Winter Waning : Dark Of The Moon

When In Winter

•Ruelle•

“My king?” A knock sounds at my door, “Are you alright?” my Beta, Alec, asks and I stalk across my chambers to let him in.

“Yes I’m fine!” I say through gritted teeth before pulling him into the room and shutting the door, “and you’d do well not to boldly announce my weaknesses in these halls!”

“Sincerest apologies, Alpha, I was only worried.”

“Well I’m fine – the moon spirit just left me a little dazed is all, as it always does – destiny is tiring.”

“That tiny omega has a destiny?” Alec asks, blatant surprise on his face.

“We all do, however grand or insignificant to the tides of change they may be.”

“And that’s why you didn’t drag her to hell after her comment? I was surprised – I’ve seen many a creature left with a concussion or worse after pulling you from a dream.”

“She’s just a girl – I don’t hit little girls.” I say and rub my temple from exhaustion – that little, wolf-less girl really took it out of me, but then again I have been pushing myself too hard lately.

“Hardly a little girl,” I hear Alec laugh while I lean my elbows into my dresser, “She’s very small, and I’m still convinced a boy, but I sense a good enough age on her – not as old as you though,” he mocks and laughs, and immediately turns cold when I shoot him a glare.

“You didn’t touch her, did you?” A growl sounds within my chest and he lifts his palms in surrender.

“Of course I didn’t!” He says in deep offense, “Handled all the woman with considerable care as my queen would’ve wanted.”

“King,” I correct.

“King,” he repeats in acknowledgement of his error, “My fine Alpha King of blood and mercy.”

“Don’t say that either,” I breathe a laugh, “You’re truly trying to paint a picture of weakness across my face.”

“But you are merciful, Ruelle,” he speaks my name tenderly and I shudder from not hearing it in a while, “and you’ve taught your people bounds of mercy and kindness – my destined mate will surely be thankful for the man you shaped me into.”

I breathe another laugh and shake my head. Alec was a brute like all the others, not as bad or else I wouldn’t have chosen him, but a brute still. He fought a trial of his own, as I did many years ago, and he proved his strength and loyalty to me, but thereafter he had to prove himself worthy still – under the moon goddess’s spell his heart was tested.

“Your mate is near, I feel her pull draw closer as the months fall forgotten.” I say without looking at his expression and I don’t have to.

I feel everything, everyone’s love and hatred, their joy and sorrows, even their pain. Thousands of wolves and creatures alike were placed on my shoulders when the former king bestowed me his cloak, crown, and power, and it has taken all off me to carry that weight without buckling and screaming.

I am instantly soothed when Alec approaches to lay his hand on my arm – “Is that why you’ve been so saddened of late?” he asks.

I don’t say anything, only letting my head fall back onto his shoulder as he presses flush against me and circles his arms around my body.

“My loyalty will always be to you first, Alpha Ruelle,” he says and my core weeps, “ – if you commanded it, I’d turn her away – "

A sigh forces from my lips and my slither of lust is swiftly replaced with guilt as I realize my own foolish insecurities, “I don’t need you that way,” I shrug from beneath him, stepping out onto the fine, fur rug at the foot of my bed for a king, “ – and I certainly wouldn’t use my command to force someone to love me – that’s a primitive thing to do and I’m not a sadist.”

“I’d beg a differ,” Alec says and removes his blazer, dropping it to the floor before moving to the buttons of his shirt.”

“I didn’t ask you to do that!” I exclaim once his shirt is peeled from his body and his strong torso is put on display.

“You didn’t have to.”

Without warning, Alec steps forward and lightly runs his fingers from my face to my neck, and finally settles on my round, breasts that bulge from my ruffled blouse.

“J'ai envie de toi,” he expresses his desire for me in my native tongue, causing me to dampen again.

With his spare hand he moves to undo the lacing of my corset but I catch him at the wrist, taking back my power by forcing him down onto the bed.

