The Perfect Luna’s Rogue Mate

Chapter 3

Chrystal’s pulse spiked. Darius! He needs to be careful! This rogue is dangerous…I can feel it as sure as I know my own name!

She swallowed, a fresh wave of sweat dabbing her forehead, not from the heat of the bond, but from the new panic in her mind as she watched the rogue watch her…and her prince.

Castian’s cold gaze did not waver as he held both her and Darius in his sights. Chrystal lifted her chin and raised her voice, forcing a calmness she did not feel.

“I hope you have a better plan than just showing up and hoping for the best,” she said evenly, her voice carrying clearly across the suddenly quiet gathering.

Castian’s brows lifted in what might have been surprise or approval, and the corners of his lips twitched. He eyed her slowly without saying a word, as if she were not worth the effort, or was but a distraction from his true goal.

Then, his eyes shifted to where the Alpha King stood watching from his elevated position. “Alpha Barone!” he called out in his deep, powerful voice, “Is this how you intend to greet your son-in-law?” he called out mockingly with the confidence of a master before servants, the smile on his face widening.

Though it could hardly be called a smile, his expression was more like a dare, his tone beyond disrespectful. It was more than fearlessness; it was more than arrogance. It was too raw, too close to something that reeked of deeply personal, private, secret.

Chrystal would have gaped, but her grooming forbade such expressions.

Around them, the crowd had moved well away from the three young wolves, while warriors had fully surrounded them. But, for all Castian seemed to care, the rogue may as well have been in an empty field staring up at the night sky for all the urgency or disquiet he displayed.

Daruis stepped forward, placing himself between the rogue and his bride, his expression twisted in fury as his face turned red. “Son-in-law? You? A bloody rogue? This is a mistake!” Darius growled.

“Your tongue is quick, little Alpha. Do you feel any bond with the Luna? Hmmm?” Castian retorted wryly, his tone dripping with a disdain that the Noble Alpha did not miss.

“She’s mine!” Darius spat, his piercing blue eyes on Castian, his chest pushing forward, his hand tightening on the hilt of the sword at his side.

The magic disagreed.

Somehow, without anyone noticing, all three wolves were standing within the stone ring, the circle meant for the bonding ceremony. The circling from the warriors, Castian’s approach, and Darius’ threatening steps had kept the three almost in the same place as when the bonding began.

As if in response to Darius’ outburst, the runes on the ground flared red, completing the bonding process and binding Chrystal and Castian’s fates together. Both wolves staggered.

Castian hissed quietly and grunted, and his storm-grey eyes immediately darted from Darius to Chyrstal’s pale face. Chrystal’s lips parted slightly as she breathed out silently, steadying herself. She swallowed deeply, grinding her teeth as she forced herself to remain upright.

Her eyes were closed as she controlled her breathing.

“Kill him!” Darius bellowed with the fury of a wolf who saw his entire future crumbling before his eyes, and Chrystal’s eyes shot open.

“No!”

“No!”

She and her father called out at the same time. Darius’ head snapped back to Chrystal and immediately to the Alpha King, who remained motionless, watching the events before him with continued composure.

“The bond is formed,” Chrystal rasped as her heart hammered against her chest. “Any attack risks both our lives through the mate connection," she continued, explaining the situation for Darius’ benefit.

“Clever girl,” Castian murmured under his breath, though whether in approval or mockery, Chyrstal would never know. Her jaw clenched as she held back a retort.

Darius' eyes narrowed, then snapped to Castian. “She is MY Luna!” he roared, as if nothing had been said after his kill command, his voice growing more heated with each word as denial warred with the evidence of his own senses.

“This is some trick! You have used some rogue magic!” Darius continued, his words shooting like arrows at the intruder’s mind.

“I?” Castian droned, his eyebrow rising again, his tone rich with condescending amusement as he regarded the younger wolf with the kind of patience usually reserved for entertaining children. “When? How?” he remarked encouragingly, as if urging a pup to explain its reasoning.

“That –”

“That is you and your people’s play, surely,” Castian continued, cutting Darius off, with the casual authority of someone accustomed to controlling conversations and commanding attention, his eyes gliding to Alpha Mason, his tone laced with hidden meaning.

The Alpha King did not bat an eye. Again, Chrystal felt the discomfort of something shared between the rogue and the King.

“Why are you here?!” Chrystal snarled, her eyes flashing, pulling Castian’s attention away from her family and her betrothed. The weight of her training as pack mother, peacekeeper, the voice of reason, kicking in, keeping the man whom the gods had declared to be her mate, focused on her rather than letting his attention spread to multiple targets.

This isn't how it was supposed to be. Darius is supposed to be my mate, my Alpha. We were supposed to be happy. Chrystal railed in her mind, even as she glowered at the interloper whose life was now tied to hers.

Her mind raced again as her father’s voice floated across the field.

“What is your mission here, rogue?” The King’s deep voice rolled over the gathering like thunder, promising a storm to come, the Alpha King doing the same as his daughter, drawing the invader’s attention to himself.

“Is your plan to walk in here, take my daughter’s hand, and be welcomed back into our fold?” his tone one of absolute indifference.

Castian’s eyes snapped back to the Alpha King as he took two steps toward the dais that was much too far away; the lazy, distant expression that had characterized his behavior since stepping into view now replaced by something far more dangerous as the rogue faced the King with a wide-eyed, almost feverish glare.

Chrystal stared, her mind racing once again as different emotions hit her from all sides. Her own, her father’s, her intended mate, and her supposed mate.

Her supposed mate’s feelings stood out among all others. Thanks to the mystical link that had now formed, she could feel his emotions, almost as if they were her own.

He is angry! No. He is enraged! He is barely holding back…but why? What did Father say to cause such a violent response?

Her hand moved absently to her chest as she watched her ‘mate’, her heart pounding against her chest – just as his must be; her breathing raspy – just as his should be; yet, only his eyes revealed any of the chaos inside him.