Kael moved closer, pressing against my side in a gesture of support and protection. I buried one hand in his fur, drawing strength from the solid warmth of him. From knowing that I had someone who chose me first, not as an afterthought.
“I’m in love with Kael,” I said more calmly now, but with absolute conviction. “Or at least, I’m falling in love with him. And in two days, I’m going to bond with him under the blood moon. I’m going to become Luna of Shadowmere. And I’m going to be happy, Damon. Finally, genuinely happy. Without you.”
“No.” The word came out harsh, desperate, almost a growl. “No, I won’t let this happen. I can’t – “
“You don’t have a choice,” Nina said, speaking up from where she stood behind me. “Alpha Cross, you need to leave Shadowmere territory. Now. Before this becomes a diplomatic incident.”
“I’m not leaving without her,” Damon said stubbornly, and I saw the familiar set to his jaw – the one that meant he’d dug in his heels. “I won’t let her throw her life away – “
Marcus, his head warrior, put a hand on his shoulder. I couldn’t hear what he said, but I saw Damon’s expression shift from stubborn to frustrated to reluctantly accepting.
They were leaving. Thank the Moon Goddess, they were actually leaving.
But Damon turned back to me one last time, and the look in his eyes sent a chill down my spine. It wasn’t acceptance. It wasn’t resignation.
It was determination.
“This isn’t over. I’m not giving up on you, on us. I’ll find a way to make this right.”
“There’s nothing to make right,” I said wearily, suddenly exhausted by the entire confrontation. “Just accept what’s happening and move on, Damon. Please.”
But he was already being pulled away by his warriors, already heading back to their vehicle. I watched until they disappeared from view, until the sound of their engine faded into the distance.
Only then did I let myself sag against Kael’s side, the adrenaline draining out of me all at once.
*”Are you okay?”* he asked gently through the mindlink.
*”I will be,”* I thought back. *”That was… harder than I expected. But also easier, somehow. Seeing him again, hearing him finally say the things I’d wanted to hear for years – it didn’t hurt the way I thought it would.”*
*”Because you’ve moved on,”* Kael said, and there was warmth in his mental voice. *”You’ve found something better.”*
*”I have,”* I agreed, running my fingers through his fur. *”I’ve found you.”*
Nina touched my shoulder gently. “Come on. Let’s get you back to the pack house. You need to rest after that.”
As we drove away from the border, I kept replaying Damon’s last words in my mind. *This isn’t over. I’ll find a way to make this right.*
Something about the intensity in his eyes worried me. He’d looked almost… manic. Like someone who’d convinced himself of something impossible and was prepared to do whatever it took to make it happen.
*”Kael,”* I thought through the link. *”He’s going to try something. At the ceremony, or before it. I can feel it.”*
*”Let him try,”* Kael responded, and there was steel in his mental voice now. *”He’s bonded to another woman. He has no claim on you. And if he tries to interfere with our ceremony, he’ll have to go through me first.”*
*”That’s what I’m afraid of,”* I admitted. *”You’re still recovering from your injuries. If he challenges you – “*
*”Then I’ll win,”* Kael said simply. *”Because I’m not losing you, Aria. Not to him, not to anyone. You’re mine. And in two days, I’m going to make sure everyone – especially him – knows it.”*
The possessiveness should have bothered me. Instead, it made me feel safe. Protected. Chosen.
Back at the pack house, Nina made me tea while I changed out of my formal clothes and into something comfortable. My hand still tingled from where I’d slapped Damon, and my emotions were a tangled mess of anger, sadness, and surprising relief.
“You did well,” Nina said, handing me a steaming mug. “Standing your ground like that, making your boundaries clear. That took courage.”
“I almost wavered,” I admitted. “When he grabbed my hand, for just a second, I felt…”
“The ghost of old feelings,” Nina finished. “That’s normal. You don’t spend years loving someone and just turn it off like a switch. But Aria – what you did today, choosing your future over your past – that’s the mark of a true Luna.”
I sipped the tea, letting the warmth spread through me. “He’s not going to give up, is he?”
“Probably not,” Nina said honestly. “Men like Damon – they don’t handle rejection well. Especially when they think something belongs to them.”
“I never belonged to him.”
“No, but he thought you did. And now he’s realizing what he lost.” Nina sat down beside me. “But that’s his problem, not yours. You have a ceremony to prepare for, a mate to bond with, and a pack that’s waiting to welcome their new Luna.”
She was right. I couldn’t let Damon’s desperation derail everything I’d found here.
Two more days until the blood moon ceremony. Two more days until I bonded with Kael and officially became Luna of Shadowmere.
And whatever Damon was planning, whatever last-ditch effort he thought would change my mind –
I was ready for it.
I’d spent too many years being overlooked, undervalued, treated as convenient. I wasn’t going back to that. Not for Damon, not for anyone.
I was Aria, future Luna of Shadowmere. And I was exactly where I was meant to be.
KAEL
I watched Aria walk away from the packhouse, her shoulders rigid with tension, and felt every conflicting emotion churning through our bond like a storm I couldn’t control.
My wolf howled with fury at that last emotion, wanting to reject it, to pretend it didn’t exist.
She’d loved Damon Cross. Deeply. Completely.
And he’d destroyed her with it.
I’d felt it all through our connection during that confrontation – the way her heart had stuttered when she first saw him, the spike of hope she’d tried to suppress, the way her wolf had wanted to run to him despite everything he’d done.
Then the crushing disappointment when he’d mentioned pups, thrown their shared dreams back at her like weapons.
The slap had been satisfying to watch. But it hadn’t erased what I’d felt from her in that moment before – the longing, the what-ifs, the part of her that still wondered if maybe, somehow, he could change.
“Alpha?” Nina’s voice cut through my thoughts. She’d moved closer, her hand resting gently on my head. “Are you alright?”
No. I wasn’t alright. I was terrified that the woman I was supposed to bond with in two days was still in love with someone else. That she might go through with the ceremony out of spite, to hurt Damon, rather than because she actually wanted to be with me.
That I was setting myself up for the same kind of heartbreak my curse had been built on – wanting someone who would never truly be mine.
But I couldn’t say any of that. Not out loud, not even through the mindlink where Aria might hear.
So instead, I projected calm through our bond. *”I’m fine. Just concerned about Aria. That was… difficult for her.”*
Nina’s eyes were knowing. She’d been my
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