THE LUNA WHO CONQUERED DEATH novel Chapter 12

Episode 9-2

+25 Points

Conversations quieted, waiting for my answer.

“It is,” I said clearly. “I believe a Luna should be able to protect herself and her pack, not just rely on others for protection.”

“That’s very progressive,” another she–wolf said, though her tone suggested she meant the opposite.

“It’s practical,” I corrected. “The world is dangerous. Being prepared isn’t progressive. It’s smart.”

“Well said,” Lucas called out, raising his glass. “To our Luna. Beautiful, intelligent, and lethal.”

Laughter and more applause. Damien squeezed my hand under the table, pleased with how I was handling myself.

I squeezed back, perfect mate.

After dinner, pack members mingled. Pups ran through the hall playing tag. Elders shared stories. Young wolves flirted and laughed.

Normal. Happy. Exactly what a pack should be.

I moved through them, accepting compliments on the dress, answering questions about the Luna conference, playing my role flawlessly.

Then I saw Sophie Chen.

The ten–year–old omega girl from the school she visited stood near the wall with her mother, Susan, both of them looking uncomfortable in the crowd. They wore clean but worn clothes, and I noticed other pack members giving them a wide berth.

Omega segregation wasn’t official policy. It didn’t have to be. The hierarchy enforced itself through a

thousand tiny acts of exclusion.

I walked over.

“Sophie, Susan. How lovely to see you both.”

Susan’s eyes widened in surprise. “Luna Sera, we didn’t expect… that is, we’re honored…”

“May I sit with you?”

Sophie’s jaw dropped. Susan looked around nervously, clearly aware that every eye in the hall had turned

toward us.

A Luna sitting with omegas. At a pack gathering. Publicly.

It was unheard of.

“Of course, Luna,” Susan stammered, making room.

Episode 0:3

+25 Points

Isat, smoothing the expensive silk dress as casually as if I’d chosen the discount section at a department store Instead of the Alpha’s table.

“Sophie, how’s school going?”

The girl found her voice. “Good, Luna. Really good. After what you said, about all wolves being equal… some of the other kids have been nicer,”

“Some?” I caught the word.

Sophie looked down. “Some kids. Not all.”

“Names,” I said quietly.

“Luna, I couldn’t…”

“Sophie.” I waited until she met my eyes. “Part of my job is making sure everyone in this pack is treated fairly. I can’t do that if I don’t know when people are being treated unfairly. So. Names.”

She told me. Three pups from alpha families, their parents sitting at the best tables, wearing the finest clothes, looking very comfortable in their superiority.

I filed the information away.

“Thank you for telling me. And Sophie?” I smiled. “Keep being brave. The pack needs more wolves like you.”

I stood to leave, but Sophie grabbed my hand.

“Luna? Why are you being nice to us?”

The question was so earnest, so full of genuine confusion that someone with power would care about

someone without it, that my heart cracked a little.

“Because you deserve kindness,” I said simply. “Just like everyone else.”

approv

As I walked away, I felt the weight of hundreds of eyes. Some approved. Some were shocked. Some

disapprove.

And Damien’s, watching from across the room with an expression I couldn’t quite read.

He found me on the balcony later, after most of the pack had dispersed.

“That was quite a statement you made tonight.”

“Was it?” I looked out over the pack space, lights twinkling in the darkness.

“Sitting with the Chens. Everyone saw.” He moved beside me. “You’re challenging pack structure again.”

“I’m being kind to pack members who deserve kindness.”

“You’re making the higher–ranked families uncomfortable.”

“Good.” I turned to face him. “Maybe they should be uncomfortable. Maybe comfort is the problem.”

< Episode 92

Damien studied me in the moonlight. “You really have changed.”

“You said you liked the change.”

+25 Points

“I do. But Sera, there’s a difference between being strong and being revolutionary. One enhances pack stability. The other threatens it.”

“And who am I?”

“I’m not sure yet.” His hand came up to cup my cheek, and the mate bond flared hot between us. “But either way, you’re magnificent.”

He kissed me.

It was the first real kiss we’d shared since I came back. The bond sang in response, flooding me with warmth and desire and that terrible, treacherous feeling of rightness.

For a moment, I let myself feel it. The artificial love that had ruled my life for five years. The manufactured connection that had made me believe I’d found my soulmate.

Then I remembered the silver chains. The frozen river. His face as he watched me die.

I pulled back.

“Not yet,” I said softly. “I still need time.”

Disappointment flickered across his features, but he nodded. “I can wait. As long as you need.”

Liar. He’d wait until it was convenient, until the rejection ceremony was planned, until Aldric gave the

order.

But I smiled like I believed him.

“Thank you.”

He left me on the balcony, and I stood alone under the stars, my lips still tingling from a kiss that meant

nothing and everything and absolutely nothing at all.

My phone buzzed.

Marcus: That was brave. The Chen thing. The kiss less so. Are you okay?

I looked back through the glass doors and saw him inside, pretending not to watch me.

Me: Playing the game. Like you said, let him think he’s winning.

Marcus: Just don’t lose yourself in the process.

I pocketed my phone and looked up at the moon, fat and silver in the night sky.

“Don’t worry,” I whispered to the Moon Goddess, who might or might not be listening. “I know exactly who I

am.”

I was the Luna who died.

Episode 9-2

The woman who came back.

+25 Points

And the storm that was building behind everyone’s backs while they focused on the pretty dress and the public kiss and the performance of reconciliation.

Let them watch the show.

Let them think I was playing by their rules,

When the time came, they’d learn the truth.

I wasn’t playing their game.

I was creating a new one.

TO BE CONTINUED…

D Dewumi Ezekiel

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