He breathes another nervous chuckle before my mouth is on his and demanding his silence. One by one, I place both my knees at either of his sides and lower to his lap, straddling him in place.

My fingers are curled around his throat as I lightly grind on his hardening manhood that restricts within the confinements of his trousers. He knows the drill, nipping, kissing and sucking the soft flesh of my lips, jaw and neck, but never to bite – never!

Devouring one another still, I step from the small, damp cloth that once concealed me and become bare beneath the generous sheath of silk hanging loosely from my hips, pooling on the stone floors along with my underwear.

He keeps his hands planted in the quilts and furs that cover the bed we rest upon, steadying and holding himself up while watching my fingers expertly unbuckle and unbutton his pants. He knows not to touch me unless allowed.

I unwrap him. His length already stiff and warm in my palm as I pull it free. My legs are a bit shaken, urging for more and I give in. Sitting up just enough, I position him at my entrance and slowly ease down.

Alec’s eyes roll back before shutting and a pleasured moan is drawn from his mouth. He moves to kiss me, but with my hands fixed at his throat again, I force him back.

Laying flat on his back beneath me, his eyes are filled with lust and admiration while my hips buck and rotate on top of him – his c**k filling me perfectly and bottoming out as I ease up and down at a slow, agonizing pace. I’m driving us both insane, but I find that all the more pleasurable.

The dominant inside of him fights. His hands are eager to be on me and his senses urge him to move. I smirk as his golden gaze grows darker; his beast brimming just beneath the surface.

“Alpha?” he speaks my status and I give a nod.

With my acceptance his hands are on me, fingers biting into the soft of my thighs, and he thrusts more fiercely into me while forcing my hips down.

Our movements become more feral and savage, like two wild animals possessing one another. Claws protrude from my fingertips and tear at the surface of his skin, prying a hiss from between his clenched teeth. My bedroom fills with the sounds of our moans and curses, the sturdy frame of my bed clattering again and again against the stone wall.

He shows restraint still – any other man would’ve tried to throw me under his weight by now, but Alec remains below and tense from his impending orgasm – his teetering willpower sending me quicker over the edge. Knowing I have this power over someone is sensual on it’s own, and I feel my insides begin to erupt.

“Tu vas me faire jouir!” I cry out.

I draw him near as my walls clench tight around his c**k and I start to come undone, but not before clamping my jaw shut on his shoulder, dagger-like teeth aching in my gums and sinking deep into his flesh to claim both our releases – Alec let’s out a cry of ecstasy, clutching me tighter before we fall to the bed.

My teeth are still buried in him, just as his c**k is still buried in me, and we stay this way, me being moved up and down by the way his chest heavily rises and falls, and him still lingering in the euphoric after effects of a climax.

My jaw unlocks and my teeth withdraw from his skin, tongue swiping out to lap and lick up his blood that surges down and stains my white sheets. He is drained, our exchange of power taking more of a toll on him that I – my bite being lethal to most.

I crumble to his side, spent, and satisfied. Not only did I release some of my pent-up s****l energy but my Lunar energy as well. It has been heavier of late but all I needed to do was pass a slither of that on – my power still surging through Alec as he lays beside me in a distant haze.

He’ll be fine – a little fatigued for a while, then bursting with energy, and soon after, back to normal. I’m basically drugs for the supernatural.

I roll onto my side and brush his cheek with my fingertips, bringing him back to reality, “You were gone too long.”

•●•

Seated at the head of the table, I rest my chin lightly between my fingertips and tap at my cheek. The entire board is gathered around the table and looking expectantly at me while I stare off at a blank spot. My mind in a distant place.

I keep recalling the girl out in the courtyard. I’ve never witnessed so much pain in my life, nestled neatly beneath a smile. Her pack belittled her, beat her and defiled her – her own people, her own flesh and blood. I saw it all, memories shared with me through a single droplet of blood. A future shared with me –

“Alpha King?” Alec pulls me from my thoughts and I blink up at him, “Blackclaw,” he says and I am reminded of the pack we had been discussing before I had wondered off in spirit.

