The Unwanted Luna

-POV

Ayame-

After my night with Edon, Vil, and Conri, I feel a lot better. Not like the night in the hospital. It was more like the night on the island when I woke up to find my men in the kitchen cooking breakfast and talking about basketball. It was...lighter. Once we made it back to the house, Kyle had to chat with Conri, but Vil and Edon came with me to see my father. It was much easier to see him and the days that followed were even more of a triumph.

Once Emily came to, we all felt immediate relief and Kyle wasn't seen for three days. Once he came back, I was able to visit Emily for the first time since the welcome back party. We talked and laughed about everything she missed this time and she rightfully slapped my arm for shutting down on my triplets. After our reunion, I visited both her and my father as much as I could and I started to ease up on some of my duties, but only some. I had taken on the responsibility. I wasn't going to stop now.

My dad will be discharged by the end of this week and I was at the training grounds with the warriors while the guys had yet another super secret meeting. They already told me it was about Richard, but that was it. Nothing more...nothing less. Even pouting didn't get them to cave. Either way, I had to focus on the fighter in front of me. Richard can wait.

I trust them to tell me when they need to and I am thankful that they were at least open enough to tell me the research was happening. I was currently fighting one of the younger kids and this boy really could put up a fight. At some point, he made it on top of me and I blocked his shots with my forearms before I finally found an opening and slammed my fist into his ribcage.

He was knocked off balance and staggered to one side. I was able to get back on my feet while the older warriors were throwing pointers to the kid and I. "You're pretty good, Luna." The boy called with a smirk.

I grinned right back. "I guess I'm trying my best. You'll all have a run for your money once I shift though." I called tauntingly, and the men chuckled before the boy lunged for me again. I'm glad they think this is funny. I sure don't. Even as a human, I feel stronger and more sure of myself. Maybe that's why I felt lighter.

I guess I didn't care about shifting into a monster anymore. I'm human and we all know there are monsters that take the form of humans every day. Now, with that in my mind, the hesitation just...vanished. What can I say? Even the woman in my dreams said it was time. I cannot wait to have the elegance of a wolf on my side. I heard clapping and hollering, remembering the fight again. My opponent took the high ground, which was his first mistake.

I slipped around him and let him fall on his face. Now I had a full view of his neck and the fight was over. "Dang!" He shouted, slamming his hand on the ground.

"Ha! Take the loss like a man. The girl's got a gift." One of the onlookers called.

I blushed and held out my hand. "Sorry."

The kid looked at me and nodded before grabbing my hand and getting to his feet. Unfortunately, my nice gesture almost had me falling over. He was pretty burly and I wasn't expecting so much weight. When I stepped back, catching my balance, I walked into Conri's chest. "Interested in fighting another type of shifter, little one?"

I froze. So far, I have fought against the other shifters, but I felt more comfortable with the wolves. I spun around and shook my head, earning another laugh. "Oh, come on Luna, give it a shot. We promise only to bite a little." Another warrior shouted.

I glared at the onlookers while hearing a growl from my mate. "No way! I'm good." I called back and even Conri had to crack a smile on that one.

He cleared his throat and darted a warning at the warriors who started to disperse. "Alright, then let's head in. Let them finish up their training. We have some items to discuss for your Luna ceremony."

Right. That.

I nodded and grabbed my towel from the corner of the mat. I received some high fives that I had to jump for and I swear they were doing it on purpose. I pouted irritably and Conri slipped his hand in mine. I looked up at him and smiled. "I'm beat." I groaned ignoring the warriors' reindeer games.

"It's still not going to get you out of your paperwork. There are a couple more kids that need housing after the fight and we are almost at a consensus on what to do with what's left of the Delock family." I sighed, reminding myself that I was the one who requested to stay in the loop on what happened to them while I continued my training to be the female leader of this territory.

"Okay...fine." He smirked and I ended up over his shoulder. I gasped as a laugh rang from my lips. "Hey, no fair! Let me down!"

He swatted my bum lightly and I huffed, trying to catch my breath, but the giggles kept coming. "Hmmm...I don't know...I'm starting to see you as a flight risk. Hanging out with the warriors and Kyle too much will do that to you."

I laughed and tried to continue my pursuit to wiggle out of his grasp. Then, he opened the door to the pack house and slipped me into his arms bridal style. I looked up at him and he leaned down to kiss me. I moaned into his lips as my whole body shivered. After a while, he pulled away reluctantly. "Later." He growled lowly.

I nodded quickly. I was just as pent up as they were. The hotel was nice, but all we did was sleep. I was so exhausted after my intervention that I missed out on...enjoying such a nice room. We had to leave right after I finally reintroduced myself to the land of the living. Since then, we have had dates here and there, but we've been too busy to do much else and...I think they are waiting on me. Edon and Vil already had to leave that night after I got home from the hospital because their control was at its limit. I don't think they will make it the second time. Hell...l don't think that can continue for another night. I'll lose it.

He gently put me down on my feet and we jogged up the stairs to our office. I snuggled into the couch and Vil handed me my paperwork with a furrowed brow. I wrapped the blankets around my body and shifted my weight against the pillow behind me. "Why won't you let us get you a desk?" He asked irritably.

