She is the Luna

**Peter’s POV**
I am whole. I wasn’t aware that I was broken. But as the moon Goddess promises, our fated mates complete us, they are the other half of our soul. My love for her is as wide as the universe, as deep as the oceans. I will spend every one of my days loving her and only her.

Plus, Emma loves me, she said so. And she can hear me. And not only does she love me she loves Braon too.

Braon is cockahoop. I can feel him grow in stature with that love and acceptance, I feel stronger than I have ever felt, complete and invincible. I had worried when we found her that Braon would be unsatisfied with no wolf. But he seems happy with the match.

Our kiss ends, and I am seriously considering putting the rest of the briefing on hold. Em has been through one hell of an ordeal, and I am worried that she will collapse from the exertion.

I want Jess to give her a check over as well, now that she is up on her feet. Plus she is probably starving hungry. I am worried about the amount of weight she has lost, although Jess said she is a good healthy weight.

On cue I hear her stomach make a complaint.

I look up to dismiss the guys until later and am met by a surreal sight. All the other pack members in the room, including Barlas, have prostrated themselves on the floor with their necks exposed.

Now what, I think to myself, why are they in the wolf pose of submission. I don’t think I channelled Em’s rage back at them, then Barlas speaks

‘Please, p-please forgive me my Luna’ he whimpers.

‘Yes’ chorus the rest. ‘Please forgive us Luna’

As my gorgeous mate would say – what the actual fuck – I thought they hated her and didn’t accept her, and that I was going to have to get physical with them to stop them rejecting her. In fact I am pretty sure less than ten minutes ago Barlas had been calling her a pathetic human, almost urging me to reject her.

She turns slightly in my arms at the noise, and is looking incredibly confused and incredibly sexy. I have a feeling if I whisk her away right now they will stay like that until she returns and forgives them, for whatever sins they believe they have committed against her. And that is not a comfortable position.

I reach out, via the pack link, to ask them silently what is going on, but am met by a metaphysical wall of silence. Well that’s new. I am not sure if I should be cross with them as well… but mostly I feel amused.

Em is still looking up at me bewildered by the scene before her.

‘They want you to forgive them, Em,’ I tell her.

‘Who me?’ she replies. ‘What for? And why did he call me his Luna, I thought I was your luna…. Errr luna does mean wife or girlfriend right? I am sure that is what you and Fel told me.’

Shit there is so much I haven’t explained to her and I can feel her getting anxious through our link.

I had planned to tell her everything, but she ran off. And we had told her to ignore all those werewolf films and popular culture, as they didn’t necessarily have it right, and yes a luna in the family sense was a girlfriend/wife, but my Luna was so much more and now she didn’t realise that Barlas had just accepted her as his ‘female boss’ / ‘mistress’ / ‘queen’.

I can’t imagine what she is feeling now, this must be quite overwhelming. No wonder she is apprehensive.

‘Being my luna makes you his Luna,’ I explain. ‘A luna is a wife, but my Luna is the leading female, you are my all, my queen, and as I am the Alpha, I lead this pack, you are the Luna, the queen of the pack.’

Realisation crosses her features

‘You bastard, you didn’t tell me you were the pack leader or whatever. How could I be so stupid…. Wait, you left them for 20 years… what the actual fuck’ she says slapping on the chest with more force than I would have expected from such a tiny thing. Maybe I should feel sorry for Barlas.

At that moment I felt it too… a wave of energy… her force of will... she doesn't ask obedience, she demands it as her right… I have a need to kneel before my furious queen and beg her forgiveness

‘Luna’ one word with all the feelings I have, a plea and an apology. It joins the chorus from the others.

**Emmas POV**
I am so happy to be in his arms, I feel happiness filling my heart.

The kiss ends and my stomach growls. How long was I out for I wonder? When was my last meal?

Then I realise Peter is looking round the room with a confused expression on his face. I turn slightly to see what is going on.

All those man mountains who had been filling the space are now on the floor… okay… with their necks exposed… hmm? That doesn’t look comfortable... And they are asking their luna for forgiveness? I can’t see any other women here, but maybe they are behind Peter. I look at him.

‘They want you to forgive them Em,’ he says gently.

‘Who me?’ I reply. ‘What for? And why did he call me his Luna, I thought I was your luna…. Errr luna does mean wife or girlfriend right? I am sure that is what you and Fel told me.’

My anxiety levels are spiking. I don’t understand what is happening. I don’t know these people. Is this some sort of werewolf custom? Am I being hazed? I don’t want to look any more of a fool in front of these people.

Peter looks at me sheepishly.

‘Being my luna makes you his Luna,’ he responds. ‘A luna is a wife, but my Luna is the leading female, you are my all, my queen, and as I am the Alpha, I lead this pack, you are the Luna, the queen of the pack.’

Fuck, I realise what he is saying

‘You bastard, you didn’t tell me you were the pack leader or whatever… how could I be so stupid…. Wait you left them for 20 years… what the actual fuck’ and I slap him as hard as I can.

He has lied to me, well he didn’t tell me everything and I am angry, I am incandescent,
I am angry at the act of omission, but I am just as angry that he hasn’t been looking after our pack, that they have been left alone and vulnerable. How could he, they needed him and he wasn’t there. He put himself first and that is not acceptable. I watch him fall to his knees before me.

All five men as one plead ‘Luna’

I see I have a choice here. I can accept the position of Luna, or I can run again. Although if I do, I don’t think I had better stop running, as I have a feeling that Peter will chase me to the ends of the earth and beyond to get me to change my mind.

I told him I love him, and I do, but at the moment it is that new lust filled love that starts relationships, but needs to grow to maintain them. I know somehow it is something deeper for him, but I am not a werewolf and fated mates are not a thing in my world. Do I think this thing between us can work? I really don’t know, but definitely not if he lies to me and if I accept being Luna with a capital L, that is it. It is clearly a job you don’t take on lightly.

All the options, all the consequences, all my fears, all my hopes flash through my brain and I chose... I decide... I accept the role... I AM THEIR LUNA, and I will protect MY pack with my whole being; with every breath including my last.

A fierce protectiveness fills me, similar to that I feel for the children I carried in my belly for nine months, and Peter better not turn out to be like that waste of space who fathered them. I didn’t do enough for my own children, feeling that I failed them, but I will not fail the pack… with or without Peter I will stand for them.

And whoever has those children better watch out. I am coming for them and I will rain hellfire and fury on their heads.

But first I better work out what the men are all doing on the floor and get them on their feet, as that promise might need a bit of muscle to back it up, and these guys certainly have those.