“Yes,” I breath and sit up in my stiff chair, “Send resources and a patrol for the warriors, and have the weak brought home to Moongarde – I will have no more casualties. Let it be known Blackclaw is a child of Moongarde and is henceforth under our protection.”

The board nods in agreement and I glance at Alec by my side, thankful for his reminding of which pack we were saving this time. I think he could’ve handled it on his own though – he’s buzzing and glowing like a new man while addressing everyone on my behalf. Oh, the wonders of the moon spirit and a good f*****g.

I’m handed a few papers to sign in black ink, declaring ownership of yet another wounded pack in need. They all surrender when they need something.

It is in the moment that I’ve started scribbling my signature, that the main doors to the grand study fly open, and in invades a guard that aren’t my own. My insides immediately knot upon seeing their navy and silver colors – Silver moon.

Lucius struts in with all his gleaming badges, armor and glory, carrying his smug head up high like he owns the place.

“Ruelle, my love!” he exclaims and his deep voice resounds off the red walls.

No one dares bat an eye, they’ll always be stunned by his brazenness when addressing his king – even I find myself shocked sometimes by how cocky he can be.

“Lucius,” I press his name from my lips with much effort, “you are interrupting a pack meeting that you were not invited to.”

“I should be invited to all the pack meetings, Ruelle.”

“Alpha King to you.” Alec corrects.

Lucius narrows his one dark eye down at my Beta, the other a wounded mess beneath an eyepatch, “My mistake, pup, I’ll do better to remember next time I address my mate.”

I overlook the pair plainly in the midst of their stare off. A pair of high-ranking men locked in subtle banter like children. Good gods, have mercy on us all if these are the father’s of our future.

“You have no standing here, Alpha Lucius,” I politely remind him.

“Not for long, Alpha King, the council themselves requested my return to discuss the future of this kingdom, as I’m sure you are aware of.”

The council, those old f*****g crows, they’re always trying to interfere with my parade.

“I’m aware and I dismissed the hearing.”

“You can’t dismiss the court, my dear,” Lucius says in an almost belittling tone and I’m tempted to throttle him, “the court is still higher than the king.”

Alec releases a full laugh from his chest before dropping his head back to scrutinize Lucius, “No one is higher than the king, you fool. That’s like saying the court is higher than the gods themselves.”

Lucius has venom on his tongue and steps forward to spit it before I rise to speak, “However out-of-line my beta is, he is right,” my scolding glance is tossed at Alec who shrinks a little in his seat.

He is an outspoken creature to say the least, but an alpha is still an alpha and a beta should know better than to address one in such an informal manner – even if I do enjoy it. The soul reason Alec has kept his tongue this long is because I will it, and he spares no opportunity to toss his opinions while under my shelter.

“The council acknowledges me as the King and keeper of the gods, the sovereign pack and every other pack beneath our rule acknowledges me as their king – why don’t you?”

A solid minute passes before Lucius gestures for the board members to leave, they look to me first and once I allow it, they all hurry from their seats and scurry out the door. Alec lingers behind, standing firm to my side like a guard dog.

“You can head out as well, Alec,” I say but he holds a strong yet hesitant posture while staring coldly at my mate.

I’m about to smack him over the head for not listening, when he turns and takes my face in his hands to place a kiss on my cheek that half stuns me. I can only manage to chuckle at his blatant defiance of Lucius.

“Call if he gets out of hand.”

“I won’t,” I say before Alec takes his leave as well, sealing the doors behind him and I’m alone with my once mate.

Lucius moves to take Alec's seat at my side and casually pours himself a drink. I remain standing, looking down at his every movement with a knot still tied in my stomach. He makes me nervous like no one else could.

“You’re still f*****g the pup I see, or rather, smell.”

“He’s not a pup, Lucius, he’s a man – and my beta at that, putting him basically at a higher ranking than even you, remember that next time you raise a storm against him.”

