Lucien's little speech was cut off by the word leaving my mouth. We had conquered the city in less than an hour thanks to my change in plans, but it led me here to my mate. From the intense looks between Adrian and Akeila, they both had realized their mate bond as well. Now Lucien held my mate by a blade to her throat, causing a feral rage to build within me. His eyes were boring holes in me, his displeasure evident in every fibre of his being. If there was one thing he did not like, it was me fucking up his plan for a perfect Queen.
"Release her," I said as calmly as I could manage, "or this will get ugly Lucien." His arms relaxed slightly, a low growl emanating from his chest.
"Only if she swears upon the precious Goddess to become your wife. I will not leave here with a liability at my back."
"I swear it," she whispered, her eyes never once leaving my face, "I accept your terms." Lucien clenched his eyes and released her with an unhinged growl. She moved towards me slowly as if in a trance, so I closed the distance and put a hand on her cheek. The feeling sent fireworks across my skin, and my blood boiled seeing a line of red along her neck from where the blade was held to her throat. I growled softly and I saw her shiver, making my wolf growl at me for spooking our mate.
Emrys was pacing, wanting to take her and mark her that second with no care to who was around. Down boy, we will get our chance, I assured him. Her brilliant amber eyes were staring into mine, and I noticed every little sliver and fleck of colour within them as the world fell away from us. It was just us, just this moment.
I could sense her Alpha lineage and status from the doors to the castle, she exuded it so heavily. I could see why Lucien would want her as his Lunar Queen despite having a mate and enough concubines to last him a lifetime. Emrys growled at the thought, and I felt assured that I would never want another female other than her. He filled our shared space with thoughts of her in our bed, raising our pups, running with her wolf. He was needy for her.
Adrian cleared his throat and requested that the warriors release Akeila, who immediately dashed towards him to indulge in their own moment. I leaned down and kissed my mate, gently and tentatively, and she responded by pushing her body flush against mine, ravenously consuming my lips in a fiery kiss. I wrapped a hand around her waist and she moaned at the touch, causing a painful erection on my part. Oh Goddess, to be so freely and easily affected by a woman. Emrys howled in my head, panting and desperately trying to take over. I pulled back from her kiss, causing her to whine while I cleared my throat.
"Men, move out. I believe I have some acquainting to do with my new mate." There were some mutters of appraisal, chuckles of those who were already mated and knew what the first fires of a mate bond felt like. Within a minute, it was just us and Adrian with Akeila. I cleared my throat again, my eyes sliding to them.
Brother, it would be disgraceful to take your mate right here in the temple to the Moon Goddess…we need bedrooms and privacy, I mind linked to him, quickly severing the link. He groaned and pulled away from Akeila, who whimpered as she worriedly looked over his face. He led her off with an arm around her shoulder, as I did with my mate. Walking was deeply uncomfortable, and I could smell her arousal which only furthered my problem.
"We need a room," I muttered to her, "a room where no one will disturb us for a while." She led me through the castle to a room, turning to me at the door and once more capturing my lips with hers. She pushed the door open behind her and expertly weaved us through stacks of books to a lavish bed, her lips never once leaving mine. My body soared and every point of contact between us zapped my skin with electric jolts.
I quickly laid her back and began exploring her body with my hands, her round hips, curved waist, the gentle slopes of her breasts. Emrys growled in appreciation that we would not break her under our touch like so many of the thin women in our lands, and I had to agree. She had curves in all the right places, but underneath the soft layers of skin and fat I felt muscles made of steel, trained hard and often.
Her hands roamed my body, and I heard little growls of appreciation coming from her, making Emrys puff out his chest. I broke away from her lips and undid my leathers, then pulled off my shirt, seeing her eye me hungrily. She simply undid a clasp on her robes, pulling them away from her body to show a low-cut dress that amplified her bosom and curves, making me salivate as if I were a starved man. I noted a faded crescent shaped mark on her chest between her collarbones, along with several markings that looked like stars spreading out along her collarbones.
