Chapter 42 Partners
ARYA
“You’re sure about this?” he asked quietly.
“No. But I’m sure about us. About what we’re fighting for.” I looked up at him. “We can do this, right? Change centuries of hatred?”
“With you beside me? We can do anything.” He kissed me softly. “Though I have to admit, I preferred when our biggest problem was figuring out how fast to take our relationship.”
I laughed. “Simpler times. Like three days ago.”
“Three days ago I hadn’t claimed you yet. Hadn’t felt your mark on my skin, your love in my soul.” His hand found my mark on his neck, tracing it reverently. “Now I have everything. Which means I have everything to lose.”
“You’re not going to lose me.”
“Promise?”
“I promise. We’re in this together. All of it. The good, the bad, the terrifying.” I kissed him. “Partners, remember?”
“Partners,” he agreed. “My magnificent, terrifying partner who decided to host a summit that could either end a war or start one.”
“Go big or go home?”
“Something like that.”
His phone buzzed. He glanced at it, then smiled.
“What?”
“Message from Alpha Marcus. Apparently Jaime’s pack has declared support for the Moonborne.” He showed me the screen. “He sent this for you.”
I read Jaime’s message, feeling… complicated. Not love. Not longing. Just a strange sort of closure.
He’d finally chosen the right side. Too late for us, but maybe not too late to matter.
“You okay?” Luca asked, watching my face.
“Yeah. Just… it’s good. Him supporting this. Supporting me, even from a distance.”
“He loves you. In his own broken way.” Luca didn’t sound jealous, just matter-of-fact. “Part of him probably always will.”
“But I love you.”
“I know. I can feel it.” He pressed his hand to his chest, over his heart. “Every moment of every day, I feel it. Your love, your trust, your absolute faith in us.”
“Is it strange? The bond?”
“It’s everything. Overwhelming and perfect and sometimes inconvenient—like when I’m in boring meetings and you’re thinking about…” He grinned. “Well. Things that make it very difficult to concentrate on trade agreements.”
Heat crept up my neck. “That was once!”
“Once was enough. Do you know how hard it is to negotiate treaty terms when you can feel your mate’s arousal through the bond?”
“I wasn’t—” But I had been. Yesterday, watching him train with Caspian, all sweaty and powerful and gorgeous. “Okay, maybe a little.”
“A little?” His hand slid down my back. “You were practically radiating need. I had to cut the meeting short before I embarrassed myself.”
“Poor king. Suffering so much.”
“I am suffering.” His hips pressed against mine, and I could feel exactly how much. “Constantly. Because now that I’ve had you, all I want is to have you again. And again. And again.”
“Well.” I pulled him toward the bed. “We have an hour before the next meeting. Want to make the most of it?”
His answering growl was all the answer I needed.
The hour we’d stolen turned into two, then three.
By the time we finally emerged from our room, thoroughly sated and wearing matching marks on our necks, the afternoon sun was already beginning to dip toward the horizon.
Caspian was waiting in the hallway, his expression hovering between amused and exasperated.
“Enjoy yourselves?” His tone was dry.
“Immensely,” Luca replied without shame, his hand possessively on my lower back. “What do we have?”
“Responses to the summit invitations are already coming in. Faster than expected.” Caspian fell into step beside us as we headed downstairs. “Apparently word of last night’s confrontation spread quickly. Everyone wants to see the Moonborne who faced down Theron’s army.”
“How many acceptances?” I asked.
“Forty-three so far. Including some surprises.” He pulled out his tablet. “Alpha Marcus from Silver Creek. Alpha Damian from the Eastern Territories. Even the Bear Clans are sending representatives.”
“Bears?” Luca sounded impressed. “They never involve themselves in our politics.”
“They do when they think the world might actually change.” Caspian scrolled through the list. “We also have refusals. Predictably from territories aligned with the Nightshade coalition. But the number of acceptances far outweighs the rejections.”
We entered Luca’s office—a massive room lined with books and maps, dominated by a desk that looked like it had been carved from a single piece of ancient oak.
“Show me the map,” Luca commanded.
Caspian pulled up a holographic display showing the supernatural territories. Green markers indicated acceptances, red for rejections, yellow for pending responses.
The map was more green than red.
“We’re winning,” I breathed.
“We’re gaining ground,” Luca corrected. “But don’t mistake support for the summit as support for unity. Many are coming out of curiosity. Or to assess whether we’re a threat.”
“Then we show them we’re not.”
“Little wolf, we ARE a threat. To the old ways, to corruption, to anyone who benefits from division.” His hand found mine. “That’s the point.”
He was right. We weren’t trying to be unthreatening. We were trying to be revolutionary.
“What about security?” I asked Caspian.
“Working on it. The Moonborne ancestral lands are remote, which helps. Single point of entry that we can control. Natural barriers on all sides.” He pulled up images of the location—a valley surrounded by mountains, with ancient ruins at its center. “The ruins themselves are structurally sound. We can hold the summit in the main temple.”
The temple in the image took my breath away. White stone covered in vines, with columns that reached toward the sky. Even in ruins, it was majestic.
“My ancestors built that,” I whispered.
“And you’ll restore it.” Luca’s voice was certain. “After the summit, we’ll rebuild. Make it a symbol of the new era.”
A knock interrupted us. One of the staff members entered, looking nervous.
“Your Majesty, there’s someone here to see Luna Arya. He’s… insistent.”
“Who?” Luca’s voice went cold.
“He says his name is Ryker. And that she’ll want to see him.”
My heart jumped. Ryker was back.
“Send him in,” I said before Luca could refuse.