My True Luna

Lyra knew the necklace the moment she saw it around another woman's throat.

Her steps stopped.

So did her heart.

Across the enormous dressing chamber, Selene Ashford stood before a gilded mirror while two maids fastened the final hooks of her crimson gown. Dark hair spilled down her bare back, and diamonds glittered at her ears.

But Lyra saw none of those things.

She saw only the necklace.

Silver forged beneath a Blood Moon.

Seven blood-red stones surrounding a black diamond.

And hanging from its center, the ancient crest of House Blackthorn, a wolf with a crown between its fangs.

The Luna Necklace.

Darius's necklace.

No.

Her necklace.

"Where did you get that?"

The question came out softer than Lyra intended.

One of the maids froze.

Selene didn't.

She continued admiring herself in the mirror as though Lyra had asked about the weather.

Then her lips curved.

"Lyra." She turned slowly. "You came."

Lyra's wolf slammed against the walls inside her.

Mine.

The instinct was so violent that Lyra curled her fingers into her palms.

Three years ago, Darius had taken her beneath the ancient oak behind Blackthorn Castle. He'd held her against his chest while the pack celebrated the Blood Moon in the valley below.

Lyra could still remember his voice against her ear.

One day, I'll put the Blackthorn necklace around your throat myself.

Not yet, he'd told her.

The elders weren't ready to accept an outsider as their Luna.

His position was still unstable.

Their enemies were watching.

Just give me time.

And Lyra had.

Three years.

Three years of sleeping beside him.

Three years of tending the wounds he brought home from territorial wars.

Three years of attending council dinners as nothing more than Alpha Darius's "companion" because acknowledging that the Moon Goddess had made her his mate would complicate pack politics.

Three years of waiting.

Tonight was supposed to end that wait.

The Blood Moon Ceremony began in four hours.

Darius had summoned every important family in Blackthorn territory.

He had told Lyra this morning that everything would change tonight.

She had believed him.

God, she'd actually believed him.

Lyra crossed the room.

"Take it off."

The maids exchanged frightened glances.

Selene raised one perfectly shaped eyebrow.

"Excuse me?"

"The necklace." Lyra stopped a few feet from her. "Take it off."

Selene touched the central diamond.

That casual movement hurt more than it should have.

"You don't like it?"

"You know exactly what that is."

"Of course I do."

"Then you know you aren't supposed to be wearing it."

Selene laughed.

Not loudly.

That would have been easier.

Instead, it was a small, pitying sound.

"Perhaps you should ask Darius who is supposed to be wearing it."

Lyra's stomach tightened.

"My mate wouldn't give you that necklace."

The room went completely silent.

One maid lowered her eyes.

The other suddenly became interested in smoothing the already perfect bedsheets.

Selene noticed.

Her smile widened.

"Your mate?"

Lyra hated the way she said it.

Like the words were childish.

Like Lyra was childish for believing them.

"Darius is my fated mate," Lyra said. "Whatever games you're playing won't change that."

"No. I suppose fate can't be changed."

Selene stepped closer.

"But titles can."

Lyra's wolf growled.

Selene's eyes briefly flickered toward Lyra's hands.

"Careful," she murmured. "It would be unfortunate if you lost control today of all days."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You really don't know."

"Know what?"

Selene stared at her.

For the first time, something almost resembling surprise crossed her face.

Then delight replaced it.

"Oh."

Lyra's skin went cold.

Selene turned toward the maids.

"Leave us."

They obeyed immediately.

Neither looked at Lyra as they hurried past.

The door clicked shut.

Lyra suddenly wished they had stayed.

Selene walked toward a table covered in velvet jewelry boxes.

"The ceremony is going to be beautiful," she said. "Darius spared no expense."

"Take off the necklace."

"Five hundred guests. Nine Alphas. Representatives from the Moon Council." Selene picked up a diamond bracelet. "I heard they've already started arriving."

"Selene."

"And that poor florist has been replacing white roses all morning because Darius insisted every arrangement be perfect."

Lyra grabbed Selene's wrist.

"Take. It. Off."

Selene looked down at Lyra's fingers.

Then back into her eyes.

"Why?"

"Because it belongs to the Luna of Blackthorn."

"Exactly."

The word struck harder than a slap.

Lyra released her.

For several seconds, she couldn't speak.

Then she laughed once.

It sounded wrong even to her.

"You expect me to believe Darius is naming you Luna?"

"I don't expect you to do anything."

"He wouldn't."

"Wouldn't he?"

"We're mates."

"And yet no one knows."

Lyra went still.

Selene moved closer.

"Three years, Lyra."

Each word landed precisely where Selene intended.

"Three years you've lived in this castle. Three years you've warmed his bed. Three years you've followed him around like a devoted little shadow."

"Enough."

"And after all that time, where is your mark?"

Lyra's hand flew instinctively toward the left side of her neck.

Bare skin.

The movement betrayed her.

Selene smiled.

A true mating mark was sacred.

Darius had bitten Lyra during their first night together, but he'd never completed the formal marking ritual before the pack.

Later, he'd explained.

Always later.

After the council accepted her.

After the border war.

After the harvest.

After his father's old allies were under control.

There had always been another reason.

Lyra had accepted every one.

Because when they were alone, Darius loved her.

