The Luna Trials by Marissa Gilbert

Chapter 32

"Okay" she sat beside him hesitantly, unsure what to expect. "You are intriguing me, Kai Fionnlagh."

"Savannah, I haven't even started yet," he winked at her and wrapped his large arm around her frame. She fitted nicely under it. Just as if they were made for each other,

They sat like that for a while, and absolutely nothing was happening. Except for the two of them hearing their hearts beating in unison and the stars shining brightly above their heads.

Savvy giggled, remembering something. "What is it?" Kai asked, and she tried to avert his gaze. "It's nothing," she lied.

"It's something," the King insisted, pulling her closer and enjoying her warmth mixed with that intoxicating bluebell scent "Well," Savvy snorted because she couldn't hold it back anymore. "I just remembered that you call yourself the North Star."

"First of all," Kai tapped her nose gently. "I am not calling myself that. People call me that"

"Changes everything!" the girl snickered, and he tightened his grip on her. He always wanted to have her closer

"And it has a meaning behind it," he pointed out, shooting her a mischievous look. He said nothing else, and Savvy lost patience. "Don't stop now!" she jabbed him with her elbow, and he pretended it hurt. "Ouch!"

Savannah's face faded when she realised he could have been wounded after all. Kai read her worried gaze correctly. Her concern warmed his chest slightly.

"Just kidding," he snuggled the princess, kissing her temple and then pointed at the sky. "Look, it's over there. The North Star. Since ancient times it had been of special significance to us northerners. Not only it's one of the first stars to appear in the sky, but it's also one of the brightest. Wherever a northerner finds himself, he or she can always find the way back to the North just by walking towards this star. It will always lead them back home."

"Kai," Savannah breathed out with a gentle smile on her lips. "This is actually beautiful."

"I think so too," he chuckled, brushing his nose over her cheek. "This is why each King here is called the North Star. He is supposed to be the guide to his people and to make sure North always remains their home."

"It makes much more sense now," she turned to look at him but found their lips way too close to each other all of a sudden. His warm breath was caressing her skin, and she couldn't help but inhale his scent of fresh forest and pine, He pecked her lips gently, and she responded to

him, leaning, forward and doing the same, luring him in. She didn't want to pull away and was glad when he finally tugged her closer, burying his free hand in her hair and deepening the kiss. Pleasant goosebumps rippled all over her. They couldn't have enough of each other, and it was 80 obvious now. Too obvious....

Something cold landed on her cheek, and she winced at the new sensation, trying to ignore it. But then it happened again, and she had to blink it away from her long lashes when she suddenly realised and broke the kiss.

"Snow!" She gasped and looked at Kai, who seemed to be mesmerised by her instead. "It's snowing!"

A knowing smile formed on his lips as he watched her excitement, and she realised that this was what he had brought her here for.

"The first snow..." The words stuck in her throat. He brought her to watch the first snow... An event of significant importance to the northerners.

"First snow," he confirmed her suspicions with a nod and locked her in his arms again. "Savannah, here in the North, you only greet First Snow with a person who has your heart. In the olden days, winters were harsh, and often people couldn't move around much during the coldest months. Meeting the First Snow together was a promise to spend the winter together, however good or bad it was. It was a promise to love each other even during the darkest days and to stay together through all the hardships. It meant that two people loved and trusted each other with their lives."

She sucked in a deep breath, feeling her heart racing in her chest. He was so serious about all this. It was slowly sinking in ...

"Savvy," he took her hands into his, "I want to spend many winters with you. I ... want to spend all my winters with you."

His hand went for the pocket of his trousers, and Savannah got scared. Everything was happening so fast!

Kai got out something silvery and sparkling, making her gasp again at the sight of a beautiful pendant on a delicate chain. She understood what it was at once as the little diamonds were glimmering in the light of their little lantern, She saw that pendant in all those history books

she was reading here. The northern Lunas of the past were wearing this around their necks on the old paintings.

A scattering of diamonds adorned a four-pointed star with four smaller rays between them, and one larger diamond flaunted precisely in the centre of the exquisite pendant.

"The North Star necklace," the King confirmed her thoughts. "Only my Queen can wear it, and today I want to give it to you."

"Wait!" She grasped his arm, and he froze with a tense puzzled expression on his face, his lips clenched so tight they formed a thin white line.

"Why?" He said only one word, but there was so much in it. She hated herself for ruining this moment, but he was talking about trust, and she had to ensure nothing was hidden between them.

"Before you decide whether to give this to me or not, I have something to tell you." She sighed heavily, watching him lowering his hands with the pendant, realising one thing... she wanted nothing more than him placing it on her neck. She wanted something else on her neck from him as well... she wanted everything he could have given her.

"Speak," he said, his voice hoarse to the point of being unrecognisable. "Please, Savvy, speak!"

Do you remember how I told you about my mate?" She asked and saw his Adam apple twitching

"You said it didn't work out," Kai replied dryly.

"That's true. It did not." She admitted this without regret and noticed a trace of relief on his face. "I trusted him because of our bond. I believe that the true mate bond is sacred for everyone... but I was wrong. He betrayed me on the very night we met."

