Alpha’s Mistaken Luna

008

Maximus’s POV

I should not have brought her home. Not when her presence alone stirs the part of me I have worked so hard to keep dormant.

She followed close behind me, her heartbeat loud in my senses with every step she took. Fear clung to her, growing heavier by the second, and I hated that I was the reason for it.

She was not like this before. The woman who had worked for me for over a year had never been afraid of me. I remembered the confidence in her movements, and the quiet way she commanded my attention without trying. But now she was different. Everything between us was different.

I stopped abruptly, the urge to ease her fear overtaking my restraint.

I caught her hand and pressed her gently but firmly against the wall, breathing her in before I could stop myself. “I can sense your fear, Miss Jenkins,” I whispered softly.

“You don’t need to be afraid of me.”

Her scent soothed the wildness inside me. There was something about it that was different, something I had only experienced once before. I could feel it shift and scrape against my ribs every time she was near, restless and aware of her.

My gaze drifted to her lips as I leaned in, almost giving in to the urge.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” I assured her.

She nodded, a little unsteady, and I forced myself to pull back. I held her gaze, but she refused to meet mine, her eyes dropping away instead.

“I will be with you shortly,” I said. “This is your room for the night.”

I opened the door for her, then turned and walked away.

I walked back into my office and found Peter waiting by the window. He was an old friend, one of the few who still remembered the world I had left behind years ago. He only came around when he had information for me. About the city. About the things I no longer touched.

“Sire, you’re back,” he said, turning as I entered.

I nodded and gestured for him to take a seat.

“What brings you here this time?” I asked, reaching for a glass. I poured him a drink, but he waved it away.

“I’m getting too old for this, Sire,” he said with a faint chuckle. “It’s not the old days anymore.”

His words reminded me of how old I truly was, unchanged by time. I had watched the few friends I kept grow old and eventually perish.

Sometimes I wished it were not so, but it was beyond my control. Such was the price of being the third descendant of the Moon’s curse.

“Go ahead, old friend, and enough with the formalities. You know me too well,” I said.

His eyes lit up, a smile breaking across his face as he nodded.

“What I have for you is more than anything I’ve brought you over the years,” he said, leaning forward in his chair.

“Dimitri has crossed the line. Not only has he allied himself with several packs in CrestenSide, but he is embarking on a dangerous journey,” he paused.

“He wants to claim the power that descends from your bloodline. He wants the curse. To become an alpha of alphas. An Immortal Wolf. A wolf that cannot be killed, just like you, your father, and your grandfather.”

The mere mention of his name made my blood boil. Dimitri. Once my closest friend. The one I had raised to become an alpha. And now he stood against me, commanding my own pack. I clenched my fists as rage surged through me, my wolf spiraling, but I forced myself to control it. I stood and began pacing the room, Peter watching me with a mixture of fear and caution.

“How does he intend to do that? There is no one left who could give him such power,” I demanded.

“There are whispers, Sire,” Peter said. “Not all the Yenorians are gone. He has found one.”

That charged something deep inside me. The last Yenorian I had known was my Luna, Selene, and she had been dead for years.

Who then could this be. Confusion surged through me, and with it came the sharp, restless sting of claws scratching against my chest, my wolf stirring, restless and hungry.

I needed to calm it, and to find something that would steady me. I could not make a decision in this state, not one I would regret. There was only one person who could anchor me, and she was here in my house.

I told Peter to fetch her. Even with my wolf restless beneath my skin, her presence was enough to pull me back from the edge.

I paced the room, sharp pain ripping through me as the beast inside fought to take control. Then I heard her footsteps. Her heartbeat lingered just beyond the door, steady and unmistakable. I returned to my seat at once, turning my back to the entrance.

The door creaked open, and I sensed her step inside, slow and cautious. I prayed she would not see me shift again.

When I finally turned, my eyes met hers. And just like that, the pull returned. The restlessness eased, melting into something far more dangerous. Yearning.

“You asked to see me,” she said, her voice low.

I nodded and gestured for her to sit. I could not look away from her, not even when I knew I should. It had been a long time since conversation came easily to me, yet with her, words seemed to find their way.

“I do not even know why I am here, sir,” she began, her gaze fixed on the floor. “This should not be where I end up after finding out what you are.”

I leaned back in my chair, watching her closely.

“But your words,” she continued quietly, “they keep replaying in my head.”

My brow furrowed, curiosity pulling at me.

“And what were those?” I asked.

She hesitated before answering. “That I was not human. You are not the only one who has said that to me.”

She lifted her gaze and met mine. That single act softened something deep within me. She said enough then for me to understand why I felt this way about her. The mention of being found in a lake confirmed it. Why her scent called to me. Why my soul recognized hers.

I had felt this before. With Selene.

“It is not just a change,” I said quietly. “I have never felt this before. Not since you became my secretary, Celeste.”

Her name lingered between us, heavy with meaning.

“You feel different,” I continued. “Your scent is stronger now, and it does something to me. It awakens something old.” I stopped myself, my jaw tightening before I revealed too much.

“All of a sudden, you remind me of someone I once knew.”

I rose from my chair, drawn to her without thought. Her heartbeat quickened as I closed the distance between us. I was close enough to feel her warmth when she moved first, catching me off guard as she leaned in and pressed her lips to mine.

Did she have any f*****g idea how completely she unraveled me. How easily she gave in to what my soul wanted and more.

My muscles loosened as her hands slid up my arms, slow and uncertain. I reached for her waist and lifted her onto the desk, careful even as need burned through me. She gasped softly, and I claimed her mouth, dominant despite my effort to stay gentle. My wolf wanted more.

I deepened the kiss, unable to pull away, my hands cupping her face as she moaned quietly against my lips. I traced my fingers along her neck, lingering there, savoring the taste of her mouth, and the way she responded to me.

It felt too perfect. My body and my soul both answered her. I had not felt this way in a very long time. Not since Selene.

Pain tightened my chest as something inside me cracked open. Power surged through my ribs, wild and unforgiving, and I knew I was losing control. My eyes burned red as I forced myself to pull away.

She stared at me, breathless, fear flickering as she saw what I had become.

“You should go to sleep,” I managed, my breathing ragged.

I stepped back before she could say anything and left the room.

One thought echoed in my mind as I walked away. I could not allow her to awaken what I had spent years burying. The endless pain. The torment that followed.

Now I understood why my soul recognized hers.

She is a Yenorian.