I stare blankly at the hunting knife stuck in the wooden frame, in front of my face.

Cain threw one of his knives at me!

I don’t think twice. Heck, I don’t think at all! I just use my inhuman speed to take the last step to the wooden doors, and grab the knife's handle to draw it from the frame. I turn swiftly, at the same time throwing the knife straight into Cain’s chest.

He catches it at the last moment, the blade already penetrating his black shirt and probably at least the skin. He throws it back at me with a roar, and I dodge it at the last millisecond.

“Don’t you fucking dare walk out on me like that!” he stands up.

The silence that falls after that in the courtyard is almost deafening.

I have no idea how he could sound so angry, but still be in so much control of emotions on his seemingly unbothered face.

“If you’ll excuse me, My Lord,” I bow down slowly in a mocking manner, feeling like I went back in time to the starting point of our relationship.

I turn on my heel and stride out.

“Ugh, Gamma, go after her, my father’s around,” I hear Cain saying, and no sooner after that, Atlas is on my tail asking me to slow down.

Slow down? He’s a fucking werewolf, he can catch up!

“Luna, wait for me!” Claudia shouts as I leave the castle with Cain’s Gamma, following me like a dog.

If he knew I just called him a dog… It’s the biggest insult for a werewolf. You can try calling us kittens, but never dogs .

I stop abruptly. Atlas bumps into me and I lose balance, but he catches me in his arms. “ Now you know how to wait for someone?”

I guess he’s still sour after I didn’t slow down for him when Cain asked him to follow me. I get out of his grip, returning an irritated look.

“Where are we going?” Claudia catches up with us with a smile, but I’m still too angry at Cain to smile back at my friend.

He almost fucking killed me… we are marked for fuck’s sake! Even if he doesn’t know about the true mate bond and its lethal consequences, it’s still unacceptable.

But I don’t mind Claudia coming after me. I’m smart enough to know I could use a friendly buffer right now.

“The inn?” I propose. “I barely ate anything, and you could have some drinks if you want. You have money, right?”

Atlas laughs at me, “What would you do if Cain didn’t ask me to go after you?”

I roll my eyes at him and bind my arm with Claudia’s.

“I missed you at lunch today,” she says, while Atlas leads us into the town through the back gate.

“Well, Alpha took me on a date.”

“No! For real?! He never took anyone on a date!”

“Yeah, he’s a prince. How many royal she-wolfs do you have here for him to date?”

Her enthusiasm falls immediately, and I suddenly feel like a classist dick.

“I’m sorry,” I mutter, “I just meant—”

“No, it’s okay, I know we are not worthy of him. How was it? The date?” she tries to go back on the cheerful track with a smile .

I sigh, and start telling her dry facts about the date, while Atlas leads us to the Inn. I hope. By the absent way his eyes look, Cain could be just mind-linking him instructions to take me for torture or something. Especially with the full moon, is the inn even open tonight?

“I’ll go order a pizza at the counter. It will be quicker,” Atlas says, while Claudia and I are getting seated in one of the cozy booths that are filling with people wanting to prolong their full moon celebrations.

“Thanks, can you—” Claudia tries to ask, but he interrupts her with his hand.

“I know what you want,” he states unpleasantly, and walks away.

Claudia rolls her eyes at his back.

“I hope you don’t mind that I keep trying to intervene in your job’s rules,” I say, trying to stir the conversation close enough to the topic of their laws that would allow me to ask some questions.

“Of course not, you are a great friend and even better Luna.” She smiles at me.

I narrow my eyes trying to gauge how honest she is.

“So, what’s the deal with blood written and regular books?” I decide to get straight to the point, while Atlas is far enough away to not hear us, with all the music and chatting in the dimly lit restaurant.

“Well, some of our laws are non-negotiable. They are written with the blood of our kings in this old creepy book. No one can change them unless the new King makes a change to the book. With the deceased King’s blood of course. But even then, the book allows him to make only one change.”

I stare at her, wondering if I should voice my skepticism towards any magic while I’m a shapeshifter werewolf. The book doesn’t allow them ? Maybe it’s just a legend. Or a weird tradition?

