The Luna Trials by Marissa Gilbert Read Online
Chapter 36
Savvy was so comfortable in Kai’s arms as they were cuddling on the sofa with a laptop on a small nearby table. She couldn’t believe he was hiding that from her, and the moment she discovered it in one of the drawers, she went online to check what was happening at The Luna Trials.
“Why do you want to watch this?” he grunted.
“Because!” she scoffed and wriggled, getting even cozier against his warm body. “I am a part of it, remember?”
“Not anymore,” he growled softly into her ear and nibbled her earlobe. “The Luna Trials are over. I have my Luna with me already.”
“Well, the world isn’t aware yet!” she giggled and stretched her hand to click on the play b*tton.
The faces of Claude and Chloe wearing matching green suits made the princess frown. The twins were polished as always and ready to entertain whether people wanted it or not.
“Why were those two chosen to do this again?” She asked the King next to her as he lazily brushed her hair with his fingers.
“They are professionals,” he replied, and she snorted.
“Are they?” Savannah shot him a reproachful gaze. He had to know that they were biased at all times.
“They make any show a show,” Kai had to admit. “I think Elene wanted more publicity for this event and with the correct light on our family. We don’t do these things often, and it was one of a kind opportunity.”
“Maybe you should be doing it more often then?” The girl chuckled. “Gideon and ! hate interviews and public appearances, but we do it from time to time to let people see us and feel like they know us.”
“See,” he pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head. “This is exactly why I need a Luna.”
“Oh, take Petra then. She will give you the show of your life every day!” Savvy mocked him, and he tickled her as punishment, making her giggle until she teared up and gave up.
“No, thanks,” the northern King grunted, bringing her back to her place next to him. “When I make my choice, it’s final. You are all I need.”
She hoped he would say that, and it was so satisfying to hear that again. Everything was so perfect lately that Savvy was afraid it was too perfect. Life had never been this colourful for her. She thought she was happy at some point in her life before Zack. She thought everything was over right after her disgusting mate ruined all her expectations about life and love. However, what was happening now was beyond her wildest dreams.
They were happy. Excessively, overwhelmingly, immensely happy. So happy that she couldn’t help but feel guilty to be this blissful every day. Kai may not have been her true mate, but he sure as hell made her feel loved, needed and safe.
“Three contenders face elimination today,” Chloe said in a serious tone, a corner of her l!ps curved slightly.
“Do you see her sneering?” Savannah furrowed her brows. “How does nobody notice that?”
“All right, all right,” Kai placed a gentle kiss on her shoulder to make amends. “The twins are evil. Happy?”
“Meh,” she pretended not to care, and they kept watching the next round of the Eliminations. It was between Brigit, Petra and Mavis now. One had to go because the three of them had the lowest number of points.
“How are you not there again?” Savvy gave him a suspicious look. “Weren’t you supposed to save one?”
“I saved the only one I care about,” Kai grinned at her, and this time she was the one to peck his chin gently.
“But what about these three?”
“Elene will pick the one! “saved“, he said, and the princess exhaled sharply through her nostrils.
“Of course, she will….” Savvy sighed in annoyance, watching the northern princess sitting on a throne behind the contenders. She really got herself comfortable there in the absence of her brother.
“So,” Chloe tried to create as much suspense as possible. “The North has voted, and we have the results.”
“Keep in mind that every vote was carefully checked by Princess Elene’s team, so rigging was not possible,” Claude a*s*sured everyone with a dazzling smile.
Aloud snort escaped Savannah hearing all this, but she chose not to comment.
“Luckily for the three beautiful lad*ies here, just one is going to leave us tonight.” Chloe made a concerned face, and Savvy wanted to throw something at the screen. “Because King
Kai Fionnlagh decided to save one of the contenders, and I have her name right here.”
The woman paused, showing a silver envelope to the cameras and opening it slowly, reading the name, then gasping as if she was shocked and, after some time, facing the camera again.
“Come on!” Savvy growled. “It’s taking forever!”
