The Luna's Mark
The silence in the Alpha Suite was heavy, completely suffocating.
Asher was fast asleep in the massive bed, completely exhausted by his own magic and the terror of the kidnapping. I sat on the edge of the mattress, my fingers gently running through his dark copper curls.
Kade was pacing near the shattered balcony doors like a caged beast. The freezing wind whipped his dark hair, but he didn't seem to feel the cold. He had washed the rogue blood from his hands, but the lethal, terrifying aura of the Alpha King still clung to him like a dark shadow.
Suddenly, a sound tore through the quiet night.
It wasn't a howl. It was the deep, vibrating, apocalyptic blast of a massive iron war horn.
BWOOOOM.
The sound shook the glass in the windows. It was a sound I hadn't heard in four years—the official declaration of a full-scale pack war.
Kade stopped pacing. His massive chest heaved, his golden eyes snapping toward the southern borders.
A fraction of a second later, Marcus burst into the room, bypassing the blood-seal entirely. He didn't look like the composed Beta anymore. He looked completely terrified.
"Alpha!" Marcus gasped, his chest heaving as if he had run up all three flights of stairs. "It's the High Council. Supreme Alpha Silas is at the main gates. He brought a thousand elite warriors from the capital."
My blood turned to pure ice. A thousand warriors. The Bloodbane pack had maybe three hundred able-bodied fighters left after the plague.
"What are his demands?" Kade asked, his voice dropping to a low, demonic vibration that made the floorboards rattle.
"He says..." Marcus swallowed hard, terrified to even speak the words in front of Kade.
"He says Vivienne sent word of a hybrid abomination.
An heir with both Alpha blood and Healer magic.
Silas demands you hand the boy over to the Council to be contained.
If you refuse... he will burn Bloodbane to the ground and slaughter every wolf inside. "
The silence in the room was absolute.
Kade didn't roar. He didn't break anything. The sheer magnitude of his rage bypassed anger entirely and settled into a cold, terrifying, apocalyptic calm.
"Marcus," Kade commanded softly, his golden eyes completely black. "Take thirty of my best guards. Escort Freya and Asher down to the ancient underground tunnels. They lead to the neutral zone. Do not stop until you cross the border."
"Alpha, no!" Marcus protested, his eyes widening. "We stand and fight with you!"
"That is an Alpha command!" Kade roared, the sheer force of it making the Beta flinch. Kade turned to me, the monster completely vanishing as he looked at my terrified face. "Get his coat, Freya. You have to leave right now."
I stood up from the bed, my heart hammering violently against my ribs.
He was going to do it again. He was going to sacrifice himself and his entire pack just to buy me time to run. He was going to walk out those gates and face a thousand warriors alone so his son could live.
"No," I whispered.
Kade froze. He took a massive step toward me, his hands reaching out to grab my shoulders. "Freya, please. Don't fight me on this. Silas is a monster. He won't just kill Asher; he will torture him to harness his magic. You have to run."
"I am done running, Kade!" I yelled, slapping his massive hands away from my shoulders. "Four years ago, you pushed me away to save my life, and it almost destroyed us both! I am not leaving you to die in the snow!"
"You can't fight a thousand warriors with a scalpel!" Kade roared back, tears of absolute desperation shining in his golden eyes. "You don't have the strength of a Luna, Freya! Our bond is broken! If you stay, you will die!"
"Then fix it," I demanded, stepping directly into his personal space.
Kade stopped breathing. The entire room seemed to freeze. Marcus quietly slipped out the door, giving us absolute privacy as the air between us suddenly charged with a violent, electric tension.
"What?" Kade choked out, his golden eyes wide.
I didn't hesitate. I reached up and aggressively swept my heavy copper hair off my neck, exposing the sensitive, unmarked skin over my scent gland.
"Mark me, Kade," I ordered, my voice trembling but absolutely resolute. "Complete the mating bond. Right here. Right now."
Kade took a staggering step back, his massive chest rising and falling rapidly. "Freya, no. If I mark you... you are tied to my soul forever. If I die in that courtyard tonight, you will feel it. It will break your mind."
"If you die in that courtyard tonight, my mind is already broken!
" I cried, grabbing the lapels of his dark shirt and yanking his massive frame down so he was forced to look into my eyes.
"I am your mate. I am the mother of your son.
I am the Luna of the Bloodbane Pack. Do not insult me by telling me to hide while my King goes to war.
Mark me, Kade. Give me the Luna Aura. Let me stand beside you. "
A guttural, devastated, absolutely feral groan ripped from the very bottom of Kade's chest.
The Alpha couldn't fight it anymore. His inner wolf, starved for four years, completely took over.
He didn't gently pull me into his arms. He crashed his massive body against mine, backing me up until I hit the solid oak wall of the bedroom. His hands tangled fiercely in my hair, tilting my head back, exposing my throat entirely to his predatory gaze.
"You are mine," Kade growled, his voice vibrating directly against my skin, his fangs fully extending, scraping lightly against my pulse point. "In this life, and the next. You are my Queen. My soul. My Freya."
"I'm yours," I gasped, throwing my head back, completely surrendering to the man I loved. "Do it."
Kade didn't hesitate.
He sank his massive fangs deep into the juncture of my neck and shoulder.
A sharp, piercing pain erupted in my neck, but it only lasted for a fraction of a second. The moment his blood mixed with mine, the pain completely vanished, replaced by an explosion of pure, blinding, euphoric power.
It was like a massive dam breaking inside my soul.
The mental wall between us shattered into a million pieces. I could suddenly feel everything he felt. The sheer, overwhelming depth of his unconditional love for me. The terrifying, protective rage he held for our son. The heavy, crushing weight of the crown he wore.
Our souls violently, beautifully violently stitched themselves together.
A blinding, silver-gold light suddenly erupted from my chest. It wasn't just Kade's Alpha strength; it was my healer's magic amplifying it, twisting with his power to create something entirely new. The true, unleashed Luna Aura.
The sheer magical pressure of the bond completing was so massive that the glass windows in the suite completely shattered outward.
Kade slowly pulled his fangs from my neck, his chest heaving, his mouth stained with a single drop of my blood. As he pulled back, a perfect, glowing golden crescent moon mark remained on my skin, healing instantly.
I opened my eyes. I didn't feel like the terrified captive who had run away four years ago.
I felt like a goddess of war. I could feel the heartbeat of every single Bloodbane wolf in the territory.
I could feel their fear, and I could push my own sudden, unshakeable courage directly into their minds.
Kade looked at me, his golden eyes filled with absolute, overwhelming worship. He dropped to one knee, taking my hand and pressing a reverent kiss to my knuckles.
"My Luna," Kade whispered, bowing his head.
"Stand up, Kade," I commanded softly, the power vibrating in my own voice.
He stood up, towering over me, but looking at me as an absolute equal.
I looked toward the shattered balcony, where the war horns of the High Council were blowing again, demanding our surrender.
"Supreme Alpha Silas wants a monster?" I asked, a dark, lethal smile spreading across my face, my eyes glowing with a terrifying silver-green fire. I laced my fingers tightly through Kade's massive hand. "Let's go show him exactly what a monster looks like."