Alpha's Luna

Chapter Thirteen - A Shared Bed. Selene

The halls of Ironfang blur past me in streaks of torchlight and shadow. My body is still weak from the poison, each step threatening to collapse my bones into the cold stone. I keep telling Kaine I can walk, that I don’t need him carrying me like some fragile doll—but he doesn’t listen.

His arms stay locked around me, one under my knees, the other cradling my back. His chest is a wall of heat against my side, rising and falling with each breath.

“I can make it to my chambers,” I mutter, though my voice comes out softer than I intend, like a halfhearted protest instead of defiance.

Kaine doesn’t even glance down. His jaw is set, carved from steel and fury. “You nearly died in front of me tonight, Selene. You’re not setting foot in that bed tonight, especially when you're unwell.”

A flicker of indignation sparks through my exhaustion. “It’s my bed.”

“It’s got lots of preying eyes.” His voice is a low growl, vibrating through my ribs. “If I’d been hesitant in calling a physician, who knows what would have happened.”

That silences me. Not because he’s right—though he is—but because of the raw edge in his tone. Kaine Duskbane, Alpha of Ironfang, doesn’t waste words. He commands. He cuts. But this—this is different. His words are thick with something heavier than anger.

Fear.

For me.

The realization lodges in my chest, strange and unwelcome.

He carries me past the wing where the Omegas are quartered, climbing the stairs toward the Alpha’s private level. My pulse kicks harder with each step. I know where he’s taking me before he says a word.

“You’re staying in my chambers tonight.”

I twist in his grip, ignoring how it drains me. “That’s—completely improper. What will your pack think?”

“Let them think.” His arms tighten around me. “They’ll think their Alpha keeps what’s his safe.”

The word “his” lingers, searing hotter than the fever that had raged through me hours ago. I should be furious. I should remind him I’m not property. But my lips stay pressed shut, because a shameful part of me likes the way it sounds.

When we reach his doors, two guards straighten, their eyes widening slightly at the sight of me in Kaine’s arms. He doesn’t slow, doesn’t acknowledge them. The heavy doors swing open, and suddenly I’m inside the place no one dares to enter without invitation.

Kaine’s chambers.

The air hits me first—warm, thick with the scent of pine, leather, and storms. It smells like him. Not the bloodied version from the training grounds, not the fury that lingers in council halls, but him. Untamed, wild, elemental.

He lowers me onto the massive bed, its furs spilling like shadows across dark linen. The mattress dips under my weight, softer than I imagined, enveloping me instantly.

I blink up at him, my voice quiet. “Why here?”

Kaine strips off his leather bracers, tossing them aside with sharp motions. His storm-grey eyes are darker than I’ve ever seen them, full of things he doesn’t say.

“Because I won’t have you choking on poison alone in a cold room,” he says simply.

He’s standing over me like a sentinel, but I can feel the war raging under his skin. His hands flex once, then curl into fists. He’s holding himself back—from what, I’m not sure. Anger? Desire? Both?

I swallow, pulling the furs closer. “You’re… very sure of yourself, dragging me here.”

Finally, finally, the corner of his mouth twitches. Not a smile. More like a c***k in his armor. “You talk too much when you should be resting.”

“And you brood too much when you should be sleeping.”

For a moment, silence stretches between us. The kind that hums, charged, like the air before lightning splits the sky.

Then, to my utter shock, Kaine doesn’t take the chair across the room or the floor by the door. He removes his boots and climbs onto the bed beside me.

I freeze. My heart stutters. “What are you doing?”

“Sleeping.” he responds.

“With me in your bed?”

He turns onto his side, facing me, his massive frame a wall of shadow. “With you alive in my bed.”

I can’t think of a retort fast enough. My breath tangles in my throat as he settles in, one arm folding under his head. The furs shift, and his scent surrounds me until it’s all I can breathe.

I try to focus on the ceiling beams, the flicker of the fire in the hearth, anything but the fact that Kaine Duskbane is in bed beside me.

But then it happens.

As if instinct overrules his iron will, Kaine shifts in his sleep. The bed creaks under his weight as he moves closer. An arm, heavy and warm, drapes across my waist, pulling me flush against him.

