Filed To Story: The Perfect Luna by Marissa Gilbert
“My Queen,” the woman in front of her stuttered. “I am not sure you are allowed to see him.”
That was exactly what she expected. This couldn’t have been easy. Nothing in her life was ever easy despite her being a princess. It was not fair, yet by now, she was already used to this.
Moreover, she knew how to overcome such obstacles.
“You just called me your Queen,” Savvy pointed out. “Am I not your Queen then?”
“Y-you are,” the girl was visibly uncomfortable, fiddling with the hem of her wool jumper.
“Then what is the problem?” Savannah chose to look ignorant. It would be safer for her if they all considered her much simpler than she really was.
“The King,” the maid did not dare to look into her eyes. “He told us to look after you. To make sure nothing is happening to you.”
“I’m here, am I not? What can happen to me in the King’s castle?!” The words tasted like soil in her mouth. Bjorn wasn’t her king. For her, he wasn’t king at all.
Savvy rolled her eyes and rubbed her forehead as if she was exhausted when in fact, she was feeling great. She was surprised by how quickly she recovered. Only physically, of course. However, she did not wish to go back to the sad thoughts about her chosen mate and her brother, and all her friends. She couldn’t afford to think about them because then she would fall into despair. She had a better plan than that now. She had things to do, and this was helping her to keep going.
She had to avenge each of them. She had to make Bjorn feel what she had felt. Only worse.
Cruel thoughts were circling in her mind, and these were the thoughts she chose to embrace.
“I guess,” the girl in front of her was hesitant.
“The King told me the Serpent is his close friend and-” Savvy started speaking and bit her tongue when she saw the expression on the maid’s face change. Did she get it wrong? Weren’t they at least friends? Bjorn talked a lot about him in that lengthy monologue of his.
“I need to go,” the she-bear furrowed her brows and went for the door. So much for being called a queen!
“Fine!” Savannah muttered loudly. “I will just tell the King how unhappy you made me later.
Consider yourself dismissed.”
This was cruel, and Savvy knew it. The girl stumbled, and their eyes locked again. The Western Princess did not blink to make sure the maid knew she was serious about this. This wasn’t what she would usually do, but her soul was numb now. She couldn’t feel sorry for anyone else anymore.
Half an hour later, she was already properly dressed in a long royal blue dress when the door opened again. Savannah’s l!ps parted in shock young when a very tall, handsome and relatively man walked in. Wasn’t he Bjorn’s father’s advisor?
He looked like he was in his early thirties at best.
He either preserved very well, or the previous White Bear King was listening to the advice of a child, and Savvy wasn’t buying it.
“Greetings, my Queen,” he smirked and walked closer to her leisurely. One thing was for sure, he felt at home here. “I heard you were very eager to see me, and I have to admit, I am intrigued as to why.”
Savannah stud*ied him carefully. This wasn’t at all what she anticipated to see. He had golden hair hat almost reached his shoulders and blue eyes. A face of an angel, but she could tell that was the worst way to describe him. They did not call him The Serpent for nothing, and when an invisible string tugged at the corners of his l!ps, curling them into a smirk, she knew she wasn’t wrong.
“I heard so much about you,” she shrugged and gestured for him to sit down. “I felt like putting a face to the name.”
“Huh!” He chuckled, taking the seat offered.
There you go then, my Queen. Enjoy!”
“Am 1?” Savannah found herself asking the same question again.
“Excuse me?” he arched a brow at her. If anything, he looked amused.
“Am l your Queen? Do you serve Bjorn, or are you just-“
“I have the same deal with him as I did with his father. I help him when our goals coincide.” The man placed his foot on his knee, looking relaxed and confident. Maybe even slightly patronising.
You can benefit from my deals too,” he said nonchalantly. “As long as it’s a fair exchange.”
“The things I want, you cannot give me,” Savvy scoffed bitterly. That painful feeling was back in her ch3st. She tried to suppress it as much as she could, though.
“And what if I told you that I could give you anything?” He angled his head at her with a smile that looked innocent, but glowing signs appeared on his skin. Ancient signs reminded her of the ones she saw back at the Lost City shrine at the Luna Trials and the cave Kai took her to watch the First Snow together.
Ancient. He was ancient too. Older than anyone and anything she knew.
“Who are you?” she whispered, chill crippling down her spine. Although, the best question would probably be, what was he?
“Just call me Joran,” The glowing was gone, and the innocent smile was back on the man’s face.
“I have many names, but I like that one the most, I guess.”
“You said that you want a deal,” Savvy tilted her head, trying to stay calm even after what she saw, although Athena was unsettled inside.
“No,” he shrugged, “you are the one who wants the deal.”
“Let’s imagine you indeed can give me what I want. What can I give you in return?” Savannah wondered, crossing her hands over her ch3st involuntarily. This man gave her shivers.
“It sounds like you underestimate yourself, Queen of The North,” Joran let out a chuckle. “You can give me many things.”
“But there is something in particular that you want,” she was intrigued, but could already tell he had an agenda. Right now, she couldn’t offer much.
She was the last remaining royal lycan, but at the end of the day, she was just a princess whose brother and fiancé were K*lled in front of her and who had no real weight or power to her at the moment.
She was afraid to think of what would happen to the West and the North in the absence of their respective rulers. But this was why she had to wipe out their enemies even if it was the last thing she would do in her life.
“Don’t worry!” her guest laughed wholeheartedly, seeing her serious expression. “It wouldn’t be your heart or limbs! Not even any of your kingdoms! Just your firstborn child”
Her l!ps parted in shock hearing this. Wasn’t it a bit… too much? It had to be a joke!

New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?