Chapter 53

Caleb’s POV

Luka went down the hall. She didn’t look back at me. Her shoulders were squared—a knot formed in my throat. I didn’t know what to say to her to make her stay. The truth was, why should she? I had let her down many times since she came here.

I was a King, but I didn’t feel like much of a man. I pressed my lips, body tight with the need to pursue her. To yank her back into my arms and never let her go.

I followed at a distance, wanting to watch her for as long as I could, before I never saw her again. When she strolled into the courtyard, that rogue male from the conference was waiting for her.

Logan, my wolf, awoke and was ready to fight for his mate. Stop her, he cried. She is our mate. You can’t let her go.

A surge of possessiveness rampaged through me like a wild beast. I didn’t argue with Logan. He was right. I couldn’t let her go.

As she approached the other male, I pulled her back. “Who is this man, and why are you with him?” I asked in a harsh tone, a tone I knew Luka didn’t respond well to. And I cursed myself for sounding like Declan.

Luka gripped my arm and quickly pinned it behind my back shoving it. She could easily dislocate my shoulder if she wanted to. I trusted her enough to know she wouldn’t.

“His name is Noah and he is my friend,” Luka said, staring hard at me. “He is here to watch over me.”

A fraction of my anger eased. “Watch over you, why?” I felt myself step forward and regrated it. Luka shoved hard. I groaned and looked down at her. “Let me go.”

“I will let you go when you back off.”

I pulled in a breath and relaxed my body the best I could. She let me go. I rubbed my shoulder and wrist. I flicked my gaze at this Noah. His energy was different. I had noticed that the night he and Luka danced together. It had irritated me so much that all I could do was mark her out of fear that she could care for another.

Noah sauntered forward, giving me the once over. He smiled and then laughed.

“You dare laugh at your King.” My chest rose.

“You’re no King of mine,” he said, looking to Luka. “Do you want to get your things?”

“What does he mean by that. I am the Alpha King.” I glared at him, using my Alpha ability to make him submit. Noah didn’t. He only looked amused.

“As I said, you are no King of mine,” he reached out a hand to Luka. She took it, and it was a punch to the gut.

Luka’s dark lashes fluttered up at me, and sadness was in her eyes. “I am not from here.”

“I know that.”

“No,” she snapped. “I was taken from a land, not from your world. Noah came to find me. My family couldn’t sense me here until I shifted for the first time. Once I did.”

She held up her wrist to me—three dots with three twists moving out along it. I had seen that mark before, though I couldn’t place it. My mind was a jumble.

Her brown eyes lightened to honey gold. The energy around her shifted, making my body itch.

“This is the mark of a royal bloodline… I am the queen over all Omegas.” She peered into the distance. “That is why they are drawn to me and I to them.”

The mark, Luka, was the white wolf prophesied about 200 years ago. The prophecy was where I saw the mark.

I whispered, “A white wolf will change the structure of all we know. With the death comes rebirth.”

The energy around Luka hummed, and tiny sparks could be seen. Her lips pressed; she was worried.

I pulled her from Noah’s grip and held her hands in mine. Noah casually put his hands in his pockets as if anything I tried meant nothing to Luka. I didn’t want to think like that. We were still bonded. She hadn’t rejected the bond yet.

“The Elders will make you Luna if they know you are the wolf from the prophecy. They will not make you compete or prove yourself. They will not fight me.”

“Don’t you get it. She is already a Queen. Luna is nothing. She doesn’t run multiple packs. Her pack is one, united. There is no fighting. Why would she want this…chaos,” said Noah. “What reason would she have to stay here? After everything that has happened to her in the Long Lake Pack and your Red Moon Pack.”

He had a valid point. All I could do was plead to her softer side.

“She could stay because I’m asking her to.”

“Oh, Caleb. Please don’t act like you care now. I have been here for months. You have taken the word of your friends, the Elders, and your Alphas over mine. Always believing them as they plot against me.” She pulled her fingers from mine.

She looked at the ground, her shoulders now hunched. She didn’t trust herself, and I was the reason for that. It was like looking at the girl who came here all those months ago, not the woman she had become.

I took a step back, wanting to give her space. “I know I have made mistakes. I am not perfect. There are many things I would change if I could, but I can’t. The one thing I will not give up is my bond to you. I fought for it against Declan’s claim, and I will continue to fight for it.” There was conviction in my tone.

Her gaze shot up, and the look of surprise cut my heart deeply. “When I leave for my home. You will not feel the bond nor will I. perhaps it is best to reject the bond and we can both move on.”

I hadn’t paid attention to the surroundings. There were several Elders in the courtyard with us now, listening and watching. Some looked excited, and others looked worried.

But all waited. When I cast a glance back at them, they rushed forward.

“Lady, Luka, Lady, Luka,” called the Elder closest to me. “Please may I see the mark on your wrist?”

I clenched my teeth and peeled back my lips with a low growl. The Elder stepped away.

“You stay away from her,” I said.

Luka glanced around, “I’m going to stay at my apartment in town while I figure things out.”

“Lady, Luka. We wanted to tell you that the Luna ceremony must be held before the full moon. You are the Elder’s selection.”

She laughed loud and long, bending over and holding her stomach. She wiped tears from her eyes. “That is a good joke—the Elders' selection for Luna. You want me to be your Luna as much as I want to be your Luna. And that, if you don’t know, is not at all.”

She turned to Noah, and again, that peg of possessiveness gripped me.