His Possessive Luna

Planning An Alliance

Chapter 4 — Jane's POV (edited)

The shopping wipes me out. Once home, I go straight to my room and run a bath, spending nearly an hour just soaking.

After, I dress in a white shirt and denim shorts and head to the living room, asking Stella, our house help, for coffee. I drink far too much of it, but some habits can't be helped.

Sipping my cup, I hear muffled voices from Dad's office — an argument. After a while, the door opens and Uncle James steps out, Dad right behind him.

"Good evening, Uncle."

"Good evening, young lady. How's school going?"

"Pretty good."

"I hear it's almost over."

"Just a few more months."

"Enjoy it while it lasts. Soon enough you'll have plenty of responsibilities to carry."

"Okay," I say, confused. Does Uncle know I want to start my own business? Not that it matters yet — first I need to get into a good university, and I'm trying hard to land one of the best in the world.

Before leaving, Uncle turns to Dad. "Think about it. It'll be good for the pack, for everyone. We need this alliance. And double-check the security arrangements — the Blood Moon is coming. Everything has to be flawless. We don't want to upset them. Try to impress them."

"I've already handled the arrangements," Dad answers. "And you'd better find another route for that alliance. I won't agree to it. It's not as critical as you're making it out to be."

"What alliance? With who?" I ask.

Dad brushes past it. "Pack business."

"Pack business that's costing you your actual business," I say. "When was the last time you even went to your office? The pack isn't your job — it's his. If he can't handle it, he should hand the post to someone who can."

I can tell Dad isn't thrilled I said that about Uncle James, but it makes me furious that Dad ends up doing everyone's job while Uncle James coasts.

"Focus on your studies if you want Harvard," Dad says. "Tell your mom I can't make dinner. Work, and a meeting."

"Okay. Hopefully something to do with you, and not the pack."

"We're part of the pack. We're nothing without it. Your pack is your family — everything. You don't survive without it."

"Humans don't have packs and they survive fine. This whole hierarchy thing feels ancient. Who needs an Alpha, or pack alliances? Everyone can manage on their own. Sometimes I wish I were human — no Alpha, no submitting to someone just because of who they were born to."

"Not the equality speech again. I'm late. See you later. And remember — for a werewolf, the pack is everything."

"Got it."

"Dad, one more thing — why is everyone so obsessed with impressing the Blood Moon?"

"It's good for the pack, love."

"Right. The pack. How could I forget. But logically — they live on the other side of the world, they have every resource they need, and we don't have anything worth plundering. No billionaires here except you. If they wanted our territory, it's too far to hold onto. It's a lot of risk for a pack with an old name and not much else. But I guess you can never predict people."

After dinner, Dad and Mom disappear into his office again. More muffled arguing. I want to listen at the door but decide against it.

The door opens. Mom storms out. "I will never let anyone make her life's decisions for the sake of the pack!" she shouts, clearly crying now. "It's her choice, not ours. You're not the Alpha — this isn't your call to make, and this alliance isn't as necessary as everyone claims." She heads to her room.

I look at Dad. He looks wrecked — exhausted, guilty, silent.

"What's going on? Are you making me part of some deal? You told me you'd always stand by me. How could you agree to an alliance without telling me? How, Dad?" I'm crying now, and I leave for my room before he can answer.

My whole world feels like it's shattered. So many plans, gone in one evening. My own father — how could he do this? He promised Uncle he wouldn't agree to it. So why is he talking it over with Mom now, if nothing's changed?

Something happened in that meeting. That's the only explanation. I've never felt this powerless in my life.

I sit on my bedroom floor, back against the door, crying until I have nothing left. This morning I was an independent she-wolf with nothing to worry about. Tonight, I'm just a line item in a pack deal.

My alarm goes off. I haven't slept at all. I drag myself to the shower, hoping it helps even a little, then dress in black and head down for school. Before I make it out the door, Mom stops me, begging me to eat breakfast.

Seriously — after last night, they expect me to have an appetite? My brothers are fighting as usual, oblivious to everything.

No one talks until we're done eating, though none of us actually eat much. Once my brothers leave for school, Mom finally speaks.

"We talked it over last night. It's for your own good. We'd never make a decision meant to hurt you."

Then stop making this one, I think.

"Your father met with the elders yesterday. They believe it's very unlikely you'll ever shift. And if you don't shift by your eighteenth birthday, no one will accept you as a mate, and—" she pauses, sighing— "you could become an outcast."

I try to stay composed, though I'm close to losing it entirely. I'm the firstborn. If I'd shifted, I would have been in line to lead the pack one day. Uncle James has no children, so Dad's firstborn was meant to inherit. I trained for that my whole childhood — but after I failed to shift at sixteen, that focus shifted to my brothers. I was never bothered by losing the succession. But being handed off in an alliance, without a say? That's different.

"How could you make the most important decision of my life without even asking me?"

"I know it's how our pack works," I continue, "but I'm not an ordinary wolf. I have an Alpha's instincts. I can't submit — even if I wanted to. It's not in my nature."

"And if I never shift — which you're already saying is likely — what then? Does my mate reject me and cast me out?"

"No, he won't do anything like that," Mom says. "We already told them everything, and they're fine with it. Actually, they proposed the alliance."

"You'll be a Luna regardless of whether you shift," Dad adds. "Try to look at this with an open mind."

"So which pack, and who exactly is my chosen mate?"

"Alpha Gabriel Axe of the Bluemoon Pack," Dad says.

Bluemoon. The third most powerful pack in the world, on another continent entirely. My parents are sending me that far away — to Gabriel, of all people. Everyone knows what he's capable of in a fight. A monster, if I'm being honest.

I roll my eyes and leave for school.

Some alliance Uncle James managed to pull off. Good for him, good for the pack — no one will dare come after us with Bluemoon on our side. Except maybe the Blood Moon. And the Gold Moon. The top two, as everyone calls them.