Lunar Dance

Hello readers!

Keeping it brief. Big shout out to kjplotts, he amazing editor. Now this is going to be short, but following this chapter are the last few chapters, and eventually the end.

Thanks for reading, remember to comment.

Sensanin

***

Strategies and secrets collide

Trying to control the keys inside

So we lie awake

As they place our fragile hopes at stake

months later in Lucar Castle

"If you're going to raise a sword, you better be damn sure you're going to kill. Now try again!" Demir shot at the boy he was sparing with.

In the last few weeks Demir had become harsher, his words more clipped and gruff. Jozlyn watch him spar with Rudalf, the youngest werewolf in the pack. He did not go easy on the boy, or spare him any pain.

Jozlyn watched in rapt fascination as he attacked with precision and patience, while simultaneously instructing the boy on the correct ways to fight in battle. It had been a few weeks since she found out Demir was a werewolf, that he had turned her into a werewolf, and that all the things that go bump in the night existed.

Even more shocking was that the people close to her were affected. Her friends, her family, all were not immune to the monster in their closets or under their beds; they were part of them. Demir was a wolf and his mother was a wolf. And more recently Jozlyn had found out Matt was a wolf, and Kayla had decided to become a wolf too. But before that happened they wanted to be married.

That's how they ended up in their current situation: outside on the training ground, which had formerly been the gardens, watching the men prepare for battle while they prepared for weddings.

Both Jozlyn and Kayla would be married, and not soon after each other. Whereas Jozlyn had to plan a big affair, and invite foreign dignitaries and kings, Kayla was more of the quiet moon lot wedding with close family and friends, and of course the pack.

Yes, the pack. Both women had become close to the 150+ wolves currently posing as staff in the castle, whilst secretly training and readying themselves for war.

A light breeze on the air, caressing her ears, alerted Jozlyn. She stood suddenly, and with regal practiced steps she walked into the fray of fists and swords. Every single man stopped as she entered the practice field, dropping their heads, and murmuring polite words of welcome. All except Demir, who continued to torture poor Rudalf who was staring to look a bit pale.

Rudalf was the first to see her, and without much thought he dropped to his knee and lowered his head, mouthing a word of welcome. If not for that show of humility he might not have his head.

Demir spun to face her, bringing his sword up to her neck. His eyes glowed fiercely in the weak rays of the setting sun. Golden, such a striking gold. Only this vibrant during training or during bed sport, Jozlyn absolutely loved the color.

"What do you think you're doing? We're training!" Demir said between clenched teeth, letting her feel the heavy weight of steel against her neck. Having lived with Demir for nearly three months, sleeping in his bed, having meals together, and fucking like rabbits any chance they got, she had developed a system to combat his forceful, controlling tendencies.

"Do not raise your sword at me, unless you would like to see your other sword cut off," Jozlyn whispered it in his mind, lowly, deadly. Having become accustomed to telepathy, Jozlyn and Demir almost always had their conversations mentally, never letting others on to their fights or their steamy thoughts.

Demir had the grace to look chastised, as he quickly lowered his blade to his side. Jozlyn motioned for Rudalf to come and take the sword. "Rudalf, tell the others that training has concluded for the day," Jozlyn said in what others considered her "alpha" voice.

Turning back to Demir she reached back to her hair and took out the tight braid she kept it in, letting the vibrant red curls fly free with wind. Snapping the elastic hair band around her wrist, Jozlyn reached up on her toes, running her fingers through Demir's hair before securing it back with the elastic band. Even face to face, she secured his pony tail with ease, brushing invisible dirt of his chest as she sank down to her true height.

Siren, Demir whispered in her mind. Jozlyn simply smiled. "Tabiti wants us," she said out loud, making sure every werewolf heard. Everyone started putting their weapons away, moving into the castle to either eat or take showers.

Demir grabbed Jozlyn's hand giving it a light squeeze before dragging her along behind him. "Then we shouldn't keep her waiting."

