CHAPTER FIVE

~FLORA~

I WOKE UP slowly, confused. This was not my bed. This was a softer and bigger bed than what I was used to. I opened my eyes as my mind caught up to the events from yesterday.

I am married now to the king of the Scotland packs. That made me a Luna Queen.

The door opened, and the maid called Bonnie came in carrying a bucket of warm water.

"Oh, you are awake, my lady," she said, bowing deeply. "I thought you would sleep till the afternoon. You were very tired from the journey yesterday."

"I am an early riser," I replied.

My stepmother always made sure I woke up with the servants of the pack, while her daughter would lounge in bed all day. I sighed, noting that Bonnie was struggling with the bucket. "Here, let me help you." I offered.

She shook her head. "Alpha Cameron would have my hide if he found out that I let you do anything for me."

Alpha Cameron. My husband... it was still a foreign thought, but it was not half as bad as I expected it to be. "How is he?" I asked with uncertainty lacing my voice. "Alpha Cameron... what sort of man is he?"

Bonnie smiled warmly. "He is a good man. He is sometimes strict and gloomy ever since..."

"His fated mate died," I completed.

"Queen Catriona," Bonnie nodded. "Ever since she died, something changed in Alpha Cameron. But he is a good man." She said with a note of finality as she dragged the bucket into the bathroom and poured its hot content into the tub.

"Time for a bathe, my Queen," Bonnie said, and I was pleased to oblige.

****

The bath was heavenly. Bonnie washed my hair with careful hands, working out the tangles from the journey, and I nearly fell asleep twice.

When I was clean, she wrapped me in a thick robe and led me to a chair by the fire. She brushed my hair until it shone like spun gold, then braided it in a simple style that kept it away from my face.

She helped me into a simple gown, yet it was finer than anything I had ever owned.

I looked at myself in the mirror. The girl who stared back was not the same girl who had been pushed down the stairs. She was not the same girl who had died on the cold stone floor. "Thank you, Bonnie," I whispered.

She patted my hand. "Come. Breakfast is waiting."

I stepped out of the room and directly into the back of one of the largest men i have ever seen. His shoulders were as broad as the doorframe and arms like tree trunks.

But I recognized him. He was the one Cameron had sent to guard me yesterday. Lachlan, the Gamma.

He bowed deeply. "My Queen."

I blinked. "You... you don't have to do that."

"It is my duty," he rumbled. "And my honor."

I nodded, unsure of what to do. As we continued our walk down the stairs, my eyes flickered around the castle.

I had thought my father's pack house was large, but this was something else entirely. The corridors stretched on forever, lined with tapestries and torches. Every corner we turned revealed something new; a library, a training hall, a courtyard filled with flowers.

People moved freely through the halls. They didn't bow their heads or lower their voices. A group of children ran past us, their laughter echoed off the stone walls. One of them stopped and waved at me. "Hello, Lady Luna!" she shouted.

I blinked. "Hello?"

She giggled and ran off.

"They know who I am?" I asked Bonnie, stunned.

"Of course they do," Bonnie said. "You are their Luna Queen."

In my father's pack, I had been invisible. Here, I was someone.

"The pack is different here," I said quietly.

"Different how?" Bonnie asked.

I shrugged, unable to answer. I thought about my father and his mate, the way they ruled with fear and cruelty.

"There is only one thing you need to worry about, my lady," Bonnie said as we walked.

"And what is that?"

Bonnie said with a grimace. "Isobel."

I frowned. "Who is Isobel?"

She leaned closer before she answered. "Isobel is the sister of the late Queen Catriona.

I felt a chill run down my spine. "And she is... a problem?"

"Isobel favors alpha Cameron for herself," Bonnie said. "After her sister died, they were always seen together. Some of us in the pack feared that she was going to be our next Luna... and now that you are here, she will see you as a threat."

A low voice rumbled from behind us. "Bonnie."

We both turned. Lachlan was standing a few feet away, his arms crossed over his massive chest.

"You should not be filling the Luna's head with kitchen gossip," he said.

Bonnie put her hands on her hips. "It is not gossip, Lachlan. It is the truth."

"She deserves peace on her first morning," Lachlan countered.

"She deserves to be warned." Bonnie's voice was sharp.

They stared at each other for a long moment. Lachlan looked away first. "Fine, but keep your voice down."

Bonnie gave a small, satisfied smile, but she did not continue the conversation about Isobel as we entered the dining hall.

I was led to a smaller table near the head of the room where my meal was already being served.

"This is... a lot," I said, staring at the spread. In my father's pack, I had been given scraps. Whatever was left after Edwig and Edith had eaten their fill.

"You are the Luna now," Bonnie said simply. "You eat like one."

I picked up my spoon. The porridge was warm and sweet. The berries burst on my tongue. I had never tasted anything so good.

I was about to take another bite when the hall gradually went quiet. I looked up, and my breath caught in my throat.

A woman stood in the doorway.

She was stunning, tall, and slender, with dark hair that fell in waves past her shoulders. Her skin was pale, her lips red, her eyes sharp and cold.

Then Bonnie leaned close and whispered, "That is Isobel."

Isobel's eyes swept the room until they landed on me, and then she smiled and began to walk toward me.