Kai's fists clenched tight, and for a second, she was worried he'd break the delicate chain he was holding. However, she had to go on.

"We were preapring for the war with red foxes and bears, and I heard him talking to the Fox King Castiel over the phone," she continued. "They discussed how they would kill Gideon and share his land and power. My so-called mate promised to that fox that he would take care of me, that I would be nothing more than his breeding machine producing royal pups for him.”

Kai swore in a momentary fury. She didn't know that word because it was something in the ancient northern language, but she knew a curse when she heard one.

"I had to run first thing in the morning to deliver the information about the traitors to my brother, and he was chasing me with his pack. They would have killed me if they could back then. Of that, I am sure." She stopped just for a second to gather more strength. It wasn't easy to share this part of her story. "I got to the werecats' territory and asked for Asylum. They helped me. Naya was there. This was when I tried to reject him

"Tried?" Kai was barely controlling the rage of Asgard inside of him. The wolf was already asking for blood.

"He did not accept my rejection," she gulped and looked him in the eye.

"Where is he now?" The Northern King gritted his teeth, already planning how he would kill that man. "I am sure I can help him to find the right words."

"That's the thing, Kai," Savannah sighed. "He is here. Zack Morgan, the werewolf who is your important guest now, is my mate."

It all hit Kai at once. Of course! He knew that this man was the traitor in the West. He should have guessed when she first mentioned the betrayal. He felt like an i***t for welcoming this basterd into his house, for parading him in front of Savannah and asking her to tolerate him. But he also experienced an irresistible wave of jealousy toward her. He thought that Savannah and her mate mutually rejected each other, secretly hoping the guy had already been dead. Yet here he was. The man who technically had more rights to her than he did. And he hated that fact alone. Something dark was growing inside him at the simple thought that Zack could still be thinking of exercising his rights.

He clenched the silly necklace in his palm, feeling now that it wasn't enough. "Elene," he mind linked his sister. "Where are you?!" she demanded at once. "We ...."

"Out," he cut her off as he wasn't ready for a heart-to-heart conversation with his sibling now of all times. "I need Zack Morgan held in his room until I get back. He cannot leave. If he

tries, you can use force. Just keep him there and alive."

Kai, what is." Elene wanted to ask something else, but he closed the link, knowing that just an order would be enough.

His attention got back to Savannah, and he noticed that her eyes glistened with a few tears threatening to fall down her cheeks at any moment. He had been silent since her important confession, and she could have taken it wrong.

"Savvy," he tried to find the right words to reassure her.

"It's okay," she wiped her eyes quickly, pretending that it was nothing. "Whatever you decide is okay. I had to tell you. That's all, so, if you changed your mind ...."

"Changed my mind?" A nervous laugh escaped him as he cupped her chin, making the western princess look at him. "Changed my mind, Savvy? I am in love with you. So is my wolf. We have never experienced this, and I know only one thing. Changing my mind about making you mine is definitely not an option for me."

"We barely know each other," she protested weakly, more tears streaming down her cheeks to her own surprise.

"Who cares when it feels so right?!" he chuckled, inclining towards her. "When I want only you ... when I choose you ...."

He covered her lips with his in a greedy possessive kiss which was like staking his claim on her. He would kill for that woman; he would wage war for her if he had to. She was his from the moment they met, and he wouldn't have this any other way. He knew that now. He had known that

for a while...

"Kai," she whispered when they broke their kiss and rested their foreheads on each other.

"Do you choose me, Savannah?" he asked, embarrassed at his own trembling voice. His whole body was shaking because he needed to hear her answer on a physical level. He knew that this was the moment she could make him the happiest man alive or break him beyond repair. "Do you agree to be mine? My Luna, my Queen, my chosen mate?"

She looked him in the eye just for a few seconds, but it seemed like forever to him.

"I will spend all my winters with you, Kai Fionnlagh," she smiled through tears, and he felt as if a heavy weight was lifted off his chest. "I choose you too. Now and forever... I love you too."

He got the necklace to her neck again, trying to control himself as all that he wanted now was to devour her here and now. Savvy turned her back to him and lifted her hair to give him better access.

When he was done, and she turned back to him, he had to admit that the North Star looked beautiful on her neck. It looked as if it always belonged there.

"Come here!" He pulled her back into his warm embrace, and they both started watching the beautiful snowflakes dancing and curling in the frosty air. Slowly, the tops of the trees, the roofs of the castle towers and the towns below were powdered with white crispy shimmering snow.

Savannah noticed many lights on now, although it was the middle of the night and realised

that these were other couples greeting the First Snow together and making promises to each other

It seemed like they spent hours like this, Savvy on Kai's lap, leaning over his broad chest and enjoying his hands wrapped tightly around her. He was kissing the top of her head from time to time, and this meant more to her than any words he could say.

She noticed how a thick white blanket covered everything around them.

"There is so much snow," she raised her hand to catch a few beautiful snowflakes. "How are we going back down these narrow mountain roads?"

"Go back?" she heard the king snort. "Savvy, travelling down these roads is impossible during snow, and a blizzard is about to come in less than an hour. I am afraid we are going to be stuck here for days." Savannah's lips parted in shock...