19: To Discuss Your Mistake

The next morning, I woke up with my heart racing and for a second, I didn’t know where I was.

Then it all came back.

My stomach twisted.

The dreams hadn’t helped—wolves shifting in the dark, bones bending in ways that shouldn’t be possible, eyes glowing in the night. And then… Raguel.

I pressed the heel of my palm against my forehead.

“This is not normal,” I muttered.

None of it was.

And the more I thought about it, the less sense it made.

Which meant only one thing.

I had to leave now.

I pushed off the bed and got dressed quickly, like delaying even a second would somehow trap me here longer.

By the time I found Raguel in the dining room, I had rehearsed what I was going to say. Emily was leaning over him, murmuring something about pack borders, but the moment I walked in, both of them looked at me.

“I want to leave,” I said immediately without hesitation.

“Good morning, Lyra,” Emily said, her voice warm, but I didn’t miss the way her gaze flickered to the way I was clutching my elbows. She caught Raguel’s brief, sharp nod and bowed. “I’ll give you both a moment.”

She vanished before I could even ask her to stay. I stood at the foot of the table, staring at Raguel.

“I’m leaving, Raguel,” I repeated, my voice steady even if my hands weren’t. “I’ve thought about it all night. It doesn’t make sense. None of it. I can’t stay here.”

Raguel didn’t look up from his coffee immediately. He set the cup down with a slow, deliberate click. When he finally met my gaze, his eyes were dark.

“Funny,” he said, his voice a low rumble. “Given the way you orgasmed hard last night, I imagined you’d be begging me to take you again, not asking to leave.”

Heat flooded my face in embarrassment. “I didn’t mean that. Any of it. The things I said, the... the terms I proposed in the heat of the moment. It was a lapse.”

“You seemed very certain.”

“As I said, I wasn’t thinking clearly.”

“That’s not how it looked.”

I exhaled sharply.

“Look, I don’t care how it looked. I’m telling you now, Raguel. I want to leave.”

He stood up swiftly and walked the length of the table toward me, stopping just inches away. I could smell the distinct scent of him.

“Is that so?” He leaned down, his mouth hovering just an inch from the sensitive shell of my ear. “Because I’m fairly certain I could get you to take every one of those words back in less than five minutes, Lyra. Your body is a far better liar than your tongue.”

The sexual pull between us was a physical force, humming with enough electricity to stop my heart. I wanted to slap him, and I wanted to pull him into the nearest chair and let him finish what he started.

Raguel seemed to feel it too. His pupils dilated, his jaw tightening as he fought back the pull. Then, with a visible effort, he stepped back, straightening slightly as the cold mask slid back into place.

“You aren’t leaving,” he said, his tone suddenly businesslike. “There’s a summit beginning next week.”

The shift in topic caught me off guard.

“A what?”

“A gathering,” he clarified. “Leaders. Elders. Representatives from the different packs.”

I blinked.

“Okay…how does that affect my leaving?”

“You’ll be there.”

I frowned. “As what? A trophy?”

His gaze held mine.

“As the Luna Queen.”

I let out a short laugh immediately. “No.”

“Yes.”

“No,” I repeated. “You think you can just say something like that and expect me to accept it?”

He ignored that. “You’ll be introduced as my betrothed.”

I stared at him and sank into a chair, my legs finally giving out.

I sank into a chair, my legs finally giving out. “Your what?”

“My fiancée.”

I laughed hysterically. “Your fiancée?”

He watched me for a moment and then nodded once.

“I’m the Alpha King.”

I blinked.

“I don’t even know what that means. How does this world of yours even work?”

He dropped into the chair next to me, his expression stoic. “It’s a hierarchy of blood and strength, Lyra. The world is divided into packs. Each pack is led by an Alpha, and each Alpha is advised by a circle of Elders. Together, those Elders and Alphas make up the Council—the governing body that ensures our laws are upheld.”

“And you?” I asked. “What makes your ‘alphahood’ superior to the others?”

He held my gaze, his eyes hard as flint. “Because I earned it.”

That wasn’t an answer.

“How?” I pressed.

His gaze didn’t shift. “I told you what matters.”

I shook my head and scoffed. “How convenient.”

He waved a hand as if swatting a fly. “During the Summit, I will introduce you to the key personnel—the generals, the regional Alphas, and the heads of the Council. Emily will talk you through the history and the protocols you’re expected to know.”

“I don’t know what I’m doing here,” I whispered, the weight of it all finally crushing the air out of my lungs. “I’m lost, Raguel. You’ve explained this a dozen times but none of it sticks because it doesn’t make sense to me and I still don’t understand what is expected of me.”

For a brief second, something shifted in his expression subtly. His eyes softened, a wounded look crossing his face before he caught it.

“You are expected to rule side by side with me,” he said. “You are expected to be the Queen.”

“Rule what?” I snapped, gesturing to the empty, grand room. “People I don’t know? A race I’m not even a part of? I’m a human girl, Raguel!”

Before he could reply, the heavy doors of the dining room swung open. Emily stepped back in, her face pale, her movements hurried.

“Alpha,” she said, her voice tight with tension. “There has been a summons. An urgent Council meeting has been called at the Council House.”

Raguel stood up, his presence turning lethal in an instant. “On what grounds?”

Emily flicked a nervous glance at me before looking back at Raguel. “They wish to discuss the... ‘mistake’ you have brought into our world. They are questioning your choice of a Luna.”