The Luna Trials by Marissa Gilbert Read Online
Chapter 62
She walked between the rows of tables as if the whole world was under her feet, the dark red fabric of her dress flowing behind her, whispering in the silence of the room. No one dared to speak before the King, and Bjorn, himself, was speechless. He did not expect her to come here tonight, and now that she was here, he couldn’t take his eyes off of her.
Savannah was a vision. Everything about her was perfect. Queenly. A perfect woman for a King, and Bjorn couldn’t believe that she had made the decision to join him tonight.
They both knew what it meant, and the bear inside him was already fighting to release his claws to mark her the moment she reached them, to claim that woman in front of everyone and be done with it.
Bjorn could give her more time before he took her and put a child inside her womb. He could give her more time to accept their bond and admit it out loud. He could wait for many years to hear that she loved him from her luscious l!ps. He wanted to do that for her. But the desire to make the bond unbreakable by marking her was immense. It was something that plagued his mind, something his bear was insisting on f0rcefully.
Because it was wise. The moment his claws made the marks, Savannah would be his forever.
Everyone would know this and no one would be able to stake their claim on her. Not anymore. Not ever.
He wanted to secure that claim, and luckily, he would do this tonight. He couldn’t believe his own luck because, although deep inside he hoped for this, his rational mind told him that it wasn’t possible. He’d hurt Savannah too much, and it would take him years to earn her forgiveness and, eventually, her love.
That thought sobered him up. Why was she doing it?
Was she really ready?
A treacherous idea of it being her plan to humiliate him publicly or get some kind of revenge circled in the back of his mind. He hated thinking about it, but even he had to admit the possibility of it happening.
However, just one glance at the princess’s wrist and he saw the bracelet still shining brightly on it, the guararantee of his safety. Whatever Savannah did, she wouldn’t be able to do him much harm as long as she wore it. She wouldn’t be able to shift even to her second form, so it was unlikely she would be able to do much damage. If she decided to humiliate him, he’d have to punish her. Somehow, that thought alone brought a smile to his face. He tried to be gentle with her, but if she gave him more reason to be personally mad at her, his punishing her would be justified.
The Princess chose a red dress. This wasn’t what people wore for marking ceremonies in the North. Bjorn himself was wearing a blue shirt tonight simply for the occasion. A lot of the dresses he sent to her were in shades of blue as well because of this. But then he remembered that she’d already worn a blue dress. She even rode on top of his back and no one ever would be able to take that away from him.
She was already standing at the bottom of the stairs and their eyes locked as she waited for his permission to take her place by his side.
“Join me, my Queen,” his l!ps curled into a smile as he gestured to the empty chair next to him. He had been prepared.
Savannah went up, her eyes downcast and cheeks flushed slightly. Although that last part could be the product of his imagination. He wished he could get into her pretty little head and find out what she was really thinking now. Was she imagining his claws digging into her skin too? He knew then and there that as soon as the marking was done, he would make her turn to face him and l!ck every drop of blood on her soft skin. His manh0od reacted to that thought, and it got only worse when she was finally beside him. Her intoxicating bluebell scent had made him close his eyes just for a moment and enjoy it. He envisioned how, after everything was finished here, he would take her to their chambers and rip that dress off her, learning every inch of her with his tongue. If she let him, of course. But she would, after she’d been marked. This was the whole point. The mark would unlock their bond for her and heal her soul after the previous unsuccessful experience.
She’d want him just the way he wanted her. She would come around.
“My King,” her sweet voice brought him out of his daze. It was a greeting, and he couldn’t help himself from taking her hand and bringing it to his l!ps, placing a w*et k!ss on her fingers.
Her skin tasted divine, and Bjorn wanted to cut the ceremony short now. Anything to speed the process up.
“My Queen,” pride was lacing every word, his voice loud, so that everyone heard him, but then he added quieter, “I hoped you would come.”
“And here l am,” she replied, her red l!ps trembling.
