His Widowed Luna

Grace

I walked slowly up the rise, weaving between neat rows of headstones. The setting sun had turned the sea beyond the northern border into a sheet of fire, staining the sky pink and gold.

The breeze teased wayward strands of hair that had escaped the braid I’d carefully done that morning, tossing them across my face. I tucked them behind my ears as the cemetery’s glass solarium came into view.

Night-blooming jasmine climbed the steel framework, twisting around moonflowers that would open after sunset.

Inside, the stone floor was laid out in circles marking the phases of the moon, the names of every previous Alpha and Luna carved carefully into the granite.

Twenty years ago, I’d stood beside Rowan as we laid his father to rest. He had pressed his forehead to mine and whispered that one day our names would be added as well.

Five years ago, I stood there alone as they interred my beloved mate and Alpha.

I sat on the stone, warmed by the setting sun, and traced his name, something I’d done a thousand times.

Rowan Blackwood

My hand drifted to the moonstone pendant resting against my chest. Rowan had given it to me at my Luna ceremony. One day, when my own name joined his, the stone would fit perfectly into the waiting mother-of-pearl crescent beside his name.

Two halves of a whole.

We’d been nineteen when we sealed our mate bond, young enough to believe the Moon Goddess had given us forever. We believed we were immortal and desperately in love, never imagining one would have to learn to live without the other.

Five years later, and it was still hard.

In the beginning I had been inconsolable.

I’d spent days there, pacing, refusing food and sleep, refusing to accept that the bond was truly gone. As grief had loosened its grip, I would still visit once a week for an hour or two.

***

The sun was only a sliver above the horizon when I left the solarium.

I made my way down to the cemetery gate where a black SUV waited. A young man leaned on the driver’s door, scrolling on his phone. His head snapped up at the sound of my footsteps, his expression briefly distant before settling into an easy smile.

“Luna Grace.”

He held the rear passenger door, letting me settle before climbing into the driver’s seat.

“Jeremy, I didn’t realize how late it had gotten,” I apologized. “Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“It’s no problem, Luna.” He glanced at me in the rearview as we drove away, riding in silence toward home.

I sat back, looking out the window, not really seeing the scenery.

I was thinking of Kieran.

My first pup.

When Rowan was killed, Kieran inherited the title of Alpha. He wore the mantle with a confidence that reminded me so intensely of his father that it made my chest tight.

But I’d spent the first year drowning in my grief, too consumed by my own pain to see what it was doing to my son. Seeing the pain in Kieran’s eyes had finally forced me to come up for air.

I couldn’t stop mourning my mate.

But I could keep my son from mourning his mother too.

***

Jeremy’s phone rang. The console display said “ALPHA”. He answered, tapping the green button on the console.

“Yes, Alpha.” Jeremy sat up like lightning had struck his spine.

“How far out are you?” Kieran’s voice resonated through the SUV.

“Maybe ten minutes, Alpha.” Jeremy tapped the GPS to confirm.

“Make it five.”

“Kieran.” I leaned forward. “Has something happened?”

There was a pause while he covered the receiver and spoke to someone in the room with him.

Jeremy and I exchanged glances in the rearview.

“Dark Moon has requested a ceasefire. They’re sending half a dozen warriors and–”

The car rocketed on, picking up speed as a low growl emanated from the speakers.

“And what?” I was holding on to the back of the driver’s seat, my nails digging into the leather.

“Alpha Victor is indisposed. He’s sending his Beta.”

“Shit!”

Jeremy jerked the wheel, almost sending us off the road. I fell back against the seat with a low ‘oof’.

His face was pale.

“What happened?” Kieran shouted.

“We’re fine,” I said, a little breathless. “We’re almost there. We’ll be turning up the drive in a minute.”

Jeremy looked like he wanted to throw up.

Darius Valco.

My heart raced in my chest, outrage bubbling up.

The man who murdered my mate was on his way to my home.

Kieran

I heard the squeal of tires when the SUV made the final turn onto the driveway.

By the time I was out the front door they were skidding to a stop.

I yanked on the rear passenger door.

There was shouting and laughter in the courtyard as several wolves helped each other up, brushing off leaves and grass after diving out of the way of Jeremy’s suicidal driving.

Ducking my head, I looked inside the car, making sure my mother was still in one piece.

She was staring straight ahead, lips drawn in a thin line.

For one horrible second, I thought she’d been hurt.

Then she attacked her seatbelt.

Her fingers fumbled with the latch before she launched herself out of the vehicle, forcing me to step back.

She was pissed.

“Are you okay?” My voice sounded rough to my ears.

“No,” she said through gritted teeth. “The man singlehandedly responsible for your father’s death is coming into my home to discuss peace?”

She practically spat out the last word and stalked toward the house. I followed her up the steps, reaching out to my warriors through the pack link.

We have guests coming. I want a dozen wolves on escort duty. Full alert.

Quick assent came back from my captains as they shifted patrol assignments.

“I was having a decent day,” my mother shouted, already turning the corner that led to my office. Several Omegas who’d been walking down the corridor cowered when she passed, baring their necks in submission.

“As you were,” I stated as I strode past, giving them a curt nod.

They were more than happy to get back to their evening chores.

***

My mother was pacing, hands on her hips, when I walked in and closed the door to my office.

My Beta and Gamma were already seated at the conference table, watching their Luna pace.

“What’s changed?” She stopped in the middle of the floor and turned to me. Her eyes, usually a clear blue-green, were fathomless turquoise pools sparking with fury.

I was having a hard time keeping my wolf Max in check. He was ready to tear Darius’ throat out the second he set foot on the property. Judging by Mom’s eyes, her wolf, Elyria was just as homicidal.

“Rogue attacks,” I said. “They’ve been ramping up, getting bolder. Victor wants to negotiate an alliance, at least temporarily.”

The words tasted like ash in my mouth. The packs had a longstanding blood feud. Treaties never lasted long. Someone always got greedy for more power, more land.

“Apparently.” I dropped into my chair. “Once the rogues are dealt with, we can go back to hating each other - like civilized wolves.”

“Why here?” She folded her arms across her chest, her stance defiant. “And don’t say –“

“It’s tradition.”

She rolled her eyes.

“Some of us are only alive today because we follow traditions,” I reminded her. “Victor lost his Luna around the same time we lost dad. He apparently never even looked for a second chance mate and refused to choose one.”

I didn’t always love or agree with the Moon Goddess’s plans, but I wasn’t about to go against them either.

“Goddess knows I don’t want them here any more than you do.” I ran a hand over my face.

Alpha Victor was right about one thing; we needed to get the rogue attacks handled or neither of us would have territory to protect.