Chapter 7 The Future Luna
Zarek POV
I stood at the base of the staircase waiting specifically for her. I deeped my hands in my pockets, plastering an unreadable expression on my face.
But the moment she stepped out of the room, I couldn’t deny the beauty that radiated from her.
My wolf went completely still.
She stepped down slowly, one hand brushing lightly against the rail beside her. The black dress hugged her body perfectly before falling smoothly against her legs, the silk catching the warm light every time she moved.
She looked so beautiful.
Kairo, my wolf, stirred violently beneath my skin. “Mine.”
The word echoed through my head instantly.
My eyes stayed fixed on her as she reached the bottom of the stairs and stopped a few feet away from me.
For a second neither of us spoke.
She looked nervous now. I noticed it in the way her fingers moved slightly against the side of her dress.
Her eyes finally lifted to mine carefully. “What?” she blinked her eyes innocently.
I stepped closer slowly.
Close enough to catch the soft scent of her perfume mixed with something naturally hers.
Kairo pushed harder inside me at the scent. It was so addictive.
“Claim her.” My wolf growled but I waved it aside.
“You…” My voice came out rougher than I intended.
Her breath caught slightly.
I swallowed once before finishing quietly, “You look good.”
A faint warmth spread across her cheeks immediately as she looked away for a second.
And something about that nearly destroyed the little control I had left.
“Let’s go, everyone is here.” I extended my hand to her as we both walked out.
The pack house, kept aside for meetings, wasn’t loud, but it wasn’t quiet either. It was controlled noise, low conversations that stopped the second I appeared at the top of the podium.
A few people stood in clusters around the large hall, wolves, mostly. Some human-looking, some not entirely.
And every single one of them was watching me like something that was being evaluated.
I observed Sylvie, she looked calm, that meant she was holding herself together.
For now.
I gestured once. “Come.”
She moved. When she stood beside me, I could smell her properly for the first time that morning.
Still faintly mine from last night because of the jacket I gave her. That should not have registered the way it did.
It did anyway. I turned away before it stayed too long in my head.
I addressed them. “I brought her as the soon to be future Luna.”
Silence settled instantly.
I continued. “She will remain under our protection, as a pack protecting their Luna.”
A shift moved through the room.
I kept my gaze forward, not glancing at Sylvie. Because if I looked at her right then, I wouldn’t be listening to them.
An elder stepped forward, he was old enough to speak without asking. “You are making a formal claim.”
“Yes.” I boldly agreed.
“Then the bond must be registered.”
I nodded once.
“And a date must be set.”
That was expected.
Tradition didn’t bend just because I had.
“Three weeks.” I didn’t look at her when I said it.
I felt her shift slightly beside me.
The elder turned, already recording it.
Names. Claim. Time.
When he spoke the formal words, I felt her breath change beside me.
I finally looked at her. She was staring at me now, throwing daggers at me with her eyes. “What does that mean?”
It took a second before I answered. “They’ll register it,” I said evenly. “It becomes official.” Then I added, lower. “You don’t get to disappear after this.”
Her expression shifted slightly at that.
My gaze stayed on her for a moment longer than necessary.
Then I said the part I should have said first. “It means you’re no longer unclaimed and neither am I.”
She looked at me with a conflicted look then faced the crowd before us.
….
Sylvie POV
The moment we stepped off the podium, I was relieved. I had to keep myself in check, both outside and inside because werewolves have the ability to detect fear through the pounding of the heart and that was the last thing I wanted.
“You look pale.” Zarek's hand touched my cheek but to me it felt like I was jolted with electricity.
I immediately got rid of what was going on in my head. “I’m fine, I was just nervous.” I pushed his hand away from my face.
But while I was trying to start up a normal conversation with Zarek, I got interrupted.
A woman stopped a few steps away from us, her posture was perfect, face unreadable in a way that didn’t feel natural, like she had decided long ago what she was allowed to show and what she wasn’t.
I then remembered who she was, Lena, the girl I met when I was brought to join this pack, Zarek friend.
Her eyes moved past me first. Straight to Zarek.
Then, slowly, they landed on me and stayed there.
I didn’t look away, I didn’t even blink quickly.
I’d learned a long time ago that people like this respect nothing more than you refusing to shrink.
But my chest still tightened slightly anyway.
Zarek turned his head a little. “Lena.”
She didn’t react to him the way I expected someone around him would.
Just a small nod.
“The track is ready,” she sounded a bit rude. “Your race is next.”
Her eyes flicked back to him. “The girl should come. She can watch from VIP.”
She talked to Zarek I wasn’t even there.
“We should teach her a lesson.” My wolf was pissed.
Zarek nodded once. “I will race.” Then his attention shifted slightly toward me.“Do you want to come?”
I hesitated.
I didn’t want to be around Lena and whoever would be there but I also didn’t want to be with the pack members.
The sound of engines in the distance already filled the air, vibrating through the ground faintly.
“It’s just a race,” I said carefully.
“Yes.” I agreed.
Lena turned first. She didn’t smile at me, like I wasn’t worth the effort.
“Come,” Zarek stretched his hand to me and I followed.
We walked through the corridor, and the deeper we went, the louder everything became.
Engines.
Voices.
It wasn’t like the underground event I had seen before. This felt different, I could literally feel the surge of energy in this place.
The closer we got to the track, the more aware I became of Lena ahead of us.
She didn’t look back but I could feel it.
That strange, quiet hostility that wasn’t loud enough to be called hate, just sharp enough to make my skin stay slightly tense.
I finally spoke without fully meaning to. “Does she always look at people like that?”
Zarek didn’t even hesitate. “Yes.”
I frowned slightly. “Everyone?”
“No.”
“Just people she hasn’t decided fit yet.”
That didn’t make it better. It made it worse because I wasn’t sure what “fit” meant in a place like this.