Kai let out a low chuckle, pulling her closer and inhaling her scent. It was never enough, though.
“The contender saved by our King is none other than … Brigit Borg!” the presenter’s amused voice sounded, and Savannah’s l!ps parted.
“Well, I have to admit, this is unexpected,” Kai chuckled. “I was sure she’d save Petra.”
“The people of the North will save Petra,” Savvy pointed out. “She is one of you. Elene just made sure Brigit stayed. I wonder why….”
“She knows Brigit is not winning now that I have expressed who I want.” The King caressed her cheek gently. “Now that she isn’t a threat, Elene wants her in the finale to appease the white bears and show them there are no prejudices against them.”
“A bit too late for that!” A huff escaped the girl. “Maybe,” Kai hummed. “But it’s worth a try. Anything to avoid the war.”
Just one word almost ruined their mood. They already discussed it a few times, and Savvy told Kai everything that Bjorn told her and what they found out from Castiel and Roxy back in the day. Both of them knew that it didn’t look good.
They watched the vote results appearing on the screen in silence, and it wasn’t surprising that Petra won most of the votes. She giggled and jumped on the spot in a silver frilly dress while Mavis took her loss gracefully and left the stage.
Kai leaned forward and slammed the laptop shut. “Enough of this,” he kissed his woman’s forehead and started to get up. “What are you doing?” Savvy knitted her brows, eyeing him questioningly. “We need to get out,” he told her, stretching his hands to help her stand up.
“I thought that it wasn’t safe.” She reminded him of his words, but a knowing smirk on his l!ps told her that he might have exaggerated.
“It must be safer now,” Kai cleared his throat. “I mean … If we don’t go far and ….”
“I guess if we stay close enough, it’s going to be fine.” Savvy giggled and went for the wardrobe in the next room to find some weather-appropriate clothes for herself. She chose a pair of jeans, a men’s grey sweater with snow boots, and a warm jacket. When she was done, the Northern King was already waiting for her, dressed slightly lighter than she was. Perks of being a native here.
They walked out of their little house for the first time in days, and the sun, together with sparkling white snow, blinded them at first.
“The scenery definitely changed!” Savannah gasped, looking around. She rarely got to see the snow, although it wasn’t her first time.
“I want you to enjoy it, Savvy.” Kai breathed in the frosty air and walked slightly further away from her. The snow was almost to his knees, but it did not bother him. “I bet you haven’t seen anything remotely beautiful back at the West. Not every country is lucky
enough to be blessed with such locations and ….”
“Oh, Kai!” The princess called him in a taunting tone, and he turned to look at her at once. Only to get a huge snowball right in the face.
“We have mountains too, you know.” The girl snickered, preparing the next icy weapon. “Gideon took me there every year.”
“Did he?” the northerner wiped his now red face clean and gave her a menacing gaze. “You love snowballs fights then?”
“What’s not to love?” She laughed and sent another his way, but he managed to dodge this time.
Savannah knew she was in trouble even before his eyes flashed blue, letting her know she managed to annoy them both – the King and his wolf. Squealing, she tried running in the opposite direction when Kai caught up with her and lifted her up in his arms, throwing her over his shoulder.
“It’s good that you like snow, Savvy, very good!” The man chuckled as he slapped her bottom in his usual manner, making her growl at him in defiance. “We have a lot of it for you to enjoy right here!”
She was about to say something snarky when he dropped her into a pile of freezing snow, and she found herself falling down for longer than she expected.
“Kai!” she yelled angrily, trying to find a way out of some frosty cleft. It was probably a little crack in the mountain or something like that, and the damn King used his knowledge of the location to trap her. Snow was everywhere, and the walls around her were covered with slippery ice, making it impossible to get out on her own.
“No worries, my love,” he looked at her from above with a mischievous grin on his face. “Just say that you are sorry, and I am the best lycan in the whole damn world, and I will help you out.”
“Is this how you treat your future wife?” she asked him, still looking how to get out of that little cleft she was stuck in.
