The snow still remembered Christmas.
It lay thick across the mountain estate, untouched in places where no one dared tread without permission, churned into silver-gray slush along the paths the pack used daily. The world looked peaceful from a distance...pine trees heavy with frost, the iron gates gleaming beneath a pale winter sun...but Talia had learned quickly that peace was often just silence waiting to be broken.
She stood at the tall window of the east wing, hands wrapped around a porcelain cup that had gone cold minutes ago.
Below her, wolves moved.
Not in their full forms...most of the time...but there was a cadence to their steps that betrayed them. Too smooth. Too alert. Too aware of everything. They crossed the courtyard in small groups, spoke in low voices, and glanced upward far more often than they probably realized.
At her window.
At her.
Talia exhaled slowly and pulled the robe tighter around herself.
Human Luna.
The words followed her everywhere. They were never spoken outright...not to her face...but she felt them in the pauses of conversation when she entered a room, in the careful politeness that replaced warmth, in the way the servants bowed too deeply and the guards watched her too closely.
She wasn't one of them.
Not really.
And yet, she belonged to their Alpha.
Behind her, the door opened without a knock.
"You're awake early."
Luka's voice...low, steady, warm in a way that never failed to undo her...filled the room. She didn't turn immediately. She didn't have to. She could feel him the way she always did now, like the space behind her had shifted to accommodate him.
"I couldn't sleep," she said honestly.
She heard the soft sound of his boots on the rug, the faint rustle of fabric as he shrugged off his coat. When his hands came to rest on her waist, they were careful. Possessive, yes...but gentle.
That, more than anything, confused the pack.
Luka buried his face briefly against her hair, breathing her in. "They're restless," he murmured. "You feel it?"
She did. Not in her body...not the way he meant...but in the air. In the tension that threaded through the estate like a wire pulled too tight.
"I feel watched," she said instead.
His grip tightened almost imperceptibly.
"They're adjusting," he said. Then, after a pause, "So are you."
Talia finally turned to face him.
He looked every inch the Alpha this morning...dark hair tied back, black sweater clinging to a body that still didn't seem entirely real to her, eyes sharp and assessing even now. There was something colder about him here, among his people, than there had been during those first stolen days when it had just been the two of them wrapped in snow and secrets.
She missed that version of him.
"You didn't stay last night," she said quietly.
His jaw flexed. "Council meeting ran long."
"They always do."
"They will for a while."
That answer sat between them, heavy with meaning.
She took a step back, putting space between their bodies, and Luka let her. That, too, was deliberate. He never caged her. Never cornered her. Never made her feel trapped.
But the pack didn't miss the distance.
"Luka," she said, choosing her words carefully, "am I… in the way?"
His eyes snapped to hers, sharp and unmistakably offended.
"Never."
"That wasn't what I meant."
He sighed and dragged a hand down his face. "I know."
Silence stretched.
Somewhere below, a wolf howled...not a challenge, not a call to hunt, but a low, restless sound that raised the fine hairs on her arms.
"The Blood Moon is coming," Luka said finally.
She stiffened. "You keep saying that like I should know what it means."
"You will," he said. "In time."
That again.
Talia set the cup down on the windowsill with more force than necessary. "I don't want 'in time.' I want now."
His gaze softened, but his answer didn't change. "Some things are learned by living through them."
"Is that what this is?" she asked. "A lesson?"
He stepped closer, lifting her chin gently so she had no choice but to meet his eyes. "This is you becoming part of my world."
Her laugh was short and humorless. "Your world doesn't seem very eager to have me."
"That's because they fear what they don't understand."
"And what don't they understand?" she asked.
"You."
The word settled deep in her chest.
Before she could respond, a knock sounded at the door.
Once. Sharp. Formal.
Luka's expression shifted instantly...Alpha in full command. "Enter."
The door opened to reveal an older man with silver-threaded hair and eyes like polished stone. He didn't look at Talia at first. His gaze went straight to Luka, and he bowed.
"Alpha," he said. "The council requests your presence."
Luka didn't miss the emphasis.
"Now?" he asked.
"Yes."
Talia folded her arms, suddenly very aware of herself. Of the silk robe. Of the bare feet. Of how exposed she was in a place that already judged her.
"I'll come with you," she said.
The elder's eyes flicked to her then...cool, assessing, ancient.
"Council matters are pack business," he said neutrally.
Luka's growl was quiet but unmistakable.
"She is my Luna."
The elder inclined his head. "As you say."
But the doubt lingered.
As Luka turned to leave, his hand brushed hers...a silent promise.
"I won't be long," he said.
She watched him go, watched the door close behind him, and for the first time since Christmas morning, felt truly alone.
The day passed slowly.
Talia explored the mansion...no, the estate, she corrected herself...moving through rooms that were beautiful in an impersonal way. Stone halls. High ceilings. Windows designed for watching rather than warmth.
Servants smiled politely. Guards nodded. Wolves watched.
In the afternoon, she found the library.
It smelled like old paper and firewood, and it was the first place since arriving that felt lived in. She traced her fingers along the spines of books, many written in languages she didn't recognize.
"This was my mother's favorite room."
She turned to find a woman standing in the doorway.
Tall. Dark-haired. Sharp-eyed.
Confident.
"I'm Anika," the woman said. "Beta's mate."
Talia straightened instinctively. "Talia."
"I know."
Of course she did.
Anika studied her openly, not unkindly, but not warmly either. "You're braver than I thought."
Talia blinked. "For reading?"
"For staying."
That landed harder than expected.
"I didn't realize I had a choice," Talia said.
Anika smiled faintly. "We all do. Even here."
They stood in silence for a moment before Anika spoke again. "The pack is uneasy. Not because you're weak...but because you're unknown."
"I don't want to change him," Talia said suddenly. "If that's what they think."
Anika considered her. "That may be the problem."
"What do you mean?"
"You don't want to change him," she said. "But loving someone like Luka always does."
The words followed Talia long after Anika left.
Night fell early.
When Luka returned, his shoulders were tense, his energy coiled tight beneath his skin.
"They're pushing," he admitted as they stood together before the fire.
"For what?"
"For certainty."
She met his gaze. "And are you certain?"
His answer was immediate. "Yes."
That should have been enough.
But certainty, she was learning, came at a cost.
Outside, the moon rose...fuller than it had been the night before.
Watching.
Waiting.
And somewhere in the dark, the pack prepared to see whether a human bunny could truly stand beside a wolf king.