip, leaving tingles wherever his skin touched mine.

"We should not do this," I tried, even though my body screamed otherwise. "You are the Alpha, and I am no one. The pack will never accept a Luna with no status."

"The pack can say what they wish, I do not care." He leaned in until his lips hovered a breath from mine. "I have waited a year for you, and I refuse to wait another minute. I will not let anyone take you from me."

"What if the pack rejects me?" I asked, worry in my voice. "What if they see me as unworthy and demand that you take another?"

"Then they shall answer to me." His silver eyes held mine, burning with intensity. "You are my mate, my chosen, my other half. No wolf in this pack will dare harm you, or they will answer to my claws."

"Just so you know, I have no status, no family name, and nothing to offer you except myself."

"And that is exactly what I need; you and you alone." He brushed a strand of hair from my face, his touch impossibly gentle for such a powerful wolf. "That is more than enough. It is everything I have ever needed."

My wolf jumped within; Artemis loved being needed, especially by our mate.

"You do not even know my name," I laughed lightly, my fingers creeping across his chest. His chest heaved.

"Then tell me now."

"Rya."

"Rya." He uttered it like a prayer, like a promise, and something in my heart broke loose. "You are mine now, Rya, and I am yours."

Then he kissed me.

Fire exploded across my lips and down my throat as his tongue swept against mine. I tasted smoke, cedar, and something that was just him, losing myself completely. My hands fisted in his tunic, and he groaned against my mouth. It was a raw, desperate sound that vibrated through my entire being.

He pulled back just enough to search my eyes, his breathing ragged and his pupils dilated. "Tell me to stop," he rasped. "Tell me you do not want this, and I will walk away. I will hate every step, but I will do it because I value your choice."

I looked at this man, this Alpha, this mate of mine, and my wolf pushed against my skin with a need I could not deny. "If you walk away," I murmured, "I will follow you to the ends of the earth and bring you back."

His eyes blazed with heat, and the next kiss was rougher. His hands found my waist, lifting me like I weighed nothing, and pressed me harder against the wall. My legs wrapped around his hips instinctively as the heat between us became a furnace that demanded to be fed.

"This is a corridor," I gasped between kisses. "Anyone could walk by and see us."

"My chambers are the third door on the left," he growled against my neck. "Can you walk, or do I need to carry you?"

I shook my head, and he laughed - a dark, beautiful sound - before carrying me down the hallway.

His chambers smelled like him, with a fire crackling in the hearth and furs covering the massive bed. He laid me down like I was made of glass, and I realized I was shaking, though not from fear.

"You are trembling," he observed, his voice thick with desire.

"I am not scared," I meant it. "I am overwhelmed with anticipation. I am exactly where I want to be."

"I know." He tugged at the laces of my dress. "Neither am I, and that is what terrifies me, because I have never felt so out of control in my life."

His hands found my skin, and my breath caught in my throat. "Beautiful," he murmured, pressing his lips to my collarbone. "So beautiful, and so mine."

I arched into him, and his answering growl rumbled through both our chests. The claiming happened fast and slow at the same time; fast because the bond demanded it with an urgency I could not ignore, and slow because he worshipped every inch of me like I was sacred.

His teeth grazed my neck, right over the spot where his mark would go, but he did not bite.

"Not yet," he panted, sweat beading on his forehead. "The ceremony comes first, in front of the entire pack, so everyone knows you are mine."

"The pack will riot," I warned him, though my lips curved high. "They will say I am not worthy to be their Luna, and they will call you a fool."

"Let them." He kissed me again, slow and deep, and I forgot about packs, politics, and consequences.

He plunged into me, and my body widened to accommodate him as pleasure rolled through me, mixing beautifully with the stretch of sweet pain.

"Zarek!" I screamed his name.