CHAPTER:THE LUNA'S BEDROOM
1155 Words
The second door on the left is locked.
Of course it is. Adrian Vale doesn’t give. He tests.
I knock once. Hard. Housemaids don’t knock on Alpha doors. Luna’s do.
The door swings open before my knuckles leave the wood.
Adrian stands there in just black sweatpants. No shirt. No shoes. Water drips from his hair, down his chest, following the lines of muscle and scars. A fresh towel hangs around his neck.
He looks like sin. He smells like mine.
The mate bond slams into me. My wolf claws to get out. To touch. To bite.
I dig my nails into my palms. “Your room was locked.”
“My room,” he says, voice rough. “Not yours.”
He steps back. Not an invitation. A dismissal. He expects me to flinch. To run back to the cellar.
I walk in.
His bedroom is bigger than my entire cellar. Floor-to-ceiling windows show the Vale territory — forests, mountains, everything he owns. Everything he killed for.
The bed is huge. Black silk sheets. Big enough for an Alpha. Big enough for two.
One bed.
I turn to face him. “Where do I sleep?”
He tosses the towel onto a chair. “Floor.”
“You said the pack can’t know it’s fake.”
“They won’t. The door stays locked. You stay quiet.” His eyes drag down my body. My thin dress. My bare feet. My silver collar. “Unless you’d rather go back to the cellar.”
Heat floods my cheeks. Not shame. Rage. “Take this off.”
I tap the collar.
Adrian goes still. “No.”
“It’s a mate bond. You know what silver does to it. Mutes it. Mutes me.” I step closer. “You want me to play Luna? I do it without a leash.”
His jaw ticks. “The collar stays. You’re a rogue. I don’t trust you in my room without it.”
“I’m your mate.”
“You’re a contract.” He grabs a pillow from the bed and throws it at my feet. Then a blanket. “Floor. Or cellar. Pick.”
I pick up the pillow. The blanket. And I throw them back on his bed.
“I sleep where my Alpha sleeps,” I say. “Or your precious council will hear why your ‘Luna’ is on the floor.”
For a second, I think he’s going to shift. Kill me. End this problem.
Instead, he laughs. It’s a dark, humorless sound. “You have a death wish, little rogue.”
“Maybe.” I cross my arms. “But I’m not sleeping on your floor like a dog.”
“You are a dog. We all are.” He stalks toward me. The bond pulls tight, tighter. My breath catches. “And if you get in my bed, Elena, I will not be gentle.”
“Good,” I whisper before I can stop myself. “I didn’t ask for gentle.”
His eyes go black. Alpha black. His wolf rising.
The door crashes open.
Marcus stands there, face pale. “Alpha. Councilman Reed is here. With the Silver Creek Alpha.”
Adrian doesn’t look away from me. “Now?”
“They’re demanding to see the Luna. Now. They heard about the contract.”
A muscle jumps in Adrian’s cheek. He steps back from me like I burned him.
“Perfect timing,” he mutters.
He turns to Marcus. “Give her five minutes. Find her something decent to wear. Nothing with holes.”
Marcus looks at me. Really looks. At my matted hair. My dress. The silver collar.
His expression shutters. “Yes, Alpha.”
Adrian points at me. “Five minutes. You come downstairs as my Luna, or I drag your brother into the hall and make you watch what happens to rogue traitors.”
The threat hits like a punch. My wolf snarls.
He leaves. The door slams.
Marcus won’t meet my eyes. “Bathroom’s through there. I’ll have clothes sent up.”
He leaves too.
I stand in Adrian Vale’s bedroom. His scent is everywhere. On the sheets. In the air. On my skin.
I walk to the bathroom. It’s bigger than my cellar. Marble. Gold. A bathtub I could drown in.
I catch my reflection.
God.
I look feral. Hair tangled. Cheeks hollow. Eyes too big. The silver collar gleams against my throat like a scar.
I look like a rogue.
I look like his mate.
A knock. A maid enters, eyes down, carrying a stack of clothes. She doesn’t speak. Doesn’t look at me. She sets them on the counter and flees.
I shower. The water is scalding. It burns away four years of cellar grime. Underneath, my skin is pale. Scarred. My father’s eyes stare back at me in the steam.
I dress. Black dress. Simple. Expensive. It fits like it was made for me. Maybe it was. Maybe he’s been planning this.
I leave the silver collar on. For now.
When I walk downstairs, the great hall is full.
Pack members line the walls. All of them watching. Judging.
At the far end, Adrian stands with two males. One old, silver-haired, in a suit. Councilman Reed. The other is younger. Blond. Built. Smirking. Silver Creek’s Alpha.
Adrian sees me.
His expression doesn’t change. But the bond flares. Hot. Possessive.
I walk. Head high. Back straight. Four years of being invisible taught me how to be seen.
The hall goes silent.
“Gentlemen,” Adrian says, voice ice. “Meet my Luna. Elena Vale.”
Vale.
He gave me his name.
The blond Alpha’s smirk dies. He stares at my collar. At my face. At the bond mark that isn’t on my neck… yet.
“A rogue?” Councilman Reed says. His lip curls. “You married a rogue, Vale?”
“I married my mate,” Adrian says. The lie is smooth. Deadly. “The Goddess chose her. I don’t question the Goddess.”
Reed’s eyes narrow. “The council won’t like this.”
“The council doesn’t run my pack.” Adrian holds out his hand to me. A command.
I walk to him. Stand at his side. Don’t touch him. Don’t need to. The bond screams between us anyway.
Adrian’s hand lands on my lower back. Possessive. Burning.
“My Luna,” he says again. Louder. For the pack. For the council. For me.
My wolf purrs. I want to stab him.
Silver Creek’s Alpha steps forward. “If she’s your Luna, Alpha Vale, then she should bear your mark. Tonight. To make it official.”
The hall holds its breath.
Adrian’s fingers dig into my back. Not pain. Warning.
I look up at him. At my mate. My enemy. My Alpha.
And I smile. Sharp. Rouge. “I can’t wait.”
Adrian’s eyes promise retribution.
The bond promises war.
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- Writer
