THE BADDIE LUNA

THE PACK’ SSHADOW

The howls sharpened, slicing through the night like blades.

Branches snapped, boots pounded earth, and within seconds, the clearing filled with bodies. Wolves in human skin, armed with silver blades and cloaked in the scent of dominance and steel.

The enforcers.

Their leader, Garrick, stepped forward,a broad scarred wolf with iron-gray hair and eyes that had seen too many executions. His gaze flicked from the ashes on the ground to me, then to Ronan.

“What happened here?” His voice was a growl wrapped in authority.

My heart slammed against my ribs. My hands still tingled faintly from the fire I’d unleashed, the scent of it strange, metallic, unnatural lingering in the air. They’d smell it. They’d know.

Before I could speak, Ronan did.

“Bloodspawn ambush.” His tone was clipped, commanding. He jerked his chin toward the blackened remnants. “We handled it.”

Garrick’s eyes narrowed. “You handled that?” He crouched near the ash pile, sniffing, frowning. “Smells… wrong.”

A bead of sweat slid down my spine.

“Wrong or not, it’s dead,” Ronan said flatly. “Unless you’d like to call the Alpha out here to sniff ashes with you?”

The enforcers shifted uneasily. Ronan’s rank, his birthright, gave his words weight. Even Garrick hesitated.

But his gaze found me again, lingering, sharp as a blade against my throat. “Strange for a huntress to survive such a thing.”

I forced my chin up. “Strange for enforcers to arrive late.”

A few of them snorted, poorly hidden. Garrick’s lips peeled back in a snarl, but Ronan stepped forward, shoulders squared, golden eyes burning.

“She’s with me,” he said.

Three words.

But they silenced the clearing.

The enforcers exchanged glances, the unspoken meaning hanging heavy in the air. With him. Protected. Untouchable for now.

My wolf bristled. I hated the way those words tied me to him, like I was under his claim. But I hated even more how a shiver of something hot slid through me at the sound of it.

Garrick spat to the side. “Very well. We’ll report it as dealt with. But the Alpha will want answers.”

He signaled his men, and one by one, they melted back into the forest, their scents fading.

Silence fell again.

Except Ronan wasn’t moving. He was still staring at me, his jaw hard, his chest rising and falling like he’d barely held back the truth.

“What you did,” he said finally, his voice low, “no one can ever see it. Do you understand me, Luna?”

I swallowed, my throat dry. “And if I don’t care to obey?”

His smile was humorless, dangerous. He stepped closer, the heat of him rolling over me.

“Then you won’t live long enough to regret it.”

The village fires burned low by the time we returned. Orange embers flickered against the dark, shadows of thatched huts stretching long and twisted. Wolves in both skin and fur lounged near the flames, their eyes turning as Ronan and I crossed the clearing.

The air changed instantly.

Curiosity. Distrust. Hunger.

They didn’t look at Ronan, no one ever dared but their gazes slid to me. I felt the weight of them like claws scraping along my spine.

“Back from the woods again,” one murmured.

“Always wandering where she shouldn’t,” another whispered.

“Strange things follow that one.”

The words weren’t loud, but they didn’t have to be. Wolves thrived on whispers.

Ronan said nothing. His silence was its own kind of shield, daring anyone to press further. Still, the stares burned hotter.

I kept my chin high. I’d learned long ago that showing weakness was blood in the water.

Inside the Alpha’s hall, the fire roared brighter. The walls were carved with runes, old as the mountain itself, stories of victories and sacrifices painted in soot and ash.

Alpha Kael sat at the long table, his presence filling the room even before he spoke. Age had carved lines in his face, but his eyes ich and sharp never dulled. The Pack bent around his will like trees in the wind.

“Ronan.” His gaze swept over his son first, lingering briefly on the blood at his temple. Then it landed on me. And stayed. “And the huntress.”

I bowed my head just enough to be respectful, not submissive. My wolf snarled inside, unwilling to yield more.

Garrick had arrived before us. He stood near the fire, arms crossed, lips curved in something that wasn’t quite a smile. He wanted me to stumble. To reveal.

Ronan beat me to it.

“We were ambushed. Bloodspawn.” His tone was clipped, factual. “We destroyed them before they reached the village.”

Kael studied him, then me. “Destroyed them,” he repeated slowly, as if tasting the words.

“Yes.” Ronan’s stare didn’t waver.

I said nothing. My tongue felt like ash.

The silence stretched. The fire popped.

Finally, Kael leaned back in his chair. “Good. Then you’ve done your duty.” His gaze cut to me again, colder now. “Some of us, at least, know where our loyalty lies.”

Heat crept up my neck, but I held his stare. I didn’t flinch. If I did, they’d devour me.

Ronan’s hand brushed mine under the table. Not touching, not quite just a whisper of heat, like a warning. Or a promise.

