Black Luna

Chapter 6

The forest was quiet except for the crunch of dried leaves beneath Lia’s weary steps. Her heart was still unsteady from the conversation she’d had with the strange man,Varian, the wizard who had revealed truths she didn’t even know how to process.

His words clung to her like chains and wings all at once.

You are no mistake, Lia. You are a Shapeshifter. Your power is bound, but it waits for the blood or heart of your mate to awaken.

The memory of his silver eyes lingered, mysterious and unsettling. Her mate. The word itself burned in her chest, filling her with equal parts fear and hope. What if she never found him? What if he rejected her the way her own pack had? Or worse… what if her mate turned out to be someone like Alpha Kieran, who only saw her as a tool for his ambitions?

Her body ached with every step, but her heart carried a heavier burden. She wanted to keep running far away from packs, curses, and Alphas who thought they owned her but where would she go? She had no home. No family. Even her own blood had turned away.

So she did the only thing she knew how to do.

She walked back to the one place she swore she wouldn’t return to, Alpha Kieran’s pack.

The night air was cold, brushing against her damp cheeks where tears had dried. The moonlight streamed faintly through the branches, casting shifting shadows across her path. Each step closer to Kieran’s territory filled her with a gnawing dread.

He doesn’t see me as a person. He sees me as blood. As power.

But even knowing that truth, she could not deny what she’d felt earlier when he had ordered his warriors to treat her gently, to let her rest. There had been something in his voice something soft buried beneath the steel. Could it have been genuine? Or was it just another part of his mask?

Lia hugged her arms to herself, her thoughts tangling like roots. The wizard’s warning battled with her desperation for a place to belong. Perhaps here, at least, she wouldn’t have to fight against the daily torment she endured in her old pack. Perhaps she could carve out some space for herself, even if it was dangerous.

And yet… his words returned again.

The blood or heart of your mate.

Her pulse quickened. Was Alpha Kieran her mate? The thought terrified her, because if it were true, then the man who could unlock her power was also the man who wanted to use her for his own gain.

She swallowed hard as the grand pack house came into view through the trees. Torches burned along the path, lighting the stone steps that led to the entrance. The air seemed thicker here, humming with dominance and power that pressed against her skin.

Lia slowed her steps, nerves tightening in her stomach. She adjusted her torn dress, brushed dirt from her knees, and tried to steady her breathing. The last thing she wanted was to walk back into this place looking broken.

She was halfway up the steps when a voice cut through the night.

“Where have you been?”

The tone was low. Sharp. Demanding.

Lia froze, her heart leaping painfully into her throat.

There he was.

Alpha Kieran.

He stood at the top of the steps, tall and imposing, his broad frame draped in a dark tunic that blended with the shadows. His hair caught the faint glow of the torches, and his eyes those piercing storm-grey eyes fixed on her with the intensity of a predator cornering prey.

Her legs trembled, but she forced herself to stand straighter. She had run from him once already; she couldn’t let him see how weak she still felt.

“I asked you a question, Lia.” His voice was calm, but underneath it was a growl, a warning. “Where were you?”

Her lips parted, but no sound came. Should she tell him the truth? That she had run into the woods, that she had met a wizard who claimed she was more than she’d ever believed? No. She couldn’t. Not now. Not when she didn’t even understand it herself.

“I… I just needed some air,” she whispered, lowering her gaze. “I couldn’t breathe inside.”

Kieran stepped forward, closing the distance between them in long strides. The heat of his presence wrapped around her like fire. He tilted his head, studying her face as if searching for cracks in her words.

“Air?” he echoed, his voice soft but dangerous. “You disappeared for hours. My warriors couldn’t find you. Do you know what happens to wolfless girls who wander into the woods alone at night?”

Lia’s throat tightened. She knew. Rogues, rival packs, creatures darker than wolves. But she had faced something far scarier tonight, the truth of who she was.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured, her voice breaking despite her effort to sound strong. “I didn’t mean to cause trouble.”

Kieran’s eyes narrowed. He reached out suddenly, gripping her chin with his strong hand and forcing her to meet his gaze. Her breath hitched at the contact. His touch was firm, almost rough, yet it didn’t hurt, what unsettled her more was the way her skin burned beneath his fingers, as if her body recognized something her mind refused to.

“Trouble,” he repeated slowly, his thumb brushing the edge of her jaw. “That’s all anyone says you are. A curse. A mistake. A burden.”

His words cut deep, slicing into wounds that had never healed. But his eyes… his eyes didn’t hold disgust. They held something else. Something she couldn’t decipher.

“But I don’t believe in mistakes,” he added after a pause, his voice dropping lower. “Everything has a purpose. Even you.”

Lia’s heart pounded. Was this the same man who had told his Beta she was only an asset? The same man who planned to use her blood for power? Why did his words now feel like both a knife and a lifeline?

She opened her mouth, desperate to respond, to demand what he truly meant, but before she could, a sharp voice broke the tension.

“Alpha Kieran!”

They both turned. One of the guards approached, bowing quickly. “Scouts report a presence at the edge of the eastern border. A strange energy. Not wolves.”

Lia’s stomach twisted. Varian.

Kieran’s grip on her chin loosened, but his gaze lingered on her, unreadable and heavy with questions. He finally released her, stepping back.

“Go inside,” he ordered, his tone brooking no argument. “Rest. And do not leave this house again without my permission.”

Lia hesitated. She wanted to protest, to ask him why he cared, to demand if he truly meant what he said about her having a purpose. But the authority in his voice made her legs move before her mind could catch up.

She walked past him, every nerve in her body on fire, and slipped into the pack house.

But as the door closed behind her, her thoughts were anything but calm.

His words. His touch. The wizard’s warning. The talk of mates and power. It was too much, too fast.

Still, one truth clawed at her heart.

If Alpha Kieran was her mate, then he held both the power to save her… and the power to destroy her.

And judging by the way his eyes had burned into hers tonight, she feared he might just do both.