Magnus

If that little girl thinks she can challenge me, I will make her regret it.

"Don't worry. I won't let her get away," Henrar promises and I believe him.

I will show that insolent female what it means to provoke me. She will be my Luna whether she likes it or not. She is too old to go looking for her mate now and she wishes to lead. I am giving her a chance to do so in more than her pack. Strong as the Waterend pack might be, mine is one of the three original packs in our world. The Luna position is an honor and she will have her chance to prove herself. I would have explained all that to her.

"You should have led with that instead of threatening her sister."

Henrar excels in sarcasm once more but he doesn't understand. I have enemies. Enemies that look for ways to hurt my pack. Since Antiope is not my true mate, I can't trust her, not right away.

"The Hunt!" Sigvard boom next to me. "Chase your chosen, get her to submit and you are bonded under the eyes of the Goddess and Royal Law."

Several couples that have agreed to be mated smile and giggle. Antiope next to me shifts uneasily. It's a fruitless effort this one but I admire her determination. I did well choosing her as a Luna.

"And she is hot," Henrar howls without trying to hide his arousal.

I glance sideways at her. She is good looking. In her black, tight uniform she looks a personification of strength and sensuality at the same time. Her breasts swell perfectly and her ass is round, perfectly shaped to be palmed while... No! She will be just my Luna, not my mate.

"What?" Henrar roars.

He didn't mind being abstinent while he hoped we were going to claim a mate. But now, having one and not mounting her? He'll live.

"No, I won't. I need to mate! I can't do that disgusting thing you do in your shower."

For some reason, I look at Antiope once more. At the end of this Hunt, I will see her naked once she shifts under my command. Most couples fuck right at that moment, sealing the bond and often impregnate the female. At the thought, I get an erection. Simple as that. Not that semi-flaccid thing my hormones erect from time to time and I grudgingly take care of. A real erection with blood pumping through my veins. It's the thrill of the hunt, I conclude.

"It's her," Henrar sounds like a damn broken record.

"Ladies!" Sig asks the females to prepare.

Before she has the chance to move away, I take her arm and push her to me. She is ready to rain hell on me but her mouth falls open when I lean in and bury my nose in her neck. It's not sexual that act. I need to know her scent so I can hunt her down. The fact that when our skin made contact, my erection jolted violently is irrelevant.

"Strawberries and clear water. I like it," Henrar purrs and imprints the smell to memory.

After a few seconds, Antiope wiggles out of my grasp, throws me a dark look and proceeds to take her place among the other females running today. Some look back, wiggling fingers at their chosen. Some look nervously around, obviously hoping that one of the single males will claim them. Only Antiope looks defiantly ahead at the thick forest. I see the wheels in her head spin.

"Good hunting!" Sig signals the start of the race.

I pin my eyes on Antiope. While the others around her shift tearing their clothes, she runs. She runs fast like the wind not even breaking a sweat and enters the forest in her human form. She didn't want me to see her wolf. Clever but not enough, little girl.

After a while, it's our turn. I take my place at the start with the rest of the crazed males that look with longing and lust at the tall trees. I am glad I am not one of them.

"Have you seen your pants?"

I ignore Henrar and focus to locate a fresh strawberry scent. I will get it over with quickly, have Sig seal the bond and then I am flying back home to present the new Luna, stop the advances on my territory and keep the Council and the King off my back. Best plan ever!

"Good hunting!" Sig says and I let Henrar take over.

I am the only wolf with royal blood that hunts and so my wolf is by far the biggest one. With light brown fur and the same blue eyes as me, a perk of sharing the First Blood.

We enter the forest and pick up her scent instantly. We follow it only to find a piece of clothing lying around. She is still trying to distract us. Cunning. A good trait for a Luna, I admire while Henrar gets more and more frustrated.

After her t-shirt we found her leggings then her sports bra and finally her underwear. If she thought that this bizarre striptease would dissuade us, she was wrong. All she did was have Henrar revved up and me angry.

"Angry? I don't feel your anger," Henrar points out hovering over a piece of cotton briefs that have her scent all over.

"Don't!" I warm him.

But he is a wild animal and that potent smell of a female is intoxicating. He scoops down and buries his muzzle at the crotch and breaths in.

"Disgusting!"

"I don't agree. Our future mate smells fertile," Henrar comments.

I try not to think about that. Henrar was right. I am not angry at her games. I am amused. And extremely aroused at the same time. And yes, she smells good and healthy but I am not looking for that. I can't. I won't.

