He Wanted Me As His Second Mate But I’m The Alpha King’s Luna Chapter 03
Runt
Nobody in this realm gets to call me little sis.
“You wouldn’t dare!” Damon’s eyes go wide.
“You slapped her? Who the hell do you think you are? You’re standing in Ashford territory, threatening my chosen mate!”
I meet his glare, ice-cold. “And why wouldn’t I?”
He stops. Something complicated moves across his face.
“Fern, you were always wild as a pup.”
“But we’re grown now. I can’t keep letting you run reckless.”
“You hit Vera today. Tomorrow, it could be an Alpha’s mate from another pack.”
“That’s the kind of stunt that ends with your throat torn out.”
Damon Ashford, heir to a mid-rank pack, thinks he covered for me?
My patience snaps.
“Damon. I’ll say it once more. I came to the Copper Tavern for honey cakes. Two years without them, and I wanted a bite. I did not come looking for you.”
“And drop the mating talk. There is no ceremony. There is no us. There never will be.”
His face darkens.
“Watch your mouth, Fern. Say it enough times, I might start believing you.”
He studies me like he’s hunting a lie.
Vera slides into the gap, all soft concern, playing the gracious first mate.
“This is my fault, really. I upset her. I never even gave her a welcome gift.”
She pulls a jeweled gold pin from her hair.
“Alpha just bought this for me. A little flashy for my taste, but it’d look darling on you. Take it, sweetie.”
“Don’t feel bad, either — I’ve got ten trunks of jewels back at the pack house. Once you’re marked and moved in, big sis’ll pick out the good ones for you.”
I don’t reach for it. I don’t blink.
Damon jumps in, generous as a saint.
“Take it. Your father’s pack isn’t exactly swimming in coin anymore. A she-wolf ought to have something fine to wear. That wooden pin in your hair looks like something a pup whittled for fun.”
Inside, I laugh.
That wooden pin was carved by the Alpha King’s own claws. If Damon looked closer, he’d see a name burned into the back—a private name only the Alpha King used, known to barely three wolves in the realm.
That’s the deepest kind of favor a king can give. And this fool just called it cheap.
“Bad luck, this whole night.”
Forget the honey cakes. I turn to leave.
“Fern!”
Damon’s patience finally breaks.
He rips the wooden pin from my hair and jams Vera’s jeweled gold pin into its place.
“This is Vera’s gift. You will wear it.”
Fury detonates behind my eyes. I slap him hard enough to snap his head sideways.
“Give it back!”
If Elian notices that pin is missing, he’ll have this whole town turned upside down before sunset.
Damon touches his cheek, stunned still. Then his face twists into a bitter, ugly smirk.
He snaps the wooden pin clean in half and hurls both pieces out the window.
Elian’s furious face flashes through my head. I lunge for the window on instinct.
His hand clamps around my wrist. His eyes have gone black.
“That plain little pin isn’t your taste, Fern. And you’re this desperate to save it?” His voice drops. “Don’t tell me some other male gave it to you.”
Vera tugs at his sleeve, worried.
“Alpha, don’t jump to conclusions. Little sis wouldn’t — maybe she carved it herself for fun.”
She says it loudly. Loud enough that heads turn all around the tavern.
“Oh my Goddess, is that the Ashford Alpha’s Second on the way? Caught in a private meeting with another male?”
“Poor Alpha’s been begging her all night. Even his first mate’s giving her a way out. She’s still acting like the *victim.*”
Vera fans the flames, all wide-eyed panic.
“Little sis, say something! You haven’t even been marked yet, and you’re already involved with another male? You’ll be shamed across every pack. Even if my Alpha still wants you, the Ashford elders will never accept you as his mate!”
Damon’s grip crushes down on my wrist. He’s waiting. Waiting for me to deny it.
But I smile instead. And say it plain.
“My mate carved it for me.”
“Your mate.”
Damon lets go as I burn him. His voice shakes in a way I’ve never heard from him.
“Bullshit. When did I ever carve you something like that?”
“Fern — who the hell is he? Who is the male?”
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