📖 The Wolfless Luna
POV: Kate & Ryker
🌘 Kate
The Eclipse Palace was a labyrinth of beauty and intimidation.
Sunlight spilled through arched windows, painting the marble floors in gold. The walls were adorned with grand portraits of past Alphas — all stern eyes and powerful stances — their wolves immortalized at their sides. Every corridor seemed to hum with history, with the weight of generations that had walked here before me.
Beta Caden, Ryker's second-in-command, had been tasked with showing me around. He was tall and broad-shouldered, with dark hair tied back and a watchful gaze that seemed to measure every movement I made.
"This is the east wing," he said as we walked. "The Alpha's quarters are in the north tower. Training grounds are beyond the courtyard." His voice was polite but distant, as if he were speaking to someone who didn't quite deserve his attention.
I trailed my fingers over the cool stone wall, trying to memorize the twists and turns of the palace. "It's… beautiful," I murmured, and it was. But beauty could be a cage, too.
As we passed through a grand set of double doors, I froze. The room beyond was vast, its domed ceiling painted with constellations. The air smelled faintly of parchment and ink — a library, bigger than anything I'd ever seen.
"You read?" Caden asked, sounding faintly surprised.
I nodded. "When I can find books."
Something flickered in his expression — not warmth exactly, but maybe the beginning of it. "You'll find plenty here. Few bother with the archives, but knowledge… knowledge is a weapon, even for those without claws."
I smiled faintly, storing away the words like a secret.
---
🌒 Ryker
From his office balcony, Ryker watched Kate and Caden cross the courtyard. The bond between him and Kate was still fragile, untested, but his wolf reacted every time she was out of sight too long.
Caden had his trust. But the rest of the palace… not yet.
Already, whispers about his mate's lack of a wolf had spread through the pack. He could hear them even when they thought they spoke in private. Weak. Vulnerable. A liability.
They didn't understand — strength wasn't always born of fangs and fur. Sometimes it came quietly, waiting for the right moment to show itself. And Ryker had the unshakable feeling that Kate's moment hadn't come yet.
---
🌘 Kate
The tour ended in the courtyard, where the sound of clashing steel and snarls filled the air. Warriors sparred in the training arena — muscle, speed, and raw aggression on display. My chest tightened.
A few of them noticed me watching. One, a tall man with sandy hair, leaned on the fence and smirked. "Careful, little Luna," he called. "This is no place for someone who can't shift."
The others laughed. Heat flushed my face, but before I could step back, Caden's voice cut in. "Enough."
The sandy-haired warrior shrugged, but his grin didn't fade. "Just saying. A Luna should be able to protect herself."
I didn't know what possessed me then — maybe pride, maybe defiance — but I stepped forward. "And you think you could teach me?"
His grin widened. "I could teach you how to fall."
Caden frowned, but I was already ducking under the fence. The warrior tossed me a wooden practice blade, probably expecting me to fumble. I didn't. I'd never fought a wolf, but I knew how to handle a stick — growing up near the forest meant defending yourself from more than just wild dogs.
The first clash jarred my arms, but adrenaline pushed me forward. I wasn't stronger or faster, but I was quicker than he expected, and when I swept his legs out from under him, the courtyard went dead silent.
I handed him back the blade, trying not to smile. "Guess I don't need claws for that."
---
🌒 Ryker
He arrived just in time to see her take the warrior down. His wolf surged with pride — and a flash of possessiveness at the eyes now watching her.
Caden caught his gaze and gave a subtle nod, as if to say, She's holding her own.
But Ryker's instincts told him this was only the beginning. The pack would keep testing her. And somewhere beneath her calm, there was something else — a hum in her scent, a faint pulse in the air when she moved — that made his wolf restless.
He didn't know what it was yet. But he would find out.