Lucas's POV
I used to think I was smart for doing this.
The fake Luna contract my brilliant solution to every problem. No attachments, no expectations, no emotional mess. Just strategy. Just control.
Give the title to someone quiet, harmless, easy to manage. Someone who wouldn't ask questions or demand more than what I could give.
That was the plan.
Except now, I can't stop wondering what the hell I was thinking.
Because every time I look at Ella, it doesn't feel like a contract anymore. It feels… unpredictable. Dangerous, even.
She wasn't supposed to get under my skin. She wasn't supposed to matter.
But she does.
The more time she spends in the pack, the more I see it the way she listens before she speaks, how the wolves soften around her, how she keeps her temper even when the elders are practically breathing down her neck.
I thought I could fake a Luna. Turns out, the only thing fake is the idea that I'm in control.
Last night I didn't sleep. Not because of meetings or border reports. Because of her.
Every time I closed my eyes, her face was there under the moonlight. Her wolf brushing against mine. That damn calm she carries like armor.
I rolled over until the sheets twisted around me, staring at the ceiling. My wolf prowled behind my eyes, restless. You feel her. Stop pretending you don't.
I muttered, "You're imagining it."
He didn't answer. Just paced harder.
By dawn I was still awake, staring at my hands like they belonged to someone else.
At the morning council, I kept my face stone while inside my head was chaos. Elder Grayson was already waiting, his tone sweet like poison.
"Alpha," he said, "the Luna arrangement—"
I cut him off. "We're not revisiting that."
He smiled the way men do when they know they've hit a nerve. "Temporary bonds have a way of becoming permanent without intent."
I started to walk out. His last words stopped me cold.
"You remind me of your father."
I turned back slow. "What's that supposed to mean?"
He just shrugged. "He also thought he could bend fate."
I left before he could see the flicker of doubt in my eyes.
By midday, I saw Ella again in the courtyard. Always the courtyard. She was talking to Elder Mae, and Mae who doesn't smile at anyone was actually smiling.
Ella had her hands clasped, listening like every word mattered. Mae nodded like she was remembering something.
I stayed back, listening without looking.
"They're just kids," Ella was saying. "They want to be seen, not ordered."
Mae tilted her head. "You sound like your mother."
My chest tightened. Even Mae never spoke about my mother lightly.
When Mae left, I walked up to Ella.
"You planning to win over the whole council by lunch?"
She turned, half-smiling. "You make it sound like a bad thing."
"It's suspicious."
So is your constant staring, she said.
I wasn't
She laughed, quiet but real. "Relax, Alpha. I didn't say I mind."
The air shifted. Small. Dangerous.
Later, during patrol, my wolf went still. Someone was watching.
I followed the scent, slow and quiet, until I saw movement near Ella's quarters.
Daren. My own second-in-command.
He was crouched low, pretending to check the locks.
"Enjoying the view?" I said.
He stiffened, turning fast. "Alpha. I was just
"Spying?"
He clenched his jaw. "The council asked me to keep an eye. For safety."
"Safety?" I stepped closer. "Or suspicion?"
"They think she's hiding something."
I felt my wolf rise, cold and sharp. "The only thing she's hiding is patience. Leave her alone."
He muttered "Yes, Alpha" and walked off, but his scent carried unease.
I stayed there a long moment, looking at her window. The light flickered once, then went dark.
Back in my office, silence pressed in.
The healer's warning still echoed if it's not real, it will destroy you both.
I poured a drink, watched it swirl.
The fake Luna contract had been my escape, no commitment, no weakness. But somehow Ella was changing that. She didn't want power. She didn't even seem to want me.
And maybe that's why she mattered.
My wolf's voice again, low. You wanted control. Now look what you've got instead.
I didn't answer.
There was a knock on my door.
"Come in."
Ella stepped in, holding a folded note. "Someone left this on your desk. I didn't read it."
Her voice was careful.
I took the note. The handwriting was sharp, thin. The healer's.
It said:
"Truth doesn't sleep. Neither should you."
I folded it. "Thanks."
"You look tired," she said softly.
"Didn't sleep."
She hesitated, then said, "You shouldn't try to fight the bond."
I looked up fast. "Who told you that?"
"No one. Storm did."
Her wolf. Talking to mine.
We stood there, silent. Air charged.
"I'm not fighting it," I lied.
She smiled faintly, like she knew. "Good. Because you'll lose."
Then she left, calm, leaving me with her words burning holes in my head.