THE COMATOSE ALPHA'S PROXY LUNA

Chapter 6

The ride back from the Council hall was completely silent.

Thomas stared out the window of the black SUV, his jaw tight. I looked down at my heavy silver childhood bracelet, my throat tight.

“You did well today, Evangeline,” Dominic’s deep voice suddenly echoed inside my head.

The dark warmth of his presence flooded my mind, instantly relaxing my stiff shoulders. “Henderson was ready to strip your title. You blocked him perfectly.”

We only have thirty days, Dominic, I replied in my thoughts, gripping my hands together tightly. If we don't find a cure by then, they will kill me. They’ll throw my dad back into the silver mines.

“I will not let them touch you or your father,” he promised, his mental voice wrapping around me like a heavy, protective blanket.

“Tonight, when the house is quiet, sneak into my private office. Look behind the third bookshelf, There are hidden files on our pack's medical research. The cure is there.”

The car stopped in front of the massive mansion. Thomas opened my door, his face pale with stress.

"Go straight to your room, Luna. I need to double the security around the medical wing."

I nodded, keeping my mouth shut, and hurried inside. The giant house felt cold.

I walked quickly up the grand marble staircase, my heels clicking loudly against the stone. I just wanted to get to my bedroom and hide.

"Stopping so soon, omega?"

I froze at the top of the stairs.

Rebecca stood there, leaning against the gold railing. She had a glass of red wine in her hand, and her blue eyes were dark with spite.

She had already changed into a silky cream robe that looked like it cost more than my entire life in the slums.

"I have nothing to say to you, Rebecca," I said, trying to walk past her.

She stepped directly into my path, blocking the hallway. Her expensive perfume filled the air, making my nose burn. "You think you won something today? My father only gave you thirty days because he didn't want a public scene in front of the other elders."

"The law is the law," I countered, looking her straight in the eye. "The contract stands."

Rebecca let out a sharp, mocking laugh. "The law belongs to the powerful, little girl. You are a nameless stray from the slums.

Your parents were nobody, Your father was a debtor, and your mother died a commoner. Dominic would never look at a filthy omega like you if he was awake. He chose me."

A sudden wave of hot, blinding anger exploded in my chest. She could insult me, but mentioning my parents made my blood boil. My mother didn't die a commoner. She died running for her life.

“That is a lie,” Dominic’s furious growl exploded inside my head, making my skull ache. “Our marriage was an arrangement forced by her corrupt father. I never touched her. Step closer to her, Evangeline.”

Armed with his words, I took a massive step forward, crowding into Rebecca's space.

"If he loved you so much, Rebecca, why did Thomas have to buy a bride from the slums to save this company? Why didn't the great Alpha Dominic bind his soul to yours before he fell asleep? He left you with nothing because you are nothing to him."

Rebecca’s face went completely pale. Her hand shook violently, spilling a big drop of red wine onto her expensive cream robe. "How dare you.."

"Get out of my way," I said, my voice dropping into a cold, fierce command that shocked even myself.

For a split second, something flickered in her blue eyes pure, raw fear. She felt a strange, heavy authority backing my words, an aura she couldn't explain.

She slowly stepped aside, her teeth clenched so hard her jaw shook.

"Thirty days, Evangeline," she hissed as I marched past her. "Enjoy living in his house for thirty days. Because when the clock runs out, I will personally throw you to the guards."

I didn't look back. I ran straight to my bedroom, locked the heavy wooden door behind me, and collapsed against it. My heart was hammering against my ribs so hard it hurt.

I sank onto the floor, pulling my knees to my chest. Tears of raw exhaustion and anger finally blurred my vision. Rebecca’s words about my parents cut deep, reopening old wounds.

My father wasn't always a broken debtor in the mines. He was a proud warrior once. But everything changed the night my mother was murdered.

I still remembered the fire, the screaming, and the way my father had grabbed me, forcing this heavy silver bracelet onto my wrist when I was just five years old.

'Never take it off, Evangeline,' he had wept, his hands covered in blood. 'If they smell your true scent, they will s*******r you just like your mother. Pretend to be an omega. Hide.'

I choked back a sob, staring at the silver metal locking away my true identity. I didn't even know what I was hiding from. I just knew I was tired of being hunted. Tired of being trash.

“Breathe, my fierce Luna.”

Suddenly, the cold bedroom vanished around me.

My consciousness went straight into our shared dreamscape.

Instantly, the dark bedroom turned into a beautiful, glowing midnight forest. The air smelled of fresh rain, silver, and rich mahogany.

And standing right in front of me was Dominic.

He wasn't lying in a hospital bed with tubes in his chest. He was fully awake, standing tall and magnificent.

His chest was broad, his midnight-black hair messy, and his powerful crimson eyes were fixed entirely on me.

Before I could say a word, Dominic took two massive hands forward and pulled me tightly into his arms.

"Ah," I gasped as my face slammed against his hard, muscular chest.

It didn't feel like a dream. It felt intoxicatingly real. His strong arms wrapped around my waist, lifting me slightly off my feet and pressing me flush against his warm body.

His heavy, dominant alpha scent flooded my senses, completely erasing the memory of Rebecca and the terrifying council elders.

"I heard everything," Dominic murmured, his deep, velvety voice vibrating directly against my cheek as he held me tighter. "I felt your heartbreak, Evangeline. I felt your anger."

"She said my parents were nothing," I choked out, my fingers gripping the fabric of his shirt.

"She doesn't know anything about my family. She doesn't know the hell we went through."

"I know," Dominic whispered. He brought his large hand up, his long fingers gently cupping the back of my head, pressing me deeper into his warmth. "Your parents were not commoners, Evangeline. I felt the surge of your bloodline today when you commanded Rebecca. There is a sleeping giant inside you, You are more royal than anyone in that council hall."

I lifted my head from his chest, looking up into his glowing red eyes. We were standing so close our breaths mingled in the cool night air.

"What am I, Dominic? Why did my father make me hide my scent?"

"We will find out together," he promised, his thumb gently wiping away a stray tear from my cheek.

His touch sent a delicious, sizzling shockwave of electricity straight down my spine. The intense romance of the moment made my inner wolf let out a deep, contented purr.

Dominic’s gaze dropped down to my lips, his crimson eyes darkening with an intense, possessive hunger.

He slid his hand down from my face, his fingers trailing over my neck, leaving a path of burning heat on my skin. He stopped at my wrist, his thumb gently rubbing the heavy silver bracelet.

"This metal suppresses your true wolf," he murmured, his voice dropping into a rough, low growl that made my knees go weak.

"But it cannot suppress the bond between us. You are my mate, Evangeline, Not a proxy, not a puppet, mine."

He pulled me closer still, until there was absolutely no space left between us. I could feel the powerful, rapid thudding of his heart against my own.

The emotional depth of our connection made my head spin. He was trapped in a frozen body in the physical world, but here, in the dark of our minds, he belonged entirely to me.

"Thirty days," I whispered, my hands sliding up his broad shoulders to grip his neck. "Dominic, if we don't find the cure..."

"I will wake up," he vowed, leaning down until his forehead rested gently against mine. His breath was warm against my skin.

"For you, I will break through this dark magic. I will wake up, and I will burn the world to the ground before I let anyone take you away from me."