“I am teaching you the northern ways.” She heard a low chuckle.
“The northern way s*cks!” she announced, and another laugh emerged from his chest.
“See, now you also have to say that the North is the best place in the world!” He quickly added to her tasks, knowing she wasn’t getting out of there without his help.
But … he was underestimating her.
“Fine, Kai!” She sighed heavily and made a pitiful look on her face. “Get me out of here first!”
“Aha,” he snorted. “Nice try!” “Kai, please,” Savannah whimpered and heard him exhaling in defeat.
“Come here, Sav,” he bent down to his knees and lowered himself to give her a hand, only to receive the biggest snowball of his life in his face again.
Not wasting time, Savannah grew her claws and used them to pierce the ice, working her way up quickly.
She tried to push him into the snow hole she had just come from, but he dodged her attempt with a laugh.
“Oh, it’s war!” she announced to him.
“You started it!” he scoffed, gathering as much snow as he could. They were running around, shooting snowballs at each other. Until Kai got tired of all that. He didn’t touch her for too long, and the need to hold her in his arms again was overwhelming.
He dropped everything he had and strode towards her through piles of snow like a
predator.
She launched one snowball after another at him with precise aiming, but he took them all. It was nothing compared to the desire to have her again.
“What are you ..” She didn’t get to finish her sentence as he grasped her in his arms and made them fall into the snow together, covering her l!ps with his in a possessive kiss. The cold was biting at their skin, but none of them cared as their bod*ies were heated around each other.
“I miss you already.” he snarled into her mouth as he laced his fingers in her hair.
Savannah really did not mind and was planning to tell him she had enough fresh air for one day. Moreover, the fresh air w as overrated, and they just had to return to the cabin and make love again. It was a must now.
A loud ear-splitting shriek broke her train of thoughts, and Savvy recognised it at once, her whole body j*rking.
“What the.” Kai mumbled, looking up at the sky.
“It’s Zara!” Savannah tried to push the King off her when she heard another loud and distinctive shriek. Kai stood up at once, giving her a hand in the process.
The black hawk was easy to spot even through the falling snow in the sky. She lowered herself, shifting into the woman they both knew before her feet touched the ground.
“Zee,” Savvy was worried, knowing that herfriend wouldn’t bother her for no good reason.
The bird shifter was about to say something when a large cream wolf appeared out of nowhere and knocked her down, face first in the snow.
“My apologies, Kai!” Lachlan turned into his human form, pinning Zara and looking at his King.
“I caught the intruder.”
“That’s hardly an intruder!” Savannah protested. “Let her go!”
“Lan!” Kai gr0@ned, running his palm over his face. “Come on!”
“You just wanted to be on top of me n*ked, didn’t you?” Zara snickered, spitting away the ice from her !ips. “Understandable.”
“And you knew exactly how this would end when you provoked me.” The Beta rose without a shade of embarra*s*sment, demonstrating his toned body to the three of them. Yet only Zara grazed her gaze over him in silent approval.
“Down, boy!” she smirked and turned to face her Princess.
“Zee, what happened?” Savannah knew her bird friend wouldn’t get into this much trouble for no reason.
“Didn’t you feel anything weird lately?” Her friend raised her brow, but when Savvy blinked, not understanding what was going on, she sighed and decided to explain. “Your ma… Alpha Zack Morgan.
“You can speak freely in front of Kai,” Savannah interrupted. It was time for them to share everything. “We have no secrets anymore.”
“Same goes for you, Lachlan.” The Northern King wrapped his hands around his beloved woman to make a point.
“Okay.” Zara s*cked in a deep breath and said everything in one go. “Your mate disappeared on the night of the Interviews. Kyle was the last to see him, three wh*res are testifying against him, and he is in trouble now because they suspect he K*lled him.”
“Did he see Zack?” Savvy clenched her l!ps nervously. “On that night?”
“He did,” Zara replied even though she clearly didn’t want to, judging by her facial expressions.
