Chapter 35 The Luna's Right
Rhea POV
The door opened before I even heard his boots in the corridor. Rhett filled the doorway like he owned the world, with his broad shoulders, wild scent of smoke and rain, and that temper still clinging to him like static. The air shifted with him, thick enough to taste.
He shut the door behind him. “Lord Malrec’s gone,” he said flatly. “Vampires never leave without poisoning the air.”
“I can imagine.” I tried to sound casual, but my pulse still hadn’t recovered from earlier.
He crossed the room and poured something dark into a glass, tossing it back in one swallow. His hands were steady, but his jaw wasn’t. “You’re quiet. Trouble?”
“You could say that.”
He looked up sharply. “What happened?”
I hesitated. For a second I wanted to spare him the irritation, but the memory of Lira Vane’s smirk burned hot behind my ribs. “Your court,” I said finally. “Your noble ladies decided to introduce themselves.”
His brows lowered. “Lira?”
“Her and three others. Gamma Elisa Graymont, Lady Gianna Levette, and Lady Stacia Humboldt.” I sank onto the edge of the table. “Charming women. The kind who sharpen compliments into knives.”
He went still. “What did they say?”
“I’ll give you the short version.” I folded my arms. “They called me a rebel, a killer, and a stray. Elisa wondered why your personal guards were protecting me. Gianna accused me of sleeping in your bed. Lira Vane implied the council will demand my execution.”
The glass in his hand shattered.
I jumped, but he didn’t even flinch. Red wine and shards glittered on the floor.
He spoke quietly. Too quietly. “They insulted my mate in my own hall.”
“I handled it,” I said quickly.
His eyes snapped to mine, the gray gone silver. “That isn’t the point.”
“It kind of is.” I forced a smile. “You can’t fight everyone who looks at me wrong.”
“Watch me.”
I groaned. “You sound like a storm with legs.”
He stepped closer until the table edge pressed against my thighs. “You think this is amusing?”
“I think you’re about to put a hole in the wall, and the walls didn’t do anything wrong.”
His nostrils flared, but the rage in his face began to shift, cooling and condensing into something harder. “I’ll speak to my Gamma personally,” he said. “And the others will learn their place. From now on, no one calls you Lady. You are the Luna of this Dominion. My mate. My equal.”
The words landed like a blow and a benediction all at once.
“Luna,” I echoed. “That’s… official?”
“It is now.”
I tried to laugh, but it came out shaky. “Your council will riot.”
“Let them. I’ve fought worse than politics.”
“That’s not reassuring.”
He smiled faintly, the kind that never reached his eyes. “You underestimate what I’ll do for you.”
“Maybe you overestimate what I’m worth.”
His expression softened then, rare and unguarded. “You’re worth every battle that comes.”
Something in me twisted. I looked away, focusing on the fire instead of the man who kept disarming me with honesty. “You barely know me, Rhett.”
“Then tell me,” he said. “Start now.”
The simplicity of it caught me off guard. I sat back on the table, exhaled, and stared at my hands. “I was trained young. Fought in skirmishes that shouldn’t have existed. People called me a ghost because I survived things I shouldn’t have. The rebellion wasn’t glorious; it was desperate. We thought we could fix the world before it burned.”
He listened, really listened, his eyes steady and his arms folded, the kind of silence that made truth feel safe.
“What about you?” I asked. “Always been a king?”
He gave a short laugh. “Born into it. My father ruled through fear. Said mercy was a disease. I swore I’d do better, but every time I show restraint, another pack tests me.”
“Power attracts challenge.”
“So does weakness.”
“You’re not weak.”
He looked at me then, the firelight catching in his eyes. “Neither are you.”
The quiet between us thickened until it wasn’t quiet at all. His scent wrapped around me, pine, rain, and smoke....and my pulse betrayed me, quick and loud.
“You should sit,” I said, trying for distance.
“I’d rather stand.”
“You always have to be difficult?”
“Yes.” He was closer now, his voice low. “And you always have to challenge me?”
“Yes.”
That earned a faint grin, wolfish and dangerous. “Good.”
He reached out, brushing his fingers over my wrist. The touch was light, but heat flared instantly under my skin. I hated that he noticed.
“Your heartbeat’s racing,” he murmured.
“Yours too,” I said, though mine felt like thunder.
He leaned in slightly. “Maybe it’s the fire.”
“Maybe it’s your ego.”
That pulled a quiet laugh from him, real and deep. “You never stop.”
“Someone has to keep you humble.”
His gaze dropped to my mouth. “It’s not working.”
My breath hitched. I tried to step back, but his hand found the edge of the table beside me, not touching, just there, close enough to trap the air between us.
“I’m still angry,” he said softly. “At them. At myself. At this whole cursed world.”
“Anger suits you,” I said, because my mouth was faster than my good sense.
He smiled, slow, dangerous, and devastating. “You’d rather see me calm?”
“I’d rather see you honest.”
“Then here’s honesty.” His voice dropped to a rumble. “When I saw you standing in my hall, after you were reborn....every law, and every instinct I’ve lived by...just broke.”
“Sounds messy.”
“It is.”
He was close enough now that the heat of him pressed against my knees, close enough that his breath skimmed my cheek. My pulse stuttered. “Rhett...”
“Tell me to stop.”
“I can’t.”
He exhaled through his nose, a low growl curling at the end. “Then we’re both damned.”
My hands had found the front of his shirt without permission, clutching the fabric. His heartbeat was steady and powerful, vibrating through me like distant thunder.
“This isn’t smart,” I whispered.
“Nothing about you is.”
“Flattery will get you nowhere.”
He bent his head, his lips almost brushing mine. “I’m not trying to flatter you, Luna.”
The title slid over my skin like a brand.
The world narrowed to the sound of breathing and the pulse of heat between us...