Loving Luna

The Council's Judgment

The word kept ringing in Luna’s head, echoing over and over until it felt like it was bouncing around inside her skull.

Executed.

For a second, everything else just… dropped away completely.

The fancy furniture, the sunlight spilling through the tall windows, even the smell of fresh coffee that had once felt comforting—it all faded under one very simple, very terrifying thought.

She had survived one night.

Now a group of strangers was deciding if she got another.

Luna slowly pushed herself up from her chair, her hands unsteady against the polished wood as if the room itself had tilted slightly off balance.

"I'm leaving."

No one moved.

No one even looked surprised, which somehow made it worse.

"I mean it," she said, firmer this time, though her voice still carried a thin edge of disbelief. "I'm not sitting here while people I’ve never met vote on whether I live or die."

Darius held her gaze, completely unshaken, as if he had already anticipated every possible reaction she could have.

"If you leave this estate, you'll be dead before you reach the gates."

"You don't know that."

"I do."

His certainty only made her more annoyed, like he was speaking about something as simple and unavoidable as the weather.

"You keep saying that."

"Because it's true."

Luna crossed her arms tightly over her chest, grounding herself in the motion.

"I’ve spent twenty-four years taking care of myself."

"You survived," Darius corrected quietly, his tone not unkind, but absolute.

"There's a difference."

She frowned, irritation mixing with something she didn’t want to name.

"What difference?"

"You survived without knowing the monsters hunting you."

His expression darkened slightly, the air around him shifting in a way that made the room feel colder.

"They know now."

Silence stretched between them, heavy and suffocating, as if even the walls were listening.

Finally, Evelyn stepped forward, her voice softer but steady.

"The Council isn't your enemy."

Luna looked at her sharply, searching for any sign of reassurance she could believe.

"Then why are they deciding whether to kill me?"

Evelyn didn’t answer right away. Her hesitation was answer enough.

Instead, she glanced at Darius, as if asking permission to continue.

"They're afraid."

"Of me?"

"Of what you might become."

Luna let out a short, humorless laugh, more disbelief than amusement.

"I don’t even know what I am."

"No," Darius said, his voice lower now.

"But they remember the last person who carried your power."

The words settled heavily in the room, like stones dropped into still water.

Luna’s stomach tightened.

"What happened to them?"

Still nothing. No one spoke immediately, and that silence was louder than any answer.

Luna looked between Darius, Evelyn, and Mason, searching their faces for something—anything—that would make sense of this.

No one wanted to say it.

Her stomach tightened further, a cold dread creeping in.

"They started a war," Darius said at last.

A few minutes later, Luna followed them through the long, winding halls of Blackwood Estate.

The place felt less like a home and more like a fortress that had forgotten it was ever meant to be lived in.

Stone walls went on forever, cold and unyielding, swallowing the sound of their footsteps.

Old portraits lined the corridors, each one watching silently as they passed.

Every painting showed generations of Blackwood Alphas, all wearing that same calm, proud, dangerous look Darius had like it was second nature—like it was carved into their bones.

One portrait made Luna slow down without thinking.

A woman.

Unlike the others, she wasn’t dressed for battle or authority.

She wore a flowing silver gown that caught the light of a painted full moon behind her instead.

And on her wrist…

was the same golden mark Luna now had.

She stopped completely, her breath catching.

"Darius."

He turned immediately, noticing the change in her tone.

"Who is she?"

His eyes shifted to the portrait, and for the first time since she’d met him, something real—something almost human—flickered across his face.

"Sienna."

"She has my mark."

"Yes."

The answer was simple, but it carried weight.

"What happened to her?"

His jaw tightened, the muscle flexing as if holding something back.

"She died."

The finality in his voice shut the door on further questions.

Before Luna could ask anything else, before she could even process the strange ache in her chest, he started walking again.

That was it.

Conversation over.

Two huge wooden doors waited at the end of the hallway, carved with intricate symbols that seemed older than the estate itself.

Two guards stood at attention, bowing as Darius approached.

"The Council is waiting, Alpha."

Darius nodded once, acknowledging them without breaking stride.

Then he looked at Luna.

"No matter what happens in there…"

His voice dropped slightly, quieter now, almost meant only for her.

"Stay beside me."

She studied him for a moment, searching for any crack in his certainty.

"You really think they’re dangerous?"

"I know they are."

There was no hesitation in his answer.

The doors opened.

The chamber beyond made Luna stop in her tracks.

A massive circular hall rose three stories high, overwhelming in scale and presence.

Marble pillars stretched upward into a domed ceiling painted with constellations that seemed to shimmer faintly in the light.

Twelve carved stone seats formed a perfect ring around the room.

Every single one was filled.

Men.

Women.

Old.

Young.

All of them radiated quiet authority, the kind that didn’t need to be spoken to be felt.

And every single pair of eyes landed on Luna at once.

She suddenly felt far too small, like she had stepped into a place she was never meant to exist in.

A silver-haired woman in the center stood slowly, commanding attention without effort.

"So…"

Her voice carried easily through the chamber, smooth and controlled.

"The Hidden One finally shows herself."

Luna frowned, refusing to shrink under the weight of the room.

"I'm standing right here."

A few council members exchanged faint, amused looks, as if her defiance was expected—or irrelevant.

The woman didn’t smile.

"My name is Selene Ashcroft."

She descended the steps slowly, each movement deliberate, measured.

"High Chancellor of the Council."

She stopped just a few feet away from Luna, close enough that Luna could see the sharp intelligence in her pale eyes.

Those eyes studied her like she was something to be measured, dissected, understood.

Then Selene reached for Luna’s wrist.

Darius stepped in front of her instantly, blocking the movement without hesitation.

"You will not touch her."

The room shifted immediately, tension snapping tight like a drawn wire.

Selene met his gaze without blinking, unbothered.

"You forget your place, Alpha."

"No."

His voice stayed calm, but it carried steel underneath.

"I remember it perfectly."

A heavy silence followed, pressing down on everyone in the chamber.

Then Selene smiled.

Cold and sharp, like a blade catching light.

"You’re already getting protective."

She looked past him at Luna, her attention never wavering.

"Tell me…"

"Do you know why your Alpha can’t stop watching you?"

Luna blinked, caught off guard.

"My Alpha?"

Darius’s shoulders tensed almost imperceptibly, but Luna noticed it immediately.

Selene noticed it too.

"So."

She nodded slowly, as if confirming a theory.

"It’s already started."

Luna looked between them, confusion tightening in her chest.

"What has?"

The Chancellor’s smile widened slightly, though it held no warmth.

"The mating bond."

The entire chamber went dead silent.

Luna’s eyes widened in shock.

She turned toward Darius immediately, searching his face for denial, for correction, for anything that would make this less real.

He didn’t deny it.

He didn’t confirm it.

He just looked at her with those impossible gray eyes, steady and unreadable.

And for the first time…

Luna realized the pull she felt whenever he was near wasn’t just on her side.

He was fighting it too.