The Luna They Sold To The Enemy

The first time my husband sold me, I was wearing the dress I’d bought for our seventh mating anniversary. Dark blue silk. Silver embroidery. The same colour Darius once said made my eyes look like moonlit water. I’d spent three hours getting ready. He’d spent the morning negotiating my price. “Under the terms of the peace treaty,” Elder Marcus announced, “Silvercrest Pack agrees to surrender its Luna to the Kingdom of Blackthorn.” The council chamber fell silent. I waited for someone to laugh. To explain that this was some terrible misunderstanding. Nobody did. At the head of the crescent-shaped table sat my husband, Alpha Darius Blackwell. He wouldn’t look at me. “Darius?” He continued studying the document before him. “Elder Marcus,” I said, forcing my voice to remain steady, “would you repeat that?” The old wolf adjusted his spectacles. “Blackthorn will withdraw its forces from our northern border and forgive Silvercrest’s outstanding war indemnities. In exchange, King Kael Draven will receive custody of our Luna.” Our Luna. Me. I turned toward Darius. “Tell them there’s been a mistake.” He finally raised his eyes. “There is no mistake, Seraphina.” Something cold settled beneath my ribs. “What?” “The treaty has been signed.” “By whom?” His jaw tightened. “By me.” I almost laughed. Seven years ago, I’d stood beside this man beneath the sacred moon and promised to love him until death. I’d dressed his wounds after battle. Negotiated with hostile Alphas. Sold two properties inherited from my mother to feed our pack through winter. And now he was telling me he’d given me away? “You’re joking.” “Sit down, Seraphina.” “Answer me.” His expression hardened. “I’ve secured peace for our people.” “By selling your wife?” “Lower your voice.” Those three words struck something painfully familiar inside me. For seven years, I’d lowered my voice. When his mother blamed me for failing to produce an heir. When the pack physician declared my womb too weak to carry a child. When Darius stopped visiting our bed except when duty required it. I’d swallowed every humiliation because I believed marriage meant sacrifice. Apparently, I’d misunderstood whose sacrifice it was supposed to be. “No,” I said. Darius blinked. “No?” “I won’t lower my voice.” Several elders exchanged uneasy glances. I stepped toward the table. “How much?” “What?” “How much debt are they forgiving?” “That information is irrelevant.” “How much, Darius?” Elder Marcus cleared his throat. “Three hundred thousand gold crowns.” My stomach twisted. I knew that debt. I’d spent months negotiating extensions, working until dawn over ledgers while Darius entertained visiting nobles. Three hundred thousand crowns. That was the price of my marriage. “The treaty is final,” Darius said. “You leave tomorrow.” “Without asking me?” “The council has approved it.” “I’m your wife!” “And I’m your Alpha!” His roar shook the chamber. My wolf should have answered his dominance. Most wolves would have instinctively lowered their heads. But my wolf had never awakened. For years, I’d endured whispers about the wolfless Luna. The defective mate. The woman unworthy of an Alpha’s bloodline. I stood perfectly still. Then a familiar voice spoke behind me. “Seraphina, please don’t make this harder.” I turned. Lady Isolde Marrow stood near the doorway, dressed in pale gold silk. My closest friend. The woman who’d held me while I cried after another failed attempt to conceive. She approached with a sympathetic expression. “Darius is doing what’s necessary.” I stared at her. “How long have you known?” Her smile faltered. “Known what?” “About the treaty.” She glanced toward my husband. One tiny movement. But it told me everything. “Three weeks,” she whispered. Three weeks. She’d helped me select my anniversary dress two days ago. “You knew they were sending me away?” “I’m sorry.” Something about her expression disturbed me. Not the apology. The way she looked at Darius afterward. And the way he looked back. I knew that look. Once, he’d looked at me that way. “How long?” I asked. Neither answered. “How long have you been sleeping together?” Isolde’s hand flew to her stomach. The movement was instinctive. Protective. And utterly devastating. I looked at her hand. Then at Darius. “No.” “Seraphina,” he warned. “Tell me I’m wrong.” Isolde’s eyes filled with tears. “I’m four months pregnant.” The room tilted. Four months. Four months of Darius claiming exhaustion. Four