At least she had thought he did.

"He was protecting me," Lyra said.

"From what?"

"Pack politics."

"How noble."

"You don't know anything about us."

"I know enough."

Selene walked to the mirror again.

She adjusted the necklace.

Lyra's wolf snarled so fiercely inside her that pain shot through her ribs.

Take it.

The wolf wanted blood.

Lyra wanted answers.

"Did Darius give it to you?"

Selene met her gaze through the mirror.

"Who else has the authority?"

"Answer me."

"I just did."

"No. You avoided the question."

Selene sighed.

"You always were more intelligent than people gave you credit for."

"Did he put that necklace around your neck?"

A pause.

"No."

Air returned to Lyra's lungs.

Selene continued before relief could settle.

"He had Beta Adrian deliver it to my family this afternoon."

Lyra's relief died.

Something hollow opened beneath her ribs.

"No."

Selene walked toward a writing desk.

"You don't have to believe me."

"I don't."

"Then perhaps you'll believe him."

She opened a drawer.

Lyra stared as Selene removed a cream-colored document sealed with black wax.

The Blackthorn crest was stamped across the bottom.

Lyra knew Darius's seal.

She'd watched him press it into wax hundreds of times.

Selene held the paper toward her.

Lyra didn't take it.

"What is that?"

"The agreement."

"What agreement?"

Selene's expression softened.

That false sympathy frightened Lyra more than her smugness had.

"The one deciding Blackthorn's future."

Lyra snatched the paper.

The first lines blurred.

She blinked and forced herself to read.

Alliance Covenant.

Blackthorn Pack and Ashford Pack.

Territorial cooperation.

Combined military forces.

Shared resources.

None of that surprised her.

Darius had spent months negotiating with Selene's father.

Then Lyra reached the final section.

Her breathing stopped.

In accordance with ancient pack custom, the alliance shall be sealed through the formal union of Alpha Darius Blackthorn and Lady Selene Ashford,

Lyra couldn't read further.

"No."

Her fingers tightened around the paper.

"Keep going," Selene said.

Lyra did.

She wished she hadn't.

Upon public proclamation before the Blood Moon, Lady Selene Ashford shall be recognized as the intended Luna of Blackthorn,

The document trembled.

Lyra searched for something.

Anything.

A forged seal.

A missing signature.

A sign that Selene had created the document solely to hurt her.

There, at the bottom, beneath lines of legal language, was the signature she'd seen almost every day for three years.

Darius Blackthorn.

Alpha of Blackthorn Pack.

Signed eleven days ago.

Eleven.

Days.

Lyra remembered that night.

Darius had come to her chambers after midnight.

He'd looked exhausted.

She had massaged his shoulders while he complained about negotiations.

When she'd asked whether something was wrong, he'd pulled her onto his lap.

"Trust me, little wolf."

She had kissed him.

Eleven days ago.

Had the ink already been drying then?

"You forged this."

Lyra barely recognized her own voice.

Selene chuckled.

"You know his signature."

"You forged it."

"And his Alpha seal?"

"I don't know what you did."

"Lyra."

"You've wanted Darius since we met. Everyone knows it."

"And everyone knows wanting him wasn't enough."

Selene came closer.

"So I waited."

Lyra crushed the document in her hand.

"For what?"

"For him to finally understand the difference between the woman an Alpha desires and the woman an Alpha needs."

Lyra slapped her.

The crack echoed through the chamber.

Selene's face snapped sideways.

Silence followed.

Lyra's chest heaved.

A red handprint slowly appeared on Selene's cheek.

When Selene turned back, there was no shock in her eyes.

She smiled.

"That felt good, didn't it?"

Lyra's blood ran cold.

"You should probably enjoy it."

Selene calmly touched her cheek.

"After tonight, striking Blackthorn's Luna will be considered treason."

Lyra stared at her.

"I'll hear it from Darius."

"I think you should."

"I'll ask him what this really is."

"Please do."

"And when he tells me you're lying,"

"He won't."

The confidence in Selene's voice stopped her.

Lyra hated that it stopped her.

Selene walked past her and opened the door.

"He's in the western council chamber."

Lyra turned.

Selene's fingers returned to the necklace.

"But Lyra?"

She waited.

Selene smiled.

"Congratulations."

"On what?"

"For finally understanding your place."

Lyra's wolf surged forward.

Her vision flashed silver.

Selene's smile vanished for the first time.

Lyra didn't notice.

She was already walking away.

Her heels struck the marble corridor hard enough to echo.

Servants carrying decorations moved quickly aside.

Four hours until the Blood Moon Ceremony.

Four hours until Darius had promised their lives would change.

Lyra clutched the alliance agreement so tightly its edges cut into her palm.

She didn't feel the blood.

She felt only the weight of another woman's necklace.

The necklace Darius had once promised her.

The necklace is currently resting against Selene's heart.

At the end of the western corridor stood two enormous doors.

Darius's voice came from behind them.

Lyra reached for the handle.

Then she heard her own name.

Her hand stopped.

Inside, Beta Adrian spoke quietly.

"What are you going to do about Lyra?"

Silence.

Lyra couldn't breathe.

Then Darius answered.

And the first five words turned her blood to ice.

"Lyra cannot know. Not yet."