Evaluating Circumstances
2116 Words
LUNA
We move toward the gathering, step by step, like a slow march toward some inevitable sentencing. My anxiety sits heavy in my stomach, twisting, tightening, almost choking me. Jade pushes against me from the inside, clawing at my thoughts. She wants to turn around, sprint back into the woods, disappear into the trees, and never trust another soul again.
Her instinct is survival. Mine is… confusion. Cowardice. Attachment. Mal’s hand stays wrapped around mine, a constant warmth, sending some kind of tethered comfort through that new, impossible bond between us. But even that doesn’t stop the dread rising higher with every step into the crowd.
Faces—familiar faces—are everywhere. Students from school. Cafeteria workers. Even Janet from the cafe, who always pretends she doesn’t remember my name. They all stare like they’ve known who I am this entire time, like I’m the last person to learn the joke.
Jade snarls. They watched us walk through their halls while they pretended to be normal. Predators in plain sight.
I swallow hard. I want to run. But Mal is here. His presence is a gravity I can’t escape, pulling me forward even when my instincts scream.
In the center of the crowd are two people who radiate power so intensely that the air almost feels charged. His parents. The King and Queen of whatever covert empire I somehow stumbled into.
Mal lets go of my hand just before they reach us. The absence is immediate—sharp, cold. I try to hide the flinch, but I feel exposed without him.
Mal bows his head. I mimic him, hoping my awkward imitation doesn’t scream outsider.
“Please, rise,” the woman commands, her voice husky and melodious. Not cold—commanding.
I lift my head. Brown curls frame her regal face, amber eyes bright and assessing. She looks like Mal in some alternate universe—older, sharper, terrifyingly wise.
His father towers beside her, massive, silver-haired, carved from brutal authority. Scarred. Weathered. Watching everything without expression.
Before I can even think, Mal’s mother grips my cheek and yanks me into a crushing hug.
“We didn’t mean to put this much stress on you, poor child. And yet, you held your own with such strength. We are blessed to have you join us.”
Blessed? I barely survived anything. I’m shaking beneath her arms, trying not to collapse into relief.
She pulls back and offers her hand. I stare at it, lost. I look to Mal for guidance. He gives a small nod. So I place my hand in hers.
She beams, triumphant, and looks to her husband. He remains cold stone, emotionless. Maybe disappointed. Maybe suspicious.
Then she pulls me away, the crowd parting like she’s Moses. I glance back just long enough to see Mal and his father locked in wordless combat, their eyes hostile, their bodies rigid.
So maybe no one is blessed.
---------------
MAL
The second my mom leads Luna away, the world feels wrong.
Like someone is peeling skin from muscle—slow and deliberate. I breathe through it, pretending I’m fine, but the empty space she leaves behind claws at me.
I’ve known who she is for three years.
Not just her name.
Not just her face.
Her scent.
Her soul.
Sophomore year, the lunchroom.
She rushed past me, hair a storm, steps too fast—always running from something. I caught her scent, and my wolf went feral. I nearly shifted right there.
Mate.
I didn’t know she didn’t know.
Didn't know she was a wolf.
Didn’t know her parents were monsters.
Didn’t know she’d grow into power that would terrify everyone.
But my wolf didn’t care.
He recognized her instantly.
I kept it from my father because I knew what he’d do.
Turn her into leverage.
Study her.
Or kill her before she could become a threat.
So I lied.
Pretended she was just another human girl.
Avoided her when I could.
And failed, constantly, because staying away from her was impossible.
We sat next to each other in class, when she was bored enough to flirt with distraction. She smelled like adrenaline and rebellion and rain. When she laughed, it hit low in my stomach. When she was hurting, I felt it like a bruise.
I never claimed her.
Never told her.
Never asked her to be mine.
But I guarded her anyway.
From bullies.
From rumors.
From whatever shadows followed her home.
So seeing her dragged away now feels like betrayal.
Not because she’s an outsider—
But because she’s the one person I’ve already failed.
My father steps toward me, dominating the space without effort. Wolves around us lower their eyes on instinct. His voice slices through the air.
“You will explain.”
I keep my tone blank. “Explain what?”
“Why you brought a rogue female into our territory without clearance. Why you protected her. Why you risked warriors.”
I don’t blink. “She needed help.”
He stares, dissecting me with his eyes.
“You endangered the pack for a stranger.”
“She’s not a stranger.”
His interest sharpens. “How long have you known her?”
I hesitate for one second.
Too long.
He smells the lie.
“You are hiding something.”
“I’m not.”
“You think I don’t know when my son lies?”
My wolf strains against my skin, dying to rip his throat for calling her a threat.
“You feel something for her,” he says. “Strong enough to cloud your judgment.”
“It’s not like that.”
“You reek of claim.”
Everything inside me freezes.
Just for a fraction.
But he catches it.
“And yet you deny mating.”
“I don’t intend to claim her.”
The lie tastes like blood. My wolf howls, furious.
His voice softens, which is worse.
“You brought her here because she shifted.”
“Yes.”
“And you do not intend to keep her.”
“I don’t know.”
He steps closer, eyes burning.
“If she threatens this pack, I will eliminate her.”
It happens before thought—
my body moving, teeth bared, a growl ripping loose.
“If anyone touches her—”
“You’ll what?” he snaps. “Challenge me? Risk everything? For a girl you refuse to admit is your mate?”
“She’s been hunted her whole life,” I say. “I won’t let this be another hunt.”