“And the regular book?” I prompt her.

“Oh, it has all other pack laws registered inside. You know, the more modern ones… Or should I say, the ones that are currently needed.”

“Okay, so what kind of laws are in the creepy blood book, then?”

“Well, I don’t know all of them, it’s not a piece of common knowledge, but there is one everyone knows. The one that makes King alpha-command his adult kids to kill each other until only the strongest one remains.”

“Wait, they get compelled?” Now I feel like a true dick for always talking about it as if it was some popular sporting event.

“Yup, and it is as horrible as it sounds. I was already working at the castle when the Alpha Prince and his baby sister were the only ones left. King compelled them to fight at Princess Edana’s 18th birthday celebration. She didn’t have a chance, and everyone knew that, but she had to give everything in her anyway because of the compulsion. The problem was, so did the Alpha. She sobbed the whole time. She was trained by our Alpha since she was a toddler, so it wasn’t that quick. I don’t know what was worse to watch—Princess, knowing the whole time her life was about to end; or Alpha’s tears falling down his face while he was cutting his baby sister's throat.”

I’m taken aback by Claudia admitting publicly her arrogant Alpha cried. Before I comment on it bitterly, I realize he is that self-confident, isn’t he? My own eyes are watery at this point, because fuck, that was sad, and I almost jump when Atlas suddenly scoots to me into the booth.

“Are you talking about Princess Edana? It was the first and last time I ever cried.”

“We all cried with the Alpha,” Claudia admits, and then shakes her head when she finally notices the cup of tea Atlas must have put before her, “How did you know?”

“Rogue King’s eyes were dry as a desert,” Atlas ignores Claudia’s question, but not what she said before.

I look down at the glass of water Atlas pushed into my hands. My throat is so tightly squeezed, and my eyes are so watery by now that I barely see anything. That damn story …

A few tears escape me involuntarily, and Atlas immediately wraps his arm around my shaking shoulders. “Hey, Ash, don’t cry.”

I push him away. “Stop, Cain will smell your body wash on me.”

“You shouldn’t call—”

“I’m his Luna, remember?” I point at my neck and realize I still have Cain’s jacket on. “I can call him by his name when we are in friendly settings, don’t you think?”

“I don’t know, Luna,” he starts to shake his head.

“You won’t tell him any of this anyway.”

Atlas brings his hands up in a surrender gesture.

The casual outing with Claudia and Gamma Atlas helped me calm the pure rage I felt throwing the knife at my husband, but also realize how stupidly I acted. The fact that no one has tried to throw me into the dungeons yet, is not helping me gather the courage to open our bedroom door at all.

I take a big breath with my hand on the doorknob, and try to ignore the growing anticipation that comes to me through the newly established mate bond. Is he waiting to punish me? I know Atlas said I’ll probably be fine because he marked me, but…

“Why were you crying?” Cain asks me casually, as soon as I enter our room.

It’s the first time I actually see him sitting at his desk, and not on it. He must have been sketching something with a black soft pastel, because he covers the pages of his leather journal with dirty fingers.

“Atlas, you fucking traitor,” I mouth, irritated that he ratted me out.

Cain shuts his journal closed, probably smudging all his work, but why should I care about that?

“My gamma didn’t report anything to me after he said where he was taking you. ”

“How do you know I cried, then?” I furrow my brows, genuinely interested. It was just a few tears. I saw myself in the restroom’s mirror before we left the restaurant, I know I look normal.

Aside from the most beautiful golden mark I’ve ever seen. They are usually more silver…

“I assumed. You are not the most mentally stable person, and I felt how sad you were. Through the mate bond,” he points in the direction of the covered marking he gave me a few hours ago.

Not the most mentally stable? The audacity of this guy, I swear!

“We are not mates.”

The look he gives me is clearly you-would-be-dead-by-now-if-we-weren’t.

“Will you make me explain we are chosen mates every time we talk about our bond?”

Like I chose this.

“Well, you make me call you your Highness every single fucking time!”

Cain bursts out laughing and stands up.

I cross my forearms over my chest and lean my back on the doors behind me, while he’s getting closer to me.

