Chapter Six: The Rival King
The world didn't hold still just because her heart felt like it had.
Luna was in the middle of the ancient courtroom of the High Pack. Columns carved with the bloodlines of the original wolves loomed around her, and the air was thick with dust and judgment.
Twelve elders were seated in a half-circle, their robes resembling raven feathers, their faces stony. No smiles. No compassion.
These were the most powerful wolves in Italy. And none of them had any faith in her.
"Elena Moretti's ward," one elder stated, his voice dry as dust. "The last-born of the Cascata bloodline."
"She has her mother's eyes," another elder muttered, "but lacks her grace."
"She stinks of silver and rebellion."
Luna didn't flinch.
Let them look. Let them underestimate her.
She'd taken down more men than these ancient ones could ever fathom.
The lead elder leaned forward. "Tell us, Luna. Why is there blood from a hunter on your pack's sacred ground?"
"It wasn't my blood," she replied coolly.
"But you were with the Alpha when it happened, weren't you?"
"No. I followed a shadow. Found the hunter dying. I saved him."
The old wolf's eyes narrowed. "Don't lie."
"I'm not." A faint smile barely crossed her lips. "But Dominic De Santis might be."
That name rang out in the courtroom like a clap of thunder.
Murmurs spread through the room. One elder stood up in protest, while another slammed his staff down.
"The cursed bloodline."
"He wasn't meant to return."
"He killed on consecrated land!"
Luna's voice cut through the chaos: "He was protecting me."
"And who protects us from him?" the elder growled.
Luna's jaw tightened.
She hated this.
How they spat his name as if it were poison.
How they refused to see what she saw.
The broken boy hidden behind the beast.
The man who burned for her yet kept pushing her away.
The Alpha who would rather vanish than let her fall with him.
Outside, the sun was fading, a dying ember. Night clawed at the sky like a beast desperate for secrets.
Luna didn't wait for the trial to wrap up. She turned and walked out.
Let them yap in circles.
She had bigger predators to deal with.
Back at the estate, a sleek black Mercedes was parked in the driveway.
The emblem shimmered like a blade in the moonlight.
Two guards stood by it, not hers.
She tensed up.
Then she heard the voice.
"Finalmente."
Deep. Male. Laced with cologne and danger.
She turned to see him.
Tall. Sharp cheekbones. Eyes like caramel mixed with poison. A tailored black suit, a gold chain around his wrist, and a half-smirk that belonged only on a devil.
Lorenzo Valente.
Her cousin.
And son of her father's greatest enemy.
"You weren't invited," Luna said, crossing her arms.
"I'm not here for tea."
"Then what do you want?"
He stepped closer, the scent of bergamot and ambition curling around him. "I came to offer you a choice."
"I don't need your help."
"I didn't say you did. But Dominic's gone. The court wants blood. And without an Alpha…"
Her pulse quickened.
"I'm not taking a mate."
"I didn't say mate, piccola lupa," Lorenzo said, his voice smooth. "I said ally."
She stared at him.
He edged even closer.
"I could protect your people. Give you access to territory Dominic's kind can't touch. And I can keep the High Pack off your back."
"What's the catch?"
He smiled.
"Just let me stand beside you."
"And when they start calling you Alpha?"
"I'll deny it."
She blinked, taken aback.
"You think I'd believe you wouldn't try to take control?"
"Believe what you want," he said, locking eyes with her. "But I'm not Dominic. I won't run from you."
Dominic was in an underground boxing club in Palermo, knuckles raw, jaw cracked.
The blood on his hands wasn't his own, but it felt like it was.
The bond inside him?
Cracked but still alive.
He could feel her.
Even now.
Burning somewhere far off.
He could almost smell her skin.
Almost hear her whispers.
But then he recalled what he'd done. What the elders would do. What the prophecy said.
If he claimed her, she would be ruined.
If he stayed away… maybe she could survive.
He lit a cigarette with shaky fingers.
He'd fight a thousand men just to keep her safe.
Even if it killed him.
Back at the estate, Luna stood on the balcony again.
But this time, she had company.
Lorenzo poured her a glass of red wine and handed it over.
"You're quiet," he remarked.
"I'm just thinking."
"About him?"
She didn't reply.
He took a sip of his wine. "I heard about what he did. The hunter's body."
"He deserved it," she said plainly.
"Yet here you are, still defending Dominic."
"I'm not."
"You are."
She glared at him, fire in her eyes.
"Don't pretend you understand what we are."
"I don't need to pretend." He stepped closer. "I know what you could be. What you already are. The Pack doesn't require a monster lurking in shadows. It needs a Queen who shines in daylight."
Her throat tightened.
He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
"You could be that Queen, Luna."
Then, soft as a sin, he added—
"And you don't have to be alone anymore."
Downstairs, Elena watched from the dark hallway. Her eyes shimmered with a mix of pride and warning.
Let Luna play with kings, she thought.
But every throne comes with its graveyard.
That night, Luna couldn't find sleep.
She felt a rush of emotions—rage, desire, betrayal, guilt.
And beneath it all, the ache.
The Bond.
She pressed her hand to her chest and whispered, "Where are you?"
Dominic lay in the alley behind the gym, shirt soaked in blood.
He'd won the fight.
But his wolf craved more.
No victory could replace the feeling of her skin against his.
As he lay staring at the stars through a cracked skylight, he felt her voice resonate in his bones.
"Ti amo… anche se mi spezzi."
I love you… even if you break me.
And the beast inside him howled.