"Because this is more comfortable." I said, already immersed in my work.

He scoffed and walked off to his desk. After about an hour of looking through potential candidates for the last few orphaned children, the guys were chatting with Vince. Charlie and Kyle walked in and I looked up from my last placement. "Isn't that uncomfortable?" Kyle asked with a lot of confusion on his face.

"That's what I said!" Vil called, throwing his arms in the air. I unraveled myself from my comfortable position and walked over to him. I plopped on his lap and slammed my papers on his desk.

"Better?" I said with a challenging undertone.

His eyes shifted from icy blue to orange and back again before his hand connected with my bum almost immediately. I squeaked and Vil growled. "Definitely." Right...I forgot...He's the dominant one. I guess I've gotten too comfortable.

I cleared my throat and turned towards the papers. "A-Anyway. I found homes for the last four kids with families I think will work out quite well according to their dossiers."

"Good. Excited for your Luna ceremony?" Kyle asked, grabbing the papers I had just finished organizing. Great... I thought I had dodged that discussion.

"No, not really. I really don't think that it's appropriate until we remove all the threats." I hinted while the room went cold.

"I think you are the first Luna in history that will purposefully delay her own ceremony." Vince added before taking a seat across from Conri's desk.

Conri looked like he was mulling something over before he turned his attention to us. "She isn't completely wrong, but we do need to discuss the elephant in the room." That was the nail in the coffin.

"I want him dead! There isn't anything else to discuss!" Kyle shouted, completely flying off the handle. I don't think I've ever seen him this angry.

"Tone, Beta!" All three alphas growled. Okay, this was serious.

Kyle bowed his head. "Sorry, alphas."

"We know what he did to our mates. Trust me, that is what we want too, but we have a lot to consider. Someone else will have to take his place. We cannot just kill an entire bloodline without a replacement or we will fall into the same trap as before. There is already unrest in Chaz's territory." Conri added.

"But it's been months." Kyle said through his teeth.

Edon walked up and leaned on Vil's desk. "It has been months. We have cleaned house, added patrols, and sent out trackers for stragglers. I think we are prepared for this. I wanted to kill him since day one, so you know my stance on it. I'm going to have to side with Kyle on this. Even though he could've had some more professionalism with his tone of voice."

"Well, we do have everyone to take into consideration." Vil said, tightening his grip around my waist.

"People outside this room?" I asked curiously.

Vil nodded. "The King of the Fae is pretty pissed too. He wants a public execution to let people know what happens when you mess with the inner ring of Bodhi Cora. He's already killed the councilmen who attempted to manipulate him."

"So then why are we even voting?" Kyle asked, continuing to find some sense of control. Emily is feeling better, but I know what happened to her obviously hit him the hardest.

"Because Prince Chaz and his father are in our custody. We ultimately have the last say. If we tell King Zyair that they died in our custody, we set them free, or we torture them to death, that is on us. He cannot interfere with shifter politics. Species trumps nation." Conri added pensively.

"Well, that wasn't the case when we were trying to get Ayame back." Charlie said under his breath.

"That's because not only Ayame was affected. Since the council had a play in her capture, we had to take things slowly or something horrible could have happened...to everyone involved." Conri defended. I'm happy to know Edon wasn't the only one who wasn't too pleased about the political hurdles they had to jump through to get to me. The guys have always had my back and it warmed my heart to see that hasn't changed. However....

"I think we should let King Zyair choose." I said, sighing.

Everyone turned to me as I confessed my thoughts. "Seriously? We thought you might want to have the final say, angel."

"No...I want the right thing to happen. I will be looking for vengeance. We all will, but King Zyair is responsible for the entire nation. He cannot think with his anger. It wouldn't be safe for the larger population. He may say he wants Chaz's head on a pike, but he still has to give the people a just cause. Prince Chaz needs to suffer and I'm sure the King will make sure he does." I reasoned.

"Okay.... That clears up that, I guess." Conri said, leaning back in his chair.

"Okay, but I'll be ticked if the king just lets him off the hook." Kyle grumbled.

Conri and Edon smirked while they exchanged glances. "He wouldn't." They said together. I agree with them.

"Right. Now, the next order of business is the patrols, and Luna, you need to actually finish your invites." Vince handed some documents to Conri and a laptop over to me. The conversations and planning went on for a few hours before we took a break for dinner.

After...sitting on Vil's lap, I was a new kind of hot and bothered and I didn't think I was going to last much longer. Edon's hand was sliding his hand up and down my thigh under the table to solidify that promise, while the redness in my cheeks was now a permanent fixture on my face. I think these three knew what they were doing. By the time I was finally done eating I sighed in relief. "Something wrong, princess?" Edon asked mockingly.

My body heat continued to rise and I looked at him with begging eyes. "Please." I whimpered and Edon froze in his seat.

"Let's go." He yanked me out of my chair and Conri and Vil were close behind. The room didn't seem to notice, but the three of them did. With their urge to make it upstairs in record time, I don't think they would either.