BLESSED LUNA RISING

Chapter TWO: The King’s Claim

The exam room felt too small the moment King Darius Blackthorn’s presence filled it. His towering frame, broad shoulders, and the raw power radiating from him made the sterile medical space seem like a cage. His dark eyes—black as midnight with flecks of gold—locked onto mine with an intensity that stole my breath.

“Selene,” he growled, the sound low and possessive, sending unwanted shivers down my spine. “You’ve been hiding from me long enough.”

I forced myself to stay professional, gripping my tablet like a shield. Three years. Three years of running, building a new life, raising our daughter in secret while hiding her powerful heritage. And here he was, standing in my clinic as if he owned it. As if he owned me.

“Your Majesty,” I said coolly, keeping my voice steady. “I wasn’t expecting you. The patient file mentioned a border skirmish injury. Is that you?”

A dark chuckle escaped him. He stepped closer, the scent of him—dark spice, forest, and pure alpha male—wrapping around me like chains. “You know exactly why I’m here. The bond we started that night never broke. Not for me.”

My wolf stirred traitorously, drawn to him despite everything. The night we had shared flashed in my mind: desperate passion after I had fled my pack, his hands on my skin, his teeth grazing my neck as he marked me in ways no ordinary wolf could. I had been vulnerable, broken, and he had been a storm I couldn’t resist.

I moved to the sink, washing my hands to buy time. “I’m here to do my job. If you have an injury, let me examine it. Otherwise, I have other patients.”

Darius didn’t move. Instead, he rolled up the sleeve of his black shirt, revealing a nasty gash along his forearm that looked days old but still angry and inflamed. Shifter healing should have closed it by now. This was no ordinary wound.

“Silver poisoning,” he said simply. “From one of Elias’s scouts during the last incursion. Your ex-mate is getting bolder.”

The name Elias sent a spike of old pain through me, quickly followed by cold anger. Good. Let him grow bold. It would make his fall sweeter.

I approached cautiously, gloved hands gentle as I inspected the wound. Darius’s eyes never left my face. His free hand brushed a strand of hair from my cheek, the touch electric.

“You’re even more beautiful than I remembered,” he murmured. “Motherhood suits you.”

I froze. “How did you—”

“I’ve always known,” he said, his voice dropping dangerously. “Our daughter. She carries my blood. My power. You think you could hide her from the Lycan King?”

Panic flared, but I pushed it down. No one knew about little Aurora except my closest allies. How had he found out?

I cleaned the wound efficiently, applying a special antidote I had developed for silver cases. “She is mine. I won’t let you or anyone else use her as a pawn.”

Darius’s laugh was dark and rich. “She is ours, little mate. And I protect what is mine. Elias has been sniffing around my borders, asking questions about a powerful new surgeon who appeared three years ago. He suspects something.”

My hands stilled. Elias was looking for me? After all this time?

The thought of him seeing me now—successful, powerful, with a child by the Lycan King—sent a thrill of dark satisfaction through me. I wanted him to suffer. I wanted him to feel a fraction of the humiliation he had inflicted on me.

“Finish treating me,” Darius commanded softly, though there was steel beneath the words. “Then we talk. No more running, Selene.”

I bandaged the wound in silence, my mind racing. Part of me wanted to flee again. The other part—the stronger part that had survived rejection and built a new life—wanted to lean into the power Darius offered. His obsession could be my weapon.

As I stepped back, he caught my wrist gently but firmly. “You feel it too. The pull. The bond that never fully broke.”

I met his gaze, refusing to back down. “I feel many things, Your Majesty. Anger. Ambition. The need for revenge. Don’t mistake that for weakness.”

His smile was predatory. “Good. I don’t want a weak mate. I want the woman who rose from ashes. The one who will stand beside me and burn our enemies.”

The rest of my shift passed in a blur of patients and forced professionalism. Darius waited in my office like he owned the place, reviewing reports on his tablet. When I finally finished, he drove me to a private penthouse overlooking the city—a neutral territory between packs.

Aurora was safe with my trusted nanny, but I knew I couldn’t keep her hidden much longer.

Over wine and a lavish dinner he had arranged, Darius laid out his plan. “Elias is attending the summit at my castle in two weeks. You will attend as my guest. As my mate.”

I nearly choked. “You want to parade me in front of him?”

“I want him to see what he lost,” Darius said, his eyes glowing. “And I want the world to know you belong to the Lycan King. No more hiding. Together, we will crush your old pack if they threaten what is ours.”

The offer was tempting. Dangerous. Intoxicating.

As the night deepened, Darius pulled me close on the balcony, the city lights sparkling below. His lips brushed my ear. “Let me remind you why you couldn’t forget me.”

The kiss was fierce, claiming, full of three years of pent-up hunger. My body responded despite my mind’s warnings. For the first time in years, I felt truly alive. Powerful. Desired.

But as passion threatened to consume us, I pulled back. “This isn’t just about us, Darius. There’s a child. A pack that betrayed me. I won’t be your trophy.”

“You will be my queen,” he vowed. “And together, we will make them all pay.”

The Next Morning

I woke in silk sheets that smelled of him, my body deliciously sore. Darius was already up, dressed in a tailored suit that made him look every inch the king.

“Stay with me,” he said simply. “Bring our daughter. Let me protect you both.”

Temptation warred with caution. I had built a life on my own terms. Could I trust him not to cage me the way Elias had discarded me?

My phone buzzed. An unknown number. The message made my blood run cold:

Selene. I know you’re back. We need to talk. The pack is in danger. — Elias

The game had begun.

I looked at Darius, decision crystallizing. “I’ll come to the summit. But on my terms. And when I face Elias, it will be as the Blessed Luna he never deserved.”

Darius’s smile was pure predator. “That’s my mate.”

As I prepared to step back into the world I had fled, I felt the pieces of my broken life shifting into something new. Stronger. Deadlier.

Revenge wasn’t just a dream anymore.

It was a promise.