📖 The Wolfless Luna
POV: Kate & Ryker
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🌘 Kate
The council chamber smelled of cedar and old paper, a place where countless decisions had been made long before I was born. The high-backed chairs formed a half-circle around a polished table, and the men and women seated there radiated authority.
This was my first time here as Luna, and every eye followed me as Ryker guided me inside. His hand rested at the small of my back — steady, warm, anchoring me.
"Members of the council," Ryker's voice rolled like distant thunder, "this is Kate. My mate. Your Luna."
The title hung in the air, sharp and heavy. I could feel the unspoken questions. How could the Alpha's Luna be wolfless? Can she lead? Can she defend the pack?
An older woman with silver-streaked hair broke the silence. "Welcome, Luna Kate. I hope you find your place among us." Her tone was polite, but her eyes were calculating.
Others followed with their greetings, some warmer than others. I smiled, nodded, and tried to remember the advice Caden had given me earlier: Speak little. Listen more.
As the meeting went on, talk turned to border disputes and rogue sightings. I sat quietly, absorbing every detail, until a sharp comment cut through the discussion.
"She should learn to fight," a broad-shouldered man said, not looking at me directly. "If she's to be our Luna, she should be able to stand beside you in battle, Alpha."
I felt Ryker's hand tense against my back. "She will learn," he said, voice calm but firm. "On my terms."
The man leaned back, unconvinced. The tension in the room thickened, but the conversation moved on.
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🌒 Ryker
He knew what they were thinking. He could hear it in their heartbeats, see it in the flickers of their eyes. They doubted her.
But when he glanced at Kate, sitting straight-backed and composed despite the weight of their stares, pride swelled in him. She didn't shrink. She didn't flinch. She met each look with quiet defiance.
By the time the meeting ended, the council had more questions than answers, but Ryker didn't care. They would learn to respect her — or they would regret underestimating her.
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🌘 Kate
As we stepped into the quiet corridor outside the council hall, I let out a slow breath. "That was… intense."
Ryker's lips curved, almost a smile. "You handled yourself well."
We walked side by side through the palace, our footsteps echoing off the stone. His hand brushed mine once… twice… before he finally caught it in his. His grip was warm and steady, but there was something else there too — a pulse, like the mate bond itself was humming between us.
"Does it bother you?" I asked softly.
He glanced down at me. "What?"
"That they doubt me."
He stopped walking, turning to face me fully. His eyes were the deep, stormy blue of a restless sea. "It bothers me that they think they can speak it aloud."
The way he said it — low, dangerous, protective — sent a shiver down my spine.
Before I could answer, he stepped closer, closing the space between us until I could feel the heat of his body. One hand lifted, brushing a strand of my white hair back behind my ear.
"You are mine, Kate," he murmured, voice roughened with something I couldn't name. "Wolfless or not, you are my Luna. And I don't care what they see. I know what you are."
My breath caught. "And what am I?"
His lips curved faintly. "Mine."
The word settled in my chest like a spark catching flame. For a moment, the palace corridors, the doubts, the stares — all of it faded. It was just us.
He didn't kiss me — not yet — but his forehead touched mine, and the steady thrum of his heartbeat reached me through the bond. I realized, with a strange certainty, that I wasn't afraid anymore.
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🌒 Ryker
He wanted to kiss her. To taste the answer to the question neither of them had dared to ask. But he also knew patience was a weapon.
When he pulled back, her cheeks were flushed, her green eyes bright. He let his thumb brush lightly along her jaw before taking her hand again.
"Come," he said. "There's someone you need to meet."
She looked curious, but didn't ask.
He led her through a quieter part of the palace to a small garden enclosed by ivy-covered walls. In the center, an old woman sat on a stone bench, her eyes closed as if in meditation. When she opened them, they were sharp as a hawk's.
"Alpha. Luna," she greeted. "I've been expecting you."
Kate glanced at him, but Ryker's gaze stayed on the woman. "Elder Marwen," he said. "Tell her what you told me."
Marwen's eyes landed on Kate, and for a moment, it felt as if she could see straight through her. "You may not have a wolf," she said slowly, "but you have something else. And when the time comes, child… you will have to choose how to use it."
Kate's fingers tightened around his, and Ryker knew — she'd heard the weight in those words just as clearly as he had.