Luna's Moon

Chapter Ten

After my little bathroom pep talk, I straightened my dress, smoothed my expression, and returned to the cabin. My pulse had slowed, but only just.

Aurelian was on the phone when I stepped back in. He sat with his body tense, one hand gripping the device so tightly it looked like it might shatter in his grasp. His jaw was locked, his voice sharp and cold.

"I’ll handle it," he snapped, the command in his tone leaving no room for argument.

As I slid into the seat opposite the aisle from him, he threw me a quick glance—nothing lingering, but enough to send a ripple through me. When the call ended, he exhaled slowly and closed his eyes, as if trying to pull himself back from the edge of something dark.

And then, the thought came, uninvited but sharp.

“Is it about the deaths?” I asked quietly.

They were human deaths—gruesome, unexplained. But part of the Agreement was protection. They were supposed to keep us safe, especially from their own kind.

Aurelian’s eyes snapped open, narrowing just slightly. “What do you know about the deaths?”

I swallowed, licking my lips before answering. His gaze flicked to my mouth—sharp and immediate—before returning to my eyes.

“I watch the news,” I said, holding his stare for a heartbeat too long.

“Yes, it is,” he replied, voice tight. And that was all he offered.

Something told me that was all I was going to get. I turned my head, looking away before I got pulled into the weight of his gaze again.

The plane touched down with a soft jolt, and moments later, we were descending the stairs. Aurelian’s hand found the small of my back as he guided me out, his touch firm but not forceful—just enough to remind me of his presence. I didn’t lean into it, but I didn’t pull away either.

On the tarmac, three sleek black cars waited for us, engines idling. His four men stood nearby, sharp-eyed and immaculately dressed, just as they always were. Aurelian led me straight to them.

“This is David, Isaac, Matt, and Coby,” he said, pointing each one out in turn. They gave respectful nods, synchronized and precise, and I returned a slight bow of my own.

“Since we’ll be spending a lot of time together, Luna,” Aurelian added, glancing sideways at me, “you should know who’s protecting you.”

“For work,” I clarified, arching a brow.

He smirked, lips tugging into something far too amused. He looked way too good doing it too “Sure.”

There it was again—his ability to blur the line between professional and personal with nothing more than a word. But wait, protect me?...From what?.

A sudden, deafening bang shattered the calm, jolting me like a live wire had been pressed to my spine.

I spun around, heart racing, just in time to see a tall, blonde-haired man striding toward us with a thick iron rod gripped tightly in his hand. Behind him, two massive wolves padded silently across the tarmac, their snarls low and menacing. Their eyes locked on me, teeth bared and ready.

It wasn’t my first time seeing a wolf—I had one as a friend, dated two—but these weren’t like them. There was no warmth in their eyes. Just bloodlust. They looked at me like I was prey.

Aurelian, however, looked anything but concerned. He stepped slightly in front of me, casually, as if shielding me was second nature. His hands remained in his pockets, his expression unreadable… almost bored.

I couldn’t help but wonder, not for the first time—what color was his wolf?

The man came to a halt a few feet from us, his posture tense with fury.

“Micheal,” Aurelian said calmly, voice low.

“You’ve become weak, Aurelian,” Micheal spat. “Walking around with these pathetic humans like they matter.”

He was seething, his words thick with disdain. The wolves flanked him like shadows, taut with the promise of violence.

“I’ve become weak?” Aurelian repeated, his tone sharper now, eyes flashing with something deadly beneath the surface. “Tell me… are you responsible for the killings?”

His voice dropped, laced with quiet menace. “It would save me the trouble of hunting you down.”

Micheal let out a bitter laugh, wild and broken. “It’s not just about the killings. It’s bigger. Bigger than everything.” He raised his hands.

A scream tore from my throat before I could stop it—raw, instinctive—as the two wolves lunged forward in a blur of snarling fur and fury.

But they weren’t coming for us.

