Page 3 of The Barren Luna

“You smell like onions,” he remarked when I approached.

“I made ragù for dinner,” I said, choosing to ignore whatever that was.

“I’ll change and be downstairs in ten.”

“Okay.”

The fettucine only needed five minutes anyway, so I set the table and plated our food just as he arrived in the kitchen. We had a big dining room that we only used when we had guests over, but the two of us always ate in the kitchen. Henry sat down and stared at his plate, deep in thought. The stress he was feeling was almost unbearable. Before I could ask what was wrong, he sighed and finally looked directly at me.

“I had a meeting with the Elders today and we agreed that I'll take a concubine to breed.”

Of all the possible sentences that I thought my mate would utter at this moment, this one never would have occurred to me. I must have looked completely gobsmacked because he continued clarifying.

“It’s been four years, Ginny. We tried all of the treatments, and you know as well as I do nothing is working. The pack needs an heir. Without one, we’re vulnerable to outside attacks and hostile takeovers. You know this is our duty.”

I still said nothing. I was still processing the first part of his speech. They had agreed. A concubine. Breeding.

“We'll choose an unmated female this week and then they will medically induce her heat. This will be repeated as many times as necessary. It is a political arrangement, nothing more. It is my duty.”

I swallowed.

“Henry... You are aware that this arrangement will be painful for me? Physically? We are marked and mated, for heaven’s sake!”

He looked at me in annoyance, as if my behavior frustrated him.

“The Elders agreed it would be best if the pack doctors sedated you – you’ll have the choice between taking wolfsbane to temporarily disable your wolf or poppy seeds to put you to sleep. I will also be given a drop of wolfsbane to get my wolf to cooperate. I'm not happy about this either, make no mistake.”

“I’m glad the Elders thought of everything,” I spat bitterly and he shot me a warning glare.

“Don’t be difficult, Regina. Do your part and I’ll do mine. For the pack. Don’t make this more difficult than it is.”

I just looked at him for a moment, stunned.

“Very well, Alpha,” I said because I knew there would be no further discussion on the matter. They had decided and I was to comply. Henry nodded at me and left the dinner table. I stayed sitting there until the room went completely dark before getting up, turning on the light, and washing the congealed fat off the dishes, all the while thinking how I’d probably never be able to stomach ragù again.

2 – Ginny

Ispent the night on the living room couch, sitting and thinking more than sleeping. The thought of going upstairs to share a bed with Henry felt... wrong, which was not a feeling many mated couples experienced. But then again, not many mated couples were the Alpha couple of the fourth largest pack in the country. I hated to admit it, but right after Henry and I discovered we were fated to each other, I’d felt very strong and very misplaced pride at being mated to such a powerful male.

I used to love being Luna, attending pack functions on his arm, and commanding the heart of the male who commanded the pack. The passage of time, however, had taken the shine off of things, and revealed the position of prestige and power to be merely a bronze statue covered with a thin layer of very low-quality gold. By then, it was too late to do anything about it.

What options did a she-wolf like me have now? I didn't have a lot of my own money, merely what I had left over from my monthly allowance that I kept in a box in my wardrobe. I didn’t own any property, none of us technically did, it all belonged to the pack. I had a lot of expensive jewelry I could sell. I didn’t have any formal training or higher education, but I was willing to work and learn along the way.

A plan started forming in my mind – if my mate was really going to go through with this, there was nothing left for me in this pack. I couldn't bear the humiliation nor the charade of living with Henry after he’d impregnated another female, not to mention raise their pup as our own. It was no surprise that a room full of males came up with this plan.

I heard the shower running in the upstairs bathroom, so I ran to gather my clothes and get ready for the day without running into him. As soon as I was washed and dressed, I darted out of the house and towards Lucy’s. I knew that Nora woke her up early and that I would not be disturbing her. As soon as she opened the door, she gasped and drew me into a hug.

“Oh Ginny, Calum told me last night what happened; oh my God, it is all so horrible,” she murmured into my hair, and I felt my body relaxing for the first time since dinner, simply due to hearing someone else verbalize how wrong the whole idea was.

We approached their breakfast table, where Calum was trying to feed Nora, and he shot me a compassionate look.

“Good morning, Luna.”

“Good morning, Calum. Hello Nora,” I greeted them and the two-year-old giggled at the silly voice I did for her, like always.

“Please, Ginny, eat with us,” Lucy implored, and I sat down despite not having any appetite whatsoever. I gratefully clutched the mug of tea she handed me.

“So I guess everyone knows,” I said somewhat bitterly and Calum cleared his throat.

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