“He kicked the sht out of him because he having sX with three women just to hurt you. Then he left to his.. to Evelynn. Evelynn tells everyone they spent the whole night together, but Kyle’s scent is in Zack’s room. Initially, the women he slept with were silent, but then Princess Elene used the Alpha command on them. She is a royal.
They are just werewolves… They cracked very fast. Long story short, it’s bad, and we need you back to sort this out!”
“It hasn’t even been a week!” Kai muttered, letting out the steam while he could.
He glanced at the woman he loved more than anything in his life, and she did the same. Eyes locked, they gave each other soft understanding smiles. They both knew now that their little secret escape was over.
Elene sat behind the desk in her brother’s office, trying to figure out what to do next. The Luna Trials were a disaster so far, and it only got worse every day.
The doors burst open, and she saw her brother standing before her eyes in a set of clothes not appropriate for a king. His beard was back, making him less recognisable, and Elene hoped this was the case. Savannah Stormhold and her bird a*s*sistant walked right after him, followed by Lachlan in a pair of jeans and a light jacket over his bare torso. Why couldn’t anyone behave appropriately in this place?
You are back, finally,” Elene decided not to pretend to be excited. Kai was clearly angry at her again, even though she did not deserve it. From the very beginning, she did everything she could to help him. It wasn’t her fault things were turning out this way.
“Did you find Morgan?” Her brother got straight to the point, skipping formalities.
“We are searching everywhere, but he nowhere to be found.” She informed him dryly.
“And Kyle? Elene, why didn’t you wait for me?”
Kai reproached her.
“Maybe because you asked me not to bother you with anything?” She stood up angrily and walked around the desk. “He is fine! His new girlfriend, Evelynn, insisted he stay in her room. So, no worries there”
Savannah gave Zara a questioning look, and the bird shifter nodded rea*s*suringly.
“Don’t think I believe for a second that they are dating!” Elene told them at once. “But because he is connected to Savannah, I approved that request.
Because of you, Kai.”
“That’s qood,” the King nodded. “But you shouldn’t have mentioned him in the first place.”
“And I wouldn’t have if someone informed me what the hell was going on here!” The Princess was losing the last bit of her patience. “l am not the enemy here, Kai! Even if I am not excited about all this.” She waved at Savvy, and the Westerner felt slightly guilty. They did leave Elene out ofeverything. However, that was for a good reason.
She knew far too well the complications of being a king’s sister. Although Savannah always enjoyed helping her brother, there were many moments when he brushed her help off because he considered his own perspective bigger and better.
She had it easier than Elene, though, because when Gideon met Riannon, the two of them instantly connected and became friends. This clearly wasn’t the case here.
“Just how much trouble is Kyle in?” Savvy decided to try and talk to her future sister-in-law.
They would have to learn to communicate sooner or later.
“I ‘d say a lot!” The girl crossed her arms on her ch3st and rubbed her forehead as if she was exhausted. “I had no idea that he would be involved in all that, so when Alpha Morgan’s allies from independent packs asked me about his whereabouts, and we discovered we had no idea where he was, I gave his Beta access to the investigation. This was only because I was sure we had nothing to hide! If I knew.”
“Okay”‘ Kai interrupted her, finally seeing how events unfolded. “It doesn’t matter now. What happened, exactly?”
“His scent was identified at once, but there were four others. One belonged to Evelynn and three to our maids. I had to pressure the maids into spilling the truth, and Morgan’s Beta was there as well. The three weaklings were terrified, and they all repeated the same thing independently. Kyle stormed into Alpha Zack’s room and beat him to a pulp. Then they had to leave, and none of them knew how the evening finished.”
“That hardly proves that Kyle had anything to do with his disappearance.” Savannah stepped forward. “lt’s just another game of his. If something bad happened to him, I would have felt it.”
“Why on Earth would you feel it?” Elene looked at her in surprise.
“Because he is my soon-to-be-rejected mate,” Savvy said honestly. She wasn’t going to hide anything anymore.