I go rigid. My body screams at me to move, to shove him off. But my heart—traitorous, aching—beats faster.

His breath brushes the back of my neck, slow and steady. His chest rises against my spine, each exhale rolling over me like waves.

This is no Alpha posturing. No dominance. Just instinct.

His fingers twitch once against my hip, curling slightly, as if even in sleep he refuses to let go.

I close my eyes, listening to the thunder of his heartbeat where our bodies press.

Then I hear it.

“Selene…”

It’s barely a whisper. A ghost of sound escaping his lips as his face nuzzles against my hair. My name, spoken like it means something more than he’ll ever admit awake.

I bite back the sound rising in my throat. Because if I let it free, it might come out a sob.

Hours slip past like moments. I don’t sleep. I watch the rise and fall of his chest, the way his brow furrows even in dreams, like war haunts him even here. My gaze trails over the scars carved into his arms, the ones that speak of battles survived, losses endured.

Tenderness swells in me. It is unexpected, unwanted, and yet unstoppable.

I reach out, trembling, and let my fingers trace the faintest line of a scar near his shoulder. His skin is warm, alive, real. He doesn’t stir.

I should stop. I should roll away.

But instead, I let my touch drift lower, resting over the back of his hand still locked around my waist.

He murmurs again, his lips brushing my temple in sleep. This time, no words—just a sound, low and rough, like his chest can’t hold it in.

My throat burns. I’ve been nothing but a pawn all my life. But here, in this bed, with his arm around me, I don’t feel like property. I feel… vital.

As if the universe itself might collapse if he let me go.

***

The night deepens. My body grows restless. Heat licks under my skin—not the fever of poison, but something stranger.

A glow begins, faint at first. Silver veins shimmer beneath my skin, pulsing with the rhythm of my heartbeat. I sit up sharply, yanking the furs around me.

No. Not now. Not here.

The light hums, soft but undeniable, crawling over my arms, my throat.

Kaine stirs beside me, pulling me closer in his sleep, as if even unconscious he senses the shift. His grip anchors me while the glow threatens to spill me apart.

And in that terrifying, breathtaking moment, I feel it—

A tether.

Invisible but real. Threading between his chest and mine. A bond, alive, pulling taut, as if something ancient just snapped into place.

My breath shudders. My hands tremble.

I stare at him—at the Alpha who swore he’d never claim me, the man who resists even the pull of fate—and know with bone-deep certainty:

Whether he wants it or not, something between us has already begun.

Something dangerous.

Something binding.

The heat comes first, sudden and unrelenting. It starts low, a slow burn in my stomach, then surges until every breath feels heavy, molten, alive. My skin tingles. My lips part. And before I can stop myself, I lean toward Kaine.

I kiss him.

Not a timid brush, not an accidental graze. A deep, consuming kiss that carries the fire rising in my veins. His lips are warm, firm, startled beneath mine. For a breath, for a heartbeat, he doesn’t move. Then his eyes snap open.

“Selene…” His voice is rough, frayed at the edges. I feel it against my mouth, the vibration sending sparks racing down my spine.

I should pull away. I don’t. I kiss him harder.

His hands twitch, fists clenching at his sides as though the only way he can stop himself from grabbing me is by chaining himself to restraint.

“Do you—” He breaks the kiss, breath ragged. His storm-grey eyes search me like he can peel back my skin and see the truth in my soul. “Do you love me?”

The question nearly stops my heart.

I should laugh. Deny. Scoff. Something. But the words slip free, naked and trembling: “Yes, I do.”

His lips part like he’s been struck. I kiss him again before he can speak, desperate to smother my confession under the heat of my mouth.

“You’re unwell,” he rasps against my lips. His forehead presses to mine, torn between staying and fleeing. “You need rest, not this.”

“Kiss me, Kaine,” I whisper. My fingers curl against his shoulders, tracing the tense lines of muscle. “I want you.”

He inhales sharply, the sound breaking like a dam. His restraint fractures. His mouth crashes back onto mine, claiming, devouring, tasting like storm and steel.

A shiver ripples through me. My hands wander without permission, sliding over his shoulders, down the hard planes of his chest, lower still. He is solid, unyielding, burning beneath my touch.