I dove in for her lips and gripped her right breast, my left hand sliding along her body to grab her thigh and bring it to my hips. She brought up her other thigh, wrapping her legs around my hips and holding me tightly in place. My left hand came up to squeeze her breast and she moaned, sending goosebumps down my spine.
"Touch me." I panted against her lips, and in one bold move I felt her hand against my erection. She turned her head, ripping her lips from mine, and squeezed tightly. A warning.
"I do not even know your name, mate, and yet you think you can take me here after all you and your army has done to my city?" A dutiful Luna, Emrys mused, and my desire for her ran impossibly higher. But I took a deep breath and set my elbows next to her head, holding me up from her body, looking deeply in her gorgeous eyes.
"I'm Mikael, and my wolf is Emrys. I am a Lunar Prince, although I am third in line for the throne. You met my two brothers, Adrian who is mates to your spy and second in line for the throne, then Lucien who you so rightfully put in his place. He's the first." I frowned slightly, taking in her confused expression.
"Have you never heard of the royal family? The Lunar King and Queen?" She shook her head gently, a soft 'no' exiting her lips. "Oh uhhh…alright. Let's uhmm…move from this position…so I can explain everything." I felt my cheeks redden and I pushed myself off her, adjusting myself quickly before holding out a hand to help her up. She gracefully slipped her hand into mine, murmuring a 'thank you' as she rose. She waved her hand to the settee set that I failed to notice when we had come in, allowing me to guide her to a spot not dominated by books. I could've received an arrow to the throat and not noticed in that moment.
I took a deep breath to keep myself from getting worked up thinking about how readily she responded to me as I cleared the books off onto the floor, carving out a space to sit next to her. I folded my hands in my lap to keep them off her, my thumbs fidgeting with another as I took another deep breath.
"The royal family has been around for 16 generations of wolves. We've ruled through times of ease as well as warfare, from the great war with the vampires to the recent skirmishes with the humans. Humans really, really don't like us. We rule ourselves and stay to ourselves. We hunt down any rogues, but it's time consuming and humans tend to like immediate results." I peeked over at her to see her watching me intensely with an inscrutable expression, but her eyes were patient and attentive.
"Our bloodline is said to have been blessed by the Goddess herself, that is why there's the title of Lunar before our royal titles. At least one of the offspring from each generation has been blessed with powers from the Goddess, my brother Adrian and I both have them. Lucien is rather bitter about being left out." I gave a dry chuckle before continuing.
"One of the requirements is that the next to rule must find a Luna of Alpha lineage, no matter if they have a fated mate. Our next generation must be as strong as possible, and that comes from a pristine lineage like yours. However, the fated mate of the next to rule must be respected and held in the same regard as the chosen Luna. Lucien has a mate, and several concubines from conquered packs to ensure their loyalty, our father has our mother the Luna, who was luckily his fated mate, but he also has his fair share of concubines from whom I have several siblings considered illegitimate." She drew her knees into her body, her face not betraying a thing going on in her head. I smiled at her and shook my head.
"I do not plan on taking any concubines, and as you are already my fated mate, I feel like I have all I could ever need. I honestly do not understand why they need so many women, and men, to fill their harems. Perhaps because the kings of old did so without consideration for their mates or Lunas, perhaps because their increased drives to create healthy and strong heirs…who knows. We're honored in packs from the East coast of the continent to the Rocky Mountains, although there are pockets of packs, like yours, that we know very little about. I don't recall there ever being a wolf from your pack, Alpha or otherwise, attending any events or paying tribute to the royal family."
"We have set the rules for the werewolf and Lycan world for as long as there has been a royal family. Any pack that does not adhere to the rules is relentlessly pursued and eliminated to send a message to everyone else that our laws and rule are absolute. Such as the Rising Sun pack that we had to eliminate before coming here, they had disrespected us and broke the first law." Her head tilted as she comprehended the information I had dumped on her, her lips puckering as she processed.
"What's the first law?" She asked after a few moments of surprisingly comfortable quiet.
"No killing humans."