“Fenrir’s sake!” the Northern Princess let out a desperate laugh on the verge of hysteria. “You are officially the worst contender ever! And we had cann!bals in the past! Just what is this mess?!”
She covered her face with her hands, trying to calm down.
“Relax, sis,” Kai placed his large hand on her delicate shoulder.
“Oh, no, no, no!” she broke down. “Don’t tell me to relax! How can one be calm in the middle of all this? It’s horrible! We are in such deep sh*t!”
“We’ll figure things out,” Savvy tried to help.
“Huh!” Elene snorted loudly. “When you are involved, things only get worse! While we investigated Kyle, the fact that he is the infamous Truthteller also came to light. Now you will be accused of trying to rig the votes! If we support you, the North will never accept you! They will always think that Kai chose a cheater Queen and even your children will be tainted with that kind of reputation!”
“But they were fine when you were so obviously helping Penelope?” Savvy rolled her eyes.
“Pen is from these places! She can get away with a lot! They want her to win!” Elene shook her head. “It’s different for you! You still have to earn their respect, and you will never get it if Kai hands it to you!”
“Enough!” The King growled furiously, and his sister finally closed her mouth, slowly returning to her senses.
“We need to find Morgan,” Lachlan said when they all were quiet for too long.
“Agreed,” Zara nodded. “Knowing his way of thinking, he isn’t that far. We know for sure he is alive. That’s something. It was probably planned from the very beginning. This is what this scheming leech is famous for.”
“That announcement of your being together will go so bad in the meantime! The timing is the worst!” Elene closed her eyes, trying to take deep breaths. Panic was flooding her mind no matter what she did.
“That’s why we aren’t announcing anything,” Savannah interjected, and Kai growled loudly, hearing her words.
“‘Savvy!” He had trouble keeping Asgard inside now. Neither he nor his wolf was having any of it.
“Kai.” She smiled at him sadly. “Just think about it. This was obviously a trap, and we fell for it.
This is so… Zack! Now they let out the news that Kyle is the Trutheller and ruin the remnants of my reputation with it. If you stop the Trials, no one in the North would ever respect me. I wouldn’t be surprised if they arrange a rebellion and the situation is already heated as it is. In the end, you lose. I lose, the North loses, and the ones who arranged all that use the chaos they created for their purposes and win. We just can’t let that happen!”
“l am not giving up on you!” he said firmly, intending to let her know that even if the world was falling apart, he would never let her go.
“Oh, giving up on you isn’t in my plans either!”
A confident smile curled Savannah’s l!ps. “In fact, Iplan to fight for you, Kai Fionnlagh. I am winning the d*mn Luna Trials!”
“This may work.” Zara was the one to break the silence after a while. The three Northerners were still stunned. “They expect havoc, and we should act calm whatever happens. You win this thing, and then we figure out the rest.”
“Fenrir cackles in his cave now hearing this!”
Elene snapped. “You think the Luna Trials consist of history text and parading around the castle in pretty dresses? The trials that really matter haven’t even started! Contenders K*ll each other on the latest stage! And although you lead by the points right now, Savannah, they wouldn’t be advantageous if you lose one of the three remaining challenges.”
“What are the next challenges?” Savvy asked plainly, not impressed by her sister-in-law’s speech.
Elene paused and then let out an exasperated sigh. “The next challenge is the Forgotten City Maze. This is when we lose most of the contenders.
Just getting out of there alive is a gift on its own.
No shifting is allowed, no magic, no help from anyone. After that, if you are still alive, the remaining contenders fight in the arena until the last Luna candidate stands. And even after that, you still have to go through the last challenge and get Fenrir’s blessing in a shrine. What do you say about all that, Savannah?”
“I say that I now see why you cancelled all that!” The Western Princess snorted. “And also, I am in.”
Kai stood silent right there, watching this beautiful, strong woman ready to fight until death for him. He did not deserve her and wouldn’t let anything happen to her. Losing Savannah wasn’t an option. It was a scary realisation, but he would rather lose his crown than her.
“No,” he said firmly, and everyone looked at him in shock.