____________________________________

Kayla watched Jozlyn and Demir disappear inside the Lunar Castle. She couldn't stop calling it Lunar Castle, even in her mind, though she had called the imposing building home for the last few weeks, it was still foreign to her, remaining an imposing figure in which she never quite felt at home.

"Come on," Matt announced coming close to her, and gathering her up in his arms. "I'm hungry." Kayla had the grace to blush as she swatted his arm playfully, watching his deep brown eyes, turn almost black with desire. They got that way after he trained, and before they made love.

It seemed lately he couldn't get enough of her. But she really couldn't complain. The man does give me a few orgasms for each one he has, Kayla thought, grabbing a towel from the table she had just been sitting at and handing it to him.

Matt quickly wiped his face before turning with alert ears to the door Joz and Demir had just gone through. Matt groaned like a child denied his favorite toy, and motioned to the door. "Tabiti is calling," he mumbled like a petulant child, while reaching behind Kayla and grabbing his shirt.

Kayla laughed and shook her head as she followed in Jozlyn's footsteps. Since Demir came into the picture, life had become so interesting, so full of mystery and wonder. Kayla tossed a carefree laugh over her shoulder.

So many things had happened in the last few weeks, in the last few days, being called in to talk with a goddess almost seemed normal.

_____________________________

Tabiti called it the War Room. Both Raven and she designed plans and strategies in this room, perfecting on their armies strengths, and improving on their weaknesses. Once upon a time it had been another reception room. The queen had at least a dozen such rooms, but this one in particular had suited Tabiti's taste. Decorated in tones of warm grey and brown, the room boosted masculinity, and for the type of plans she was creating, cheery yellow walls just seemed perverse.

In the last few weeks, her wolves, and in particular Demir, had stopped treating her like an outsider, a threat. Her wolves had never really liked her, they feared her, and she used that fear to her advantage. Unfortunately, fear didn't work on everyone, and Demir squashed her idea that she could simply tie a collar around his neck and call him her own wolf. He would never fully trust her, she had lost that right; he would never be hers.

Since she started spending more and more time with the humans, she realized that her initial approach to everything might not have been the easiest one. She had learned a very useful phrase while spending time on the human plain, you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. Though why anyone would want to catch flies made no sense whatsoever. Still she made little gestures to improve her relationships with her wolves. She made them all special armor, gave them riches from her forests, and she even allowed them to meet Nar.

It panicked her at first; Nar had never met another person besides herself and Raven. The thought that one of the wolves could see him as a threat and potentially attack her son had driven her nearly insane. But she had wanted to show them that she meant to help them, and for them to become comrades in arms. So she had showed them her one and only weakness, her son.

Demir had actually been taken aback, as though the thought of her having a child was as unlikely as a pig flying. But the small gesture seemed to place the first brick she need to create the bridge between herself and Demir. It seemed that he trusted Tabiti a little more, because she had a weakness, because she wasn't invincible or untouchable. If he needed it, Demir had a way to attack her and cut out Tabiti's very heart and soul. She understood why Demir was happy that she had a son, it was assured mutual destruction. She went after Jozlyn, he went after Nar. The fact that her son was still a child did not factor into his thinking, it was instinctual the need for retaliation, tit for tat.

"Why did you call us here?" Demir asked gruffly, breaking Tabiti out of her musings. Lately Tabiti had been really thinking about her decisions and not just acting of selfish need. She planned, then planned some more, then planned a back-up plan for her back-up plans. Somewhere along the course of nearly two months, she had created a bond with her wolves and their human sides. When she saw them, they smiled and engaged her in idle chit chat, they asked about Nar and about her health with genuine concern. Somewhere along the way she began to feel the same kinship she had with her wolf before Nyyrikki had killed him. A goddess needed both her celestial animals, they were all connected, and to kill one, essentially killed some crucial part of her, which until that moment she hadn't realized she lacked; Compassion.

