Chapter Three - A Place That Didn't Feel Real
919 Words
Luna's POV
I woke to warmth.
For a moment, I thought I was dreaming.
The bed beneath me was soft—so soft that I sank into it whenever I moved. Thick blankets covered me, trapping the warmth around my body. I couldn't remember the last time I had slept in an actual bed.
At Ashwood, I slept on a thin pile of straw in the storage shed. During winter, I would curl into a ball and pray I wouldn't wake up covered in frost.
This...
This couldn't be real.
I sat up too quickly.
A sharp pain shot through my ankle.
"Ow..."
I bit my lip and looked around.
The room was beautiful.
A fire crackled in a stone fireplace.
Sunlight streamed through large windows.
The furniture was carved from dark wood, polished until it shone.
Everything was clean.
No dust.
No broken chairs.
No leaking roof.
It looked nothing like the place I came from.
Then I remembered.
The rogues.
The black wolf.
The Alpha.
...Mate.
Heat rushed to my cheeks.
"No..."
That couldn't be true.
Why would the Moon Goddess pair someone like him with someone like me?
A knock came at the door.
I immediately panicked.
My heartbeat sped up.
"Come in," a woman's gentle voice called after waiting a moment.
The door opened slowly.
A smiling woman walked inside carrying a tray.
She had silver hair tied into a braid and kind amber eyes.
"Oh, good," she said softly. "You're awake."
I lowered my head.
"I'm sorry."
She blinked.
"For... waking up?"
"No."
The word escaped before I could stop it.
"...For causing trouble."
Her smile disappeared.
Instead, she looked...sad.
"Oh, sweetheart."
Sweetheart?
No one had ever called me that.
She placed the tray on a small table beside the bed.
"My name is Elara. I'm one of Blackthorn's healers."
I whispered my name so quietly I barely heard it myself.
"Luna."
She smiled again.
"It's lovely to meet you."
Meet me?
People usually said things like Move or Hurry up.
Not...
"It's lovely to meet you."
She uncovered the tray.
The smell hit me instantly.
Fresh bread.
Scrambled eggs.
Fruit.
Warm soup.
A mug of tea.
My stomach growled so loudly that I wanted to disappear.
Elara pretended not to notice.
"I brought breakfast."
I stared.
There was enough food for three people.
"I...I think you have the wrong room."
She frowned.
"No?"
"This isn't for me."
"It is."
"There must be a mistake."
"There isn't."
I looked at the tray again.
"So much..."
"Eat."
My hands stayed in my lap.
"I'll get in trouble."
Elara's eyebrows knitted together.
"For eating breakfast?"
I nodded.
"If Alpha Victor finds out..."
She looked confused.
"You're not in Ashwood anymore."
The words settled over me like snow.
Not...
In Ashwood.
I swallowed hard.
I wanted to believe her.
I really did.
But people didn't escape Ashwood.
No one did.
Eventually...
Someone would come.
They always did.
"I can't."
She crouched beside the bed.
"Luna."
Her voice was patient.
"No one here is going to punish you for eating."
I stared at the bread.
I wanted it so badly my stomach hurt.
Slowly...
Very slowly...
I reached for it.
Then stopped.
"What if someone else is hungry?"
Elara looked like she was about to cry.
"We have enough food for everyone."
"...Really?"
"Really."
I took the smallest piece I could find.
I ate slowly.
Tiny bites.
Trying to make it last.
Elara watched silently.
After a minute she asked gently,
"Why are you eating like that?"
I looked down.
"If I eat too fast..."
"I'll finish it."
"And then there won't be any left."
Silence filled the room.
When I finally looked up...
There were tears in her eyes.
---
A while later...
Someone knocked again.
My body tensed instantly.
Elara opened the door.
The Alpha stepped inside.
My heart nearly stopped.
He looked different from yesterday.
Instead of torn clothes from battle, he wore black trousers and a dark shirt with the Blackthorn crest embroidered over his chest.
He somehow looked even more intimidating.
Yet...
The first thing he asked wasn't about himself.
"How's your ankle?"
I blinked.
"...Better."
Elara stood.
"She'll need to stay off it for a few days."
Kael nodded.
"Thank you."
She smiled and quietly left the room.
Now it was just us.
The silence felt enormous.
I didn't know where to look.
At the floor?
The fire?
The window?
Anywhere but him.
He walked over and noticed the untouched fruit.
"You don't like apples?"
"I've... never had one."
He stared at me.
"You've never eaten an apple?"
I shook my head.
"They're expensive."
Without saying anything, he picked one up and held it out to me.
"Try it."
I hesitated.
"What if I don't like it?"
A tiny smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"Then I'll eat the rest."
His smile caught me completely off guard.
It changed his whole face.
He didn't look like the terrifying Alpha from yesterday.
He looked...
Kind.
I carefully took the apple.
One bite.
Sweet.
Juicy.
I blinked in surprise.
"It's good."
His smile grew just a little.
"I'm glad."
For some reason...
That made me smile too.
Only for a second.
But it was the first genuine smile I'd had in years.
And neither of us noticed someone standing just outside the door, watching through the c***k.
A young she-wolf frowned as she saw Luna smiling at Alpha Kael.
She clenched her fists.
"That omega..." she thought bitterly.
"She doesn't belong here."
- Writer