months of his perfume carrying unfamiliar floral notes. Four months since he’d told me the physicians recommended that we stop trying for a child. I remembered the bitter medicine delivered to my chambers every morning. The way Darius insisted I drink it. A terrible suspicion flickered through my mind. Had he known? Had they all known? “Congratulations,” I whispered. Isolde began crying. Somehow, that made everything worse. “Please understand. We never meant to hurt you.” I looked at her. “You slept with my husband, became pregnant with his child, and helped him sell me to another kingdom.” She flinched. “Don’t pretend you care about my pain.” “Enough!” Darius snapped. I turned toward him. “So this was always the plan? Remove your barren wife and make your mistress Luna?” “Isolde can give Silvercrest an heir.” The words struck harder than anything he’d said that morning. I stared at him. “You told me it didn’t matter.” His face remained cold. “You said you loved me whether we had children or not.” “Things change.” Two words. Seven years reduced to two words. I reached behind my neck and unclasped the silver crescent pendant he’d given me at our mating ceremony. My fingers shook. I placed it on the table. “Then our marriage means nothing.” Darius glanced at the pendant. For one fleeting second, something moved across his face. Regret, perhaps. Then it vanished. “You’re being dramatic.” “No. I’m finally understanding.” I straightened. “I reject this treaty.” Elder Marcus shifted in his chair. “Luna, the agreement is legally binding.” “Article Nine of the Sacred Covenant forbids the transfer of a free wolf without consent.” His expression changed. I continued before he could interrupt. “Not even an Alpha can surrender his mate as property.” Darius stood. “That law doesn’t apply here.” “Why?” “Because Blackthorn requested you as a political tribute.” “A prettier word for a slave?” “Watch yourself.” “Show me the clause that gives you ownership of my life.” His fist struck the table. “Enough!” I didn’t move. “You’re not taking me anywhere.” Darius stared at me for several seconds. Then he looked toward the doors. “Guards.” Four armed guards entered. My breath caught. “Darius?” “Escort Lady Seraphina to the eastern holding rooms. No visitors until her departure.” The eastern holding rooms. Our prison cells. He’d prepared for my refusal. Everything had been arranged before I entered the chamber. Two guards approached. One was Captain Rellan, whose daughter I’d helped nurse through winter fever. “Please, Luna,” he murmured. “Don’t do this, Rellan.” His eyes lowered. “I’m sorry.” He took my arm. I pulled away. “Don’t touch me!” The second guard seized my wrist. I struggled, my beautiful anniversary dress catching against the table. “Darius!” He turned away. “Please.” I hated myself for begging. But seven years of love couldn’t disappear in a single afternoon. Some foolish part of me still hoped he’d remember the woman he’d once promised to protect. He didn’t even look back. “Take her.” The guards dragged me toward the doors. Behind us, Isolde spoke. “Darling, what about the mating bond?” I froze. Darius answered calmly. “The severance ceremony will take place tonight.” My blood turned cold. Severance. The ritual that tore a mating bond apart. A mutual severance was painful enough. Forced severance could destroy a wolf’s mind, leaving the survivor unable to shift or bond again. “You can’t,” I whispered. Darius finally faced me. “Of course I can.” “Without my consent?” “The council will witness it.” I stared at the elders. Not one protested. “Why?” I asked. Darius picked up the treaty. “King Kael’s representatives made one condition very clear.” My heartbeat pounded. “What condition?” “They won’t accept another Alpha’s bonded mate.” His eyes met mine. “They want you completely unbound.” I felt something inside me fracture. Not my heart. Something deeper. Something buried beneath years of silence. A strange heat spread through my chest. The guards suddenly stiffened. Captain Rellan’s nostrils flared. “Luna?” A low growl echoed inside my skull. I stopped struggling. For twenty-seven years, I’d lived without hearing my wolf. Without feeling her presence. Without knowing whether she existed. But now, in the very moment my husband prepared to destroy our bond, something ancient stirred in the darkness of my mind. A female voice whispered. Let him try. And for the first time in my life, my wolf opened her eyes.