“Defending the pup as well. Next it’ll be the maid, who you’ve probably also f****d – tell me, Ruelle, is there anyone in this castle you haven’t bedded aside from me.”

My chin dips and a growl rises in my chest. I’m not at all ashamed of my sexuality; Lucius just has a way of getting under my skin.

“Have a seat, Alpha King,” he says with a calm gesture, sensing my rising temper, “I’m not here to start a fight with you, I’ve come to talk.”

I draw a steadying breath and lower into my chair, resting my hands on the table across from me and tapping a finger impatiently, “Of course you wouldn’t come here for a fight, you’d lose again and I’d have obtained your other eye.”

“I was weakened by your scent that night and you know it,” Lucius declares in support of his corrupted ego, “otherwise I would’ve claimed the crown and we all know it.”

“But you didn’t, I did. So what have you come to my kingdom for today, Lucius?”

He takes a moment to simmer down, sipping his drink while glaring at me from over the brim of the crystal in his hand. I’m growing more impatient.

“The council is uneasy,” he starts with a hard expression on his strong face.

“They are always uneasy, they are a bunch of old men, they fret – what of it?”

“Not just the council, Ruelle, but the people as well; they will always be unsteady so long a king does not sit on the throne – ”

He is cut off when a slight groan passes my lips and I fall back into my chair – must we always come back to this.

“They have a king. Me. It will stay that way until I am finally downed in the battlefield, and I assure you that will only happen from extreme old age.”

“I don’t think so,” he tuts and looks me up and down, “You have everyone else fooled but not me – the Lunar spirit is crushing your soul, and without a mate or mates to share the burden, well, I don’t think you’ll last another ten, twenty years.”

My lip twitches in a sarcastic laugh, “You mean yourself. You mean to say I should give into the mate bond, wherein you’d receive all of me, my body, my power, my soul and the soul of Morrighan herself – I’m not like your whores, Lucius, I am not a fool!”

“Well you sure are acting like one,” he matches his tone to mine. “A power hungry fool. If the host of the Lunar spirit is lost the spirit dies with him or her,”

“More superstitions to feed your stupid traditions.”

“Traditions you swore to uphold when you took the crown, so honor your promise. Set aside your swollen ego for a second and consider the consequences of your decisions.”

“My decisions have been just – "

“Have they?” Lucius asks and straightens up in his seat, “You are taking on far more than you can handle – the raids, the rogues, hell, I walked past nearly a hundred new strays on my way up here.”

“They are all my people.”

“And when they have to bear your mark and the mark of the gods to actually become your people? Ruelle, one person can not take that much strain on their own, one person can not shoulder thousands.”

I push off from the table and my chair nearly flies across the room from my force, “I have been handling just fine, I have broad enough shoulders – worry about yourself rather and the wellbeing off your little pack.”

I make for the door; this conversation is taxing on my mind and I’ve had quite enough. Lucius is after me, his boots thudding on the ground as he chases. I turn sharp and hold out a hand before he can come any closer.

“Stop, do not touch me.”

“Your claim does not work on me, little mate.” Lucius ignores my order and brushes past my outstretched palm, placing his own hands at the dips in my waist.

My nerves are tingling already, goosebumps prickling on my flesh as Lucius towers over me and pulls me into his embrace. Curse this man and his power over me. Curse this wretched bond.

“Alphas can not command alphas,”

“They can if one is the ruling king,” I confirm with a raised brow and the tilt of my head.

His hand moves to cup my chin and force my gaze, “Not when said king is my destined mate, or do you still forget?”

“I forget nothing, though I do choose to ignore somethings.”

He gently runs his fingers up the edge of my jaw and buries them in the thick cascades of my black hair, and a quiver forms between my thighs as he gently tugs, “But can your body ignore the call of destiny.”