“I used to never cry and now you’ve made me cry so many times I lost count,” I admit.

“So, tell me, how did I make you cry when I wasn’t even there?” he asks, pressing his body to mine, while caging my head between his impressive muscled arms resting on the wooden surface behind me.

I should be getting mad, but his closeness makes me dizzy with desire. I wish he would go back to acting cold toward me, so I could… think… clearly… Our mate bond is in full effect now, and suddenly I cannot escape my dirty feelings any longer. All I can think about is how literally hot he makes me feel. There are too many layers between us. I grab hold of his shirt at his waist with my fists, and try to pull him even closer .

He leans down a bit, but not low enough for me to capture his lips. He smirks at me.

“Hm, I can feel how aroused you are, too. Useful little thing.” He grabs my chin roughly, and turns my head right for better access to my neck.

When his tongue touches my marking spot, leaving my skin hot and tingling in the best possible way, my legs almost give way under me.

He moves away only far enough to jerk his leather jacket off my shoulders, and to take off his shirt. I don’t have enough time to appreciate how dangerously attractive he is, because he crushes against me again, catching my lips in a passionate kiss.

Finally.

Oh my Goddess, how I love being kissed by this man! He is so dominant—I can’t help but just submit my tongue and mouth to him with a muffled moan.

He sticks his hands between us to unzip my pants. I help him slide them down my legs and when they finally land on the floor, he unbuttons his and hoists me up.

I wrap my legs around his hips, and he presses me so hard to the doors I couldn’t slide down even if he wasn’t holding my ass.

He nips at my neck again, and I tilt my head up with overwhelming pleasure and need, that I’m not sure is even all mine. Is it his, too?

“Oh my Goddess, this mate bond…”

He moves his head up so our noses touch.

“Chosen mate bond,” he mocks me.

I chuckle against his lips, while sliding my hands around his neck and up his head. I rake them through the longer hair on the top and then start to mindlessly massage the shaved parts.

“Mmm, I love it when you touch my head,” he admits and kisses me again, a lot sloppier than before, and soon I know why. He’s preoccupied.

One of his hands moves from my ass more to the center, and he teases me with his fingers brushing over my soaked panties. “You are so wet, Little Wolf. Is it for me?”

I bite his lip lightly and start kissing him again. Over my dead body, I’ll ever admit that to him. He roughly shoves my underwear to the side, and I gasp when he slams his hard dick up into me while holding me with only one hand.

“I made you cry again,” he comments, with a sexy smirk, on the tears that came to my eyes from the way he is stretching me and hitting against my cervix with every relentless push.

He knows damn well what he’s doing to me, and this arrogance of his is precisely what makes me enjoy his cock even more. My pussy slowly adjusts to it, and I start moaning and panting every time he pushes deeper inside me.

It’s too much, and not enough at the same time.

“More, Cain, I need more,” I moan, “Harder, please…”

The remnants of my subconscious registers knocking on the heavy door Cain is fucking me against.

He groans and slides out of me. He sits me up on his desk that’s on our left, so I’m covered if the door opens.

He opens them without bothering to hide his glistening, hard dick. His black pants sit super low on his hips, and I have a problem with coming down from my high with a view like this.

“Hello, Alpha, I… Um, sorry, I didn’t know, you guys… Is Luna here, or is she in pain somewhere else?” His Beta asks, with suspicion evident in his voice. He lacks sympathy, though.

“Of course, she is here, Cifer—”

“I’m not five anymore, Alpha, and it’s a valid question when you were throwing knives at each other just an hour ago.”

Oh, yeah. That .

“Beta Lucifer,” Cain is not hiding the irritation in his voice, but he is pulling his pants up and covering his hard-on. “What do you need?”

“Um, yes, I came to ask about the swearing-in ceremony.”

That grabs my attention, and I try to focus on what they are saying, instead of imagining all the ways Cain can fuck me when he’s done with pack business.

“What about it? Did he change his mind?”

“No, Alpha, I wanted to know if you want to move it before the wedding.”

“What wedding? Oh, okay. Yes, that’s a good idea. But not good enough to stop me from fucking my wife against the door.”

