My True Luna

Lyra didn't remember deciding to follow Darius.

One moment, she was standing in the eastern corridor, staring at Selene's retreating back.

The next, her feet were carrying her toward the council wing.

The document she had seen kept flashing through her mind.

Darius Blackthorn.

His signature.

Selene Ashford.

Political union.

Her fingers tightened around the edge of her dress.

There had to be an explanation.

Five years.

She had given Darius five years of her life.

Five years of waiting for him to stop hiding what they were.

Five years of hearing, "Soon, Lyra."

Soon, he would tell the elders.

Soon, the pack would know why their Alpha never chose a Luna.

Soon, she wouldn't have to leave his chambers before sunrise so the servants wouldn't see her.

And only three nights ago, Darius had stood behind her before the mirror, his hands resting on her waist.

"When this ceremony is over," he'd murmured against her hair, "everything will change."

She had believed he meant them.

Lyra almost laughed now.

Everything certainly had changed.

Voices came from the council chamber ahead.

She stopped.

"Darius, this is madness."

Beta Kieran.

Lyra knew that voice almost as well as Darius's.

The council doors were shut, but one hadn't caught properly in its frame. A thin opening remained.

She shouldn't listen.

She knew that.

Then Darius answered.

"The decision has already been made."

Lyra's heart thudded.

She moved closer.

"The elders making a decision doesn't mean you have to accept it," Kieran snapped. "You're the Alpha."

"And being Alpha means I don't get to do whatever the hell I want."

Lyra swallowed.

She could picture Darius without seeing him, the hard line of his jaw whenever the council challenged him, his dark eyes turning almost black.

Kieran lowered his voice.

"What about Lyra?"

Silence.

Every part of her went still.

"What about her?" Darius finally asked.

Three words.

They shouldn't have hurt.

They did.

Kieran swore.

"You can't seriously ask me that. She's your mate."

Lyra's eyes burned.

At least someone remembered.

"Lower your voice," Darius growled.

"Why? Because somebody might finally discover the great Alpha Blackthorn has spent five years hiding his own mate?"

A crash sounded from inside.

Lyra flinched.

Darius had probably slammed his fist against the table.

"Enough."

"No. Not this time."

Lyra had never heard Kieran challenge him like this.

"The ceremony is tonight," the Beta continued. "If Selene walks into that hall wearing your mother's Luna necklace, everyone will understand what it means."

Lyra's breath caught.

So Darius knew.

Until that second, some stupid, desperate part of her had still hoped Selene had taken the necklace without permission.

That perhaps the document had been forged.

That Darius would see Selene wearing it and rip it from her throat.

But he knew.

He knew.

"And what exactly would you have me do?" Darius asked.

"Tell the truth."

"You think the truth changes our position?"

"It changes Lyra's."

Another silence.

Longer this time.

Lyra pressed one hand against her stomach.

Something inside her chest felt too tight.

Kieran spoke again.

"Does she even know?"

Darius didn't answer.

"Damn it, Darius. Does Lyra know what you're planning to announce tonight?"

"No."

The word came quietly.

It hurt more than if he'd shouted.

Lyra closed her eyes.

Five years, and he couldn't even tell her himself.

"Then tell her before she walks into that hall," Kieran said. "She deserves at least that."

"I was going to."

"When?"

"After the council finalized the terms."

"They've finalized them."

"I know."

"So go to her."

Darius exhaled sharply.

"It's not that simple."

Kieran gave a bitter laugh.

"Funny. It seemed simple enough when you were sneaking into her room every night."

Lyra's cheeks burned.

"Kieran."

"She gave up the Red Moon appointment because you asked her to remain here."

"I know."

"She spent six weeks beside you after the silver poisoning."

"I know."

"She has defended you to elders who treat her like she's nothing more than some orphan you took pity on."

"I know!"

Darius's roar shook the door.

Lyra jerked backward.

For several seconds, neither man spoke.

Then Darius's voice came again.

Quieter.

More dangerous.

"You think I don't know what she's done for me?"

"Then why are you doing this?"

"Because knowing what she's done doesn't change what Blackthorn needs."

Lyra stared through the narrow opening.

She could see only a sliver of the room.

Part of the long black council table.

Kieran's shoulder.

Then Darius moved into view.

She nearly stopped breathing.

He was dressed for the ceremony already.

Black shirt.

Black trousers.

The silver Alpha insignia rested against his chest.

The man she'd loved for five years looked exactly as he had that morning when he'd kissed her forehead before leaving her bed.

How could someone look unchanged while destroying everything?

"Blackthorn needs the Ashford alliance," Darius said.

"And you need Lyra."

Darius's expression hardened.

"A pack has survived without an Alpha getting everything he needs before."

Lyra's nails dug into her palm.

Kieran stared at him.

"Is that what she is now? Something you want but can live without?"

Darius looked away.

That hurt too.

"Selene brings six thousand wolves, access to the western passage, and her father's army," he said. "If the eastern packs attack this winter, that alliance could be the difference between survival and burying half our people."

"And Lyra?"

Darius said nothing.

Kieran stepped closer.

"What happens to her after tonight?"

"She'll be protected."

Lyra's lips parted.

Protected.

Such a cold word.

As though she were a responsibility.

An inconvenience Darius intended to house somewhere comfortable once he was finished loving her.

"Protected?" Kieran repeated incredulously. "You think she'll stay here and watch another woman take her place?"

"She won't be replaced."

"Selene will wear the Luna necklace."

"A necklace doesn't determine what Lyra means to me."

"No. Your choices do."

Darius's eyes flashed.

Kieran didn't retreat.

"If you go through with this, you may lose her."

Darius's jaw tightened.

"You don't know Lyra like I do."

Something cold slid through her.

Kieran stared at him.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Darius turned toward the tall windows.

When he spoke again, his voice had lost its anger.

That somehow made the words worse.

"Lyra loves me."

Kieran gave a humorless laugh.

"That's your defense?"

"It's the truth."

"And you think that means she'll accept anything?"

Darius didn't respond.

Lyra waited.

Her heart seemed to beat inside her throat.

Say no.

Please.

Just say no.

Kieran's next question came slowly.

"Tell me something, then. Where exactly does Lyra fit into this future you've planned?"

Darius remained facing the window.

His shoulders were rigid.

For several seconds, there was nothing but silence.

Then he spoke.

"Keeping Lyra beside me was never part of the future."

The world stopped.

Lyra couldn't feel her fingers.

Couldn't feel the floor beneath her shoes.

Couldn't hear anything except those words repeating inside her skull.

Never part of the future.

Five years.

Five years she'd waited for their future to begin.

And Darius had apparently planned one without her.

Her wolf made a wounded sound deep inside her.

Mate.

Lyra clamped a hand over her mouth.

No.

She couldn't make a sound.

She wouldn't let him find her standing outside his door like some pathetic woman begging to hear that he'd changed his mind.

Inside the chamber, Kieran said something.

Lyra didn't hear it.

She stepped backward.

One step.

Then another.

Her vision blurred.

She turned before the first tear could fall and walked rapidly down the corridor.

She didn't hear Darius's next words.

If she had remained behind that door for only five more seconds, she would have heard them.

"Keeping her beside me in the shadows was never part of the future, Kieran. I was going to acknowledge her before the entire pack tonight."

Kieran stared at him.

"Then what the hell is Selene doing with your mother's necklace?"

Darius's face changed.

"What did you just say?"