The Luna Trials by Marissa Gilbert

Five in total.

Five bears who hurt him the most when he was a prisoner in Bjorn’s castle. Five bears who were going to die by his hand.

Well, three now since two were already off the list.

And boy, did Aspen enjoy killing them. Such scum did not deserve to live.

The Northern Lycan Kingdom wasn’t just a country. People here had honour. They had rules they’d followed for generations.

No one, absolutely no one, was to harm a man who was already down and couldn’t defend himself. No one was to humiliate prisoners of war. No one was to take another Northerner’s dignity. What was done to him was done for fun, and he swore that everyone who participated in his torture would pay.

Not only that, but those five bears made a spectacle out of him, torturing him for days while laughing about the death of Aspen’s king and family. They laughed at what Bjorn was going to do with his queen as well. Then they mocked him about his mate, promising to f*ck her on his behalf since she preferred bears anyway.

No, he couldn’t find it in himself to forgive them.

Maybe it made him a bad man, but he had no regrets.

The one whose life Aspen took just now broke his knees every hour as if he was on a clock, knowing that it was the only way to permanently injure a lycan. His friend, who carved insults on his chest with a silver knife and laughed as he watched them heal, was also already dead. Aspen left his b*ody in the woods, where he deserved to stay and rot. The same destiny would follow this one.

Aspen unclenched his jaws and let the wolf fall to his feet, a pool of blood gathering around him, soaking the grass.

He lifted his head to look at the moon, and at the same time, the familiar sweet scent hit his nostrils.

She was here. Brigit was here.

Just like the last time, she didn’t do anything to stop him. And it was annoying! After all, what kind of queen lets her men get slaughtered by an ambassador of another king?

He wanted her to get angry. He wanted her to confront him about her men.

His wolf pleaded with him, telling him their ex-mate wanted to get together. That this was her way to gain his forgiveness. Only that it wasn’t enough. It would never be enough.

Some part of him would always love her, but he knew they were over. He would never be able to trust Brigit. He would never be able to call her his.

They were perfect mates that never happened.

This was all they were now.

Aspen sensed her leaving. At first, he did not want to follow. She did the same when he challenged the first white bear. Although fights like this were frowned upon, it wasn’t necessarily illegal. Shifters fought each other all the time and died as a result. As long as it was a fair fight, it was fine. Fair being the key word.

Aspen always gave them a chance to stand up for themselves.

However, at the last minute, something inside him snapped as Brigit’s intoxicating scent enveloped him until he couldn’t breathe properly anymore, and Aspen decided to go after his ex.

It was annoying, and she had to stop this. This… whatever this was!

Brigit sensed him following her and sped up, only fuelling his desire to catch up with her more. At least in his wolf form, he could still do it.

However, his tormenter was cruel. They left the woods in a few minutes, and she rushed into the night city. It was surprisingly busy now, and Aspen had no choice but to shift into his human form and get the clothes he had hidden nearby for this exact kind of situation.

Although they were technically allies with the bears now, he still had to stay careful. Not all the bears were “reformed”. And only a few of his warriors were around at this time to back him up. So, he had to choose the safer way.

Brigit managed to disappear as if she wasn’t the one who stalked him in the first place.

The thought alone annoyed Aspen. He never looked at her at official events. And she never allowed him to see her outside of those. At least, not alone.

But she followed him both times he was hunting his enemies. Which led him to believe she knew everything about his little revenge quest. And also… she knew where the remaining three bears were. She had to.

She must have hidden them because he couldn’t find anything about their whereabouts. Not even from their “friends” he fought and killed. The three bears disappeared one by one, and no one ever saw them again.

There couldn’t be any other explanation. Brigit had to be hiding them somewhere, protecting them from his wrath.

And today, he was going to confront her about it.

Enough was enough. She was going to give him… answers!

Aspen knew very well where the Bear Queen of Nova Oberon would go. There was only one place she could hide from him. It wasn’t her bedroom. It wasn’t her office. He could reach those because his room was in the same wing. Brigit wouldn’t go there now that she tried to avoid him.

The Throne Room.

This was where he couldn’t go because it was always heavily guarded. This was where she would be hiding from him now.

