Bound to the Lycan King's Obsession

I’ll Make You My Luna

SCARLETT

Derrick and I spent the rest of the day together. We sat on the low stone wall at the edge of the eastern field, out of easy earshot of the training grounds. He had gotten me water and food from somewhere without making a production of it, claiming that I had almost passed out because I hadn't eaten.

He didn't say anything as he watched me gobble up the meal and drink water. Even after that, we simply remained silent and enjoyed each other's presence. Now, I was holding my head in both hands and staring at the tree line.

Gratitude was a big understatement of what I felt for Derrick. For the past fifteen years, he'd constantly stood up for me in more ways than I could remember. Knowing him was the best gift life had given me.

Derrick watched the world close its doors in my face one by one and had never once used that as a reason to step back from me. Instead, he made sure to protect me more fiercely. He'd said a thousand and one times that he didn't care what I was or wasn't and that what was important was who I was on the inside.

Over the past few years, our friendship had become something deeper, and yet, I felt guilty for embarrassing him and being so damn weak and puny. Most times, I felt unworthy and undeserving of our relationship and the attention he gave me. Especially today, when once again, he rebuked our peers because of me.

"You don't have to keep doing that," I said after a while.

"People already talk." He leaned back on his hands, squinting at the sky. "They've been talking for years. I stopped caring."

"You shouldn't have to deal with my problems on your coronation day, Derrick."

"Scarlett, stop trying to manage my feelings about this."

I looked at him sideways. "I'm not—"

"You are. You've been doing it for years." He turned his head to look at me. "I don't care what they say about you not having a wolf. I don't care what rank they give you or don't give you. That's not what matters to me."

I swallowed. "It matters to everyone else."

"I'm not everyone else."

I inhaled deeply to keep the tears threatening to spill in.

"You should get going." I tried to change the subject. "It's evening already, your ceremony is about to start."

"Scarlett." He said my name more gently this time. "I need you to understand that even if the Moon Goddess never gives you a wolf—" He paused, like he was weighing the sentence, making sure it meant what he wanted it to mean before he released it. "I would still choose you."

My breath caught. "Stop saying things like that, Derrick," I croaked.

"When I become Alpha," he continued, "I will choose my Luna. And if fate never gives you a mate… then I will make you mine. You will be my Luna."

I burst into loud, ugly tears. What had I done to deserve someone like him?

"Don't cry, Scarlett," he murmured, pulling me into his arms. "You deserve a lot better than this. I promise, I'll give you that and more."

I was about to lean into him and his promise when a sudden, violent pain pierced through my chest.

A scream tore from my throat as I collapsed to the ground, clutching my ribs while heat surged through my veins like wildfire. It felt as though something deep inside me had been forced awake after decades of silence.

"Scarlett!" Derrick shouted, dropping beside me.

Agony spread through my bones as if they were being torn apart and rebuilt. My entire body trembled uncontrollably while a strange, wild energy flooded my mind.

"Scarlett, look at me, look at me—"

I was looking at him, but I couldn't find words. The pain moved in waves, rising and crashing, rising and crashing. My fingers dug into the earth. My whole body was shaking.

"Get the doctors!" Derrick roared.

Footsteps thundered toward us but I was dimly aware of them. Derrick's arms came around me fully, pulling me up against him as I convulsed with another wave, and he held on through it, both arms locked, his voice low in my ear saying my name over and over. I pressed my face against his shoulder and tried to breathe through it.

The pain slowly began to fade, leaving me shaking and breathless. A crowd had formed around us. As the healers examined me carefully, their expressions grew increasingly confused.

"Was this a prank?" One of them asked.

"There are no signs of transformation," another added. "Besides, the coronation ceremony is about to start. Derrick, you shouldn't be here."

From the packhouse, a bell rang, signaling the beginning of the ceremony.

Derrick frowned. "She screamed like she was awakening."

The doctor shook his head dismissively before looking down at me. "I’m sorry, Derrick, but she’s lying."

"I am not," I protested weakly. "I felt it."

"You are faking it for attention," he said coldly. "You have always wanted to pretend you are something special. Go on, Derrick. Don't be late, we'll take care of her."

The others nodded in agreement. Sighing, Derrick squeezed my hands and muttered, "I'll see you in a few," before hurrying away.

As soon as he left, the doctors carried me towards the clinic, complaining and cursing me all the way. Just then, the bell sounded again, and they changed direction. They dragged me to the pack hall and dumped me on the first chair they could find before rushing to attend the ceremony.

Annoyed, I tried standing up, so at least I could watch Derrick become Alpha when another wave of pain hit me.

The new presence in my mind was clawing its way through me, demanding release. My vision blurred, sharpened, then blurred again.

I could suddenly smell everything: the fields, the fear-sweat of the omega servers, the arousal of newly mated pairs sneaking toward the gardens, and underneath it all, one scent that made everything else fade to nothing. It wrapped around me like a physical touch, and my wolf, my brand new, finally-present wolf, howled with recognition inside my chest.

Mate.

My head snapped up, eyes scanning the crowd with new strength and clarity, and there, standing on the raised dais at the front of the hall, accepting congratulations from his father, Alpha Cain Darkwater.

Derrick, my childhood best friend, the Alpha's son, and the only person in this entire godforsaken pack who'd ever shown me kindness.

The man who'd promised me, over and over through the years, that even if I never got my wolf, he'd choose me anyway. That he'd make me his Luna regardless of what the pack thought.

That Derrick was my mate.

Joy exploded in my chest. So the Moon Goddess hadn't abandoned me after all. She'd given me everything I'd ever dreamed of: my wolf, and Derrick—the two things I'd wanted most in this world.

I pushed through the crowd, not caring that people were staring. My body was still burning with the transformation, my newly awakened wolf thrashing inside me, desperate to get to our mate. Derrick's familiar face, handsome, with those striking blue eyes and brown hair that always fell just so across his forehead, was like a beacon.

"Derrick!" I called out, my voice cracking with emotion.

He turned, and for just a second, I saw something flash across his face, but it was gone so quickly I convinced myself I'd imagined it.

I climbed the steps to the dais, vaguely aware that the music had stopped. That everyone was watching.

My heart was hammering so hard I thought it might burst from my chest.

"Derrick, I—" I reached for him, and the mate bond sang between us, golden and perfect and right. "My wolf, she finally came, and you're... you're my mate."