The Luna Trials by Marissa Gilbert

35. Bird Of Prey

Kai groaned, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

“It’s… everything,” he muttered, but of course, it wasn’t enough for Savannah. “No offence, but your brother is the biggest pr*ck I’ve ever met.”

“True,” the Princess agreed, stretching the word. “But so are you. What’s the story there? Tell me because Gideon says the same thing about you. Even Riannon didn’t get much out of him, and she is a superwoman, no less. There must be more to the original version you both share.”

“The story starts before I met him,” Kai grunted hesitantly and then pulled her higher on his chest, caressing her back. “Savvy, whatever you hear now, please know that I love you and please promise that ….”

“I will not stop loving you because of you being honest with me,” she snorted. He felt relief running through his veins.

“Fine,” he exhaled heavily. “When my parents died, Elene went into a state of shock. She was their little princess, and they adored her. Without them, my sister was completely broken. After crying for months, she became quiet and never left her room. These were hard years for me, Savvy. I was very young, she was still a teen, and it was just her and me. At some point, I was afraid I would lose her.”

“Sounds familiar,” Savannah sighed, and he placed a soft kiss on her forehead. She lost her parents too.

“Penelope was the one to help me with Elene initially,” Kai continued, and suddenly Savvy did not like this story. Why did Penelope have to be a part of it?!

“How … nice of her,” the Princess said through clenched teeth.

“Anyway, she was helping, but Elene still wasn’t her usual self,” Kai continued. “Not even close. She only talked to Pen.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Savannah couldn’t handle it anymore and placed her index finger on his lips. “Never call her Pen again. Not in front of me.” But after thinking some more, she added. “Not ever!”

Kai’s lips curled into a feline grin, and he quickly bit her finger gently with his teeth, sending tingles all over her. Then he took her whole finger in, closing his lips around it and released it slowly, bit by bit.

“Stop this!” Savvy almost moaned. This was so silly, but it made her want him again. Somehow it was never enough.

However, she decided that finally hearing this story was more important. So, she pulled the cover higher on them to cover up all the goods, not to be tempted anymore.

It wasn’t helping much. Luckily, she was stubborn enough to endure this.

“Continue, please.” She put on a serious face, trying to play it cool and only the devilish glint in Kai’s eyes told her that he knew what had crossed her mind.

“Very well,” he started drawing circles on her exposed skin. “So, one day, my absolutely platonic friend, who is actually more of my sister’s friend than mine, and whom we shall not name anymore, brought her to my Alpha training. You probably already know that it’s exclusive to the top-ranked wolves. Lycans go there as well. Anyone who is about to assume the position from Alpha to Delta is obliged to study there.”

“Of course,” Savvy nodded, not biting his joke. That was more like it.

“So, naturally, this was where Gideon and I met.” Kai scratched his chin, noting that a beard was forming there again. “I wouldn’t want to lie to you, Savvy. There was no chance in hell of us ever becoming friends from the very beginning. Do you know how competitive your brother is?”

“Very,” she had to admit because there was no point denying it. Gideon loved his victories.

“And so am I,” Kai chuckled. “We were at each other’s throats in everything. Especially combat training. Whatever competition they had, we were there. One time he would win, and another time I would win. Well, mostly me, of course.”

“Of course!” Savvy giggled, remembering that her sibling insisted he was the one leading their score.

“Once, Elene and her nameless friend witnessed our training,” Kai continued. “And after that, they kept returning almost every day.”

“They left the North for so long? That training centre is far away from both our kingdoms.”

was more important back then, and my uncle was taking care of the kingdom in my absence,” Kai explained. “I thought they were coming to see me, but I caught Elene giggling next to Gideon after one training session. Savvy, you have no idea what it meant to me! She was smiling and looked happy again. After such a

understand,” she whispered. She knew far too well how the pain from the loss

One day I heard Gideon talking badly about her.” Savannah looked at the Northern King in

say?” She asked, sure that it

in Elene, and your pr*ck of a brother said that he would rather stay alone forever than be with someone like my sister. He called her a spoiled brat who liked to play victim all the time, and when his right hand asked if it was okay

that it was harsh. However,

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speak to

return to the North,” Kai grunted. “But … Elene burst out crying and became depressed

air. This wasn’t something she

to leave school for a while to take care of her. She was

Gideon to marry her for the first time?” Savvy felt so sorry for him. She could only imagine now what it was like for someone as proud as Kai to make such an

he replied

killed each other in the process.” The reply shocked her. Gideon

in marriage?” She

simply wanted to piss him off,” Kai admitted. “Who would have known that

achieved.” Savvy tried to suppress a laugh. “You are not the only one with a younger sister and no

in love with you.” Kai bent down and placed a kiss on her forehead. “Back then,

lip and glanced at him through her lashes.

made the Lycan

from unpleasant to infuriating rather quickly.” A soft laugh rocked his

about everything, but first, she had to find out one thing. “He said a phrase that stayed with me. He

his face closely, but not a single

telling her would be the same as lying. And all he wanted was

what

Lycan is always a challenge,”

“Savvy, this is something I have to tell

can do something that other Lycans

that be?” the Princess

form,” Kai confessed, and his beloved couldn’t believe her own ears. “I can shift

been days since they were in contact with Savannah and Zara knew everything was in her hands now. She had to be somewhere close since the King was missing too, and they were told that the two

or took part in the Trials knew that Kai only had his eyes on Savannah. This wasn’t a secret even despite them acting in public like they had nothing to do with each other. It was impossible to ignore all the glances or the fact that when the King was supposed to

what the Northern Princess was telling her and Kyle was the truth. Savannah was just spending her time

since the recent events, Zara couldn’t sit still, knowing that Savvy had to be in the

to. The one

took her under her wing and helped her to feel useful, smart, and brave again.

at the same time, it covered her from all the eyes on the ground. They were told not to look for the king, and technically, Zara

served a different princess. And the black hawk didn’t plan to stop looking for her since

very fast that her abilities were limited and she couldn’t fly too far in such weather without risking death in the process.

and third days but had to return to

she decided that she needed to be more innovative. The King couldn’t have been missing without anyone knowing where he was. Elene knew their location for sure, but she wasn’t going to share. The other one who had to know Kai’s whereabouts was his Beta, Lachlan. So, when Zara saw him speaking to Elene on the other day, she shifted into the smaller version of her black hawk and watched him until he left the castle in his wolf form. Lachlan had a cream-coloured wolf and was hard to spot in all that snow, especially during a blizzard, but she still managed to do it. When he stationed himself as one of the mountain guards,

follow him deeper into the mountains. Luckily, the

content.