Luna's Gift
Copyright© 2025 by Megumi Kashuahara
Chapter 2
We would each care for our assigned pups for three full days and nights in separate chambers within the Alpha’s residence. We would be observed, evaluated, and at the end, the children would show their preference through the strength of the bond they’d formed. I’d never been inside the Alpha’s residence.
It was a sprawling stone structure built into the hillside, with wings that stretched in three directions and windows that caught every angle of light. Guards led us through corridors lined with tapestries depicting pack history, past chambers where I glimpsed other pack members going about important business, until finally we reached a wing that had been prepared for the trials. Three doors, evenly spaced, three identical rooms I was told so no candidate would have advantage over another. Sienna entered her chamber first, her pup still calm in her arms her head high. Vivienne followed moving with that characteristic grace that made everything look effortless then it was my turn and I stepped through the doorway into a space that was larger than my entire cottage.
A four-poster bed dominated one wall, covered in furs and soft linens, a stone fireplace already crackled with warmth. There was a sitting area with comfortable chairs, a desk with paper and ink, shelves lined with books, and, most importantly, a smaller bed clearly designed for the pups, padded with soft blankets and positioned near enough to the main bed that a mother could reach it easily. Luxury. This was what pack hierarchy looked like up close.
“You’ll have everything you need,” the guard said gruffly from the doorway. “Food will be brought three times daily. There’s a bathing chamber through that door. Someone will check on you each evening to ensure the pups are well, but otherwise you’re not to leave this room until the three days are complete.”
The door closed behind him with a soft thud that felt incredibly final. I stood there, holding Storm and Ember against my chest. and felt the enormity of the situation crash over me like a wave. Three days. Three days alone with these pups. Being watched and judged. Knowing that at the end, they would choose someone. And it almost certainly wouldn’t be me. How could it be me? Sienna was strong, capable, born into rank and respect. Vivienne was brilliant. Strategic. The kind of female who could rule beside a king and make him stronger, and I was, I was the girl who lived in the forgotten cottage who knew how to make chamomile tea, ease a restless sleep and how to make herself so quiet that people forgot she existed.
Storm squirmed in the sling interrupting my spiral of thoughts right the pups didn’t care about my inadequacies they were hungry probably confused about the new environment and looking to me for comfort. I could do this part at least, I could care for them.
I set up their small bed first arranging the blankets into a nest-like formation that would feel secure then I carefully released them from the sling, watching as they immediately began exploring the room with noses pressed to the floor tails wagging ember found a leather ball. In the corner someone had thoughtfully provided toys and pounced on it with a delighted.
Storm discovered his reflection in a polished metal panel on the wall and growled at it, hackles rising, before I scooped him up and carried him away, trying not to laugh. “‘That’s you, silly one,’ I murmured against his soft fur. “‘You’re growling at yourself.”
He licked my nose in response, and I felt that thread between us tighten another degree. The first meal arrived as the sun began to set. Not just food for the pups, but a elaborate dinner for me as well. Roasted meat, fresh bread, vegetables cooked with herbs. I recognized a slice of berry pie that made my mouth water.
I ate mechanically too anxious to truly enjoy it while the pups demolished their own portions with enthusiastic growls
After dinner, I tried to settle them in their designated bed. They had other ideas. Ember climbed out immediately, patting across the floor to my bed and scratching at the furs until I lifted her up. Storm followed, his little legs scrambling to make the jump, falling back, trying again with single-minded determination until I took pity on him and lifted him too.
“You’re supposed to sleep in your own bed,” I told them, but they just curled up on the pillow beside where I would lay my head, snuggling together with contented sighs. Fine. Let the observers note that the pups preferred my bed. Maybe that would count for something, or maybe it would be seen as a failure to establish proper boundaries. I was too tired to care. I changed into the nightgown that had been provided, much finer than anything I owned, and slipped under the covers.
The bed was softer than anything I’d ever experienced. The room was warm. The pups were safe. For the first time in years, I fell asleep feeling something other than alone. I woke to Storm howling. It was the middle of the night. The fire burned down to Ember’s, and the small pup was sitting up in bed making the most mournful sound I’d ever heard. Ember had pressed herself against the headboard, whimpering, her ears flat against her skull. What is it?
I sat up quickly, reaching for them. What’s wrong? Storm’s howl cut off, but he was shaking now, pressed against ember. Both of them were staring at the window, where moonlight streamed through the glass. My heart hammered. Was there a threat? An intruder? I slipped out of bed and moved to the window, every sense alert. But there was nothing there. Just the night. The moon.
The peaceful grounds of the Alpha’s residence stretching below. When I turned back, both pups had their eyes fixed on me, and I realized with a chill what was happening. They were afraid of being alone, of being abandoned. These were the Alpha King’s children, but they were still babies. They’d been taken from wherever they normally slept, given to strange females, moved to unfamiliar rooms. Storm’s howl hadn’t been about external danger. It had been about waking up and needing to know his caretaker was still there.
I’m here I said softly climbing back into bed I’m right here I’m not going anywhere. I gathered them both against my chest feeling their rapid heartbeats begin to slow storm made a small questioning sound and I started humming an old lullaby my mother used to sing one of the few things i clearly remembered about her.
The melody filled the quiet room, wordless and gentle. Ember’s breathing evened out first, her small body going heavy with sleep. Storm held out longer, as if fighting the comfort, but eventually, he too surrendered. I kept humming long after they’d fallen asleep, staring up at the ceiling and wondering if Sienna and Vivian were having similar moments in their chambers, or if their pups slept peacefully through the night, because their caretakers were more naturally suited to motherhood.
The next two days fell into a rhythm. The pups would wake me at dawn, demanding breakfast and attention. We’d play. I’d roll the leather ball and they’d chase it, tumbling over each other in their excitement. I’d tell them stories, making up adventures about brave wolves who explored mysterious forests and protected their packs from danger. Storm loved the action stories, pouncing and growling at imaginary enemies.
Ember preferred the ones where the heroes used clever thinking to solve problems, her intelligent eyes watching me as if memorizing every word. In the afternoons, when they napped, I’d read from the books on the shelves. Histories of our pack, legends of the first shifters, philosophies on leadership. Some of it was dry, but some of it fascinated me, filling gaps in my knowledge that came from being educated in fragments by whoever would spare time to teach the orphan girl.
Each evening, someone came to check on us, never the same person twice. The healer, Cassia Birch, examined the pups and pronounced them healthy, thriving even. A council member whose name I didn’t catch observed how they responded to my commands. Sit, stay, come, noting that they obeyed me despite their young age. And once, on the second night, Lucian himself appeared at the door.
I’d been sitting by the fire, both pups asleep in my lap, reading aloud from a book of poetry, just because I liked the sound of the words. When I looked up and saw him filling the doorway, I nearly dropped the book. “‘Alpha King!’ I scrambled to stand, trying not to disturb the pups, and managed an awkward curtsy that made Ember grumble in protest. “‘Sit,’ he said, the command gentle but absolute. “‘Don’t wake them.’
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