The Forgotten Luna

4 - The Alpha's Claim

[Atlas P.O.V.]

The room was silent. Not the soft hush of curiosity. No, this silence was almost violent in its tension. The kind that stretched out like a drawn bow, every Alpha’s breath caught mid-inhale. Astrid stood frozen at the far end of the hall, her hand hovering at her side like she just touched lightning.

Because she had, and so had I.

The mate bond, no longer a subtle hum, now coursed through me like molten metal. My skin burned where her eyes met my body, and my heart pounded in my chest. It was a euphoric feeling, paralyzing. It was like every part of my body had been waiting for this exact moment in my entire life. My desire for her caused my c**k to get hard, but now wasn’t the time.

I knew she felt it too. I could see the way her breath caught, the tremble of her shoulders, and the dazed glint of recognition and pleasure blooming behind the fear as the mate bond took its course on her.

Mate. Claim her. NOW.

Bane’s voice was a snarl in my mind, fierce and hungry. She’s ours. They can’t take her.

I stepped forward.

Lucas flinched.

Alpha Kayn moved, stepping in between me and Astrid like a curtain of ice. His face was unreadable, sculpted in cold, hard lines. “She is my chosen mate,” he said, his voice smooth and as sharp as frostbite.

“No,” I said, low and lethally. “She’s mine.”

Astrid gasped, just audibly enough for the room to catch it. Luna Arielle reached for her, but Astrid stepped back. She stepped away from Kayn, away from everyone. Her trembling hands balled at her sides. I didn’t move, not yet. I couldn’t claim her, not until I understood the hell she’d been living in.

And what they were all about to unleash.

A rumble echoed across the summit chamber. Elder Mark, one of the oldest wolves still alive, stood slowly. His joints aching as he stood, and his robes brushed the stone floor of the summit hall like a whisper.

“This… bond,” the Elder said, peering at me, then at Astrid, “was felt by every wolf in this room.”

Murmurs rippled around the chamber.

“That’s impossible,” someone muttered.

“It’s happened before,” Mark said, “but not in over two centuries. A full-pack resonance. It’s rare… dangerous, but sacred…” His gaze sharpened. “It only occurs when one mate is something more than wolf.”

I was an Alpha by blood, and every Alpha in this room knew who my parents were. So, all eyes turned to Astrid. She looked like she wanted to run.

Michael stepped closer to me, and murmured, “This is going to blow wide open.”

I didn’t take my eyes off of her. “It already has, Michael.”

Another elder, this one whose name I didn’t know, stepped forward. “Do you know what she is?”

I didn’t answer. My mind was racing, her scent and hesitation. Her being hidden, it all pointed to something forbidden, something protected. My thoughts were interrupted by Astrid.

Her voice, barely above a whisper, cut through the tension in the room like a knife.

“I’m an Eclipse Wolf.”

The silence washed over the chamber once again. A few Alphas stood up from their chairs.

My breath caught. A witch wolf hybrid. The kind of rarity written about in scrolls, not seen in real time. Eclipse Wolves weren’t just hybrids. They were creatures born of contradiction, wild and magical, the untamed and sacred. The old tales said an Eclipse Wolf could tear down a coven or bless an entire pack with power. Which explained everything.

It explained why the bond echoed through the room.

It explained why she’d been hidden.

It explained why Kayn wanted her.

And why it felt like my soul was not just tied to hers, but claimed in a way I couldn’t fight even if I wanted to.

Bane was nearly howling in my head now. She’s rare. Ours. We protect her. No one else touches her.

Kayn’s face was blank, but his hands flexed once at his sides. “A mating agreement has been forged,” he said evenly. “Her lineage does not change the pact.”

My voice came out in an icy tone. “She’s not property, and this isn’t the damn Dark Ages. She doesn’t belong to you.”

Lucas stepped forward, face pale but trying to recover. “This summit is not the place for personal disputes…”

“This summit is exactly the place,” I snapped. “You’ve hidden a female of power, and sold her off. To someone with a record of dead mates.”

Kayn narrowed his eyes while Michael leaned in towards me, his voice low as he whispered in my ear. “Sir, we have backup just beyond the ridge. If this escalates…”

“I know.” I muttered under my breath.

Because of course, he’d planned for this. Maybe not this exact scenario, but he knew Lucas was up to something.

Astrid looked at me, really looked. It was like she saw me for the first time. The bond pulsed between us with an electric jolt. She blinked slowly, and I felt her shield around her falter.

I reached for her, not with my hands, but voice. “Astrid.”

She shivered.

Lucas interrupted, his voice stiff. “She is under the guardianship of this pack. We have every right to decide…”

“You forfeited that right, the moment you hid her.”

The energy in the room shifted. Every wolf in attendance could feel the truth hanging in the air. Even the Elders weren’t quick to defend Lucas now.

I stepped forward again, taking slow deliberate steps forward. I was giving her the choice to run if she wanted. I didn’t want to drag her, or claim her by force. This had to be her choice.

“Astrid,” I said again, my voice soft now. I addressed only her. “You feel it too. Don’t you?”

Tears brimmed in her brown eyes.

“Yes.”

The people in the room let out a breath, it was like the room itself exhaled. Bane went still in my head finally, but I could feel his joy. She said yes. She chose us.

I didn’t hesitate. I crossed the remaining space between us and reached for her hand.

Her skin was warm, and she was trembling but when our fingers touched, the mate bond surged like lightning. A golden light shimmered briefly where our hands met, flickering around the chamber before it vanished.

Someone gasped, and the Elders exchanged stunned, silent glances.

“This is sealed,” Mark murmured, almost in awe. “This is fated, and marked by a power we no longer understand.”

Kayn didn’t speak. He simply turned and walked out of the room. His silence was more ominous than any threat he could have said.

Lucas started after him, but not before casting a glare at me so sharp that it could have drawn blood. Luna Arielle said nothing, her eyes were locked on Astrid’s hand, still collapsed in mine.