Little did she know that he had a surprise for her.

***

Brigit passed her guards with a stern, disinterested look as she strolled into her throne room. Sadly, this was the only safe place she could think of.

fur coat, letting it fall to her feet. It was obstructing her from

noticed her. Her little good deed did not go unpunished, and

it still so painful

Shouldn’t the pain have subsided by

The familiar voice made her flinch and snap her head in the direction where

the lump in her throat, taking a

possibly have

gleamed in the darkness with familiar warm light, and a part of her felt as if she was home for

She wasn’t home. Not with him.

leaning over his fist, elbow resting on

she mumbled, hating the weakness in her voice. She did not want him to see

going to acknowledge that they were

herself and straightened her back. “Well, I

on and slowly descended the stairs. His cane wasn’t with him, and it took him

with the respect

it felt to lose him, Savannah’s words echoing in her memory. She would never

the Northern Lycan Queen. That life would be safer, better. She wished there was a different way to obtain it, but it

say anything, Aspen’s hand closed around her neck,

a scare tactic. He wasn’t hurting her even though she deserved it. She deserved whatever he was going to do with her, and

she instantly knew who he

figured he was looking

he growled menacingly, tightening his grip. It felt so good, though. Finally, she had some kind of physical contact with him, something she had been

dangerously close to her neck, hot breath prickling her skin

do you want from me, Aspen?” she dared him, meeting his

with a growl, and everything inside her exploded with the desire to

dominance as his thumb brushed over her lower lips. Something he did not intend to do but ended

breathtaking tonight in her

broke to his own surprise. Just remembering how they beat him into a pulp in between the hourly knee-breakings made his

choose him… because she did not deem him strong enough for

the best of ideas, and he distanced himself from her, wishing to leave and forget it

handle when

dead!” she said, voice confident. “All three of

tighter

lying,” he muttered without sparing her a single

am not!” Brigit insisted. “I– I killed

a moment to

he chuckled darkly, “they ate your

the Bear Queen confessed, tears stinging her eyes as she tried to

already weren’t mates back then,” Aspen scoffed, piercing her heart

did not care

The words hang in the

at her or to say something hurtful. Gods knew she

But Aspen stayed silent.

brave with him for the first time in a while.

“just a different place. I took them to the top of the icy bear cliff and challenged them one

her for the first time and tried to assess how serious she was about this. Not

about the third one…

on the battlefield right after I was blessed. I knew him too

stormed at her, turning to face her, just inches away from her

she retorted, tears finally streaming freely down her cheeks. “You can hate me all your life, but you

froze, realising what she had just done,

that before him for eternity or if it were mere

breathed out, and she understood that it was a rhetorical question. Why didn’t she come to him? Why couldn’t they both have been smarter? Why was life so unfair to them? Why did the gods pair them up as mates? And why couldn’t

hers. His tongue immediately pressed for entrance which she granted, because she was

shirt off, greedy to feel his hot skin. It was just

her dress, ripping the silver fabric to release her flesh underneath it and groaned in delight

his mouth, rolling it with his tongue while tugging the other one in between his fingers while his beard prickled her sensitive

Brigit, her whole b*ody shuddered in his arms. It felt so good, so right… She did not expect to ever feel this way again, so she wanted to use this moment to

zipper and in no time she was working his length slowly up and down, eliciting a growl from him.

you against this door right now for all your guards to hear,” he told her, and

hoping that she didn’t sound too

the slit of her dress

his queen, he had to stop calling her that. She would literally

and she was afraid

parted. He didn’t

her roughly and scooped her up, her legs wrapping around his waist, their chests

if it was painful for him but when she heard his next

f*ck you on your

whole flight of stairs, and he was holding her.

eyes met, the world around them spun and in the next second they found themselves

Brigit couldn’t

seat and shifting

it far away. The thought of one of her advisors

neck. His hardness pressed against her back and his fingers dipped

“Through–” she panted, “–space?”

Kai wasn’t afraid to send his injured best friend to the bear kingdom. Aspen was one of the changed ones! He was limping and yet he was

made Brigit feel a bit

into his chest. If anyone walked in right now, they would witness the show of their lives.