Chapter Five - The Luna's Bargain

I woke up in silk sheets.

For a moment, I thought I was dreaming. Or dead. But the softness beneath me was too real, and the pain in my chest had dulled to a manageable ache instead of the searing agony I had grown used to.

I opened my eyes to find myself in a massive bedroom that could have fit my old basement cell ten times over. Everything was cream and gold—expensive, elegant, intimidating. Floor-to-ceiling windows showed a sunrise over mountains I did not recognize.

"You are awake. Good."

I jerked upright and immediately regretted it. My head spun.

Alexei sat in an armchair by the window, fully dressed in designer clothes that probably cost more than I had earned in my entire life. He was reading something on a tablet, looking completely at ease.

"Where am I?" My voice came out hoarse.

"My home. Well, one of them." He set the tablet aside and stood, moving to pour water from a crystal pitcher on the nightstand. "The Silvermoon estate. You have been unconscious for two days."

Two days. I accepted the water with shaking hands and drank greedily.

"The healers say you should have died," Alexei continued, watching me with those unsettling ice-blue eyes. "The rejection wound was infected, you were severely malnourished, and you had internal injuries consistent with long-term abuse."

Shame heated my cheeks. "I am fine now."

"You are alive now. There is a difference." He sat on the edge of the bed, close enough that I could smell his scent—winter pine and something crisp like snow. "We need to talk about what happened in the forest."

The silver light. The marks on my hand. I looked down and found my skin unmarked now, no trace of whatever had glowed that night.

"I do not know what that was," I said honestly.

"My healers have a theory." Alexei's expression was serious. "They think you might not be a normal wolf, Sera. That light, those symbols—they are consistent with old magic. Very old magic."

"That is impossible. I am an Omega—"

"Are you?" He leaned forward. "Or is that just what you were told? What you believed because no one ever tested it?"

I stared at him. "What are you saying?"

"I am saying that rejection should have killed you in three days, but you survived four. I am saying that when you touched me, power erupted from you that I have only read about in ancient texts. I am saying that maybe whoever rejected you was a fool in more ways than one."

Hope was dangerous. I had learned that lesson. But it flickered in my chest anyway.

"Even if that were true, it does not matter now. I am packless. I am nothing."

"You are going to be my Luna," Alexei corrected. "Which makes you everything. But first, we need to discuss terms."

He stood and began pacing, all business now.

"Here is the situation. My pack is traditional, powerful, and deeply conservative. They expect their Alpha to have a mate, a Luna who can produce heirs and strengthen bloodlines. The problem is—" He paused, seeming to choose his words carefully. "—I cannot give them that. Not in the way they want."

"Why not?" I asked, confused.

"Because I am not interested in women." The words were blunt, honest. "At all. Never have been. But if I admit that, I will be challenged for my position within a week. My enemies are circling, waiting for any weakness."

Understanding dawned. "You want me to pretend to be your mate so they leave you alone."

"Exactly." He stopped pacing and looked at me directly. "We announce a whirlwind romance. You become Luna Queen in title and authority. We present the image of a perfect couple. Behind closed doors, we live our own lives."

"What do I get out of this besides a roof over my head?"

His smile was sharp. "Everything you want. Money, status, protection from whoever hurt you. Access to trainers who can help you discover what you truly are. And when the time comes—" His eyes gleamed. "—the full support of the Silvermoon Empire for whatever revenge you want to take."

Revenge. Against Kieran. Against everyone who had made me feel worthless.

"How long would this arrangement last?"

"As long as we both need it. Years, probably. We will negotiate an exit strategy when the time comes." He extended his hand again, formal this time. "Do we have a deal?"

I looked at his offered hand. This was a transaction, pure and simple. A business arrangement between two wolves who needed something from each other.

But it was also a chance at a new life. A chance to become someone powerful. A chance to make Kieran regret every cruel word he had ever spoken to me.

"I have one condition," I said.

Alexei raised an eyebrow. "Bold. I like it. What is it?"

"When I am ready to face my old pack, you help me. Not just with words. With action. I want them to see what I have become. I want him to see."

"Him?" Alexei's smile turned knowing. "The one who rejected you?"

I nodded, unable to say Kieran's name out loud.

"Then we definitely have a deal." Alexei shook my hand firmly. "Welcome to Silvermoon, Luna Queen. Your new life starts now."

The door burst open and Marcus rushed in, his dark eyes wide with urgency.

"Alexei, we have a problem. A big one."

"What now?" Alexei sighed.

"Alpha Blackthorn from Shadowpine just arrived at our borders." Marcus's gaze flicked to me, then back to Alexei. "He is demanding an audience. He says he is looking for someone—a female wolf who went missing from his territory four days ago. He seems... unstable."

My blood turned to ice. Kieran was here. Looking for me.

"What do we do?" Marcus asked.

Alexei's expression turned calculating. He looked at me, a question in his eyes.

I thought about Kieran's cruelty. His rejection. The way he had destroyed me in front of the entire pack. And I thought about the strange moment when he had whispered "forgive me" like it meant something.

"Tell him you found her," I said, my voice steady despite my racing heart. "Tell him his rejected mate is alive. And she is now your Luna Queen."

Alexei's grin was feral. "I knew I liked you. Marcus, send that exact message. And tell Alpha Blackthorn if he wants to see her, he will have to attend the formal Luna announcement ceremony tomorrow. As a guest."

Marcus hesitated. "That is going to start a war."

"Good," I said, surprising myself with the venom in my voice. "Let it."

Alexei laughed, delighted. "Oh, we are going to have so much fun together, Sera Winters. So much fun."

But as Marcus left to deliver the message, I felt something twist in my chest. The mate bond was gone, burned away by rejection. So why did the thought of seeing Kieran again make my heart race?

And

why did part of me—the foolish, broken part—still want to know what he would do when he saw what I had become?