Chapter 5 - The Pack Meeting
1271 Words
The pack hall was louder this time. Angrier.
Luna walked in beside Damian and felt 200 pairs of eyes cut into her skin.
Victoria was already on the platform. Sitting in what should have been Luna’s chair.
Damian’s jaw clenched when he saw it.
“Sit,” he told Luna quietly. There was an empty chair on his other side.
Luna sat. Her legs were shaking under the dress.
“Alpha Blackwood,” one of the elders stood. Old wolf. Gray fur in his hair. “We demand answers. Is it true you are forcing this human to carry your child?”
Damian stood. “No one forces anything in my house. Luna is my wife. She is here by choice.”
“By choice?” Victoria laughed and stood too. “Then why is she locked in a panic room, Damian? Why does she have guards following her everywhere?”
“Because someone threatened her mother,” Damian shot back. “Because someone leaked photos to the press. Because someone in this room wants to start a war.”
His eyes landed on Victoria. She didn’t flinch.
“I want what’s best for the pack,” Victoria said, voice breaking perfectly. “And that’s not a human. That’s not a scandal. That’s not a bastard heir.”
The word bastard made Luna see red.
She stood before she realized it.
Every wolf turned to her.
“I’m not a bastard,” Luna said. Her voice came out shaky but clear. “And neither is my baby.”
“Then prove it,” Victoria sneered. “Take a paternity test. Publicly. Right now.”
Damian stepped forward. “That won’t be necessary.”
“Why? Because you’re afraid it’s not yours?” Victoria pressed. “Or because you’re afraid it is and you’ll have to admit you threw away the pack for a human?”
Luna felt the room closing in. She could smell the hate. Wolf hate.
She looked at Damian. He was staring straight ahead, face blank. Alpha mask.
He wasn’t going to fight for her with words. He was going to let her fight for herself.
Luna took a breath.
“You want proof?” she said. “Fine.” She lifted her shirt just enough to show the small bump starting to form. “This is proof. This is your Alpha’s child. And I’m carrying it while your precious Victoria spreads lies and threatens my dying mother in the hospital.”
Gasps.
“Don’t you dare,” Victoria started.
“No, YOU don’t dare.” Luna’s voice cracked. “You had him. For years. And he chose me. Not because I’m perfect. Not because I’m a pureblood. Because he wanted to. And you can’t stand that.”
Silence.
Then one wolf clapped. Then another.
Damian looked at her like he’d never seen her before.
“Enough,” he said. The Alpha command shut everyone up. “Luna is my Luna. The child is my heir. Anyone who has a problem with that can challenge me. Right now.”
No one moved.
“Good,” Damian said. “Meeting adjourned.”
---
In the car after, neither spoke for a long time.
Finally Damian said, “You didn’t have to do that.”
“Yes I did,” Luna said. “Because I’m tired of hiding.”
He nodded slowly. “You were brave.”
“I was terrified.”
“I know.” He reached over and took her hand. This time she didn’t pull away. “Thank you.”
For what felt like the first time, it didn’t feel like a contract.
It felt real.
---
That night, Luna couldn’t sleep.
She kept thinking about Victoria’s face. About the way the pack had looked at her. About Damian’s hand in hers.
Her phone buzzed. Unknown number again.
**Unknown: You think you won? The pack will never accept a human. And neither will he. Not really. When he gets bored of you, he’ll throw you away. Just like he threw me away.**
Luna deleted it.
She got up and walked to the window. The mansion was dark. Quiet.
The door opened behind her.
Damian.
“You’re not supposed to be out of the panic room,” he said.
“I couldn’t sleep.”
He walked to her. Stood beside her at the window. They didn’t touch.
“Victoria’s family is powerful,” he said quietly. “They’re putting pressure on me. They want me to annul the marriage.”
Luna’s chest hurt. “And will you?”
“No.” The word was immediate. Certain. “Never.”
“Why?”
Damian turned to look at her. In the moonlight, he looked younger. Tired. Human.
“Because when I saw you stand up there today, with 200 wolves hating you... you didn’t break.” He swallowed. “And because when I touch you, I don’t feel like an Alpha. I feel like a man.”
Luna’s heart was pounding. “Damian—”
“Don’t.” He stepped closer. “Don’t say anything. Just... let me do this.”
He kissed her.
This time it wasn’t angry. It wasn’t desperate.
It was slow. Careful. Like he was afraid she’d break.
Luna kissed him back.
When they pulled apart, both of them were breathing hard.
“This changes nothing,” Damian said, but his voice wasn’t convincing.
“Sure,” Luna whispered.
He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Come on. I’ll walk you back to the panic room.”
As they walked, his hand found hers. And he didn’t let go.
---
The next morning, Luna woke up to screaming.
She ran to the door of the panic room and pounded on it. “What’s happening?”
A guard opened it. “Miss. You need to come. Now.”
“What? Why?”
“Your mother. There was an incident at the hospital.”
Luna’s blood went cold.
Damian was already waiting in the hall. His face was stone.
“What happened?” Luna demanded.
“Someone got past security,” he said. “Your mother is in surgery. Right now.”
Luna couldn’t breathe. “Is she—”
“She’s alive,” Damian said quickly. “But barely.”
Luna collapsed to her knees.
Damian was there in an instant, pulling her into his arms. “Hey. Hey. She’s strong. She’s going to be okay.”
Luna sobbed into his chest. “It’s my fault. Because of me. Because of the baby.”
“No.” Damian’s voice was fierce. “This is my fault. I should have protected her better. I should have protected you better.”
He lifted her up. Carried her to the car.
The whole ride to the hospital, he held her hand. Didn’t let go.
At the hospital, the surgeon came out.
“She made it,” he said. “But it was close. She lost a lot of blood.”
Luna broke down again. Damian held her.
Later, sitting by her mom’s bed, Luna felt empty.
Damian sat beside her.
“I’m going to find who did this,” he said quietly. “And I’m going to make them pay.”
Luna looked at him. Really looked at him. The ruthless Alpha. The cold CEO.
And saw the man underneath. The man who was scared. The man who cared.
“Thank you,” she whispered. “For being here.”
Damian took her hand. “Always.”
Outside the room, Victoria watched them through the glass.
Her smile was gone.
Her eyes were full of rage.
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