They bypassed Aurelian and me entirely, veering off toward the nearby humans—innocent airport staff or security, I couldn’t tell. My blood ran cold as one of the wolves slammed into a man, pinning him to the ground, jaws snapping inches from his throat.

Before the scream in my chest could rise again, David moved. One second he was beside the car, the next he was a blur of motion, his foot connecting with the wolf’s side in a bone-crunching kick that sent the beast flying.

Coby was already intercepting the second wolf, tackling it mid-air before it could reach another bystander. His growl matched the beast’s, brutal and animalistic, and they both tumbled to the ground in a violent clash of limbs and teeth.

It was chaos—shouts, snarls, the screech of tires as the drivers scrambled to back the vehicles away. I could barely process it, my pulse thundering in my ears.

And through it all, Michael just stood there.

Grinning.

Wild. Unhinged.

Like he was feeding on the fear, savoring the destruction. His eyes met mine for a split second, and the malice there sent a fresh wave of ice through my veins.

Aurelian didn’t move. Didn’t even flinch. But the shift in the air around him… it was lethal.

David and Coby had the wolves pinned, their bodies trembling with the effort of holding them down. The beasts snarled and thrashed beneath them, claws scraping against the tarmac, but neither of Aurelian’s men budged.

Both looked up at him, awaiting his command.

“Call them off,” Aurelian said, voice low and cold, directed at Micheal. If it were me, I would trip over myself to carry out the command immediately. But,

Micheal laughed—sharp and bitter. “Or what?” he sneered. “Would you really kill your own kind over these pathetic humans?”

He said it like it was a dare. Like he already knew the answer.

Aurelian’s eyes flickered—not gold, not yet—but something ancient and terrible shimmered there, just beneath the surface. The kind of look that made the air feel thinner.

“I don’t need to kill my kind,” Aurelian replied, his voice smooth, but laced with threat. “But if they’re dumb enough to attack under my protection, I’ll bury them myself.”

His hand was still in his pocket. He hadn’t raised a claw. But everything in his posture screamed alpha—unshakable, dangerous, and completely in control.

Then, the wolves seemed to falter beneath David and Coby’s grip, whimpering now instead of growling.

Whatever invisible force had started to affect the wolves suddenly amplified. I felt it in my chest first—a pressure, like the air itself had thickened—but it wasn’t aimed at me. It was crushing them.

The wolves whimpered louder, their limbs trembling beneath the unseen weight. Even David and Coby, usually composed, bowed their heads slightly, their breathing strained. Michael stiffened, jaw clenched, eyes flickering with something dangerously close to fear.

And Aurelian… hadn’t moved an inch.

“Let’s not be unruly any longer, Micheal,” he said softly, and yet every word struck like thunder. “It’s… annoying.”

“I listen to no one, I’m rogue!” Micheal barked, defiant, chest heaving.

“And I’m king,” Aurelian growled, his voice dropping into something ancient. “Alpha.”

The force snapped into place with terrifying precision. All at once, they dropped—every one of them. Micheal. The wolves. Even Aurelian’s own men. Knees hit the ground in unison, as if the world had demanded their submission.

You could feel it. The hierarchy. The law. The blood-deep truth that none of them could defy him.

“You can’t stop us,” Micheal gritted out, panting. “We won’t stop.”

“Then keep trying,” Aurelian said coldly. “I’ll keep taking you down… each time.”

And just like that, the invisible pressure lifted. The air cleared, the weight vanished, and everyone slumped for a second as if the world had suddenly remembered how to breathe.

David and Coby moved instantly, falling into place behind us like nothing had happened. The wolves slinked back to Micheal’s side, their aggression replaced by shame.

Micheal started to walk away—defeated, but not broken. Not yet.

He paused, though. His eyes found me again.

Aurelian growled low—his first true growl—and it made my spine stiffen. There was no mistaking the sound: it was possessive. Protective. Deadly.

Micheal raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say another word. Then he was gone.

And silence reigned once more.