The Luna He Should Have Killed

Chapter One

The marriage contract clutched in my hand was written in my father’s bold, heavy handwriting and the words were clear:

His daughter, Alessia Corvin, is to be mated to Alpha Magnus Rune of the Blackwater Pack before winter.

In exchange for four thousand soldiers, weapons, and resources.

My fingers shook so violently that the letter rattled in the silence of my mother’s sitting room.

“Mother, tell me this isn't real.”

My mother didn't stop what she was doing. Her needle pulled the thread through her embroidery with perfect, unbothered movements.

"Close the door, Alessia," she said, her voice flat. "You're letting a draft in."

"He sold me."

I walked toward her, forcing the paper into her line of sight.

"Look at the seals, Mother. It was signed six weeks ago. Six weeks!"

She set her needle down.

She didn't gasp. Her eyes were completely dry and detached as she looked from the paper to my face.

"Where did you find that?"

The question hit me like a slap.

I stared at her.

My throat tightened painfully at her reaction. It wasn't confusion or denial.

Just a question about where I had found the evidence.

"Records room," I whispered. "Mother, please. Tell me it’s a mistake. Tell me, Father didn't do this."

My mother let out a short, irritated sigh.

"And what exactly did you expect, Alessia?"

I froze.

"What?"

"We are losing a war," she said coldly, leaning back in her chair. "Your father has spent thirteen years fighting for this family. Do you think a realm is won on good wishes?"

"He is fifty years old!" Tears finally blurred my vision. "He broke his first two wives. Everyone knows what he does to women behind closed doors. You're my mother. How can you let him give me to such a monster?"

"Magnus Rune is not a monster. He is being incredibly generous."

She stood up, snatched the contract from my hand, and slammed it onto the table between us.

"Four thousand soldiers. Grain to feed our people, and money to fund the next battle. That is what your father got for you. And you are standing here crying like a child."

"I am your daughter."

"And your brothers are my sons," she countered sharply. "Leo and Toby have fought on the front lines every single war. We all sacrifice for this family. Why should you be any different? Do you think you're better than the rest of us?"

"No, but…"

"You have spent twenty years eating three meals a day, sleeping in a warm bed, and wearing fine clothes while our people die," she interrupted.

Her gaze hardened.

"Now, when it is your turn to be useful, you throw a tantrum? It is selfish, Alessia!”

Before I could answer, a loud commotion cut her off.

Heavy, frantic footsteps echoed down the hallway.

The doors to the sitting room burst open and a soldier stumbled inside, drenched in sweat and gasping for air.

"Luna."

The soldier breathed hard, looking past me straight at my mother.

"The Silver Claw has fallen. The King’s army completely wiped out our base. They took the entire territory."

The color drained from my mother's face.

Silver Claw. It was one of my father’s biggest territories. Losing it was a complete disaster.

And suddenly everything became horribly clear.

If the rebellion was losing ground, then Magnus Rune's four thousand soldiers had just become more valuable than ever.

Which meant that my marriage had become more important than ever.

My mother grabbed the contract.

Not me.

The contract.

Then she hurried toward the door.

I watched her leave.

Not once did she look back.

Not once did she ask whether I was all right.

The war had won again.

It always did.

I followed behind my mother, and the moment I stepped inside the war room, I understood how serious the situation was.

The loud conversation slammed to a halt.

A dozen men gathered around a massive map and turned to look at us. My father stood at the head of the table, his face twisted into a mask of pure, lethal rage.

At the far end stood my brothers, Leo and Toby. Their hands gripped the hilts of their swords. Their faces were deathly pale.

"How did we lose the ridge?!" my father roared, slamming his fists onto the table. "We had two thousand men there!"

"The King's army outnumbered us, Alpha," a general replied, his voice shaking. "If we don't get reinforcements to the border by the end of this week, they will march straight to our next territory and do the same."

"We don't have the men!" Toby shouted, his voice tight with panic.

The rebellion was collapsing.

The pressure in the room was thick enough to choke on.

“We have the men Magnus Rune promised,” someone whispered quietly.

Looking at the panic in my brothers' eyes, the last bit of my sanity snapped. I didn't care about the territories. I didn't care about the war.

I was a terrified girl, and I needed my father to tell me he would protect me.

I dropped to my knees.

The marble floor was freezing beneath my skin. I slid directly before his heavy boots.

"Please, Father."

I sobbed, my entire body trembling.

"Please don't do this. If we are losing, don't send me away. Don't make me marry Magnus Rune. Please, just keep me here."

My father didn't even blink.

He looked down at me with pure disgust.

"Look at this girl," one of the older commanders hissed, pointing a finger at me. "Our men just got slaughtered, our family is in danger, and she is refusing to help. Do you want all of us dead? Because that is exactly what happens without Magnus Rune's men.”

I flinched, pulling myself closer to my father’s boots.

I looked desperately toward my brothers.

"Leo, please, Toby. Speak for me. He will listen to you."

Leo adjusted the leather strap of his armor, his jaw tight. He wouldn't even glance down at the floor where I knelt.

"We are about to go out there and die fighting, Alessia. My friends just got ripped apart at the claws. Shut up about your choices and grow up."

"We need those men, Alessia," Leo added in a quiet voice.

"If Magnus Rune's soldiers don't arrive to back us up, the Alpha King is going to kill us all anyway. So, be careful what you are begging for.” Toby snapped.

The words cut deep, slicing into my skin.

My mother stood near the door, her arms crossed tightly, watching my humiliation with a cold, disapproving stare.

"Father," I tried one last time, my voice dropping to a broken whisper.

I reached up, my trembling fingers trying to touch his hand.

"Please. I'll do anything, I’ll continue to tend to the wounded soldiers…"

"Enough!"

The word hadn't even finished leaving his chest when his hand moved.

The sound of his palm cracked like thunder across my face.

The brutal, terrifying weight of his slap lifted me entirely off my knees, throwing my body sideways until my head crashed violently into the sharp edge of the table.

Everything went black.