Chapter 7

Elara Vance POV:

After three days, the throbbing in my head had subsided to a dull ache. I was healed enough. I found Kaelen in a vast study lined with ancient books, the scent of old paper mingling with his ever-present pine and winter air.

"Alpha King," I said, my voice steady. "I'm grateful for your hospitality, but it's time for me to leave."

He didn't even look up from the map he was studying. "No."

"No?" I repeated, taken aback by the blunt refusal.

"The rogues who attacked Caelus have not been found. The borders are not secure. You are not safe out there," he stated, as if discussing troop movements.

"I have to go," I insisted, a note of desperation creeping into my voice. "The Warrior Trials... I have to be there."

This time, he did look up. His silver eyes narrowed. "The Trials?" A flicker of something-displeasure, perhaps, or something deeper I couldn't name-crossed his features before it was smothered beneath that cold mask. The idea clearly displeased him.

We were at an impasse. My stubbornness seemed to be a novel experience for a king accustomed to absolute obedience. He was growing frustrated.

Just then, the door opened and his brother, Lorcan, entered with the Pack Doctor.

"Alpha King," the doctor began, his tone urgent. "It's about Caelus. His post-traumatic withdrawal is severe. His wolf remains dormant. However," he paused, glancing at me, "since Miss Vance's arrival, his emotional state has stabilized remarkably. My scans show faint stirrings from his wolf for the first time in years."

The doctor continued, his words sealing my fate. "Alpha King, his wolf seems to be responding directly to her scent. Her presence... it's like medicine for him."

A predatory light glinted in Kaelen's eyes. I saw the shift-the moment my value in his calculations changed. He had found it. The perfect, unbreakable chain to bind me to him. He dismissed his brother and the doctor with a flick of his wrist.

He turned to the window, his back to me. "Elara Vance," he said, his voice once again cool and detached. "You saved the heir to the Blackwood Pack. Such a debt must be repaid."

"I don't want a reward," I said, my guard up. "I just want my freedom."

He turned, and his gaze pinned me in place. "You want more than freedom. You want power. You want a position where no one can ever hurt you or throw you away again. That's why you want to join the Trials, isn't it?"

He saw right through me. His perception was as sharp and unnerving as his gaze. I bit my lip, unable to deny it.

He stalked toward me, his immense presence sucking the air from the room. "I can offer you a shortcut. A path to everything you desire, and more."

"What path?" I asked, my voice a wary whisper.

He stopped directly in front of me, his shadow engulfing me completely. He looked down at me, his face an unreadable mask of royal authority.

Then he spoke, his tone as devoid of emotion as if he were signing a treaty.

"Become my Luna."

The world tilted on its axis. I stared at him, certain I had misheard. "What?" I stammered.

"As repayment for saving Caelus," he repeated, his voice level, "I will grant you the title of Luna of the Blackwood Pack. You will have status, protection, and power beyond anything a warrior could ever achieve."

It wasn't a proposal. It was a business proposition. My mind raced, trying to make sense of the absurd offer. An Alpha King, offering the sacred role of Luna to a Wolfless, low-born stranger he'd known for three days, all as a 'reward'?

It was impossible. A lie. There had to be another reason.

I had felt his power. The crushing weight of his wolf's presence when he had carried me from the warehouse. It was immense, undeniable-the furthest thing from Wolfless I had ever encountered. And yet, the rumors persisted. Whispers that the Moon Goddess had never granted him a mate. That his strength came from something unnatural. That he was cursed.

The contradiction nagged at me. A wolf of his caliber, unmatched? It didn't align with the raw, primal force I had sensed radiating from him. But the truth remained: whatever his reasons, they weren't love. They weren't even desire. They were strategy.

A horrifying theory crystallized in my mind. He wasn't looking for a mate. He was looking for a convenient Luna-someone to fill the role, to present a united front, to manage his heir. Not a partner. A piece on his board.

Kaelen saw the conflict on my face and misinterpreted it as me weighing the offer. "And Caelus needs you," he added, driving the final nail into the coffin of his true intentions. "As his future mother, your presence is vital for his recovery."

For the child. Of course. It was never about me. It was a transaction, a political maneuver, a convenience. I would be a glorified nanny with a crown. The same feeling of being used, of being a pawn in someone else's game, washed over me, cold and sickeningly familiar.

I looked up into the eyes of the most powerful wolf on the continent, the man offering me a world of riches and power, and I felt nothing but a chilling, profound pity.

"I refuse."