This was an unusual look for her, but he liked it. He loved it. He loved everything about her.
“Are you sure?” He asked her the silent question of whether or not she wanted to be marked today. Her presence alone was the reply, but he wanted to show her how caring he could be. He wanted her to know that he wasn’t the monster she believed him to be. They could become a family. He could make her happy. All he needed was a chance…
His hand stretched to her on an impulse, and she shyly placed her palm into his.
“l am,” Savannah breathed out, and finally, their eyes met again. He saw the determination in hers, and it made him smile. She was ready. It was really happening.
“You will never regret this,” he promised her confidently and pulled the princess into his arms to crush his l!ps into hers. Bringing her closer, demanding entrance with his tongue, which was granted easily. It was the sweet submission that he needed and he explored her mouth for the second time today, enjoying all of the sensations k!ssing his mate could bring. She chose to come tonight, she agreed that she was his now.
Now, he could k!ss her whenever he wanted.
The white bears cheered for them with their roars and clanking of their glasses. They enjoyed the sight before their eyes because everyone knew that their king would be the strongest with his mate by his side. The Northern Lycan twins were filming the whole thing, Chloe commenting from time to time into a microphone about the events.
When Bjorn finally broke the k!ss, he had the biggest grin on his face. It was a grin of a victor, the man who had it all.
“Honoured guests!” He distanced himself slightly from Savannah and addressed his warriors present in the room. “As you can see, my Queen is ready to join me and help me make the Northern and the Western Lycan kingdoms whole. We were once the same country, and it is high time to bring the lands back together” He went on with a bigger speech, and Savvy tried really hard not to display any emotions on her face. She took a little step back to where the Serpent was now standing. placing one of her arms on Bjorn’s shoulder to make him and everyone else believe that she was supporting him.
“Really?” Joran quirked his brow up at her and whispered. “I thought you would consider my offer.”
“Who says I am not?” She gave him a dazzling smile, and he looked at her with interest.
“Then now is the time,” he taunted, to which she lifted her hand with the magical bracelet, eyeing it and hinting that he would have to help to get rid of it first.
The Serpent sneered at her, crossing his arms over his ch3st.
“Nice try, Princess,” he chuckled while she took a few steps in his direction, still touching Bjorn, who glanced at her in the middle of his long empowering speech, growling at his divine ally slightly. Savannah
smiled back at him, and then her eyes darted back at Joran.
“Haven’t you heard?” her l!ps curled as she playfully pushed her index finger of the hand with the bracelet into his ch3st. “I’m a Queen now.”
The applause of the bears distracted them, and Bjorn wrapped his arm around her wa!st, bringing her closer. The Princess was happy because no one noticed her little trick.
“And now we shall begin mine and Savannah’s marking ceremony.” he declared loudly and another wave of approving roars rippled through the room. Everyone was happy for their King.
Bjorn raised his hand, and every person in the hall grew quiet. No one dared to disrupt their King. His power was absolute.
“We’re not going to say any vows to the gods,” the White Bear King threw a quick glance at the Serpent as if daring him to protest. “There is no need for that! Our bond will be complete the moment my claws leave my mark on my mate’s delicate neck. We don’t need any blessings other than the ones we already have. So, let’s begin.”
Savannah noticed two familiar faces in the crowd.
She wasn’t wrong about Ash, Riannon’s close friend, and she was surprised to see Petra sitting right next to him.
They both looked at her as if they were worried sick.
Especially Petra. She covered her mouth with her hand and was on the verge of crying.
Savvy winked at her, which made Petra’s eyes go wide in confusion.
“l have a request if you don’t mind,” the Princess looked at the White Bear King, who was already devouring her with his healthy eye. It was obvious that he was impatient, but her request made him suspicious.
It was only natural that he didn’t fully buy her good girl act. Bjorn may have been in love, and it made him make mistakes, but he wasn’t a fool.
“What is it?” He asked dryly in a quieter tone.
