The Rejected Luna CH4 - CH7
851 Words
*CHAPTER 4: A DEAL WITH THE DEVIL*
Damien's office smelled the same. Cedar and leather.
He shut the door. The sound echoed.
"You're alive," he said. His voice was rough.
Luna stood with her back to him, looking out the window. "Unfortunately."
"I didn't know you were the Arctic Alpha." He took a step closer. "Selene?"
She turned. Her silver eyes hit his. "The name Luna died five years ago."
Damien flinched. "We need the alliance. Rogue attacks are increasing."
"And what do I get?" Luna crossed her arms.
"Protection. Resources." He hesitated. "And me. Whatever you want from me."
A slow smile. "Careful what you offer, Alpha."
She walked to the door. "Send me the treaty. I'll read it."
As she left, she heard him whisper: "I never stopped looking for you."
Her wolf growled. _Ignore him._
*CHAPTER 5: THE TREATY*
The treaty was 20 pages. Luna read every word at 2am.
Clause 17 caught her eye: _Joint patrols. Shared territory. Mated pairs encouraged._
Her jaw clenched.
A knock. "Alpha Selene?" It was Damien.
"What?"
"Can I come in?"
She opened the door but didn't step aside. "This is inappropriate."
"I know." He held out a mug. "Tea. You used to drink it when you couldn't sleep."
Luna stared at the mug. Chamomile.
She took it. "Don't do that again."
"Do what?"
"Remember me."
Damien's eyes were dark. "I remember everything."
She shut the door in his face. But she drank the tea.
*Word count: 187*
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*CHAPTER 6: ROGUE ATTACK*
The alarm screamed at dawn.
"Rogues at the south border!"
Luna was already running, sword in hand. She hit the battlefield and shifted.
Black wolf. Massive. Deadly.
She tore through 3 rogues before she saw him.
Damien. Bleeding. Backed against a tree by 2 rogues.
Her wolf didn't think. She launched.
Teeth. Claws. Blood.
When it was over, she stood over him, snarling, guarding his body.
Damien looked up at her, dazed. "You saved me."
Luna shifted back. Her hands were shaking. "It was strategy. The alliance needs you alive."
She walked away.
Behind her, Damien whispered: "Liar."
*CHAPTER 7: SECRETS IN THE LIBRARY*
The pack library was empty at midnight. Just how Luna liked it.
Rows of ancient books stretched to the ceiling. The smell of old paper and dust filled the air. It was the only place in the Arctic pack that felt quiet.
She pulled down a book about rogue behavior patterns. Clause 17 of the treaty kept nagging her. _Mated pairs encouraged._ Like Damien thought he could just slip that in and she wouldn't notice.
The door creaked.
Luna didn't look up. "If you're here to apologize again, don't."
Footsteps. Heavy. Familiar.
"I wasn't," Damien said.
He looked terrible. Dark circles under his eyes. A bandage on his shoulder from this morning's rogue attack. But he was standing.
"You should be resting," Luna said, finally turning a page.
"I should be doing a lot of things." He moved to the table and sat across from her. "Like signing this treaty. Like running my pack. Like forgetting about you."
Luna slammed the book shut. "Then do it."
Damien leaned forward. His elbows on the table. "I tried. For five years I tried, Selene."
"Don't call me that."
"What should I call you? Luna? The girl who ran away without a word?"
The words hit like a slap. Luna stood so fast her chair screeched. "I had reasons."
"Tell me."
"You wouldn't understand."
"Try me." His voice dropped. "You disappeared. The council said you were dead. I buried an empty coffin."
Luna's wolf whined inside her. She walked to the window. Snow was falling outside. "My father was selling me to the Red Moon pack. For an alliance. Like cattle."
Silence.
When Damien spoke, his voice was barely a whisper. "So you ran."
"I ran. I changed my name. I built this pack from nothing." She turned back to him. "And now you're asking me to trust you again? To sign a treaty that puts our packs together? Our people together?"
Damien stood too. "I'm asking you to let me prove it won't be like before."
"And if it is?"
"Then you can rip my throat out." He said it so casually, like he meant it.
Luna studied him. The boy she knew was gone. This man had scars. In his eyes. On his skin. Same as her.
She picked up the treaty from the table. "I'll sign it. With amendments."
Relief flashed across his face before he could hide it. "What amendments?"
"No forced matings. No shared sleeping quarters during summits. And you don't touch me."
Damien's jaw ticked. "The last one will be hard."
"Was that a joke?"
"No." He was serious. Too serious. "It's going to be the hardest thing I've ever done."
Luna walked past him to the door. "Good. Practice."
She left him standing in the library, the treaty in her hands and his eyes burning into her back.
Outside, the snow kept falling. And for the first time in five years, Luna didn't feel completely alone.
- Writer
