His Reluctant Luna

"Aurora. Your sister won't go. You will." The words landed like stones in still water. I knelt on the study carpet, my knees pressing into the thin wool that did nothing to block the cold seeping up from the hardwood floor. Father didn't even look up from his desk. He kept signing papers, the scratch of his pen the only sound in the room. Like he'd just decided to trade livestock. Three days ago, the letter arrived. A formal summons from Damon Blackthorn — Alpha of the Bloodmoon Pack, the most feared wolf shifter in the northern territories. He demanded a bride. A human bride. A virgin, untouched, to be presented at the border before the next full moon. My sister Selene had screamed for two hours straight. Then she locked herself in her room and refused to eat. And Father — Lord Aldric Blackwood, sixth of his name, land-poor and title-rich — made his choice before the seal on the letter had even dried. "Father." My voice came out steadier than I expected. "The letter says the Alpha wants a Blackwood daughter. That means Selene." He finally looked up. Gray eyes, the same cold color as the winter sky beyond the window. Not a shred of warmth in them. "Selene is your father's heir. She carries the family name forward. You carry nothing." Nothing. He didn't even say my name. I stared at the floor. The carpet was frayed at the edges. Everything in this house was frayed — the furniture, the curtains, the family honor. All of it held together by threads that were finally snapping. "You're giving me to a wolf." "I'm saving this family." He set down his pen. "The Blackwood name has stood for four centuries. I will not be the one who lets it fall. If the Wolf King wants a bride, he will have one. And that bride will be you." "And if he kills me?" "Then you'll die useful. More than you've ever been alive." The words hit like a slap. But I didn't flinch. I'd learned long ago not to show pain in this house. Pain was weakness. Weakness was an invitation. "When do I leave?" "Dawn. A carriage will take you to the border. From there, the wolves will escort you to the keep." I rose to my feet. My knees ached from the cold floor. "I'll need warm clothes. I only have one cloak." "See the housekeeper. Take what you need from Selene's old things." Of course. Hand-me-downs from the sister who got to stay. I turned to leave. "Aurora." I paused at the door. "Don't embarrass the family name." I almost laughed. What name? The one that was selling their youngest daughter to a monster to pay off debts they'd accumulated over three generations? "I'll do my best, Father." Dawn came gray and bitter cold. I stood in the courtyard with a single bag — two dresses that had once been Selene's, one pair of boots that were half a size too big, and a book I'd stolen from the library because it was the only thing in that house that had ever felt like mine. No one came to see me off. Selene's window curtain moved when I glanced up. She was watching. I could picture her face — the satisfied curve of her lips, the relief in her eyes. She'd won. Again. I climbed into the carriage without looking back. The ride took six hours. The roads grew rougher as we traveled north, the trees thicker, the sky darker. By mid-afternoon, we reached the border — a line of ancient standing stones covered in moss and carved with symbols I didn't understand. A figure waited there. He was enormous. Easily seven feet tall, broad-shouldered, with hair the color of burnt copper and eyes that gleamed gold in the fading light. He wore no armor — just a simple leather tunic and fur cloak — but the power radiating off him was suffocating. Even from a distance, I felt it. A pressure in my chest. An instinct screaming predator. The carriage stopped. The driver refused to go further. I stepped out alone. The wolf — no, the man — watched me approach without moving. When I was ten feet away, he spoke. "You're not Selene." The voice was deep, rough, like stones grinding together. It didn't sound surprised. It sounded like he already knew. "No," I said. "I'm not." "She was supposed to come." "I know. She didn't want to." "And you did?" I met his golden eyes. "I don't think anyone gave me a choice." Something flickered in his gaze. Surprise, maybe. Or curiosity. "I'm Kael," he said. "Second of the Bloodmoon Pack. The Alpha sent me to escort his bride." "Kael." I tested the name on my tongue. "Am I supposed to be scared of you?" "Most humans are." "I'm not most humans." A corner of his mouth twitched — the ghost of a smile. "No. I can see that." He turned and gestured toward the forest. "The keep is another hour's walk. Can you manage?" "I don't have a choice, do I?" "That's going to be your answer to a lot of things here." "I've noticed." We walked in silence. The forest was dense, the path narrow. I could hear things moving in the shadows — soft footfalls, low growls — but I forced myself to keep my eyes forward. If the wolves wanted to attack me, they would have done it already. Or so I told myself. The keep was nothing like I'd imagined. I'd pictured a barbaric fortress — crude stone walls, iron cages, fires burning in pits. Instead, the castle that emerged from the mist was elegant. Gray stone, tall windows, ivy climbing the walls. Lights glowed from within, warm and golden. It looked like a place from a fairy tale. The kind of fairy tale where the girl gets eaten at the end. Kael led me through the gates. The courtyard was empty, but I felt eyes on me — dozens of them, watching from windows and shadows. "Stay close," Kael said. "The Alpha will see you now." He led me into a great hall. A fire roared in the hearth. Tapestries hung on the walls — scenes of wolves running beneath a blood-red moon. At the far end of the hall, in a high-backed chair carved from dark wood, sat a figure. He rose as I entered. And the world stopped. Damon Blackthorn was not a monster. At least, not the kind I'd expected. He was tall — taller than Kael — but lean, built like a blade. His hair was black, falling past his shoulders. His face was all sharp angles — high cheekbones, a strong jaw, lips that looked like they'd forgotten how to smile. But it was his eyes that caught me. Gold. Not the dull gold of Kael's gaze, but burning gold — molten, alive, like looking into the sun. He was wearing a simple white shirt, sleeves rolled to his elbows, forearms exposed. He looked more like a scholar interrupted from his reading than a king of wolves. But when he spoke, any illusion of gentleness shattered. "You're not Selene." His voice was quiet. Controlled. And somehow more terrifying than if he'd shouted. "No," I said. "I'm Aurora. Her sister." "Why are you here?" "Because no one else would come." A long silence. He studied me with those burning eyes, and I felt like he was seeing straight through my skin, through my bones, into the darkest corners of my soul. "Kael," he said without looking away. "Leave us." Kael bowed and retreated. The doors closed behind him with a heavy thud. I was alone with the Wolf King. He stepped closer. One step. Then another. I held my ground, even as every instinct screamed at me to run. "You're not afraid," he said. It wasn't a question. "I'm terrified," I said. "I'm just too stubborn to show it." The corner of his mouth moved — the same ghost of a smile Kael had worn. It transformed his face. Made him almost human. "Good," he said. "Stubborn I can work with." He stopped a foot away. Close enough that I could smell him — smoke and pine and something wild I couldn't name. "Here are the rules," he said. "You will stay in the keep. You will be treated with respect. No one will harm you." "And in return?" His golden eyes held mine. "In return, you will marry me at the next full moon. You will stay for three months. And then you will be free to go." I blinked. "Free to go?" "Three months. That's all I ask. After that, you walk away with enough gold to buy your own castle." "Why?" "Because that's the deal." "It doesn't make sense. Why would a wolf king marry a human for three months and then let her go?" He was silent for a long moment. When he spoke, his voice was softer. "Because the woman I wanted never came. And I've waited long enough."