“I would like to mark you too,” Savannah smiled and touched the bare skin on his arm, drawing circles on it with her fingers. She knew that he was feeling the tingles that she wasn’t. She realised it when he k!ssed her for the first time. His whole body told her about this. The way he shuddered, the way his breathing got ragged so fast.. it shouldn’t have been that way even if he really really wanted her. It was something else… and that something else reminded her of what she had with Kai.
Remembering the name of the true King of the North helped her to stay focused. While Bjorn stared at her like a love-sick teddy bear, all she saw were Kai’s eyes closing while she held him in her arms.
“Sure.” Bjorn agreed. “You can mark me if you like. I would take it as an honour.”
“Can I mark you first?” she fluttered her lashes innocently, but then looked away. “You don’t have to, of course.”
He was calm because he knew that even if she wanted to bite his main artery off, it wouldn’t harm him.
Physically, he was indestructible. Savvy knew that too, and that meant she wouldn’t do anything stupid.
Moreover, he wanted to give in to this dream. He wanted her canines to sink into his flesh, making him hers forever. He wasn’t going to question this gift.
“Do it,” he told her, brushing his palm over his cheek.
“Anything for you.”
He exhaled when she touched his ch3st with her warm fingers. Only the fabric of his traditional northern shirt was between them now.
“You are too tall,” she whispered, and he lowered himself slightly to give her better access as she walked around him and stood behind his back. There were doubts in his mind, but Savannah’s little fingers went for the b*ttons of his sh*t, undoing the two upper ones and then removing the fabric aside. Smirks appeared on his men’s faces. She teased him, and he lost his mind because of this. The thrill of what she was about to do next made him growl in anticipation.
She was going to mark him. She was going to mark him. She was going to mark him. Him. It was going to be all right. It was going to be excellent. She was going to become his Queen, and they were going to live a long, happy life together. He would bring this woman the moon if she wanted it, he would put any Kingdom she liked at her feet. He would make the world burn for her if it made her smile.
She was going to fix everything for him. She was going to fix him. That most important, broken, damaged part of him was going to be healed with this woman’s love. She would complete him. She would make him whole. Her perfection would fill the cracks in his soul, glueing the broken pieces together the way people in the Lost Eastern Kingdom were joining fragments of broken pottery and filling them with gold, giving them a more refined aspect.
He didn’t see the people before him, everything was blurry because of all the tingles he was experiencing from her touch. Her breath was already on his neck, and when Savannah’s nose brushed gently over it, he had to restrain himself not to M0@n in front of everyone.
“Wintergreen,” his mate commented, remarking on his scent. He closed his eye because, at that moment, he chose to trust her, he chose to love her unconditionally, he chose to give her everything that he had.
Something cold and metallic pressed against the skin on the other side of his neck, and for a moment, he thought it was the bracelet he put on her. He would take this bracelet off her tonight before he would take her for the first time..
“I hate wintergreen,” Savannah hissed in his ear, and it took him a few seconds to realise what he was hearing. “Almost as much as I hate you, Darius!”
A sharp pain made him open his eye again, and he saw his warriors jumping on their feet. It took time for him to process what was happening, but soon he realised that some kind of a dagger pierced him to the hilt. Savannah’s fingers unclenched, and he recognized that hilt. It belonged to Joran.
A divine weapon…
His men were lost, not knowing what to do, but at the same time, the quests he’d welcomed into his house today because of Savannah started turning into wolves one by one and forming a protective line in front of the stairs.
Because of Savannah..
Did Joran betray him? Or did Savvy manage to steal the dagger while he wasn’t watching?
Bjorn managed to turn his head through the pain and saw that the Serpent was as shocked as he was. At the same time, his second-in-command pounced at Savannah from the other side of the table, but his mate was ready. She grabbed the dagger she put into him and got it out in one swift move, making blood splutter from the wound. Then she stabbed his man, his brother in arm, right in the eye, ending him quickly.
