Chapter 192
AYLA –
Waking up in Jake’s bed should’ve felt awkward.
But it didn’t. Things have been so good lately it felt unreal.
It felt… natural. Like I belonged there. Like I’d always belonged. The sheets still carried the scent of pine and something warmer—him. And when I stretched and rolled onto my side, I found him already watching me with that lazy, infuriatingly sexy smirk.
“Good morning, Luna.”
I groaned, burying my face in the pillow. “Don’t start.”
He laughed and tugged the blanket off me, exposing my bare legs. “Come on. You promised me a day.”
“I did not,” I mumbled.
He leaned down, lips brushing the shell of my ear. “You did. Last night. After kiss number five, right before kiss number six, and after I bit your—”
“Okay!” I sat up, flustered and trying not to smile. “Fine. What’s on the agenda, Alpha?”
Jake stood, stretching in a way that made me forget how to breathe, then tossed me a clean hoodie. His. “Today, I show you the kingdom.”
“Kingdom?You mean the pack,” I raised a brow, slipping it on.
He winked. “Every queen should know how her kingdom runs.”
I rolled my eyes, but my heart did a weird little flutter. Damn him and that mouth of his.
\---
The pack grounds were alive by the time we stepped outside. Wolves—some in human form, others mid-shift—moved across the field. Kids trained in smaller groups while older wolves practiced combat nearby. The air buzzed with energy, with unity.
Jake walked beside me, our fingers brushing every so often until he gave up pretending and just took my hand. “Welcome to your first actual professional day as Luna.”
“You keep saying that,” I said, looking around. “But what does that mean exactly?”
“It means you’re respected,” he replied, squeezing my hand. “Feared, maybe. Loved, definitely. But mostly, it means they’ll look to you when I’m not around.”
I blinked. “You mean… you’re trusting me to lead them?”
Jake stopped walking and turned to face me. “You’re not just some girl, Ayla. You’re strong. You’re sharp. You don’t even see it yet, but you’ve already got this fire in you. They see it, even if you don’t.”
Something tightened in my chest. I didn’t know what to say, so I just squeezed his hand back.
“Now,” he said, clearing his throat and leading me forward again. “Prepare to meet the chaos twins.”
“What?”
As if summoned by the universe itself, two girls came barreling toward us. One had wild dark curls and wore a shirt that read “Run with wolves, not boys.” The other had pink streaks in her hair and a fangy grin.
“LUNA!” they screamed in unison before crashing into me like twin wrecking balls.
I stumbled but caught myself, laughing. “Whoa!”
“This is Sarah and Steph,” Jake said, grinning like a proud dad. “They’re impossible. I regret everything.”
“We heard you were doing rounds today,” Sophie said, eyes shining. “And we had to see for ourselves.”
Sarah linked arms with me. “You’re hotter than we thought.”
“I—thank you?”
“Also,” Steph added, nudging Jake, “she’s totally out of your league.”
“I tell him that every day,” I said, deadpan.
Jake looked between the three of us, sighed, and muttered, “This was a mistake.”
The girls giggled and practically dragged me around the grounds after that. Jake kept up, occasionally tossing me amused glances as I asked a million questions—about the training routines, the scouts, even the cookhouse.
I met warriors who bowed slightly when I passed, teenage wolves who smiled shyly, and younger kids who ran up to show me their shifting progress. One little boy turned his fingers into claws and showed them off like it was a magic trick.
“That was me once,” Jake whispered beside me.
“You turned your claws into a magic show?”
“No,” he laughed. “I used to do the same thing. Show off. Try to impress the older wolves. Until I accidentally shifted and ended up naked in front of the whole pack.”
I choked on air. “Oh my god.”
He grinned. “You should’ve seen their faces. Mine, too.”
“I would’ve died,” I said, laughing.
“Careful,” Jake murmured, voice low as he leaned in, “you’re dangerously cute when you laugh like that.”
My face warmed instantly, and Sophie fake-gagged behind us. “Ugh. Get a den, you two.”
“Not a bad idea,” Jake said under his breath, loud enough that I elbowed him in the ribs—lightly, of course.
\---
By afternoon, Jake led me to a small open field nestled behind the training ring. A long wooden table was set up beneath a canopy, stacked with maps, notebooks, and a board full of hand-drawn patrol schedules.
“This,” he said, pulling out a chair for me, “is where decisions are made.”
I sat, looking over the maps. The land was bigger than I thought—bordered by other territories, wildlands, and suspiciously marked red zones.
“We rotate patrols here, here, and here,” Jake said, pointing to specific lines. “But I’m thinking of moving our northern scouts deeper into the woods.”
“Because of the witch coven?” I asked.
His eyes met mine, surprised. “Yeah. You’ve been listening.”
“I always listen,” I murmured, and he looked like he wanted to kiss me right then and there.
“Dangerous,” he whispered, voice thick. “You keep saying things like that and I’m going to forget we’re working.”
I smirked, reaching for the map. “You can kiss me after I help you reroute patrols.”
We spent the next hour side-by-side, Jake explaining how the pack operated—who reported to who, the scouts, the guards, the trackers. I asked questions. A lot of questions. And to his credit, he answered them all without teasing me once.
Well, until I accidentally knocked over a bottle of ink.
Jake’s eyes went wide as it splattered across the map.
“Oh no,” I gasped. “I didn’t—crap, I’m sorry—”
“You ruined our borders,” he said solemnly.
“I’ll clean it—”
He leaned in, smiling wickedly. “You’ll have to make it up to me.”
My heart skipped. “How?”
He tapped his lips.
“You want that in exchange for a map?”
“Maps are important, Luna.”
I rolled my eyes but leaned in anyway, brushing a soft kiss over his mouth. He kissed me back, slow and sweet, one hand curling around the back of my neck like he couldn’t help himself.
When we pulled away, I whispered, “Still mad about the map?”
“Absolutely devastated,” he murmured, and kissed me again.
\---
Later, as the sun dipped low, casting the whole world in golden light, Jake pulled me aside to a hill overlooking the entire territory.
“This,” he said, standing behind me, arms wrapped around my waist, “is where I come to think. When things get heavy.”
I leaned back against him. “You’re letting me in.”
He pressed a kiss to my shoulder. “I already did.”
We stayed like that for a while—just watching the wolves below, the forest beyond, the future stretching out like a dream I never dared to believe in.
Sophie and Fatima passed by, hands full of herbs, and shot us twin thumbs-ups.
“Our Alpha and Luna,” Fatima called. “Can you two not be adorable for five minutes?”
“Nope,” Jake said, tightening his arms around me. “Sorry.”
I laughed, leaning into him fully, heart full and beating wild.
It was a perfect day.
And for the first time in a long time, I wasn’t afraid of what tomorrow might bring.
Not as long as I had him.
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