Chapter 37 The Moon's Promise
Rhea POV
The fire was still crackling when I woke, its orange light licking the walls of Rhett’s private den. My body felt molten and heavy, marked everywhere his hands had been. His scent, pine and smoke, that wild, dangerous warmth, clung to my skin like sin itself.
He lay beside me, one arm flung across my waist, half-asleep but alert even in rest. The Alpha who ruled the Wildlands, now breathing quietly against my neck like any man.
I traced a scar across his shoulder. “You’re staring again,” he murmured, his voice rough with sleep.
“You were awake.”
“Hard to sleep when you’re touching me like that.”
I rolled my eyes, but the smile came anyway. “Arrogant.”
“Honest.” He kissed my shoulder, soft as a sigh. “You make it hard to think.”
“Good. I like being a distraction.”
He chuckled low in his throat and pulled me closer. “You’re more than that, Ghost.”
“Rhea,” I corrected gently. “You’re going to have to get used to saying it.”
His eyes opened, wolf-gold in the firelight. “Rhea.” He said it like it tasted good. “My Luna.”
The title hit different now. My heartbeat stumbled, all four of them thrumming out of sync. “That’s… a lot of responsibility to put on someone who nearly burned your castle down.”
“You didn’t burn it,” he said, brushing his thumb over my jaw. “You lit it up.”
I groaned. “That’s worse.”
He grinned, then grew serious, sitting up on one elbow. “I’ve been thinking.”
“That sounds dangerous.”
He ignored me. “The Temple of the Lunar Mother stands north of Fangspire Ridge. The full moon rises in three days.”
“And?”
“And we should go there.”
I blinked. “You want a field trip?”
“I want to make this bond official.” His voice softened, but it carried the weight of command. “The Luna ceremony. The old ways.”
I sat up, clutching the furs to my chest. “You mean the ritual binding? The moon vow?”
He nodded once. “Yes. You, me, the Lunar Mother as witness. It will strengthen you, strengthen us. The packs won’t be able to challenge what’s already written in blood and moonlight.”
I stared at him. “You make it sound so romantic.”
“It’s survival,” he said simply. “The council will be here soon.”
That word, council, sent a cold ripple through my chest. “How soon?”
“Less than a week,” came a voice from the doorway.
The door slammed open. Garran stood there, broad, scarred, and his eyes sharp as knives. His expression was somewhere between horror and resignation as he realized what he’d interrupted.
“Garran,” Rhett said, his voice suddenly dark as thunderclouds.
“Apologies, my king,” Garran said quickly, looking anywhere but at the bed. “But this can’t wait.”
I wrapped the blanket tighter around myself. “Do you ever knock?”
He coughed, very pointedly at the ceiling. “I did. You didn’t hear me over the… uh… conversation.”
Rhett growled. “Get on with it.”
“The Wolf Council,” Garran said, his tone clipped. “They’ve sent a message through the runestone relay. They’re on their way here, Fangspire delegates, northern lords, even Alpha Aryen. They’ll arrive in six days.”
Rhett went completely still. “Six.”
“Yes. They’ve caught wind of the… ghost.” Garran risked a glance at me. “They mean to see her for themselves.”
“Of course they do,” I muttered. “Word travels faster than common sense.”
Rhett’s jaw tightened. “We’ll hold the Luna ceremony before they arrive.”
I blinked. “Excuse me?”
He turned to me, his eyes blazing with resolve. “If they come and find us already bound under the full moon, there’s nothing they can do. The council can’t unmake a godsanctioned bond. You’ll be recognized as Luna by law and spirit.”
“That’s manipulation by divine loophole.”
“It’s survival,” he repeated.
I got off the bed, pacing, the furs trailing like smoke behind me. “You really think a temple vow will make them stop hating me?”
“No,” he said. “But it’ll stop them from killing you.”
That shut me up.
He stood too, pulling on his trousers, moving with that quiet, lethal grace that always made my heart misbehave. “You’ve seen what they’re capable of,” he said. “Lira and the council wives are nothing compared to the Alpha Lords. If they think you’re a threat to their bloodlines or their power, they’ll come for you.”
“I can handle myself.”
“I don’t doubt that,” he said, his voice low. “But I’d rather not watch you prove it.”
Something twisted painfully in my chest, his protectiveness, his fear, his need to shield me even from his own people.
I exhaled. “The temple’s really that sacred? Once it’s done, it can’t be undone?”
He nodded. “The moon binds truth. If we vow beneath her light, our souls are sealed. It’s eternal.”
“That’s… heavy.”
He stepped closer, cupping my chin gently, forcing me to meet his eyes. “You don’t have to say yes. But if you do, we face whatever comes together. As one.”
The words hit deeper than I expected. Together. As one.
I closed my eyes, trying to ignore the way my pulse pounded in my ears. “I don’t like being caged,” I said quietly.
“You wouldn’t be,” he said. “You’d be crowned.”
“Same difference.”
He huffed a breath through his nose, half frustrated, half amused. “You really are impossible.”
“I’ve heard that before.”
We just looked at each other then, something unspoken moving between us, fear, want, and stubborn devotion all tangled up in heat and defiance.
Finally, I sighed. “Fine. We go to your temple. But if your moon tries to brand me or demand a blood sacrifice, I’m setting it on fire.”
His mouth twitched. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“Watch me.”
Behind us, Garran cleared his throat again, clearly regretting his entire existence. “Should I… inform the priests?”
Rhett didn’t take his eyes off me. “Do it.”
“And the council?”
Rhett’s voice went sharp. “Tell them nothing. If they ask, the Alpha King of the Wildlands is preparing for the full moon. That’s all they need to know.”
Garran nodded quickly and disappeared, closing the door behind him with a muttered prayer I didn’t catch.
The silence he left behind felt strange and intimate again, but edged with danger.
Rhett turned back to me, his gaze softening. “You don’t have to be afraid.”
“I’m not afraid,” I said. “Just realistic. Every time I start to breathe, the universe throws another test.”
“Then we’ll face them all,” he said. “Every damn one.”
His hand slid up my arm, resting at the curve of my neck. My skin tingled under his touch, warmth coiling deep in my stomach.
“You trust me?” he asked.
“Do I have a choice?”
“You always have a choice.”
That did it. I met his eyes and saw the truth there, not just the Alpha, not the king, but the man who’d risk everything to keep me breathing.
“I trust you,” I said quietly.
He smiled then, slow and fierce. “Good. Because when that moon rises, you’ll stand beside me as Luna.”
“And if I don’t?”
“Then the gods help me,” he said, stepping close enough that our foreheads touched, “I’ll find a way to make the moon jealous until you do.”
I laughed softly, despite myself. “You’re impossible.”
He kissed my temple. “Get some rest. Tomorrow, we ride.”
As he turned toward the door, I looked out the window, the night sky already swelling with light. The moon was growing full and watchful, like it knew what was coming.
Three days. That was all we had.
Three days until vows, power, and chaos.
Three days until I belonged to the moon, or burned beneath it.