The Reluctant Luna

Chapter 9

"And this is our bedroom," he finished.

He expects me to sleep here... of course. Why wouldn't he? It was a lovely room. A large, king-sized bed filled a large portion of it. There were two closets and an attached bath. It would have been lovely if half his pack hadn't already been growling at her during the tour of the place.

"There's still time to back out of this, you know." He started to protest, but she held up her hand. "I know, I know, you need me, you adore me, you'll love me forever." She blew out a frustrated breath as she ran one hand through her hair. After collecting herself for a moment, she asked, "When do I get introduced to the pack?"

"How does tomorrow morning sound?"

She scowled a bit. So if I get up in the middle of the night, I could get attacked as an invader. Lovely. "Can we get this over tonight?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Eager to join us?"

"Eager to avoid misunderstandings. I don't want someone to mistake me for an invader and try to rip my head off over a glass of milk late at night. In case you haven't noticed, I stink."

"You smell divine!"

"Only to you, my hopeless romantic. Only to you," she said a bit wistfully. And really, that's what convinces me I'm your mate. Even Mom and Dad think I stink. They just put up with it because I'm their kid.

"Fine, we'll introduce you tonight."

"Thanks." And maybe you'll realize what a mistake this is before it's too late.

His eyes unfocused for a moment, then he smiled and lead her down the stairs to the dining room, arm in arm. As they came in sight of his fully assembled pack of around a hundred and fifty werewolves, Louise could see every set of nostrils flaring as they took in her scent, followed by numerous eyes shifting to yellow as they growled.

"SILENCE!" Luca bellowed, causing them all to go silent, most eyes shifting back to normal. "This is Louise, from the Evans Pack. She is also my mate."

At that, there was an absolute uproar of protests. Shouts about not allowing a monster for their luna, challenges to fights, and accusations of being a leech all came through. It was Luca's menacing growl that cut through them all and brought silence once again.

"She is also a hybrid, part vampire and part werewolf. You will show her respect or she has my absolute permission to teach you respect."

Had she not spent so much time in her father's court, she'd have dropped her face into the palm of her hand at that statement. I'm already the smallest adult in this room, and now you invited them to challenge me for my right to be here? Are you insane? There was a pause in her thinking before she added, I really wish I could mind link you right about now and inform you you're an idiot.

On cue, one of the largest males strode forward. "That little thing is going to teach me respect? I don't think so, Alpha."

Louise simply removed her arm from Luca's and started walking towards the front door, stripping off her shirt and jeans as she went. As she stepped outside, she was naked. "Coming, pup?" she taunted before she stepped out.

As predicted, he was fuming at her taunt, and quick to follow, followed by the rest of the pack, which formed up in a circle around them. As they sized each other up, Luca stated, "Don't kill him."

Louise nodded slightly in acknowledgement, not taking her eyes off the bigger male. He leaped at her, shifting into wolf mid jump. She ducked low, extending talons as her eyes shifted red and stabbed his stomach while pushing him the rest of the way over her.

She spun in a crouch, keeping him in sight as his leaking gut began to heal. He was growling, now, sizing her up as he healed. Louise shifted smoothly to her black wolf, then augmented it vampirically again. She was smaller than him, but she had useful talons, where he did not. Her bite would also puncture more deeply than his.

As he growled louder, she returned it with a hissing growl that caused some of the she-wolves and pups to shiver slightly. He charged more cautiously this time. Louise danced to the side, nipping at him but missing his flank. After a couple more passes, she managed to leave some shallow gashes in his side that healed almost as fast as they were inflicted.

The male shifted again, this time to half-wolf. Louise matched him, still expressing her vampiric nature. This form let her use her talons more effectively, and as they danced around each other, she began slashing at him, drawing blood every time while evading his attempts to grab her.

He was growling continuously, while she hissed back. The crowd had begun cheering him on, with taunts about letting a female dance around him. Finally, he lunged for her again. This time, instead of dodging away as she had been, she met his massive hands with her own. The crowd began cheering wildly at this.

Louise didn't waver. Her muscles didn't tremble as the larger half-wolf bore down on her. The cheering slowly faded as the crowd watched her support the weight of the larger beast and then step forward, pushing him back. Instead, she twisted her hands down, twisting his wrists back slowly. His growl died in his throat as his eyes widened.

He suddenly jerked his arms up, lifting her in the air. Her foot snapped out, kicking the side of his jaw, leaving four bloody claw marks. Her other foot snapped out, kicking his jaw again, causing him to drop her. Then she lunged, her needle sharp fangs grazing the skin of his neck as she wrapped her legs around his waist.

Aside from her hissy growl, there was dead silence. Ever so slowly, he sank to his knees and lay on his back. With that, Louise misted off him and reappeared a short distance away in human form, eyes burning orange. "You still have your head warrior," she stated in a voice that betrayed no emotion.

The man stood, in human form, and eyed her carefully. She returned his gaze calmly, only her eyes betraying her aggression. "Luna, I am James. Sparring practice is at dawn. It would be a pleasure to have you help out."

Louise cocked her head to one side. After a moment's thought, her eyes faded to blue and she nodded with a slight smile. "I'm sure watching me spar will keep Luca, here, very entertained tomorrow."

"Anyone else want to challenge her right to be here tonight?" the alpha in question asked. When there were no takers, he wrapped his arms around her and guided her back to the pack house and their bedroom.