“Selene…” He groans, and the sound is low, tortured, almost reverent. His mouth leaves mine to trail across my cheek, down my throat. Each kiss is fire. Each breath, possession.

I gasp when he reaches the neckline of my shift. His lips linger, hesitant, before tracing lower. My body arches of its own accord, offering, begging.

His hands cup me with a gentleness I don’t expect from a man known as the Wraith of the West. His mouth closes over me, hot and desperate, and I cry out, clutching at his hair.

“You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen,” he murmurs against my skin, the words muffled by my breathless moans. “Delicate… dangerous… mine.”

The last word sends a tremor through me.

His hands roam, slow, teasing, reverent. Down my side, across my hip, then lower, brushing the hem of my shift. I tense, unsure, trembling between fear and yearning.

“Kaine?” My voice is a whisper, half-question, half-prayer.

He lifts his head, lips swollen from kissing me raw. He presses a tender kiss to my mouth, softer this time, patient. “Have you ever…?” His voice is hoarse, unfinished.

I shake my head, cheeks blazing. “No.”

His eyes darken, wolf-bright, feral and tender all at once. He kisses me again, slow, deep, and whispers against my lips, “My Luna. Mine only.”

I shiver at the vow in his tone.

Then his hand slides lower, urging my legs apart with a careful nudge. My breath catches, a protest dying on my tongue. His touch is light, circling, teasing. Not demanding. Testing.

Heat surges through me, wetness pooling where no man has ever touched. I gasp, shocked at my own body’s betrayal.

“Kaine…” My voice cracks, torn between embarrassment and hunger.

“Hush,” he murmurs. He kisses me as his fingers trace slow patterns, coaxing pleasure I never imagine. My legs tremble, adjusting beneath the blanket, giving him room. My heart thunders.

Every circle of his touch builds pressure inside me, until I think I might shatter. He presses deeper, careful, reverent, as though exploring forbidden territory he both fears and worships.

Then his mouth leaves mine, trailing down again, lower this time, kisses mapping every inch of my body. My breath turns ragged, my hands fist in the blankets as I realize where he is going.

“Kaine, what are you—”

A kiss silences me, deep, grounding, before his lips trail away. His mouth presses to the inside of my thigh, hot and devastating. My body bucks. My mind scatters.

I gasp his name as his touch and his lips drive me toward a precipice I hadn’t known exists. Fire spreads through my veins, silver light flickering at the edges of my vision.

When release comes, it tears through me like a storm, leaving me trembling, breathless, undone. My cry echoes in the silence of his chamber.

Kaine rises, kissing me deeply, tasting me, whispering against my lips, “Sweet. My Luna tastes like fire.”

Tears burn my eyes — not of pain, but of something I can’t name. Joy. Relief. Belonging.

I kiss him back, hungry, desperate, until the world blurs. “I want to… I want to please you too,” I whisper between kisses, daring, trembling.

His laugh is rough, strangled. “It would be much work for you.”

I giggle, breathless. “Still… I want you.”

Something in his eyes breaks then, some last wall shattering. He shifts, lying back, pulling me atop him. My fingers tremble as they trail down his chest, over the scars, toward the heat I can feel even through his shorts.

His breath catches when I brush him, hot, hard, waiting. I glance up, startled by his size, but his gaze holds only hunger and reverence.

“Selene…aah” His warning is a growl, but softer than I’ve ever heard.

I kiss him, silencing doubt. My hands explore him, teasing, marveling, daring. His head falls back with a groan, eyes closing, lips parting like he’s coming undone.

It is overwhelming, intoxicating, and terrifying.

And yet, when he pulls me back into his arms, kissing me like I am the only air he needs, I know I don’t care.

We lie together, tangled in sheets, lips swollen, bodies still humming with fire. His arm wraps around me, possessive even in surrender.

“Goodnight, Selene,” he whispers against my hair, the words almost a vow. His lips brush my temple, soft, reverent.

I smile, my heart racing, and whisper back, “Goodnight, Kaine.”

For the first time, I fall asleep not as a pawn. Not as a prisoner. But as something vital. As Kaine's woman. And somehow, I feel butterflies in my stomach. A smile spreads on my lips as I give in to whatever dream I will have…