HEART OF A TRUE LUNA novel Prologue - Amber & I

6 months after Amber turned 18

Amber - 18 years old

Zach - 21 years old

ZACH.

Amber and I. It has always been us.

I couldn’t remember exactly when I fell in love with her. She had been around me since I was a pup, and I just woke up one day, and my whole world was already revolving around her.

Amber was my ray of sunshine. On my bad days, all I needed to do was look at or talk to her, and she would easily calm the chaos within me.

“Jace was an asshole, yet she still loves him,” I told her. We were talking about one of our friends who did something terrible in the past.

“She believes in him.” She mumbled.

I just shrugged my shoulders.

“You can be my asshole, Zach. I will still love you just the same.” Her eyes softened, and her words warmed my entire being.

“I can be an asshole to everyone but not to you, Amber. Never to you.” I meant it. I could be cold and blunt to anyone, but never to her. Even when we were younger, she was always the exception. I had appointed myself as her best friend and protector, hoping that one day, I would be lucky to become her destined mate.

But fate surely knows how to play games.

Amber turned eighteen and her wolf didn’t surface, which made her unable to scent her mate or for her mate to scent her.

Given the lineage that she had—having a half human Omega for a mother—it didn’t come as a surprise. They all knew she would shift later, just how her mother was.

No one was worried, except me. I kept waiting—full moons after full moons—but nothing happened until I couldn’t just let time pass by.

A month ago, I finally decided that it didn’t matter anymore if she didn’t have a wolf. It didn’t matter if she were to be the only wolfless Luna in this generation. I still wanted her.

And I was confident that I could protect her with my life.

I got lucky because Amber loved me back.

Ever since I confessed to her what I felt for her, she has also become very vocal about her feelings for me. No one could stop us after that. We wanted each other, so we finally decided to go for the Claiming.

Even if her mother was an Omega, her father was an Alpha, which made her an Alpha Female, which, in the absence of a fated mate, could only be claimed through the Claiming.

This was exactly why we were still out tonight. We had just come from the Council Territory, and I was on my way to drive her back home. We listed ourselves for the next Claiming, which was two months away.

My name is Zachary Vernon Adams. I am the Alpha of the Silver Moon Pack. And I’m willing to put my life on the line to win Amber in the Claiming Arena in case any other Alphas show interest in claiming her.

I never doubted my capability in combat, both in my human and wolf forms. I had known about the Claiming since I was eight, and I had been training all my life for this, knowing Amber might not end up as my fated mate. I’d been preparing to fight for her.

I knew I would win because there was no way I would let anyone intercept her from me.

After the Claiming, Amber will officially be my Luna. My Chosen Mate.

Mine.

“I love you. Do you know that?” I said as our gazes locked.

Her eyes watered as she nodded her head before slowly raising her left hand, fingers spread out, and slowly turning it around so the back of her palm was in my direction, showing me the Amber stone engagement ring I had given her.

“You asked me to be your Luna, so I guess you love me.” She answered playfully, her eyes gleaming with happiness.

“I do. With all my heart, Amber Rose.”

“I love you, too, Zach.” She smiled sweetly at me. “Will you promise that whatever happens on our first night, you will not throw me away?”

I swallowed as I looked at her, holding the steering wheel tightly. The topic of sex has always made me uneasy. “I might do the opposite. I will never let you out of our room.”

Since we became a couple a month ago, Amber and I have been kissing and groping each other. Yes, my fingers had found their way into her private parts, but we had never gone all the way.

“Would you like to stay at my house tonight? I’m sure they won’t miss their Alpha overnight.” She was referring to my pack, which was just the next territory to hers.

“Amber…”

“Zach…” She playfully glared at me. “What if we ended up not being compatible in bed and were already married? What I mean to say is, what if I disappoint you?”

“You will never disappoint me.”

“I’m not good in bed.” She pouted.

“I am.” I chuckled. I was joking. Like her, I was a virgin. I never had sex with anyone. I never had a girlfriend before her, either. I’d been saving myself for her. “I’m good at sleeping at it.”

She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms across her chest.