Chapter 2

I couldn't sleep that night. I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, and found myself remembering.

I was fifteen years old when Kira became part of our family.

Back then, my brother was... well, a mess.

Damon had been twenty-two and still acting like a teenager. He flirted with every she-wolf in a fifty-mile radius. Gambled. Drank. Ignored his responsibilities as future Alpha.

Our father was still alive then, barely holding the pack together while his heir partied his way through life.

I'd heard them arguing countless times.

"You're a disgrace to the Blackwood name!" Father would roar. "When I die, this pack will fall apart!"

Damon would shrug. Smile that careless smile. "Then don't die, old man."

He never took anything seriously.

Until Kira.

She'd come from nowhere, really. Her pack had been absorbed into ours when she was ten, after some territorial dispute I was too young to understand. Her parents died when she was seventeen. She had no one.

Maybe that's why she'd learned to be so fierce.

She worked in the pack's trade office, managing accounts. She was good at it. Sharp. No-nonsense.

And she was beautiful in a way that made men stupid.

Damon noticed her first at some pack gathering. I'd been there, trailing after my mother like always. I watched my brother approach Kira with that lazy confidence he used on every woman.

"Can I get you a drink?" he'd asked.

Kira had looked him up and down. "No."

Then she'd walked away.

I'd laughed. Damon didn't get rejected. Ever.

But he didn't give up. For weeks, he pursued her. Brought her flowers. Asked her to dinner. Tried every charm in his repertoire.

Kira rejected him every single time.

Other she-wolves noticed. They started approaching her, curious. Some even tried to court her themselves.

That's when I realized what she was doing. She was testing them. Letting her temper show. Being deliberately difficult. Seeing who would stay.

Most didn't.

Damon did.

Six months later, he still hadn't given up. That's when Kira finally agreed to go on a walk with him.

She brought me along.

I remember that day perfectly. Spring sunshine. Wildflowers everywhere. Kira wore a simple blue dress and kept her chin high.

We walked to the edge of pack territory, where the forest opened into rolling hills.

Damon was nervous. I'd never seen him nervous before.

"Kira," he started. "I know you think I'm not serious. But I am. About you. About us."

She stopped walking. Turned to face him. "I have three rules, Damon Blackwood."

He blinked. "Rules?"

"If you want me as your mate, these are non-negotiable." Her voice was steady. Clear. "First, I won't be a docile Luna. My temper is my armor. I won't change for anyone."

Damon nodded slowly. "Okay."

"Second, you will put away your careless ways. I'll help you build this pack, but you must meet me halfway."

"I can do that."

"Third." She paused. Her expression hardened. "If you ever find your fated mate, you must ask me BEFORE you mark her. Once we complete our marking ceremony, I will be this pack's Luna. I deserve that respect."

The air went quiet.

Fated mates were sacred. Most wolves would never demand such a condition.

Damon stared at her. Then his face broke into a smile. His eyes literally glowed.

"Even if it were three hundred rules, I'd agree to them all."

Kira's cheeks flushed. Just for a moment. Then she nodded. "Good."

My father was furious when he found out.

Not about the match itself. Kira was capable, intelligent, a good choice for Luna.

But the contract she insisted on?

"This is unprecedented!" one of the pack elders had shouted during the signing ceremony. "A Luna demanding conditions? Threatening to leave if the Alpha finds his fated mate?"

Damon stood firm. "She's worth it."

I watched Kira's face during the signing. She didn't look happy. She looked determined.

After the ceremony, she'd gone to the cemetery. Stood in front of her parents' graves.

I'd followed her. Quiet. She didn't notice me behind the tree.

"Dad," she'd whispered. "I'll protect myself this time. I won't be like Mom. I won't stay where I'm not valued."

I didn't understand what she meant then.

The contract was signed. Witnessed by elders. Filed with pack records. Legal and binding.

Especially that third rule. If Damon marked another she-wolf without Kira's consent, she could sever their mate bond and leave.

Three months after the wedding, my father died.

Heart attack. Sudden. Brutal.

Damon fell apart. Completely. The responsibility he'd been avoiding suddenly crushed him.

He couldn't eat. Couldn't sleep. Could barely function.

It was Kira who held him together.

For three months, she stayed by his side. Fed him when he forgot to eat. Sat with him through the nightmares. Took over pack duties he couldn't handle.

"You're not alone, Damon," she'd said one night. I'd heard her through the door. "We'll do this together."

And they did.

Slowly, Damon came back to himself. But he was different. More serious. More focused.

One evening, I found them on the roof of our house. They'd gone up to watch the stars, something Kira liked to do.

Damon had his arm around her. She leaned into him.

"Wherever I am, that's your home, Kira," he said softly. "If I ever betray you, may the Moon Goddess abandon me."

Kira had smiled. "Don't make promises you can't keep."

"I mean it." He'd kissed her forehead. "I wouldn't be the Alpha I am without you."

Those were the good days.

The next year, everything changed. Damon threw himself into pack leadership with Kira at his side. She was brilliant at it. Strategy, negotiations, resource management—she excelled at everything.

The pack noticed. They started addressing her first in meetings. Seeking her counsel.

"What does Luna Kira think?" Damon would ask during councils.

And people listened.

Our territory expanded. Trade routes flourished. Alliances strengthened.

Damon would look at her after successful negotiations with this expression of awe. Like he couldn't believe she was his.

"I'm glad I chose you, Kira," he'd said once. Late night, both of them exhausted from a long council meeting. "Best decision I ever made."

She'd smiled. Actually smiled. "You're not so bad yourself, Alpha Blackwood."

I thought it would last forever.

I was wrong.

Somewhere in the third year, things shifted. The pack was thriving. Damon was confident. Respected.

And he started to resent the woman who'd made it possible.

I lay in my bed now, staring at the ceiling. Thinking about that Damon. The one who'd looked at Kira like she hung the moon.

Down the hall, I heard footsteps. Damon's room door opened. Closed.

He was checking on Sienna.

Not on his wife.

What happened to my brother?

When did he become the man who'd bring home another she-wolf without warning? Who'd break his vow without a second thought?