His Reluctant Luna

Chapter 3: The First Threat

Chapter 3: The First Threat

Three days passed without incident.

I fell into a strange routine. Wake at dawn. Eat breakfast in silence with a Wolf King who spoke less than the castle walls. Walk the grounds with Kael as my shadow. Read in the library until my eyes burned. Sleep in a bed so soft I felt guilty for existing in it.

The wolves treated me like a piece of expensive furniture — respected, but not touched. The servants bowed when I passed. The guards nodded. No one spoke to me beyond what was necessary.

I was a guest. A prisoner. An ornament.

All three, somehow.

On the fourth morning, something changed.

I was in the library when I heard the shouting.

Angry voices. Boots on stone. A door slamming somewhere in the east wing.

I set down my book and walked to the hallway. Two guards stood at the end of the corridor, tense, their hands resting on the hilts of their swords.

"What's happening?" I asked.

One of them glanced at me. "Nothing you need to worry about, my lady."

"That's not an answer."

He hesitated. Then, lower: "A challenge. An Alpha from the southern territories. He doesn't accept that the Bloodmoon Pack has taken a human bride."

My stomach tightened. "Where?"

"The main courtyard. But you should stay—"

I was already walking.

The courtyard was full of wolves.

They stood in a loose circle, two dozen of them, their eyes fixed on the center. I pushed through the crowd, ignoring the warning growls, until I could see.

Damon stood in the middle of the circle, shirtless, his chest and arms covered in scars that caught the morning light. Across from him stood a man I didn't recognize — broader, meaner, with a shaved head and eyes the color of rust.

"Last chance to take your human w***e back to wherever you found her, Blackthorn," the man spat. "The southern packs won't recognize a half-breed's litter as Alpha."

Damon didn't react. His voice was calm. "You came to my land. You insulted my bride. You challenged my authority. And now you want to talk?"

"I want to fight."

"You'll lose."

"Then I'll die with honor."

Damon's eyes flickered — and for just a moment, they found mine in the crowd.

Then he moved.

It was faster than anything I'd ever seen. One second he was standing still. The next, he was on the other man, his hand wrapped around his throat, lifting him off the ground like a child.

The man choked, clawing at Damon's arm. The crowd went silent.

"Listen carefully," Damon said, his voice low and even. "The human woman is under my protection. If anyone in this territory — or any territory — touches a hair on her head, I will find them. I will tear down their pack stone by stone. And I will make sure their death is slow enough that their grandchildren will hear them screaming."

He released the man. He crumpled to the ground, gasping.

"Get out of my territory. If I see your face again, I won't let you off with a warning."

The man scrambled to his feet and fled. The crowd began to disperse, murmuring among themselves.

I stood frozen, my heart pounding.

Damon turned. His golden eyes found mine again — and this time, they held something I hadn't seen before.

Fear.

Not for himself. For me.

That night, I found him on the balcony outside his chambers.

He didn't turn when I approached. He just stared out at the forest, his hands gripping the stone railing.

"You shouldn't have come to the courtyard," he said.

"I wanted to see."

"See what?"

I leaned against the railing beside him. "See the kind of man I'm supposed to marry."

He was quiet for a long moment. Then: "And what did you see?"

"A man who's more scared than he lets on."

He turned to look at me. The gold in his eyes was dimmer now — softer, almost human.

"I can protect you from outside threats," he said. "But the real danger is closer. There are wolves in this keep who don't want you here. Who see you as a weakness."

"And what do you see me as?"

He held my gaze. The air between us grew thick.

"A problem," he said. But the word didn't match the way he was looking at me.

"I'm not going to run," I said.

"I know."

"Then stop treating me like glass."

The ghost of a smile. "I'm not treating you like glass. I'm treating you like something precious that a lot of people want to break."

I didn't know how to answer that.

"Go to sleep, Aurora." His voice was softer now. "Tomorrow, we begin your training."

"Training for what?"

He turned back to the forest. "Survival."