Wolfbound: The Alpha's Chosen Mate

Chapter 12

Emilia stood in the middle of her new quarters while two maids moved around her, arranging the last of her belongings.

It was strange watching her life being unpacked like this. Clothes she had once folded into a small bag were now being placed inside a wardrobe larger than the room she had grown up in.

Her books were arranged on shelves, her shoes lined neatly beneath them.

Everything looked beautiful. Everything looked like it belonged to someone important.

Emilia still felt like the girl who had spent years being reminded that she was only an omega.

“Luna, would you like this placed here?” one of the maids asked, holding up a small framed picture.

Emilia looked at it and nodded. “Yes. There, please.”

The maid obeyed.

Emilia watched her for a moment before turning toward the mirror. Her reflection stared back at her.

There was nothing particularly different about her face. She still had the same hazel eyes, the same deep auburn hair, the same soft curves she had spent years learning to hate because other people had taught her to.

Yet everything around her had changed.

Luna. The word still felt absurd.

Six months ago, she had been an omega hiding beneath the name Emira, working in a hospital because she needed somewhere she could be useful. She had been content with being unnoticed. It had been easier that way.

Before that, she had been Kael's mate. Or at least, she had believed she would become his Luna.

She remembered how much she had once imagined it. The dresses. The ceremonies. Standing beside him while their pack recognised her as their future queen.

She had thought becoming Luna would finally prove that she was enough.

Instead, Kael had looked at her body and decided she wasn't worthy of standing beside him.

Emilia's fingers curled against the fabric of her leggings.

She had spent so long thinking she had lost something that belonged to her. Now she was actually a Luna. And she had never been less prepared for it.

Her eyes moved toward the small crown sitting on the dressing table. Draven had placed it on her head himself.

The memory came back more vividly than she expected.

His hand had been steady when he lowered the crown onto her hair. His stormy eyes had remained fixed on her, unreadable enough to make her wonder what had been happening behind them.

She had been terrified. Yet beneath the fear had been something else. Something she still didn't know how to name.

Emilia quickly looked away.

Why had he chosen her?

He had told her the Moon Goddess had chosen for them. They were mates, and apparently that was enough reason for an Alpha King to place a crown on the head of a woman he had barely spoken to for six months.

But was it really only the Moon Goddess?

Her stomach fluttered at the thought.

Had Draven wanted her? Even a little?

"No," she whispered to herself.

One of the maids glanced at her.

Emilia immediately shook her head. “Nothing.”

She couldn't afford to think like that.

Draven was her Alpha. Her mate. Her king. That didn't mean he had feelings for her.

And she certainly wasn't going to make the mistake of believing a man's interest meant she was finally desirable.

She had done that once. It had nearly destroyed her.

“Luna, breakfast has been served.”

Emilia nodded and followed the maid toward the small dining area attached to her quarters.

The table had been prepared with far more food than she could possibly eat. Fresh fruit, eggs, bread, meat, pastries and a warm drink sat neatly arranged before her.

She stared at it. She wasn't hungry.

Still, she picked up a piece of bread and forced herself to take a bite.

Her thoughts immediately returned to Alira.

The poison. The missing servants. The needle mark beneath the Queen Mother's wrist.

Emilia swallowed slowly.

Someone had been close enough to Alira to inject her repeatedly.

Someone she trusted. Someone who knew her routine. Someone who could enter her private quarters without immediately raising suspicion.

And three people from her household had disappeared. That couldn't be a coincidence.

Emilia pushed the food around her plate.

Then another thought surfaced.

Her wolf. Solara.

Her chest tightened.

She closed her eyes briefly, reaching inward the way she had learned to do after Solara awakened.

There was no voice, no presence and even no warmth. Just silence.

Emilia opened her eyes again.

How was she supposed to be Luna when she couldn't even hear her own wolf?

The palace expected her to lead wolves who could hear things she couldn't. She was supposed to sense emotions, communicate mentally, understand pack dynamics and stand beside Draven as an equal.

What happened when someone discovered she was still effectively wolf-less?

Her hand tightened around the edge of the table.

Would they laugh?

Would they call her cursed?

Would they decide Kael had been right?

Emilia pushed the thought away before it could settle. She had survived worse than whispers. But she couldn't deny that the silence hurt.

She had barely experienced Solara before losing her again.

For one brief moment, she had known what it felt like to have someone inside her mind. Someone who belonged only to her. Now there was nothing.

Emilia looked down at her untouched breakfast.

“Come back,” she whispered.

She wasn't sure whether she was speaking to Solara or begging the Moon Goddess herself. But there was no answer.

___

Across the palace, Draven sat behind his desk with a file open before him. Jaxon sat opposite him. Neither had slept enough to pretend they weren't exhausted, but neither mentioned it.

The events of the morning had left no room for rest.

“Start with the Queen Mother's personal maid,” Draven ordered.