He stares, silent and brutal.
“You hide the truth because you know it is dangerous. Because you know she is dangerous.”
“She didn’t ask for this.”
“Neither did we.”
He steps back, disgust flickering.
“You are reckless, emotional, ruled by instinct. That is weakness.”
“It’s loyalty.”
“It is death.”
He turns away, then pauses.
“You cannot protect her from what she is.”
He looks over his shoulder.
“And you cannot save this pack from what she will cost you.”
Then he leaves, and I’m alone again—fighting the urge to break something, shift, run, scream.
I look toward the hall where Luna disappeared.
Three years of hiding her scent.
Three years of denying instinct.
Three years of pretending she wasn’t the axis my life spun around.
I swore I’d keep her safe.
Even if it meant lying to everyone.
Even if it meant betraying blood.
And if anyone tries to take her now—
I will burn this place to the ground.
Mate bond or not.
---------------
LUNA
Mal’s mother leads me deeper into the hidden village, and the sight is unreal. Cabins—mansions, really—stretch into the trees, polished wood glowing with age and care. Wolves in human skin laugh, eat, train, and exist. Normal and not normal at all. I’ve walked past this place for three years, oblivious to an entire world beneath my feet.
“You must be starving!” Mal’s mother declares, dragging me along. “We’ll get you to the medical bay and have food brought. Anything you prefer?”
“I’m happy with anything, ma’am.”
She stops so abruptly that I crash into her back and fall to the ground. Her eyes sharpen with predatory intensity as she bends down.
“There is no ma’am here. If you wish to stay, you will address me as Luna.”
Terror spikes through me. I stammer, “I-I’m sorry, L-Luna. I’ve never done this before.”
Her face softens in an instant, as if I passed some invisible test. She hauls me up, almost effortlessly.
“We’re wary of new members, especially with your… lineage. And my son has sung nothing but praise since he learned about you.”
Praise? About me? From Mal? Something warm swells inside me despite everything—stupid and reckless and needy.
Inside, the building is another universe—grand staircases, fires, paintings, corridors filled with busy movement. Wolves with purpose. Wolves with jobs. Wolves acting like a functioning society instead of rabid beasts.
We reach the medical bay. The doctor sits waiting—muscular, buzzed hair, sharp jaw, wearing arrogance like cologne.
“Guest of the hour,” he mutters.
Mal’s mother shoves me inside a room and lowers her voice, though she doesn’t hide malice.
“Keep her here. I don’t know what she did to my son, but they must stay separated until I find out.”
Her smile to me afterward is chillingly empty. Then she leaves.
The doctor stretches, muscles shifting beneath his coat, and approaches with theatrical enthusiasm.
“Hello, young miss! Dr. Ethan Swill, pack doctor. I’ll be taking care of you today.”
I freeze. My body reacts before I understand why—fear, attraction, confusion twisting together. My eyes won’t look away from him.
He rambles, digging through drawers to find clothes, explaining medical records, Selena, information gaps. I barely process the words.
Then something in his gaze changes. Predatory. Curious. He steps forward. I retreat until the bed blocks me in.
He inhales deeply. His smile becomes wrong.
“Someone’s heat is coming soon.”
“I—what?”
“Don’t play dumb. You’re a wolf.”
“No — yes, but I just found out two weeks ago—”
The door explodes open.
Mal’s scent hits me first—wild, burning, intoxicating. Relief slams into my chest so hard I gasp.
Ethan grabs for me, but I twist away, sliding under him and out the door, sprinting toward Mal.
He catches me mid-stride, slamming us to the floor in the med-bay hallway, but cushioning my head with his hand. His body cages mine, warm, heavy, familiar. He lifts just enough for me to breathe, fingers stroking my cheek.
“Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”
I shake my head, though I can’t stop shaking. Not from fear. From something else—something primal and electric and embarrassing.
Ethan tears Mal off of me, holding him like a rag doll.
“Your mother said you’re not supposed to be here,” he taunts.
Mal’s eyes ignite—dark, deadly. He slams an elbow into Ethan’s face, forcing him to drop him. Then Mal shifts.
Clothes rip. Bones crack. His form contorts, fur exploding outward until Shadow stands in his place—massive, lethal, magnificent.
The hallway becomes a battlefield. Growls, snarls, and crashing bodies. I crawl, struggling to stand, searching for anything to defend him with, but I am fragile, exhausted, barely human.
Shadow doesn’t need help. He dominates instantly, teeth clamping, dragging Ethan like a corpse.
Ethan flees, wounded. Blood splatters the floor like a warning.
Then Mal shifts back. Naked. Powerful. Divine in the way only something dangerous can be.
Heat slams through me, violent and unfiltered. Every nerve screams.
Mal doesn’t notice. Or pretends not to. He grabs pants, pulls them on effortlessly, then tosses a pair to me.
“Luna, you need to get dressed. If you don’t, every wolf here is going to smell you and come running.”
He wipes sweat from my forehead with his thumb. I don’t hear him. My eyes are on his body—hard lines, heat, dominance.
My fingers lift without permission, tracing the muscles of his abdomen.
He catches my wrists instantly, slamming them above my head with one hand. His body presses close, heat radiating, heart pounding. His lips curl in a wicked grin, hunger darkening his eyes.
“Careful, Luna,” he murmurs, voice a low, dangerous promise.
“You don’t know what you’re asking for.”
- Writer
