Chapter 10 HOW TO BE A LUNA
Then we have a shot.”
A shot.
Not a guarantee. A shot.
Mia looked at his throat. At the bite she’d put there last night. Already scarred. Silver. Hers.
She looked at her wrist.
And bit it.
Hard.
Blood welled. Fast. Hot.
Alex’s eyes went black. “Mia—”
“Shut up.” She shoved her wrist at his mouth. “You said bleed it out. So bleed it out. But you don’t get my neck. Not yet. Not until I say.”
He didn’t move. For three seconds.
Then he struck.
Not a kiss. Not a bite. A claim.
His mouth latched onto her wrist. Teeth sharp. Tongue hot. He drank.
Mia’s back bowed. Pain. Pleasure. Bond.
It was like being plugged into a power grid. Like every nerve she had was suddenly his.
His pain. Fever, cracking.
His fear. Losing her.
His want. Five years. Starving.
His love. No. Not love. Mate. Older. Worse.
She saw it all.
The 5 years. Feral. Alone. Killing anyone who said “Luna”. Because she wasn’t there.
The day in his office. $4M. Cash or marriage. He’d been shaking. Not from anger. From scent. From mate.
He’d moved her in to protect. Not control.
He’d stopped kissing her because she was human.
And now she was bleeding for him.
Alex ripped his mouth away. Gasping. Blood on his lips. Her blood.
The gold in his eyes receded. Slow. Like a tide.
Black. Human. Alex.
“Fever’s down,” Kane said from the doorway. Voice weird. “Huh. Blood without the bite. Luna-lite. Curse might buy that.”
Yelena was staring. At Mia’s wrist. Already clotting. Faster than human.
“You,” Yelena said. “Come here.”
The Council didn’t knock.
They appeared on the 80-inch screen in Alex’s office. Six faces. Old. Pureblood. Wolves who’d never liked hybrids.
“De Luca,” said the one in the middle. Councilman Viktor. Scar from chin to ear. “You’ve been summoned. 48 hours. Present a Luna or step down.”
So his own council were now giving the same law as Ivan's?
Alex was in a chair. Shirt on now. Black. Still pale. But alive. Because of her.
Mia stood behind him. Not hiding. Claiming. Her wrist wrapped, but the blood was on his mouth. Everyone could smell it.
“I have a Luna,” Alex said. Voice Alpha. No room. “She’s standing behind me.”
Viktor’s eyes cut to Mia. To her neck. Unmarked. “She’s unbitten. She’s human. She’s—”
“She bled me out of backlash,” Alex said. Flat. “My wolf is stable. For the first time in 5 years. She did that. Without a claim bite. What does that tell you, old man?”
Silence.
Then: “It tells me she’s Luna-tier. And that makes her a threat.”
“It makes her mine,” Alex snarled. The room dropped 10 degrees. “Touch-her-and-die, Viktor. That includes Council votes.”
Viktor smiled. Thin. “Forty-eight hours, De Luca. Present her marked or we vote. And if we vote, Ivan gets your title. And her.”
Screen black.
Mia’s knees didn’t buckle. Because she was done buckling.
“Forty-eight hours,” she said.
“To mark you,” Alex said. Not a question. “Or lose everything.”
“Or,” Kane said from the door, “we kill Ivan first.”
Alex and Mia looked at him.
Kane shrugged. “I’m just saying. Dead men can’t claim titles. Or Lunas.”
Forty-eight hours.
To bite. For real. Neck. Forever.
To become Luna. To trigger the curse. To maybe die._
Or to let him step down. Let Ivan win. Let Dad die for nothing.
I’m so tired of choosing.
But I’m not tired of him.
She walked around the chair. Stood in front of Alex. Put her hand on his chest. Over his heart.
It was steady. Because of her.
“Teach me,” she said.
His brows furrowed. “Teach you what?”
“How to be Luna.” Her voice didn’t shake. “How to fight. How to bite. How to rule. Because in 48 hours, I’m either marking you, or I’m watching you lose everything.”
Gold flared. Not feral. Proud.
“Okay, little wife,” he said. “Lesson one.”
He stood. Crowded her. Back to the desk.
“Touch-her-and-die isn’t a threat,” he whispered. Against her ear. “It’s a promise. So let’s make sure you can keep it.”
Mia’s phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
Video.
Natalie. In a chair. Beaten. Mouth bloody.
Ivan’s voice: “You have 48 hours, Don. Give me the girl, or I start sending her back in pieces. First up... her tongue. For all the lies she’s told you.”
Video ends.
Mia looked at Alex.
He was already shifting. Not full wolf. Part. Claws. Fangs. Eyes fire.
Not at her.
For her.