His Lesbian Luna

Chapter 5

Sera’s POV

The formal introduction was in three days.

I sat on the edge of my bed and stared at that fact the way you stare at a wall that is closing in on you. Three days before I stood in front of an entire Lycan pack and told them a name that was not mine. Three days before Voss found whatever she was looking for.

I pressed my palms flat against my thighs and breathed.

A knock at the door interrupts my thoughts.

I crossed to the door and opened it.

Percy stood in the corridor. No easy smile this time. Just those sharp eyes and a neutral expression that told me more than any smile would have.

“The King wants you downstairs,” he said. “Now.”

He was in the main sitting room. Standing at the fireplace with his back to the door, one hand braced against the mantle, as he looked at the fire.

He did not turn when I entered.

“Sit,” he said.

I sat.

The fire cracked between us. Percy closed the door from the outside and left us alone.

Finally Damon turned.

He looked at me for a long moment without speaking. Then he crossed the room and sat in the chair opposite me and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and his dark eyes fixed on mine.

“Voss went to the elders this morning,” he said.

My stomach dropped.

“She told Elder Croft that she had serious doubts about your identity.” He held my gaze steadily. “Croft came to me an hour ago. He wants the alliance documents verified. He wants Cain contacted directly.”

The room was very quiet.

“And what did you tell him?” I asked. My voice came out steady. Barely.

“I told him I would handle it,” Damon said. He studied my face. “Which means I now need something from you.”

I waited.

He stood. Walked to the window. Stood with his back half turned, looking out at the grey afternoon sky.

“If Cain is contacted,” he said quietly, “and he confirms that his daughter is not here, this alliance falls. My pack loses the Ashwood territory. And you —” He stopped. “You will not leave this fortress alive.”

The fire popped.

“I understand,” I said.

He turned to look at me. “Do you?” he said.

“Yes,” I said. “I understand perfectly.”

He studied me for a long moment. Something moved across his face that I could not fully name. Then he said, “I am not going to contact Cain.”

I stared at him.

“Not yet,” he said. “But I need you to understand that I am taking a significant risk by not doing so. And in exchange for that risk —” He crossed back to his chair and sat down and held my gaze across the small space between us. “I need the truth. All of it. Right now.”

The sitting room was completely still.

Sienna stirred inside me. ‘Sera,’ she said softly.

I looked at Damon. At those dark eyes that had already seen through everything I was performing and had chosen not to say so until this moment. I thought about the gates of Ashwood closing behind the carriage. I thought about Demi’s eyes.

I pressed my hands flat against my thighs.

And I told him.

All of it. My real name. Demi. The courtyard. Cain’s offer in the cellar. The one hour they gave me to become someone else. All of it came out flat and plain.

He did not interrupt once.

When I finished the sitting room was so quiet I could hear the fire breathe.

Damon sat back slowly. He looked at the ceiling for a moment. Then back at me.

“Sera,” he said. My real name in his mouth for the first time spoken aloud. It landed differently than I expected, a little kinder.

“Yes,” I said.

“How old are you?” he asked.

“Twenty two,” I said. “Not eighteen.”

Something moved across his face. “And you came here because there was nowhere else to go.”

It was not a question. But I answered it anyway.

“Yes,” I said quietly.

He was silent for a long moment. Then he stood. Walked back to the fireplace and stood looking into it with one hand braced against the mantle exactly as he had been when I walked in.

“The alliance stays,” he said finally.

I blinked. “What?”

“The alliance stays,” he repeated. He did not turn around. “You will still be presented in three days as my Luna. The pack does not need to know your name. They need to know your face.” A pause. “Voss will be handled.”

I stared at his back. “Why?” I said. “Why would you do that?”

He was quiet for a moment.

“Because Cain sent you here to die,” he said. Very quietly. “Knowing what this curse does. Knowing what happened to the three before you. He sent you here and he did not tell you any of it.” He turned then and looked at me across the room. “That is not something I am willing to reward.”

The fire crackled again.

I sat there and felt my heart race faster.

“There are conditions,” he said.

“Of course,” I said.

He turned from the fireplace and looked at me with those dark eyes and whatever I thought I had seen in them a moment ago was gone completely.

“You will move to my wing tonight,” he said. “You will share my bed. You will smile when I tell you to smile and you will speak when I tell you to speak and in front of every person in this pack you will act like a woman who is exactly where she wants to be.” He crossed his arms. “Is that clear?”

“Yes,” I said.

“And if at any point,” he continued, his voice dropping lower, “you lie to me again, about anything, no matter how small, I will send you back to Cain in pieces. Do you understand what I am telling you?”

My hands were trembling in my lap. I pressed them flat against my thighs.

“Yes,” I said quietly.

He looked at me for a long moment the way you look at something you have already decided the value of.

“Good,” he said. And walked out without another word.

Percy appeared at the door seconds later, his expression blank.

“I’ll show you to the King’s wing,” he said quietly.