The meeting ended soon after, the Alpha dismissing us with a flick of his hand. Outside, the night pressed heavier, as though the forest itself leaned closer to listen.

Wolves broke off into groups, whispering, always whispering. My name on their tongues is like a curse.

When we reached the edge of the clearing, I pulled free of Ronan’s shadow. “I don’t need your protection,” I hissed.

His eyes burned gold in the firelight. “You think that was protection? That was survival. Do you have any idea how close you were to being exposed there?”

I glared back, my chest tight. “Better exposed than chained to your lies.”

For a moment, the mask of the Alpha’s heir cracked. His jaw clenched, his eyes flickered not just with anger, but something darker. Something raw.

“Careful, Luna,” he murmured. “I’m not your enemy. Not yet.”

Not yet.

The words lingered long after he left me standing alone in the shadows.

The night pressed heavy when I slipped from the village.

The fires burned low behind me, the hum of voices fading with every step. I didn’t care where I went, only that it was away,away from their eyes, their whispers, away from Ronan’s gaze that burned hotter than the flames.

The forest welcomed me like an old friend, shadows curling between the trees, the scent of damp moss and earth clinging to the air.

I dropped to my knees near the riverbank, plunging my hands into the freezing water. My reflection wavered wild hair, ash streaked across my skin, and eyes that glowed faintly silver in the moonlight.

What the hell are you?

Ronan’s words echoed, sinking deeper than they should.

I clenched my fists, the water dripping from my knuckles. I’d spent years burying this thing inside me, this silver fire that didn’t belong in a wolf’s body. My mother had whispered of curses, of bloodlines that twisted fate. But she was gone now, and all I had left was the secret burning in my veins.

The secret that had just saved Ronan’s life.

“You shouldn’t be out here alone.”

The voice came from behind me, deep and rough.

I didn’t turn. “And yet here you are again, following me.”

His footsteps crunched the leaves until he stood a breath away, his reflection joining mine in the water. Ronan’s broad shoulders, golden eyes, chest streaked with scars that told their own stories.

“You draw too much attention,” he said quietly. “Kael sees it. Garrick smells it. One wrong move, and they’ll rip you apart before you can explain.”

I laughed, bitter and low. “You mean before you explain. You’d love that, wouldn’t you? To see me silenced.”

His hand shot out, gripping my chin, forcing me to face him. His touch was rough, but not cruel. His eyes burned into mine.

“Don’t you dare,” he growled. “Don’t you dare think I want you dead. If I did, you’d already be ash in the ground.”

The air between us thickened, sharp with tension. My pulse was hammered. His thumb brushed the edge of my jaw not soft, but steady, as though he was trying to anchor me.

My wolf shivered, torn between baring her teeth and pressing closer.

“You hate me,” I whispered, my voice cracking despite myself.

His gaze dropped to my mouth for a split second before snapping back to my eyes. “Maybe,” he said hoarsely. “But hate isn’t the only thing I feel when I look at you.”

The words lodged in my chest like a blade.

I should’ve pulled back. I should’ve shoved him into the river. But I didn’t.

Instead, I stayed frozen in his grip, the space between us so taut it might’ve snapped if either of us breathed too hard.

The forest was silent, watching, waiting.

And for the first time, I wasn’t sure whether Ronan was my enemy, my protector… or the fire that would burn me alive.

Ronan’s grip lingered on my jaw, his golden eyes locked with mine, the night itself holding its breath.

One more second,just one and I might have done the unthinkable. Leaned into him.

But then it hit me.

Not sound. Not sight. A vision.

The forest blurred, the river vanished, and I was somewhere else drenched in silver light, my body frozen.

I saw wolves howling in chains. Blood spilling over stone carved with runes older than time. A throne made of bone and flame. And on it… a figure cloaked in shadow, its eyes green fire, its voice thundering like a storm.

“The Baddie Luna.”

The name cracked through my skull like lightning. My name.

I gasped, ripping back into the present, collapsing against the riverbank. My lungs burned, my heart pounding like it wanted to break free.

Ronan caught me before I hit the ground, his arms hard and steady. “Luna!” His voice was sharper than a blade, rough with fear he couldn’t hide.

I shoved at his chest, breathless. “Don’t….don’t touch me.”

His brows knit. “What did you see?”

I shook my head, choking on the answer I couldn’t give. If I spoke it aloud, it would be real.

Before he could press me further, a howl split the night,this one deeper, sharper, vibrating with a command that chilled my bones.

The Alpha’s call.

No wolf ignored it. Not without paying the price.

Ronan swore, hauling me to my feet. His grip on my arm was iron. “He knows,” he muttered. His gaze flicked to mine, and for the first time, there was no anger, no mockery. Only certainty. “He knows something about you.”

The second howl came, closer.

And this time, it wasn’t just a summons. It was a warning.