A soft growl is hollow in my throat and I pinch my lips from smiling, “I have willpower, Lucius, bounds of it. I’m more than willing to give you lessons on the trait that you so painfully lack.”

“We don’t need willpower, my love. Once you take away the kingdoms, castles and clothes – " his gaze lingers to my peaking breasts, “ – we are simply beasts, wild beasts.”

“That’s where we differ,” I say and step from his grasp with great restraint, “I have thoughts and consciousness, where you do not – and I’ll be damned before I let you own my mind.”

Lucius follows after me as I escape him desperately but dare not show that I am afraid of his touch.

“You don’t know what the bond could bring,” he says.

“And I don’t have to find out – already you have the ability to defy me at every turn, an ability no one and no alpha possess after I claim them. Alphas mating is the most preposterous idea and should never exist.”

I burst through into the halls where my guards stand to attention and Alec is patiently waiting.

“This is a grand design of the gods, Ruelle,” Lucius bellows after me.

“The gods make mistakes!” I say without turning back.

…

I had escaped to the gardens just on the border of where the town meets the citadel. Unfortunately, winter frost had already seized and killed most of the flowers, dulling my sweet place of solitude to discolored stems and snow. I miss summer. I miss the fresh roses.

From here I can see the town bustling and alive, well and happy as they should be. Our newcomers, the ones that were allowed freedom anyway, are still gathered in the town square, most taking in the new sights and smells after years in the wilderness, while others remain cautious. By the end of the day, everyone should be placed, given a bed to sleep in and perhaps a purpose to fulfill.

Among the lot, I spot her dull, orange hair. The small and pale omega I had earlier met, though she doesn’t seems so frightened anymore; her sky-blue eyes excitedly taking in the new world with only a slither of hesitation in her weak smile. She stands out from everyone else in the strangest way, and I cant help but acknowledge summer within her. She is summer.

Soft fur lightly tickles my arms as a full and thick coat is placed over my shoulders. I smile warmly over at my beta.

“You’re going to get sick standing out here like this. Then no one will be able to shield us from Lucius and his wolves.”

A chuff breezes through my lips, “I don’t doubt.”

“Admiring your kingdom?”

“Sometimes it is needed to admire ones kingdom, to remind yourself what everything is for.”

He inhales the cold air deeply and nods idly at the town, eyeing it out like a wise old man, something he is not. Truthfully we are all old here, almost a century under most of our belts, but to me, all my subjects are children, young and still juvenile to the ways of the world. My beta is no exception, he still has years to grasp the meaning of everything; even I am not yet there.

“You’re admiring her, aren’t you?” he asks and I blink over at his smirking face, “the wolf-less omega.”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

Alec’s brows pinch together and he looks back to the crowd to find my summer girl, “She’s plain.”

“You don’t see what I see.”

“I would if I had the goddess's eyes, but I do not, you do – so you’re going to have to interpret.”

I sigh heavily while keeping my gaze fixed on her and only her. There is a swell in my chest as I watch her from afar, and I have to dig deep within myself before speaking, “When I was young my father often took me into the badlands, beyond the northern border –"

“He took a child to hell!” Alec exclaims in dismay.

“Yes, and it was the greatest gift he ever gave to this kingdom – I witnessed the world at its worst, inhaled blood and decay for the first time, children younger than myself left in the most horrid conditions – swift death would’ve been better than the lives those people had been dealt,” I still for a steadying breath.

“It was then that I realized my purpose, I felt it in my heart. War is not the answer, it is the cause, and I could not let it persist and fester. I would rule so the brutes could not.”

Alec is silent and stirred for a moment before opening his mouth again, “Spoken like a true king, but I fail to see what the girl has to do with any of it.”

“She is like of those winter children of the wastelands, cold and broken – and even still, she reminds me of a peach poppy flower, budding through the snow.”

“Too bad you love roses.” Alec laughs.

I feel a smile tug at the corner of my lips – his sentiment faint but clear. I adore roses but – “I’m sure I can come to adore poppies as well.”