The Wolf God's Unwanted Luna

Vivian’s POV

I stood in front of the mirror, adjusting the soft peach dress one final time, wondering if it was too much or not enough. This would be the first time Zaliver saw me in something truly feminine, something chosen not out of necessity but with him in mind. That thought alone sent a flutter through my stomach that had nothing to do with nerves and everything to do with the bond humming between us.

The dress was a blend of silk and cotton, light and smooth against my skin. The flowing skirt swished softly around my thighs, and the fabric hugged my waist through a delicate belt with a large bow tied in the back. Long sleeves draped from my wrists, giving the whole thing a romantic, almost ethereal quality. Hannah had found it during our shopping trip and insisted I get it, said it suited the occasion and that she fully intended to borrow it once her baby arrived. I couldn’t deny it made my legs look longer, and for once I didn’t feel awkward in something pretty.

Instead of heels, I slipped into simple brown warrior sandals. They grounded the outfit in a way I liked. Comfortable, but still put-together. As I looked at my reflection, my wolf stirred with a low, pleased rumble. She approved, and that was more comforting than I’d realized I needed. Since the marking, she’d been more present, more vibrant, as if something that had been sleeping inside us had finally woken up.

What I couldn’t quite make sense of were the random flashes of heat that had been hitting me lately. They came without warning, like when I was brushing my teeth and the brush snapped clean in half from my grip. My muscles would seize, like lightning moving through me from the inside out, wrapped in heat and then suddenly gone. Like nothing happened at all.

I pushed the memory aside and padded downstairs, trailing my hand along the banister. The house was as beautiful on the inside as it was out, all warm woods and soft browns and textures that felt lived-in even though no one had ever lived here. I hadn’t explored beyond the front rooms yet, too caught up in everything else, but I had a feeling Zaliver’s grand tour for my parents would end up doubling as one for me.

I made my way to the kitchen. I needed something cold. Water, just water, but of course I had no idea where anything was. I opened cabinet after cabinet until I found a glass, filled it, and stood at the counter letting the chill travel down my throat and do what it could for my nerves.

After that I wandered into the living room and sat down, letting the quiet settle around me. Lately, silence had become something I sought out. It was the only time I could think clearly, sort through everything that had accumulated.

That was when I realized I hadn’t reached out to Zaliver through the mating bond. Not truly. He’d connected to me once, but through the Alpha link, not the bond itself. I’d always waited for him to initiate. I wondered what it would feel like to try it myself.

I closed my eyes, slowed my breathing, and focused inward. I brought up his face, the sharp lines of it, the weight of those eyes, the particular way he looked at me like I was something both precious and unpredictable. The moment his image came clear, something warm and pulsing stirred inside me. A thread. Not fragile, not tentative, just alive. I reached for it, mentally wrapped myself around it, and let the bond open between us.

It was golden-red and deep, full of something old and intimate. It didn’t just hum. It sang.

I went very still.

The emotions coming through were muffled at first, like sounds through a closed door. But as I held on and focused, they sharpened. He was irritated, not the mild kind you feel when your keys go missing, but something with more weight to it, more edge. And underneath that irritation sat something hollow and cold. Not sadness, not rage, just an absence. A grey, flat void that made me frown instinctively.

Without thinking about it, I reached across the bond and brushed against his mind. A gentle knock, nothing more.

The shift in him was immediate. The cold just vanished. In its place came warmth, the kind that moves through you when you step into sunlight after being inside too long, and it radiated through me so strongly I exhaled. The bond deepened between us, more present than it had been a second ago. I felt him clearly enough that the distance stopped making sense.

"Zaliver?" I reached out gently, still catching my breath from the shift.

"Vivian? Is everything alright?" His voice came through the link into my head, laced with concern. A thread of blue moved through the bond’s gold.

"Yeah," I answered, still trying to sort through what I’d just felt. "I just wanted to talk."

Of course. Even in a mind-link, I managed to sound like a complete dork.

"Are you sure? I could be there in a few—"

"No, no. I’m okay. You don’t need to rush back," I said quickly.

"You’re sure?"

I smiled. "Yup. Totally. Ummm, what are you doing right now?"

"Going over some reports from Hogan, my third-in-command. Why?"

I hesitated. "You seemed annoyed. I was just wondering why."

A beat of silence. Then a soft, almost caught-out, "Annoyed. Oh."

His emotional temperature shifted, suddenly guarded, like someone scrambling to close a drawer they hadn’t meant to leave open.

"Oh?" I echoed, raising an eyebrow even though he couldn’t see it.

"It’s nothing. Your parents will be here soon."

Deflection. Classic. I didn’t push, though. Knowing him, he was probably planning something and didn’t want me to know. He was full of surprises, some terrifying, some the kind that made your chest ache in the best way.

"So how much longer?" I asked, settling back into the cushions.

"About an hour. Are you nervous?"

I let out a slow breath. "Yeah. You?"

His amusement trickled through, warm and easy. "Not really. After all, I still get to have you to myself at the end of the day."

My cheeks warmed. "You make it sound like you’re the one meeting my parents."

I could practically feel the smirk in his silence.

"When will you come by?" I asked softly.

"Give me forty-five minutes."

"Okay," I said, a smile in my voice. "See you soon."

Neither of us reached to sever the connection. We stayed there, quiet, both present in the bond’s warmth, neither quite ready to let go of the thread between us.

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