Vera

For a long moment, we just stared at each other - Alpha and Luna, husband and wife, enemies bound by law.  

Darius was the first to look away. He dragged a hand through his dark hair, exhaling like the weight of my presence exhausted him.  

"Yes. I wanted Selene," he said finally, his voice low but steady. "I still do. She's my, " He stopped himself.  

I tilted my head, bitterness curling my lips. "Your what? Your mate?"  

When he didn't answer, I laughed,  a hollow, ugly sound. "But you married me. You marked me, Darius. You claimed me, even if you couldn't stand to touch me."  

His jaw flexed. "That mark means nothing without consummation. You know that." His tone hardened, that commanding Alpha authority sliding into place. "Sign the papers, Vera. Go home. Find someone who can actually love you, because I can't."  

There it was, the truth I'd tried to ignore for six long months.  

The air left my lungs in a rush. The ache in my chest burst open, spilling into something wild.  

Before I realized it, my hands moved,  the papers flying across the desk, scattering like torn feathers.  

"No."  

Darius blinked. "What did you just say?"  

"I said no." My voice trembled but didn't break. "You want this over? You want to erase me and marry my sister? Then you're going to have to work for it."  

He straightened, power rolling off him in waves. "Don't be ridiculous."  

"I am your wife," I shot back. "Your Luna. Whether you like it or not, that means something. And I'm not going to let you throw me away like I was nothing."  

His silver eyes darkened. "The Elders already approved the annulment. The loophole is legal. All you're doing is delaying what's inevitable."  

"Then let me delay it," I said. "You owe me that much. Six months of my life, Darius. Six months of humiliation. Six months of watching you look at *her* while pretending I didn't exist. If you want your freedom, you can damn well earn it."  

Something flickered in his gaze,  not pity, not anger. Something... curious.  

"What do you want?" he asked quietly.  

The question caught me off guard. My mouth moved before I could think.  

"Three months. Give me three months before the annulment goes through."  

His brows drew together. "Three months? For what?"  

"To be your wife," I said simply. "Your real wife."  

He laughed, a short, humorless sound that made my pulse spike. "You've lost your mind."  

"Maybe I have." I took a step closer, meeting his glare head-on. "You've kept me locked out since the wedding,  no training, no meetings, no say in the pack. For three months, that changes. I'll act as your Luna. I'll do everything I was meant to do. And then, if you still want to end it, I'll sign the papers myself."  

He leaned back, studying me like I was a puzzle he hadn't expected to find in his own office. "And what does that entail, exactly?"  

"I'm not asking for romance," I said, even though the words nearly strangled me. "But I want my role. I want to train with the females. I want to sit in on your council meetings. I want to stand beside you at the Alpha Summit next month,  as your Luna, not your shadow."  

Silence stretched between us, thick and electric.  

Finally, Darius gave one sharp nod. "Three months. No more." He stepped closer, his scent brushing against me, dark cedar and something dangerous. "But this changes nothing, Vera. At the end of those three months, I'm still marrying your sister."  

The words sliced through me, clean and merciless. But I didn't flinch. "Understood," I said.  

"Good." His voice was cold again. "Now get out. I have work to do."  

I turned toward the door, my pulse thrumming, my body trembling from holding in too much, rage, pain, something else I didn't dare name.  

I was halfway out when his voice stopped me.  

"Vera."  

I looked back.  

He was watching me with an expression I couldn't read. "For what it's worth... I am sorry. You deserve better than this."  

My throat tightened, but I forced a smile that didn't reach my eyes. "Yes," I said softly. "I do."  

I left before he could see the tears spill.  

Three months. That's what I'd bought myself.  

Three months to figure out who I was without him,  or maybe who I'd been all along.  

Three months to stand my ground before he took everything else from me.  

But as I walked through the empty halls of the pack house, something strange stirred inside me. A faint hum beneath my skin, a pulse that didn't belong to heartbreak.  

By the time I reached the end of the corridor, the air had shifted. The lights flickered, just once.  

And deep in my chest, my wolf, silent since the day of the wedding,  whispered one word.  

Mine.

What if I didn’t let him go?  

What if I fought?  

My fingers brushed the mark on my neck, Darius’s mark. Still there. Still binding me, even if he refused to acknowledge it. And for the first time in six months, I smiled.  

I couldn’t face Selene. Not yet. I could still see the way Darius’s eyes softened when he looked at her, the way they never softened for me. So instead of going back to the dining room, I drifted to the only place in this massive pack house that ever felt remotely mine: the library.  

It sat tucked away in the west wing, three floors of dust, quiet, and the smell of leather and old paper. Most wolves preferred the training grounds, the communal halls, or the woods. But I’d spent countless hours here, hiding between shelves, pretending I wasn’t slowly falling apart.  

