All Chapters of Blessed Luna Rising: A Dark Medical Mate-Bond Revenge : Chapter 161 - Chapter 170

Sleep didn’t come that night.Not for Lyra.Luna passed out midway through Aiden’s “dramatic retelling” of the forum—curled in his lap on the lounge sofa, one fist twisted in his shirt, the other clutching her stuffed wolf. He’d kept the story surprisingly honest. He admitted to the boos. To the “traitor” shouts. To Rylan’s thunderclap “hush.”He’d left out the part where his voice had nearly broken when he said “my daughter.” Lyra had heard it anyway, echoing under his careful edits.Once Luna’s breathing went heavy and even, Lyra had taken her back to the pediatric suite. They’d laid her down together this time—Aiden awkward with the rails and cords, Lyra fluid from repetition. His hand had lingered half a second longer than necessary on Luna’s hair.Then he’d stepped back.“I’ll link you in the morning,” he’d said low. “Pack council draft. You get veto power.”“You don’t have to—”“Yes,” he’d said, and for once, there had been no argument in it. Just simple fact. “I do.”Now, in th

Lyra didn’t used to get nervous before sex.Not even the first time, years ago—back when she and Aiden were interns stealing half-hours in call rooms, scrubs half-off, and adrenaline still humming from trauma codes. Back then, it had been simple: want, heat, hands, teeth, yes.She stood now in the doorway of the Institute’s private terrace suite, palms a little damp, heart a little too loud, and thought: *Nothing about this is simple anymore.*Outside, the city was a wash of lights and shadow, the night air cool against her skin. The terrace overlooked the edge of Voss Pack land—a dark, rolling silhouette against the sky—and the glass doors were thrown open to let in the scent of pine and distant water.Inside, the suite was dim, lit by low recessed lights and the soft flicker of a couple of candles Mei had smuggled up “for ambiance” with a face as innocent as a shark’s. The bed was bigger than the standard Institute model, sheets a deep charcoal. Neutral territory, neither pack house

Lyra woke to warmth.Not the oppressive, feverish kind that came with heat or panic or adrenaline, but the simple, solid weight of another body curved around hers. An arm heavy across her waist. A thigh bracketing hers. A slow, steady heartbeat thumping against her back.For a second, still caught in the soft gray border of sleep, she let herself sink into it.Then, memory snapped into place.Terrace suite. Candles. Her teeth in his throat. His hands on her hips. The bright, burning surge of the bond as pleasure ricocheted between them until she’d lost the edges of herself.Her eyes opened.The city beyond the glass doors was pale and washed-out, dawn light turning the skyline into a watercolor. The candles had burned down to nubs, little puddles of wax on the table. The room smelled like sex and wolf and faint smoke from the wicks.Aiden shifted behind her, breath hitching, his arm tightening reflexively around her middle as if his body recognized she’d stirred before his mind did.“

It was hesitant at first—one Beta, palms coming together in a slow, deliberate rhythm. Then another. Then ten. Then the sound rolled forward, uneven but growing, until it washed over the hall.She hadn’t asked for it.She didn’t smile.But she didn’t look away either.Aiden stepped forward again, taking his place beside her. Not in front. It's not overshadowing. Side by side, exactly as they’d agreed.For a moment, as the applause rolled, something old flickered in him—the instinct to stand alone at the center of it. To soak in approval as proof of control.He let it go.His hand brushed the back of hers for a second—barely touch. A question.She didn’t lace their fingers. She didn’t pull away either.Through the bond, he sent a single, quiet thread:*Thank you.*She didn’t answer in words.She let him feel her focus, her wariness, the small, bright coil of determination that had nothing to do with him and everything to do with the future she wanted for Luna.Cassian rose from the sid

What are the limits of that vote?” she asked.Cassian inclined his head as if he’d been expecting the question. “You do not vote on territorial disputes, military spending, or enforcement appointments,” he said. “You do vote on any law that touches wolfsbane, pup protections, healer neutrality, or bond governance. You may propose measures in those areas. You may veto research initiatives that cross ethical lines.”“And if I disagree with a majority?” she said.“Then you will be outvoted,” Elder Marquez put in. “This is still a Council, Dr. Hale, not your personal—”“However,” Cassian cut in smoothly, “your objections will be recorded in detail and attached to any such law. Permanently. On the public record.”Lyra’s mind ticked over that.Public record.A trail for wolves like Luna, twenty years from now, to look back and see who had argued for their safety and who had signed off on their exploitation anyway.“Why me?” she asked quietly. “You could appoint any well-trained healer. Ther