The Moon's Decree

Luna couldn't sleep. Her skin felt itchy and too tight, like she was coming down with the flu. She'd kicked off all the blankets, then pulled them back up, then kicked them off again. The silk sheets that had seemed so luxurious when she'd first moved to the royal quarters now just felt weirdly slippery and wrong.

At 3 AM, she gave up and dug through her dresser for real pajamas – not the fancy silk things Victoria kept buying her, but the ratty old cotton pants with holes in the knees and Alexander's stolen t-shirt that still smelled faintly like his laundry detergent. She'd been hoarding his shirts like some kind of weird magpie, and they both pretended not to notice.

The marble floors were freezing against her bare feet as she padded down to the kitchen. She'd forgotten slippers because apparently being queen hadn't made her any better at basic life skills.

She found Mrs. Chen stress-baking, which was comforting in its familiarity. The kitchen smelled like yeast and cinnamon and coffee, and Luna's stomach growled embarrassingly loud.

"Grab that butter from the fridge," Mrs. Chen said without looking up from her violent assault on some bread dough. "Since you're up anyway."

Luna hopped onto her favorite counter spot, the one by the window where she used to eat lunch during her serving days. Her feet dangled like a kid's. "Is there coffee?"

"His Majesty drank most of it. That boy's going to give himself an ulcer." Mrs. Chen looked pointedly at Luna's borrowed shirt. "Nice pajamas."

Luna felt her face heat. "I was cold?"

"Mhmm." Mrs. Chen's knowing look made Luna squirm. "He's in the library, by the way. Third pot of coffee, last I checked. Trying to read every book ever written about moon ceremonies instead of just letting himself feel things like a normal person."

Luna touched their bond, feeling Alexander's jittery caffeine-anxiety buzz under her skin. "Should I bring him tea?"

"Bring him to bed before he vibrates out of his skin." Mrs. Chen's voice softened. "The first full moon is hard enough without sleep deprivation making you both crazy."

Luna picked at a hole in her pants. "Is it... I mean, will it..."

"Hurt? No. But it will change things." Mrs. Chen started another loaf of bread. "The moon shows us who we really are. No masks, no pretending. Just truth."

Luna's stomach lurched. "That's what I'm afraid of."

Mrs. Chen stopped kneading. "You think he won't like what he sees?"

"I think..." Luna's voice cracked. "I think I'm still not sure why the Moon Goddess chose me. What if she was having an off day? What if it was a clerical error? Like maybe she meant to pick someone else named Luna who isn't a complete disaster?"

Mrs. Chen threw a dish towel at her. "The moon doesn't make clerical errors, foolish girl. Now go find your mate before he drinks all my good coffee and I have to explain to the kitchen budget committee why we need a fourth coffee maker."

Luna slid off the counter, but paused at the door. "Mrs. Chen? Thank you. For... everything."

The older woman just waved her off, but Luna caught her small smile.

She found Alexander exactly where Mrs. Chen said he would be, surrounded by ancient texts and so many empty coffee cups it looked like a caffeine addict's version of a crime scene. His reading glasses were crooked and there was a pen mark on his cheek. His hair looked like he'd been electrocuted.

"You're supposed to be sleeping," he said without looking up, but his leg was bouncing under the desk like he might actually vibrate out of his skin just like Mrs. Chen warned.

"Says the man who's apparently trying to set a world record for coffee consumption." Luna perched on the edge of his desk, carefully moving a stack of books that looked one sneeze away from avalanche. "What are you even looking for?"

"Precedent. History. Something to..." He trailed off, rubbing his eyes under his glasses and smudging the pen mark further. "I don't want to mess this up."

Luna touched his cheek, feeling stubble under her fingers. "The hunt?"

"Everything." He leaned into her touch like he was too tired to pretend he didn't need it. "The hunt, the ceremony, us. I keep thinking about your father, about how everyone's watching, waiting for us to fail. Did you know there hasn't been an Omega queen in over three hundred years? And the last one—"

"Probably didn't stress-bake or steal her mate's shirts or get pen on her face," Luna interrupted, using her thumb to try to wipe away the mark. It just smudged more.

Alexander blinked. "I have pen on my face?"

"You have pen everywhere. And you need sleep. And maybe some water to balance out all that coffee before you actually have a heart attack."

"I need to finish—"

"No, you don't." Luna tugged his glasses off. "The moon will rise whether we're prepared or not. And I'm tired of sleeping alone in those weird slippery sheets Victoria bought."

She felt his wolf stir at that, interested and eager. Through their bond came a flash of heat that made her breath catch.

"Luna..." His voice had gone rough. "The full moon... it makes control difficult. If we share a bed..."

"Then we share a bed." She met his eyes steadily. "I trust you. Even if you do have pen on your face."

He stood slowly, like he was trying not to startle her. "You shouldn't."

"Too late." She wrapped her arms around his neck, feeling brave and terrified and alive. "I already do. Also, you smell like a coffee shop exploded."

His laugh was surprised and real against her lips. When he kissed her, he tasted like coffee and something sweeter – probably those fancy chocolate-covered espresso beans he thought no one knew he kept in his desk.

"Take me to bed," she whispered. "Please."

He lifted her like she weighed nothing, and Luna wrapped her legs around his waist, pressing kisses to his jaw, his neck, anywhere she could reach. Their bond hummed with shared wanting, shared need.

"If you want me to stop," he managed between kisses, "tell me. Any time. Promise me."

"I promise." Luna nipped his lower lip. "Now stop talking and kiss me before I lose my nerve and go back to stress-eating cookies with Mrs. Chen."

She felt his smile against her mouth as he carried her to his chambers – their chambers now, she supposed, even though half her stuff was still in boxes because moving felt too real somehow.

The moon painted everything silver through the huge windows, and Luna felt it calling to her blood, her bones. Alexander laid her on the bed like she was precious, but his eyes were more gold than brown. This close to the full moon, their wolves were barely contained beneath their skin.

"Beautiful," he murmured, and Luna felt the truth of it through their bond. He wasn't seeing the Omega, the servant, the girl who wasn't good enough. He was seeing her – messy hair, stolen t-shirt, holes in her pants and all.

When he kissed her again, it was like coming home.

Later, much later, Luna lay with her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat slow. Her hair was a disaster and she was pretty sure the pen marks from his face had transferred to her skin, but she didn't care.

"I love you," she whispered, thinking he was asleep, knowing it was true even if it was too soon and too much and maybe a little crazy.

But his arms tightened, and through their bond came an answering wave of emotion so strong it brought tears to her eyes.

"I love you too," he murmured into her hair. "Moon help me, I love you too. Even if you do steal all my shirts."

"You have too many anyway." Luna pressed closer, feeling his laugh rumble against her cheek. "And they're comfy."

"Keep them all." He kissed her forehead. "Keep everything. Keep me."

"Okay." Luna closed her eyes, feeling sleep finally start to pull at her. "But maybe less coffee tomorrow?"

"No promises." But his voice was already drowsy, the caffeine crash finally hitting.

They slept as the sun rose, wrapped in each other and their bond and the certainty that whatever came next, they would face it together. Luna had pen on her face and Alexander was probably going to have a caffeine headache and nothing was perfect.

But it was real. Sometimes that was better.

The moon could do her worst. They were ready.