The Lethal Luna

Disloyalty

SOPHIA

After the incident in the training yard, the harem’s usual whispers turned into cautious murmurs. I could feel their eyes on me wherever I went.

The whispers started the moment I returned to the harem, blood drying on my back, eyes still glowing faintly. The other women moved aside like I was a leper. Mira’s sneer was still there, but her silence was louder than any insult she could spit. No one dared to touch me.

Even the guards kept their distance now. I saw it in the way they avoided my gaze, how their hands lingered near their weapons, unsure if they should bow or bind me.

I became an asset.

That was the word I heard murmured from a passing servant’s mouth before she realized I was close enough to hear. An asset. No longer a threat or a prisoner. Something they wanted to use but didn’t know how.

Beta Darren showed up the next day with his cold eyes, hard expression, always watching but never speaking unless he had to. He simply stood, arms crossed, studying me like a riddle no one had solved yet.

He followed me during meals. Walked a few steps behind me in the garden. Stood across the courtyard while I was forced to pretend I was resting and not plotting escape.

I got the message: Rory had sent him. The Alpha wasn’t done with me, he was just changing tactics.

Fine, let him watch. I had nothing to hide yet.

It was just past dusk when Caelan Rydir showed up at the harem gates.

The guards shifted on their feet, uncertain. No one told us anything, but I could tell by the way Mira straightened her robe and tucked her hair behind one ear that this wasn’t a usual visit. Most men who came to the harem wore smug faces or kept their eyes low. Caelan walked in like the space owed him something, like even the walls recognized him.

He wasn’t like Rory. Where Rory’s presence coiled like a whip behind your spine, Caelan moved like the wind. In a casual, careless and dangerously curious manner. His blond hair was tousled like he’d run a hand through it too many times, and his smile came easy, like mischief sat on his tongue.

He strolled past Mira without so much as a glance and stopped right in front of me.

“So you’re the infamous Luna,” he said.

I didn’t respond. I just stared at him, arms crossed, chin tilted. I’d learned early that silence often told more than words ever could. Calling me a Luna in front of Mira was enough to earn him a death squint from her.

He grinned wider. “Didn’t think you’d be taller.”

I c****d an eyebrow. “Didn’t think you’d be shorter.”

He laughed and it was a real one. He looked around the cold, candle-lit hall and dropped onto the bench across from me, like we were friends sharing a drink instead of two strangers on opposite ends of power.

He reached into his coat and pulled out something wrapped in cloth. I tensed for a weapon. Instead, it was… a pastry.

“Try it. The bakery near the market just got a new vendor. It is apricot and ginger,” he said. “Couldn’t carry it in front of Darren. He’d have scowled a hole through my head.”

I didn’t move. “And why would you want to give me sweets?”

He shrugged, unbothered. “Curiosity. Everyone’s terrified of you. Makes me want to know why. I heard you took on the whole army of Widow’s Peak, I missed the fight, was too busy hunting.”

I took the pastry. Not because I trusted him because I wanted to see what he’d do when I did. It was warm and soft. The ginger hit first then came the apricot, thick and golden like sunlight in spring. I chewed slowly, never breaking eye contact.

Caelan leaned forward, elbows on his knees, voice dropping. “You don’t act like someone broken. That scares them more than anything.”

I didn’t reply. But something flickered behind his eyes when I didn’t look away. A ripple of guilt, maybe. Or something else. He hid it quickly behind another grin.

He talked for a while. Stories about his childhood in the woods near Widow’s Peak. About border patrols, rogue skirmishes, and once finding a hawk with a broken wing that he nursed back to health. His tone was light, but his words were careful. I listened closely, every detail could be useful.

When he stood to leave, I said nothing. I just waited.

Then, just before stepping away, I leaned in and said softly, “You are the better looking brother.”

His eyes widened, and there it was, a faint red blooming across his cheekbones.

He chuckled, flustered but pleased. “I see why Rory keeps you under lock. Is it true you broke three ribs when they tried to capture you?” he asked, dropping onto the bench beside me.

“Five,” I said without looking up. “And I didn’t even shift.”

He laughed, the sound echoing too loudly in the cold stone harem. A few of the women glanced over. Mira didn’t even try to hide her scowl. I met her stare and held it until she looked away.

Caelan leaned in slightly, voice lower. “You shouldn’t provoke her.”

“I don’t provoke,” I said. “I exist. That’s enough.”

He grinned. “Fair.”

I pressed. “Why did you come here?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Should I stop?”

“I didn’t say that.” I paused. “But you know your brother won’t approve.”

Caelan looked away then, his smile faltering for the first time. “Rory doesn’t approve of a lot of things. Doesn’t mean he’s right.”

That flicker of doubt, it was real. I saw it. I tucked it away like a blade in my boot.

He turned to leave, but I was already watching the upper balcony. And that’s when I saw Rory. Leaning against the railing above, arms folded, eyes like glaciers locking onto mine.

He had been watching the entire time.

My spine straightened. My skin burned under his stare. I didn’t look away.

~

The summons came that night, just before the candles burned low.

Two guards entered the harem. They were silent, armoured, and gave no explanation. The others scurried away like mice before the hawk. Mira tried to pretend she wasn’t watching, but her eyes were sharp with curiosity. I didn’t ask questions. I just stood, let them flank me, and walked without hesitation.

The halls of Widow’s Peak stretched long and cold, stone biting against my bare feet. The deeper we went, the more I could feel Rory’s presence, the dominance that stained the very walls.

The guards didn’t speak as they opened the heavy double doors to the Alpha’s chambers.

The room was bathed in firelight. Gold and amber flickered against dark stone, furs lined the floor. A massive desk of carved blackwood stood in the corner, strewn with scrolls, maps, and a decanter of something dark and strong.

And Rory stood beside the hearth, sleeves rolled to the elbow, shirt open at the throat.

He didn’t look up immediately. Instead, he poured himself a drink, took a slow sip, then turned to face me with those ice-pale eyes that always saw too much.

“I see Caelan’s found a new hobby,” he said.

His tone was calm, casual even. But it was a calm that crackled beneath the surface, like snow before a storm.

I didn’t respond. I stood still, chin high, meeting his gaze with my own.

“You entertained him,” he said.

I raised a brow. “If talking is entertainment, your standards must be low.”

He walked toward me, slow and deliberate. Each step felt like a warning.

“You smiled at him.”

I didn’t remember smiling, but I didn’t deny it.

“He shared food with you.”

“Is that a crime now?” I asked coolly.

He stopped inches away from me. I could feel the heat of him; his anger, his possessiveness, the conflict clawing beneath his calm.

“You belong to me,” he said.

Those words lit something inside me, a flicker of the wildfire that never died.

“I belong to no one,” I said.

He stared at me for a long time. Then, without warning, he reached up and brushed a strand of hair from my face. His fingers were rough, calloused, but gentle like a man who didn’t know how to be soft and hated himself for trying.

His voice dropped like a promise. “Disloyalty comes at a cost here.”

I saw something that twisted and restrained in his gaze, a man at war with himself.

I tilted my head. “Then punish me.”

He didn’t move.

I stepped closer. “Go on. Whip me and lock me up. Show everyone you’re still greater than the monster they fear.”

His jaw clenched. His breath hitched but just barely. He turned sharply, walked to the desk, and slammed the glass down so hard it cracked.

“You’ll stay away from Caelan,” he said without turning.

I let the silence stretch.

Then I said, “Or what?”

He didn’t answer and that silence said everything.