The Unmarked Luna

Chapter 2 Blood for the Deceiver

The morning after the ceremony, the manor stayed unusually quiet. Habit carried me to the dining hall for breakfast before I remembered I was leaving.

Selene was already at the long table. She had taken my seat at Kael's right hand, the chair that caught the first morning light through the eastern windows.

My mother's necklace rested at her throat. The Luna's moonstone held a pearl inside a silver crescent, and tradition reserved it for Kael's true mate on her Marking day.

She had my pale-blue cup too. A fine silver c***k ran along its rim, a flaw that made it easy to recognize. She took a careful sip while watching me over the porcelain.

"Good morning, Elara. Kael said your special tea helps with nausea." She turned the cup until the silver c***k faced me. "I suppose it belongs with me now."

I looked from the necklace to the cup. Yesterday, either theft would have kept me awake. That morning, I only wondered whether she had rinsed the cup first.

"I'm glad it's helping."

Her smile tightened around the edges. She had worn my necklace and chosen my cup for a fight, and I had given her no scene to carry back to Kael.

She shoved back her chair hard enough to scrape the marble and headed for the grand staircase. At the first step, she checked over her shoulder to see if I was watching.

Then, she stumbled.

Her cry carried through the hall before her body struck the last two steps. She landed on the marble with both hands around her belly. Dark blood spread beneath her dress.

"My baby!" She clutched her stomach. "Elara cursed me!"

Kael rushed in with the Pack Elders behind him. His eyes moved from Selene to the blood and stopped on me. He never looked at the dry stair beneath my feet.

"What did you do?" He dropped beside Selene and lifted her into his arms.

"It was her jealousy, Kael!" Selene buried her face against him. "Dark energy hit me. She's trying to kill our pup!"

Kael looked up. His grip on Selene tightened.

"You endangered my heir. You will fix this." His Alpha command locked every muscle along my spine. "Give your blood. Now."

The false mark at my neck burned in answer. Kael had built obedience into the one-sided bond, so my body began moving before I agreed.

I walked through the ring of accusing Elders to the great stone fireplace. An ornate silver dagger rested on the mantel, reserved for ritual offerings.

When I picked it up, two wolves stepped back and the Beta reached for his own blade. No one tried to stop Kael's command.

I turned where everyone could see me, met Kael's eyes, and drew the cold blade across the skin of my wrist.

Blood welled along the cut.

At the dining table, I held my wrist over the cracked blue cup Selene had been drinking from minutes earlier.

One drop struck the pale tea, then another. Soon a steady stream ran down my palm and darkened the contents of the stolen cup.

As the cup filled, pain tore through Kael's false, one-sided mark beneath my hair. The bond tightened along my nerves, fighting the decision I had already made.

I watched the last required drop strike the porcelain before I wrapped my wrist. That cup held the final blood the Shadow Pack would ever take from me.