I sank into my usual chair by the window overlooking the forest and finally let the tears come.  

What the hell had I just done?  

Three months. I’d demanded three months to play at being his wife when he’d already made it clear he didn’t want me. What was I hoping for? That he’d wake up one morning and see me differently? That he’d remember what it meant to love me?  

Pathetic. I pressed my palms to my eyes, swallowing a sob. Pathetic, Vera. Again.  

“You know,” a voice rasped from the doorway, “for someone who just backed an Alpha into a corner, you don’t look very triumphant.”  

I jolted. An elderly woman stood there, leaning on a gnarled walking stick. Elder Moira. I’d only seen her a handful of times, she rarely left her cottage at the edge of the territory.  

“I… I didn’t mean to intrude,” I stammered, wiping my face.  

“Oh, hush.” She waved her hand. “This is pack territory, child. You’re Luna. You don’t apologize for existing in your own home.”  

Luna. The word landed heavy and ironic.  

Moira settled across from me with a grunt, her sharp blue eyes assessing me. “I heard what happened. The whole pack’s buzzing about it. News travels fast when it involves the Alpha.”  

“Wonderful,” I muttered. “I’m sure they’re all laughing about the pathetic Luna who threw a tantrum.”  

“Laughing?” Moira cackled. “Half the females are ready to throw you a parade. Do you know how long we’ve waited for you to grow a spine?”  

I blinked. “What?”  

“For six months you’ve been walking around like a ghost,” she said. “Letting that fool Alpha ignore you while he sniffs after your sister like a lovesick pup. Today was the first time you acted like a Luna instead of a shadow.”  

Her words stung because they were true.  

“I wasn’t trying to make a scene,” I whispered.  

“Maybe not. But you finally reminded him you exist.” Moira’s tone softened. “What Darius has done is cruel, child. But you’ve let him. You’ve hidden here, made yourself small, hoping he’d notice your silence. That’s not how you tame a wolf.”  

My throat ached. “Then what was I supposed to do?”  

“What you did today, fight.” She leaned forward and took my hand. “That boy needs someone who challenges him. His father made him an Alpha but forgot to make him a man.”  

“He doesn’t want me to challenge him,” I said bitterly. “He wants Selene.”  

“Does he?” Moira’s eyes gleamed. “Or does he want the one thing he can’t have? Alphas crave resistance. Your sister pushes him. You’ve been too accommodating. Which of you do you think intrigues him more?”  

I looked away. “Even if you’re right… he still loves her.”  

“Love,” Moira scoffed. “He confuses love with obsession. He doesn’t know what it means to choose someone through silence and storms.” Her grip tightened. “You have three months. Use them to find your power, not his affection.”  

“I don’t even know where to start.”  

Moira’s lips curved into a predatory smile. “That’s why the Moon sent me. Come, if you’re going to be a Luna, you’ll need training.”  

“Training?” I echoed.  

“Did you think being Luna meant smiling prettily beside your Alpha?” Her eyes glittered. “Oh, sweet child… you’ve no idea what power lies in your position.”  

By the time I left the library two hours later, my head was spinning.  

Moira had unraveled everything I’d ignored for months, pack politics, alliances, territory management, the Luna’s influence. “The females look to you for guidance,” she’d said. “The pack needs your strength when the Alpha’s judgment falters. You’ve been chasing one man and forgetting the two hundred wolves who depend on you.”  

She was right. I’d been drowning in heartbreak while my pack drifted without a Luna.  

That ended now.  

When I reached the training grounds, the late sun was already bleeding into the horizon. Female warriors sparred in human form, graceful, brutal, alive. I recognized Kara, the head female warrior; Maya, the young wolf who always smiled when she saw me; and at the edge, arms crossed, watching me like a ghost from another life, Selene.  

She straightened as I approached. “Vera…”  

“I’m here to train,” I said, loud enough for every wolf to hear. “Elder Moira says all Lunas should. I’ve been negligent in my duties.”  

Silence swept the field. A few warriors exchanged glances. Selene’s lips parted, something unreadable flickering in her gaze.  

Then a slow clap echoed from behind.  

I turned. Darius stood at the edge of the clearing, his expression unreadable, his eyes darker than the dusk around us.  

“Then let’s see,” he said softly, his voice carrying across the field, “if the Luna can still fight.”  

Vera

Kara, a tall woman with a scar across her jaw and muscles that could probably snap me in half, raised an eyebrow. "You want to train? No offense, Luna, but you're human. You'll get hurt."

"Then I'll heal and train again." I met her gaze steadily, channeling every ounce of the false confidence I'd felt in Darius's office. "Unless you're saying that Luna isn't strong enough to train with her own pack?"