To rearrange my thoughts, I glance at the small lake. She probably took a bath to hide her smell. Still not enough. My Royal Blood ensures that my senses are even more heightened. We sniff the air and get a faint whiff of her strawberry smell. And we go after it.

It doesn't take long for the scent to lead us to a clearing. We smell her but she is not here. We follow the trail closely to a tree. When we look up, she is there, hiding.

"Damn it," she swears at Henrar's triumphant howl.

But she is not done yet. She jumps off the branch, shifts midair and breaks into a run the second she touches down. All I get to see is a sleek black wolf before Henrar chases after her enthusiastically.

I let him do his thing but can't help but admire her speed and agility. She is smaller but she uses her lighter weight to gain speed. And she goes through the most narrow of passages where we can't go through. But we got her now. It's a matter of time. We might even let her think she can get away, just to play around.

I don't get a chance to bask in that thought cause the smell of another male is close. I focus on that thinking that he is probably after his female but I don't smell one in the area. Only Antiope.

"He is after her!" Henrar goes into killing mode.

I share his anger. This female is mine and any make trying to take her away from me will suffer.

Keeping track of Antiope, we stir into the direction of the male. After a while I see his grey wolf aiming straight for Antiope as she runs to another clearing. He picks up speed and so do I. When Antiope reaches the middle of the clearing, he jumps to get her and we jump too.

His weak body rolls away and we land on all fours getting between Antiope and him. I hear her whimper behind me but I am focused on the male. I even get the right to kill him during the Hunt. I might as well do.

The stupid wolf ignores me and looks at the female behind me. Fool! When he makes a move to pass me by to get to her, we attack once more.

It's not much of a fight. He is a strong Beta but no match for us. He should have stayed away but now he'll get death. We push him on the ground and place our paw on his neck. I look up at Antiope that has reached the other side of the clearing. She is using this distraction to get away. Cold.

But as we lower our bared teeth to the male's neck. She pauses. Henrar pushes me to finish him off but I study her. The male under me is squirming trying to get away but I push harder down.

Antiope turns and stands still for a while. She looks at the grey wolf and I strangle him more. Her wolf is beautiful now that I get a chance to see it more clearly. Everyone would admire that Luna.

When the male's wail crosses the clearing, Antiope shifts. I try to keep looking into her dark eyes but it's impossible. I take in her strong, muscled body, her glistening skin, the ebony waterfall of hair. Yes, everyone would be convinced that this is truly my Luna, worthy of a pack like mine.

"Let's finish this one off and claim her!"

I am ready to do just that when her voice reaches me.

"Stop!"

We look up.

"Do it and I bolt," she threatens.

She is not begging. A Luna never begs, she demands. I remove the paw much to Henrar's disappointment. She looks at the grey wolf with a faint smile.

What is this? Is this her chosen? The male she'd rather be than me? That weak, pathetic Beta. I see red and I pounce on the gray wolf once more. I take his neck between my teeth. One snap and his-

That's when I hear a whimper. When I turn to look, Antiope has shifted back. She is on the grass in an openly submissive position. Her neck is bared to me and she makes no attempt to leave.

I drop the wolf and hover over my future Luna. For a fleeting second, I see defiance in her eyes but she looks down immediately while the gray wolf shuffles away. I let him.

She is doing this for him. Compassionate. Altruistic. She has all it takes to be a leader.

Henrar stirs first and circles her. Then he buries his nose in the female's neck and she lets him.

"Maximo. That's her wolf. She likes us. I want her."

My wolf is ready to mate Maximo but that means pups and I don't want that. She is not our mate, she is a business partner. I am giving her a job, a far better job than the one she was going after -which she would never get - and I just need her to play along.

"She is ready," Henrar pushes lust into my brain.

For am moment I am tempted. The image of her naked body has me thinking of burying myself in her. Hard. But I am not that big of an asshole. She may agree to spare her sister or that pathetic male but what would that make me?

I shift and stand before her. She is keeping her eyes down.

"Shift!" I order.

She complies. This time, I do keep my eyes on her. But she doesn't. Brief as it may be, she glances over my body and I see a spark in them. She likes what she sees. But she smothers it and I do the same.

"You are mine now."

Her jaw tightens but says nothing. She will get used to her new predicament. And we will all get what we want.

"Not all," Henrar whines.