Jaxon glanced down at his notes.

“Liora has served your mother for twelve years. She was in the garden with her this morning until Alira complained of dizziness. Liora went inside to get water. When she returned, your mother was already collapsing.”

Draven's expression remained cold.

“Did she touch her?”

“Only after she collapsed.”

“Anyone else?”

“Two guards were nearby. Neither saw anyone approach.”

Draven's fingers tapped once against the desk.

“Next.”

Jaxon turned a page.

“Her chambermaids have been questioned. All of them deny seeing anything unusual.”

“Of course they do.”

Jaxon looked up.

“You think one of them is lying?”

“I think someone is.”

That answer silenced the room. They had questioned everyone individually.

They had checked schedules, movements, access points and even personal relationships within Alira's household.

Nothing connected anyone directly to the poisoning.

No suspicious purchase. No unexplained wealth. No witness. No confession.

And the three missing members remained exactly that.

Jaxon leaned against the edge of the desk.

“The problem is that we can't assume the missing three are responsible.”

Draven's eyes lifted.

“Explain.”

“One of them could have simply panicked after realising they would be questioned. The others might have left for completely unrelated reasons. We have no evidence linking any of them to Black Vein.”

Draven's jaw tightened.

“But their disappearance happened at the same time we discovered the poison.”

“Yes.”

“Which makes it suspicious.”

“Very.”

Draven leaned back.

His mother's unconscious body flashed through his mind.

For years, Alira had been one of the few people he trusted without reservation.

Someone had poisoned her slowly. Someone had entered her room repeatedly. And whoever had done it had been confident enough to believe they would never be caught.

That bothered him more than the poison itself.

“Keep them all under observation,” he ordered. “No one leaves the palace without my permission.”

Jaxon nodded. “Already arranged.”

“And find the missing three.”

“We're searching.”

Draven's eyes hardened.

“I don't want searching, Jaxon. I want them found.”

Jaxon straightened.

“Yes, Alpha.”

A knock interrupted them.

Both men turned.

One of the palace attendants entered and bowed.

“Alpha.”

Draven's expression returned to its usual coldness.

“What?”

“There's a message concerning Luna Emira.”

His attention sharpened immediately.

“What message?”

The attendant hesitated briefly.

“The palace council has requested her presence.”

Draven's brows drew together.

“For what?”

“They want to begin her public introduction as Luna. Several senior members of the court believe she should start appearing beside you during official matters.”

Jaxon's eyes flickered toward Draven. Draven didn't answer immediately.

The thought of Emilia standing before the council so soon after everything that had happened irritated him more than it should have.

She had barely become Luna. She had discovered his mother's poisoning. She had helped save her.

And now the palace wanted to parade her before people who were already waiting for her to fail.

“Who sent the request?”

“The council secretary, Alpha.”

Draven's gaze remained hard.

“Tell them she'll attend.”

The attendant bowed.

“Yes, Alpha.”

As he turned to leave, Draven stopped him.

“Wait.”

The man froze.

“If anyone makes her feel as though she needs to prove she deserves the crown, they answer to me.”

Jaxon remained silent. The attendant lowered his head.

“Understood, Alpha.”

He left, and the door closed.

Jaxon stared at Draven for a moment. Draven noticed it.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“Then don't look at me like that.”

Jaxon's mouth twitched faintly before he returned to the papers.

Draven ignored him. Yet his mind had already returned to Emilia.

The way she had looked when she first heard the word, Luna.

The uncertainty. The stubbornness. The way she had still stepped forward when everyone else had been too afraid to question the doctors.

She didn't understand her own strength. And perhaps that was what worried him.

Emilia had barely finished drinking her tea when there was another knock.

One of her maids opened the door. A palace attendant stood outside.

“Luna Emira.”

Emilia immediately looked up.

“Yes?”

He bowed.

“The palace council requests your presence.”

Her fingers stopped around the cup.

“The council?”

“Yes, Luna. They wish to formally begin introducing you to the court and the pack as Queen Luna.”

Emilia stared at him.

Already?

She had expected there would be some ceremony eventually, but she hadn't expected it to happen so quickly.

Her gaze drifted toward the crown sitting across the room. A strange pressure settled inside her chest.

This wasn't simply a title anymore. People would be watching her and judging her.

Waiting to see whether the omega who had once been rejected by Kael was worthy of standing beside an Alpha King.

And she still couldn't hear her wolf. Emilia slowly stood.

“All right.”

The attendant bowed again.

“I'll accompany you.”

Emilia glanced at her reflection once more before following him.

She didn't feel ready. But perhaps being Luna wasn't about waiting until she felt ready.

Perhaps she would have to learn while everyone watched.

And somewhere deep inside her, beneath the silence where Solara should have been, Emilia desperately hoped her wolf would return before the palace discovered just how vulnerable their new Luna truly was.