Luna's Odyssey

Chapter 5: The Weak Mate

Asher's POV

“How? How is that even possible?” I thought out loud as I paced back and forth in my room.

The walls felt too close. Too silent.

I paced around the chamber again, my boots scraping against the stone floor. Every breath tasted of smoke and restraint. I could still feel it, that pull, the cruel thread the Moon Goddess had just tied around my throat.

‘How was it even possible that such weakling was my mate?’

‘How could she mock me this way?’

Me, the Alpha of the Blue Moon Pack, fated to her. A wolfless, and ugly mutt. The thought alone disgusted me. The table went crashing over, papers scattering like frightened birds as glass shattered across the floor. My chest heaved, the bitter taste of rage thick on my tongue.

I stopped by the window, staring out into the night. The moon hung low, pale and mocking. I could still see her face in my mind, wide-eyed, trembling, the scent of lavender and rain clinging to her skin like it had every right to haunt me.

A servant.

The Moon Stone’s weakest wolf. I scoffed at the thought.

My jaw tightened until I could taste blood. The memory of her voice, soft, and uncertain, grated against every instinct in me.

The uncertainty in her little voice when she said her name.

My mate.

She wasn’t a fighter. She wasn't beautiful. She wasn’t strong. She wasn’t mine. She could never be mine.

And yet… the bond pulsed again, low and insistent in my chest, as if my own wolf refused to listen.

I pressed a hand over my heart, furious at the heat curling there. “Stop,” I muttered, the word breaking through clenched teeth.

A low rumble stirred in the back of my mind. “Why?” Kai’s voice brushed against my thoughts, sharp, probing, and restless.

“I don’t want this.” I answered curtly but the pull only grew stronger. A faint echo of her fear brushed against my senses through the bond, and my breath hitched before I forced it away.

No. I wouldn’t let her weakness seep into me.

I turned, slamming my palm against the wall hard enough to send a tremor through it. The sound echoed, sharp and final. “The Moon Goddess must be losing her mind,” I muttered.

“She’s ours.”

Kai’s voice was a low growl at the back of my mind, calm but steady enough to set my teeth on edge.

“Don’t start,” I hissed aloud, jaw tightening. “You saw her. You felt it. She’s weak.”

Weak doesn’t mean unworthy.

“It does in my world.”

Kai didn’t answer, but his presence pressed closer, curious, and restless. I could feel the question forming before he even spoke. Then why haven’t you stopped thinking about her?

I stopped pacing. My brow arched slightly as my temper flashed hot under my skin.

“Because the bond won’t shut up,” I snapped. “It’s forcing me to feel what I don’t want to.”

Liar.

The word rippled through me, soft but sharp enough to cut.

I exhaled through my nose as I let out a humourless sound. “You’re testing me, wolf?”

Kai’s chuckle was low, fading like smoke. “You’re testing yourself.”

I ran a hand through my hair, my jaw tight as I let out a frustrated groan.

‘How could the Moon Goddess curse me like this?’ I thought to myself as this question kept lingering in my head.

“No,” I said again, louder this time. “I won’t accept this bond.”

“Never,” I said with finality in my voice.

The Goddess must be laughing right now, pairing me with the one wolf least capable of standing beside me.

A knock at the door broke the silence. I didn’t move.

“Asher,” came Daniel’s voice. It was calm, but it carried that tone he only used when something serious lingered beneath his words. “We need to talk.”

I exhaled sharply as I forced my pulse to steady. “Enter,” I said, it was more of a command than an invitation.

Daniel stepped inside, his gaze sweeping the room before settling on me. He didn’t look surprised.

“I heard what happened in the hall,” he started. “You felt it, didn’t you?”

I didn't answer him. My silence was the answer he needed.

His mouth curved slightly, though there was no humor in it. “Then we have a problem.”

I let out a short, sharp and bitter laugh. “A problem? The Moon Goddess just bound me to the weakest wolf I have ever encountered. That's more than a problem.”

Daniel folded his arms, studying me with that irritating calm of his. “And yet here you are, losing control over her. For someone you claim means nothing.”

I glared at him coldly. “Watch your words Daniel.”

“Don’t pretend, Asher. You’re not angry because she’s weak. You’re angry because you felt something. Because you can’t turn it off.”

My wolf stirred at that, and I clenched my jaw so hard that it hurt.

I lifted a brow, as I studied him, a silent demand for him to make sense of whatever nonsense he had just said.

Daniel stepped closer, his voice dropping. “You don’t have to accept her. You have choices.”

That got my attention. “Choices?”

He nodded. “There are ways to test the strength of a mate bond, to see if it can survive rejection. If it can’t, the bond fades. You walk away free.”

Kai bristled in my head. “He means to hurt her.”

I ignored him. “And if it can?”

“Then you’ll know,” Daniel said simply.

A long silence stretched between us. The only sound was the steady pounding of my pulse.

Testing.

It was a dangerous word. It sounded more like a threat than comfort. But freedom… for my freedom, it was worth the risk.

My gaze shifted to the window. The moon hung high, spilling cold light across the room, the silver glow cutting through the dark like a blade.

Kai prowled at the edges of my mind, clearly uneasy. “You're not thinking clearly.”

“I'm thinking better than ever,” I muttered, making sure my voice was low.

“You'll regret this.”

“Maybe.” I exhaled slowly. “But at least, I'll be free.”

Daniel waited patiently, his arms crossed, and his expression unreadable. “So,” he said finally, “will you stay? To see it through?”

The bond pulsed again, faint, and stubborn. I swallowed the growl threatening to rise.

I turned to face him as I had already made my decision. The weight of it didn't scare me. What scared me was the faint tug inside me, the bond pulsing again as if it already knew I had chosen the wrong path.

Kai’s voice was a little more than a whisper now. “You’re walking toward something you can’t undo.”

“Then I shall deal with it when it comes.”

Daniel gave a slow nod, something almost like satisfaction flickering behind his calm eyes. “Then it is settled. You will remain here. The tests begin soon.”

I didn’t respond. I fixed my gaze on the shattered pieces of glass glinting under the moonlight. For a moment, I could almost see my reflection there, fractured, scattered, broken into a thousand pieces I no longer recognized.

The air in the room became tense. The burden in my chest heavier. The scent of lavender and rain whispered faintly through the air again, reminding me that the bond, no matter how much I despised it, was still alive.

I turned back to Daniel, my decision final.

“I will stay,” I said, the words cold and certain. “Let’s see if the bond survives the testing.”