Kyllian offered a small smile. "Nope. The royal fast-track is in full swing."
He stepped closer, close enough for her to feel the faint heat radiating from his body. "What's wrong?"
Luna looked up at him through her lashes, the vulnerability there making her look soft. "It's just... overwhelming. Everyone's buzzing with excitement, acting like this is the event of the century, and I feel like I'm standing in the middle of a hurricane. I should be happy, but I'm not. I just feel... guilty. Like I'm a fraud for not feeling what they expect me to feel."
Kyllian tilted his head slightly. "You were never one for parties and attention. That being said, I can sneak you out to my pack for a few days if you want. You can hide out there."
She let out a genuine chuckle, but shook her head. "It's fine, really. I'll be fine."
Kyllian nodded, but his hand rose, his fingers gently brushing beneath her chin, tilting her face up to his. The air between them charged, the kind of heavy stillness that stretched time itself. Her breath caught in her throat.
"It's not too late to back out, Princess," he said.
"Do you want me to?" Luna asked.
Kyllian's smile deepened, slow and devastating, like he knew exactly what he was doing to her. "I don't want you to," he said, pausing just long enough to make her pulse spike, "for one very selfish reason."
She raised an eyebrow, trying to mask the fact that her legs felt a little wobbly. "Which is?"
He leaned in slightly. "I'm curious," he said, eyes dancing.
Her throat went dry. "About?"
Kyllian tilted his head, lowering his voice. "About how much you can scream when I'm buried deep inside of you."
Luna audibly gasped, stumbling back. Her cheeks burned as if the sun had set them on fire, and her mouth opened and closed. "Is everything sexual with you?" she snapped.
"Not everything," Kyllian replied smoothly, stepping forward again, the predator returning to the edge of her comfort zone. "But let's just say... this particular subject has always intrigued me."
She blinked. "You're saying you've always had the hots for me?"
Kyllian's lips quirked again, but this time he didn't answer directly. "My offer still stands," he said instead, suddenly cool, suddenly casual. "If you need a getaway, come find me."
And just like that, he turned and walked away. Luna stared after him, her breath shallow, arms crossed over her chest as if that would somehow keep her wildly confused body in check.
"What the hell is wrong with me?" she muttered. "There's no way I'm normal."
*****
Later that evening, Luna found herself under attack. Apparently, hundreds of years of culture had culminated in the belief that what every bride needed before her wedding night was to be taught how to pleasure her husband.
Her mother had barely said the words before Luna erupted.
"No! Nope! Mom! No!" she cried, holding her hands up.
Ravena blinked, halfway through handing Luna a book titled The Naked Dance of the Bride. "Darling, it's just tradition…"
"I have subjected myself to all kinds of ridiculousness," Luna fired off, pacing. "I have been pricked, I have been prodded, I have curtsied to people who didn't deserve a nod, I have smiled till my jaw locked, I have agreed to this circus of a wedding—this arranged madness! But I draw the line at this."
Ravena tried to speak, but Luna plowed on. "I am not sitting in a room for three days being taught how to seduce a man! You know what? Whatever I need to learn, he can teach me! He's got the equipment, he can be the instructor!"
By the time she finished, she was panting, flushed, and her hair had somehow come loose from its updo. She looked like she'd just come off the battlefield.
Her mother sat with the elegance of someone who had trained for this moment her entire life. "Well," Ravena said calmly, "it is tradition to learn such things before marriage, especially in an arranged one."
Luna groaned, throwing her head back so dramatically that the gold clips in her hair nearly fell out. "Mum…"
"But…" Ravena continued, ignoring her daughter's melodramatics, "the instruction is usually waived when the couple is truly in love. You see, when love is present, matters of the bedroom" she dropped her voice "come naturally. As they should. But you do not love Kyllian. At least…" she gave Luna a loaded glance, "not yet."
Luna's stomach flipped. She opened her mouth, then closed it. Opened it again. "I… I do," she blurted, sounding like someone who'd just learned the word 'love' five minutes ago. "I mean, I could! I'm getting there. There's… there's definite potential." She cleared her throat as if that would clear up the lie too. "In fact, I came here to tell you that I'd like to spend a few days away… with him. You know. To, uh… explore that lovely… love."
She nearly choked on the words.
"Find me Alpha Kyllian," Ravena said crisply. "Bring him here. Now."
Luna's stomach dropped to her knees. "Mum! What are you doing?!"
Her mother finally turned her piercing royal gaze on her daughter, those deep eyes sharp with suspicion and maternal judgment. "I will confirm from Alpha Kyllian himself. Because frankly, I cannot take anything you say seriously. For the life of me, Luna, I cannot understand your absolute disinterest in your own wedding. A royal wedding!" Her nostrils flared. "And I sure as hell will not be considered a failure of a mother because I didn't prepare you for… matters of the bedroom."
Luna pressed her hands to her temples and groaned. "Mom, this is so archaic. Do you hear yourself? I'm not a damsel from the Dark Ages, I don't need a scroll and an old lady drawing diagrams for me. Trust me, mother…" she muttered under her breath, "I know matters of the bedroom."
"Do you know how to pleasure a man, Luna?" Ravena asked point blank.