It was a challenge, and everyone knew it. Around us, the other females had stopped their exercises to watch.

Kara's lips curved into a slow smile. "Alright, Luna. Let's see what you've got." She gestured to the sparring circle. "Basic self-defense. Show me how you'd handle an attack from behind."

My heart was pounding as I stepped into the circle. I had no idea what I was doing. I'd never thrown a punch in my life, never learned to fight. But I was tired of being helpless. Tired of being the weak link.

Kara moved behind me, and I felt her presence like a weight. "Someone grabs you from behind. What do you do?"

Before I could answer, her arm wrapped around my throat in a chokehold.

Panic flooded through me. I clawed at her arm uselessly, my vision already starting to blur.

"Wrong," Kara said calmly, releasing me. I stumbled forward, gasping. "You freeze up. You panic. That'll get you killed." She moved back into position. "Again. This time, think. Where are your attacker's weak points?"

We went again. And again. And again.

By the tenth time, I was covered in bruises and my throat was raw. But I'd managed to stomp on Kara's instep hard enough to make her grunt, and when she'd loosened her hold for just a second, I'd driven my elbow back into her ribs.

It wasn't much. But it was something.

"Better," Kara said, and there was approval in her voice. "You're learning. Maya, you're up next. Show the Luna the proper stance for blocking."

For the next hour, I trained. I was terrible at it. Slow and clumsy and weak compared to the female wolves who moved like lethal dancers. But I didn't quit. Even when my muscles screamed. Even when I could feel Selene's eyes boring into my back.

Even when I looked up and saw Darius standing at the edge of the training grounds, watching me with an expression I couldn't read.

Our eyes met across the distance. I didn't look away. Didn't stop. I let Maya correct my stance, listened to Kara's instructions, and threw another punch at the training dummy.

I might not be a wolf. Might not have supernatural strength or speed or any of the advantages the others had.

But I could be strong in other ways.

And for the first time since I'd arrived at Shadowcrest, I felt like maybe, just maybe, I deserved to be here.

When the training session finally ended, I was limping, covered in sweat and dirt, and pretty sure I'd pulled something in my shoulder. But I felt more alive than I had in months.

Kara clapped me on the back hard enough to nearly knock me over. "Not bad, Luna. You've got guts, I'll give you that. Same time tomorrow?"

"Same time tomorrow," I agreed.

As the other females dispersed, I finally let myself look at where Darius had been standing.

He was gone.

But Selene remained, watching me with an expression that was equal parts guilt and something else. Jealousy, maybe?

Good.

I walked past her without a word, my head held high despite the pain radiating through every muscle.

Three months. I had three months to prove that I belonged here. Three months to become the Luna this pack deserved.

And if, at the end of it all, Darius still chose Selene?

Well, at least I'd know I'd fought for it.

At least I'd know I'd finally fought for myself.

I woke up the next morning feeling like I'd been hit by a truck.

Every muscle in my body screamed in protest as I tried to sit up. My shoulders were stiff, my legs were sore, and there was a particularly nasty bruise blooming across my ribs where I'd taken an elbow during training.

But beneath the pain, I felt... alive.

For the first time in six months, I'd done something for myself. Something that had nothing to do with trying to win Darius's approval or competing with Selene. I'd trained because I wanted to be stronger. Because I was tired of being weak.

I dragged myself out of bed and into the bathroom, wincing with every step. The hot shower helped, but not much. By the time I was dressed, practical training clothes instead of the soft dresses I usually wore, I could barely lift my arms.

This was going to be a long three months.

I made my way downstairs, dreading another encounter with Selene. But the dining room was empty except for a few pack members grabbing breakfast before heading out for patrol. They nodded at me respectfully, which was new. Apparently word had spread about yesterday's training session.

I was pouring coffee when I heard his voice behind me.

"You're limping."

I turned slowly. Darius stood in the doorway, dressed for a run in athletic pants and a fitted shirt that showed off every carved muscle. His hair was damp, like he'd just showered, and his gray eyes were fixed on me with an intensity that made my breath catch.

"Good morning to you too," I said, proud that my voice didn't shake.

"You overdid it yesterday." It wasn't a question. He moved closer, and I caught his scent-pine and rain and something wild that made my wolf mark tingle. "Kara said you trained for over an hour. You're human, Vera. You can't keep up with wolves."

"Watch me." I took a sip of coffee, meeting his gaze over the rim of my cup. "I'll be at training again this afternoon."

His jaw tightened. "You're going to hurt yourself."

"That's my problem, not yours." The words came out sharper than I intended. "Or have you forgotten? You want a divorce. What I do with my body is no longer your concern."