Page 7 of King Luna

Aliya!Noah mindlinks.

Relief floods my chest as I unhook my claws from the ambusher, sprawling onto the dirt to evade, evade, evade—just like Noah and Yasmine taught me.Noah, some asshole is trying to command me to stand down from our own den.

But as the massive black wolf turns his head, facing me with wide, familiar eyes, my stomach drops.

Holy shit, how the hell are youstrongerthan before you were pregnant and exhausted?Noah mindlinks.

I shift back in a heartbeat, dashing for Noah’s wincing black wolf. “Oh, my God, I’msosorry, Noah! Are you hurt?!”

His wolf slumps, attempting to lower himself in apology as he backs out of my reach.No, I’m fine, I’m mainly just so sorry this happened. I meant to—

Anger floods my chest as fear still courses through my system. “Wait a second, you’re right. You terrified us! Why didn’t you warn me you were coming right for us like that? You sounded like an assailant.”

I hadn’t noticed Amy shifted into her iron-red wolf, not until she shifts back, joining my side just as butt-ass naked as I am. “For real, Noah. We were already freaked out by that dead thing.”

As if he forgot about the carcass entirely, Noah sneaks one fleeting glance at it before he snatches it back up in a flash, leaping with it into the brush behind us.

“Noah!?” I call out. “Stop it, that’s disgusting!”

Two seconds later, he slinks out of the brush again, his head lowered.I’m so fucking sorry. I forgot to put that away.

“Oh, my God. You knew about the dead thing.”

Noah whines, his ears drooping so low that my heart stings.I mean, yeah, of course...

My jaw drops. “Youdid this? You’ve been eating dead things outside our den? Since when?”

No, that’s not it, exactly. Well, okay, maybe I had a few bites. But I couldn’t help myself when I saw it running by. It looked so nutritious, and I knew you needed iron. But yeah, clearly, it would've been a bad idea to show up on our porch with a dead thing, so I’m glad I had some common sense left and talked my wolf out of it. I also didn’t want it to go to waste, so I asked a few wolves to help me bring it back to the Community Center to use for everyone’s dinner, but they were like, ‘Well, why don’t we just allow a couple families to have some wolf-like fun for once and come eat it here?’ So I told them, ‘Sure, as long as no one goes into the den, or your Luna will growl at me for ruining the scent in here before I have a chance to chase you out.’ And then I told them I’d come pick it up when they were done. Well, I’ve been too busy for that. That was two days ago. So when I smelled you in the area, I wanted to get here first.Neededto get here first. So you didn’t have to... Um... See it. Like you did anyway.

It’s no wonder Noah hasn’t shifted back yet; throughout his story, my eyes have grown wider and wider, just like how Noah has pressed himself lower and lower to the dirt. Judging by the embarrassment blazing through our bond, I can’t imagine how mortified he’d appear if he had to look me in the eyes in his human form, his wolf morphing into an inky puddle as he presses to the forest floor.

But yeah, let’s hope my wolf has learned his lesson: you don’t want to see anything like this ‘disgusting dead thing.’ Not at all.

That’s when it finally hits me: this wasn’t just an accidental kill, or a random animal Noah’s wolf came across and wanted as a snack. This was agift. Forme.

And I just absolutely slammed its whole existence, leaving my poor mate to slink like a scolded puppy who accidentally peed on the carpet.

Amy realizes it at the same time: she slaps a palm over her mouth, but she can’t help herself, bursting into such heavy laughter that she’s immediately bright red.

I can’t help but laugh with her. “Oh,shit. Oh, God, I’m so sorry, Noah! That was absolutely cruel of me, I—” I swallow hard, queasy at the thought of the carcass. I fan the nausea hot flash from my cheeks, attempting to sound excited. Instead, my voice wavers through a near-gag. “I really appreciate the sentiment, um—”

Noah grumbles, burrowing his snout under both paws.Stop. Just stop. I know it’s gross, I just cannot stop my wolf for the fucking life of me. He’s dying to feed his pregnant Luna, and—

I groan, dashing for him. He refuses to lift his head, forcing me to glomp onto it as his wolf grunts. Thankfully, he still gives me a sneaky little tail wag.

“My poor, big boy. Look at you, working so hard to hunt for me and our baby.” I sputter out a laugh as his tail thumps the ground hard enough to vibrate my feet. “And here I am, not even appreciating your sweet gift.”

Aliya, please.Please, don’t encourage this.Noah’s wolf grumbles beneath me, his tail only wagging faster.Seriously, stop. I don’t know how to play with you while you’re pregnant without tackling you from how much I love you.

Stooping over with a hand on our baby, I kiss his snout before releasing him from his suffering—backing up as quickly as I can. “I can’t help it. You’re such a sweet, adorable Alpha thatI have to love on you. And I’m so horribly sorry for making you feel bad.”

Noah rises to his paws with another growling grumble, turning his back to us to reenter the brush.Let’s stop talking about it before I actually die of embarrassment. I’ve gotta go bury this thing.

“Okay, okay. Just know I love you and I— Well, I want to say I liked it, but I can’t pretend I wasn’t a little freaked out.” I laugh as Noah’s wolf whines again, shoving his head into the brush. “But I really do appreciate the sentiment! If I lied to you, you’d just feel it in our bond, anyway.”

Noah’s tail wags just before it disappears into the brush, and that’s the only response I get.

I laugh, cupping my hands around my mouth to shout. “I love you!”

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