I cover my mouth, so they don’t hear me laughing. Cain immediately glances at my shaking shoulders. Nothing can be hidden from him.

“As I said, you were just throwing knives and fighting in front of everyone,” Beta says as irritated, as if he was the one whose fucking was interrupted.

My throbbing clit doesn’t let me think clearly. I need the release!

I don’t listen to them anymore. I take off the red blouse I was wearing to the date and the ruined panties, and Cain’s focus shifts too. I can see it in the way he keeps glancing my way, despite Beta still talking.

I can feel through the mate bond how much he struggles against its power too. It’s overwhelming, and all-consuming, and…

I stand up and close the doors in front of Beta’s nose, I assume, and turn to Cain and his lifted black brows. I push on his bare chest lightly, right on the spot where the wound should be if he was an ordinary human.

But he’s not ordinary in any way. And he’s mine.

“Take me, Cain,” I say with a sultry voice, and pass him to climb onto the bed.

I don’t make it to the bed. He catches me first, holding me firmly by my waist, his fingers digging into my stomach .

“Don’t tell me what to do,” he says in his husky voice, his breath brushing my ear. “Be a good little wolf and bend down for me.”

I clench my muscles and bend down, my ass up, while he still holds me tightly. As soon as I rest my hands on the edge of the mattress, I feel his dick on my slit, sliding up and down, coating himself in my wetness. He slams inside again and starts thrusting into me, hard, slow, and so deliciously deep—I’m not sure I can take it. He pushes my back even lower, and I feel the pressure building up, making me closer and closer to the edge, until…

“Are you submitting to me because you feel like you have to?” He stops moving, and tilts my head up with a fist in my hair.

What the heck? Why is he stopping?

“No,” I’m panting and trying to move my hips back and forth on my own, which makes his hold on me even firmer, blocking me.

“You are a royal alpha-blooded wolf. Why aren’t you acting more dominant?”

“What? No, Cain, please…” I slam my hips against his. “Please, fuck me, however you want,” I’m pleading, almost on the verge of crying again.

I was so close already…

He starts moving again slowly, still holding my waist with one hand and my hair with another. “You can move, please yourself.”

I move my hips against him, again and again, making him moan sexily until I’m a moaning, panting mess myself. I reach the ultimate high and scream, maybe for him, maybe for the moon that casts its holy glow on us, or maybe for the Goddess herself.

He guides me, with his fist in my hair, until I’m kneeling before him; then he pushes his dick deep into my throat, making my eyes water and momentarily cutting my air.

“Fuck!” He stills, and I feel his cock jerking inside my mouth—spurt after spurt—while I’m sucking all his seed without restraint, until there’s no more left, then yanks me up and kisses my forehead.

I wrap my hands around his torso to steady myself.

“Sorry, I should have asked you first probably. But I was too close to think, and we forgot about condoms again.”

He can do to me whatever he wants, if he makes me feel as good as he just did. My legs are trembling.

I groan into his chest, “At least you remembered. I’m so bad at this.”

I can’t believe I didn’t even think about it, in the heat of the moment. And I was the one begging him to take me… I guess whatever was left of my brain got smashed when his mark intensified our true mate bond.

“I don’t think I fully processed what you did to us today, yet,” I admit.

“It is… overwhelming, yes. Do you need to run or something?”

I look up at him confused, “I’ve been training every day, except today.”

“No, I mean you look like you need to wind down, and you are a werewolf. When was the last time you fully shifted into your beautiful wolf form?”

I stare at him for a moment, because he froze my brain using the word ‘beautiful’ to describe me so casually. Enough to let that mansplaining slide.

“Ash?”

“I… I don’t remember.”

“Maybe you should hunt me again?” he proposes like it was a walk in the park.

I roll my eyes at him, but nod.

“Sure, now that I know you are part Lycan, at least losing won’t hurt my ego so much.”

“I’m not…” he starts to chuckle, but his face falls suddenly. “Wait, what?”

“You didn’t know,” I realize, as I watch him coming to terms with probably a billion things that make so much more sense to him now.

He’s rushing to pull on some gray sweatpants, and running out of the room without any explanation, and I’m left unsure what to do now.