Announcing My Luna!

Chapter 4 : Announcing My Luna

Kaya’s POV.

So I stood there, staring at the girl who had just passed out cold in front of me.

Her body was limp on the ground, her breathing shallow but steady.

Kai growled impatiently in the back of my head.

“Well, this is just perfect,” Kai muttered. “She faints. Great. What now, genius? Wait for her to wake up? We don’t have all day.”

I sighed, rubbing my temples. “You think I planned this?” I muttered under my breath.

“You kinda did,” Kai huffed. “If you hadn’t gone all ‘I’m a big scary wolf,’ maybe she wouldn’t have fainted.”

“Excuse me?” I glanced down at the unconscious girl, who looked way too peaceful given the mess she just caused. “She’s the one who attacked us, remember?”

“Details,” Kai grumbled. “But now what? We just stand here like idiots, or do we do something useful?”

I looked around, clearing my throat. I could wait for her to wake up and explain… whatever this whole situation was. Or… I could make things a bit easier.

“I could kidnap her,” I said, half-joking, but Kai immediately spoke up.

“Finally! Now you’re talking!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” I held up my hands. “That was a joke. We don’t just *kidnap* people.”

“Why not? She’s our mate. That’s kind of what wolves do.”

“We’re not cavemen, Kai,” I said with a roll of my eyes. “And she’s not some… prize to haul away.”

Kai let out a low growl. “You’re thinking too much like a human again. You felt it. The bond. We can’t just leave her here, vulnerable, waiting for some other predator to stumble upon her.”

I groaned. “So, what do you suggest? I just throw her over my shoulder and drag her back to the den?”

“Exactly!”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “You’re not helping.”

Kai was quiet for a moment, and then I could feel his presence in the back of my mind—strong, insistent. “Look, Kaya, she’s our mate. That means something. We can’t just leave her here, not when we’re supposed to protect her.”

I knelt down beside her, brushing a strand of hair away from her face. She looked so small and fragile now, nothing like the fierce wolf I had fought only moments ago. There was something about her, something that tugged at me in a way I couldn’t explain.

“You know this is insane, right?” I whispered.

“Absolutely,” Kai agreed. “But it’s also the only thing that makes sense.”

I hesitated for a moment longer, glancing around the forest as if expecting someone to jump out and tell me this was all some kind of prank. But there was no one else here. Just me, Kai, and this girl—my mate.

With a sigh, I stood up and gently scooped her into my arms. She was lighter than I expected, her body fitting against mine like she belonged there.

“All right, fine,” I muttered. “We’re doing this.”

Kai let out another growl. “Told you!”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t get cocky,” I grumbled as I started walking. “Now, let’s hope she doesn’t wake up halfway there and freak out.”

“If she does, we’ll deal with it,” Kai said, sounding way too pleased with himself. “Besides, it’s not like she can resist us.”

“That’s not the point, Kai,” I said through gritted teeth. “We want her to *like* us, not run screaming in the opposite direction.”

Kai huffed. “Details.”

I shook my head. “What will others think?”

Kidnapping my unconscious mate was not exactly how I imagined this day going. But then again, nothing about this situation was normal.

At least now, we were getting somewhere… even if that “somewhere” involved kidnapping.

I trudged through the forest, the girl still slung over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Every now and then, she made these little noises, like she was about to wake up, and I’d freeze, half expecting her to freak out. But nope—still out cold. Lucky me.

Kai was far too pleased with this whole situation. “See? Easy. She hasn’t even punched us yet.”

“Yet,” I muttered, trudging through the last stretch of trees. “She’s going to be furious when she wakes up.”

“Eh,” Kai said, sounding way too smug. “She’ll thank us later.”

We reached the edge of Pretta, my territory. I could see the tall and large gates of the kingdom up ahead, the guards already staring at me like I’d grown a second head. Well, this was going to be fun.

As I walked through the gates, I noticed everyone around me was stopping whatever they were doing to stare.

Great. Exactly what I needed—an audience. I sighed but kept walking, heading straight for the center of the village where I knew the pack would be gathering.

By the time I got there, a small crowd had formed, all of them gawking at the girl over my shoulder. I could hear their whispers—people trying to figure out what was going on, why I had a woman draped across me like a hunting prize.

“What is the alpha doing?”

“Is that—did he… kidnap someone?”

“Wait, is she dead?”

I rolled my eyes and set the girl down carefully, making sure she was still breathing. Then I stood up and cleared my throat.

“Listen up!” I shouted, loud enough that everyone within a hundred yards stopped talking and turned to look at me. I crossed my arms over my chest, trying to look as authoritative as possible. “I have an announcement!”

They all stared at me, wide-eyed, waiting for whatever ridiculous thing I was about to say next.

“I found my mate!” I declared, waving a hand toward the unconscious girl at my feet. “She’s going to be the Luna of this pack!”

The reaction was exactly what I expected. The entire crowd gasped together like I’d just announced I was going to marry a squirrel. People started whispering again, only now it was louder, more frantic.

“His *mate*?”

“*Her*? The Luna?”

“This is insane!”

I grinned, satisfied with the reaction. Kai was practically purring in my head, smug as could be. “Told you this would go well.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I muttered. “Don’t get too comfortable. We still have to deal with—”

Before I could finish, there was a groan from the ground. I froze, my eyes snapped down to the girl—*my mate*—who was slowly waking up. Her eyelids opened, and she blinked a few times, clearly disoriented.

I watched as she propped herself up on her elbows, looking around. Her eyes landed on me first, then on the crowd of people staring at us like we were some kind of spectacle.

She frowned, her brows furrowed as she tried to make sense of the situation. “What…?”

I scratched the back of my head, suddenly feeling a little awkward. “Uh… hey.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Why are all these people staring at me?”

“Well…” I shifted on my feet, rubbing the back of my neck. “I might’ve told them you’re my mate and the future Luna of the pack.”

Her eyes widened, and she sat up straighter, staring at me like I’d just said the most ridiculous thing she’d ever heard.

“You what?” she demanded, with her voice raised in pitch.

I grinned sheepishly, taking a step back. “Welcome to Pretta?”