Bjorn couldn’t speak; he felt blood filling his throat, at the same time, trying to stick his fingers into the wound on his neck to prevent blood loss. It hurt so much .. but it wasn’t physical pain that bothered him the most now.
In a way, she ripped out his heart too..
The divine weapon was out, and regeneration kicked in, cells restoring themselves as quickly as they could.
Not quick enough because Savannah was already using the dagger to break the bracelet that wouldn’t allow her to shift. He let out a gurgling noise, knowing now what she was about to do, what her plan was.
“You are not leaving this place!” he warned her, hoping that it would stop her. If she did stop, he would forgive her. He would take her away from all this mess and hide her until he knew what to do with her, how to fix this.
Another one of his warriors attacked her from behind, but the bracelet was already off, and she snapped his neck with her bare hands. Savannah was a f0rce of nature, awakened and furious, destroying everything in her way.
She was smart. He had to give it to her. She managed to go around his invincibility and destroyed the divine bracelet that suppressed her with a different divine weapon.
Bjorn stared at Joran, who was sitting in one of the chairs as an honoured quest and sipped his wine, observing the show calmly. Their eyes locked for a second, and the White Bear King knew that if he wanted the god’s help, he would have to offer him something else in return. But he had already bargained for more than he could afford. Besides, he could deal with her on his own terms. He just needed more time. A few more minutes, and it would be safe enough to move.
“Seize her!” He commanded the nearby bears. “K*ll the rest!”
The wolves charged at his men, and he knew that those mutts had no chance, considering the difference in numbers and how much werewolves lacked strength when compared to white bears. It was so stupid, to begin with, that they planned something like this. They all were as good as dead.
Savannah was fighting one of the biggest bears in the room. Luckily, it was the last of the ones who sat at Bjorn’s table. She still had to finish him off, but someone was constantly blocking her path.
“Savvy, watch out!” She heard Petra scream and point somewhere behind her back. She managed to dodge a sneaky attack from yet another white bear at the last moment and knew that it was time.
This would be the last time she shifted into her third form, the royal Lycan form. Kai was teaching her how to control it, but she was still too far from being successful at it. After all, they hadn’t had enough time.
Ash was still in his human form, trying to think of what to do next. Savvy noticed that he was holding Petra’s hand, covering her with his body from any possible attack While his men tried to keep everyone away from them.
“Princess!” He shouted at Savannah, “Time to go!”
“Just give me a second,” she replied, and looked at Bjorn again.
It had been mere minutes since she attacked him, it the blood almost stop dripping through his fingers. bit more time and he would be fully healed. Her efforts would go to waste.
This couldn’t be happening!
“Give up now, and I will forgive you!” he promised in a weak voice. His strength was coming back to him slowly. He was lucky she didn’t reach his heart. Probably because of their size difference. If she had managed to pierce his most vital organ, it would have been so much worse.
“No, thanks!” A smirk formed on her l!ps and for a moment, she looked at him with some kind of pity. He hated it, but it hurt him even more when that pity was replaced by pure hate. “You K*lled the man I love and my family! How delusional are you to think that we could have had anything after that?!”
“‘Savvy-” Bjorn looked quickly around and noticed that those sparkling twins were standing right next to them and filming the whole thing on a phone. A phone!
What is this? A live? There was a reason why live broadcasts were never allowed at any royal events. This was exactly the reason. How would he ever spin this situation now?
It didn’t matter! He’d lost today’s battle! Savannah clearly prepared for this better than he did. All in the course of a day.
“They’re dead either way!” He snapped. “What difference does any of this make? I was offering you a home! I was offering you a future!”
“After taking the home and future I already had!”
There were tears in Savannah’s voice. She was still hurting.
“It had to be done” the bear replied in a dark tone. “it has always been like this! The survival of the fittest!”
“I know,” his mate sneered at him. “and this is why I am surviving now! You owe me a few lives, Bjorn. And a castle.”