Tabiti was taking this war seriously. It wasn't just about vengeance anymore. Her initial response to Nyyrikki had been childish, their entire feud was childish, created because one person did not get what they wanted. Tabiti saw that now, but the past could not be fixed, Nyyrikki and Tabiti were past the point of discussion, he had made that clear when he had killed her wolf, and she had only solidified the rift by giving birth to his son and never telling him about it. Their feud was petty and small, but that didn't matter anymore, her own reasons paled in comparison. If she lost this war, then her wolves lost the war. They would all be killed, families would be torn apart, a monarchy would be destroyed.

"Nyyrikki knows," Tabiti said the words quietly, locking eyes with every person in the room. It seemed time stood still in the room, the wind did not blow, the lights did not trace patterns across the walls, everything was silent and still.

It was Jozlyn who broke the silence, who stood up straighter and tilted her chin in defiance at the news. Tabiti had watched Jozlyn take everything in stride, the young woman was quite remarkable, she did have moments when she refused to believe or accept what was in front of her, but those were becoming rarer. Nothing surprised her anymore, and she looked on every challenge and situation with the eye of a leader, taking a step back she examined the situation with a bird's eye view.

"We have been expecting this for some time. We all knew it would happen sooner rather than later. Tabiti, do you know when he will attack?" Jozlyn asked, looking the goddess dead in her eyes. Jozlyn seemed to be the only one capable of such a feat. Even Demir could not look in her eyes for a long period of time as he experienced extreme pain, but Jozlyn seemed to do it without any obvious problems or strain.

Tabiti's eyes roamed the room, landing lightly on the six people sitting around the table with her. "On the night of the blood moon."

Everyone jumped as Demir slammed his hands down on the table, the wood creaking and groaning beneath his palms, in an effort to remain whole. "That's in less than a week!" Demir roared at Tabiti, as though it was her fault another god chose to try and kill them in a week.

"Demir!" Veronica gasped, clutching her chest in an attempt to calm her pounding heart.

"Son!" Ivory growled lowly, warning his son. Recently Ivory had discovered the truth about his wife and son. Like most people he had been skeptical, but skepticism was a luxury, and none of them had that luxury at the moment. So Ivory had been forced to accept the supernatural part of his family just like Jozlyn and Kayla, and he had done a remarkable job of keeping it together.

All three were going through different stages of acceptance. Ivory perhaps had it the easiest, in that he didn't exactly have to accept the wolf in his wife or son, he could leave at any time. Veronica had not mated with him, and bequeathing the throne to Demir would be easy enough. Kayla was more or less mated to the first beta of the pack, and therefore was one step below Jozlyn on the pack totem pole. Then there was Jozlyn, who was Alpha bitch and future queen of Oscella, so she had less than no choice, her path was set in stone and padded down with concrete.

Even so the three had done extremely well with adapting, in fact everyone had. The pack had become more comfortable with their wolves, and almost none were against themselves or one another. For all intensive purposes it was as peaceful as it could be for a pack of wolves whose alpha was also a prince, and younger than many members of his pack.

Jozlyn put a calming arm on Demir, at once anchoring him back. She had to do that a lot more lately. His wolf could smell the war on the air and was easily agitated, not that her wolf wasn't but she had to keep her wolf in check or lose herself to her animal side. Not now, Jozlyn mused internally. Perhaps during the war, she would give herself fully to her wolf and let the bitch run wild, but not now. Now she needed to be in control more than ever.

Jozlyn had learned another trick to quickly settle Demir and his wolf. Sex. Ever so gently, Jozlyn ran her nails up Demir's arm, making the muscles jump and twitch. Sit down. Jozlyn whispered seductively in his mind, putting heat behind her words, I need you to sit down. I need it. I'm so wet. Please sit down, so we can leave. The sooner we're done the sooner we can go back to our rooms.

Demir turned very slowly to face Jozlyn, his eyes a smoldering hazel now. His lids lowered and he licked his lower lip, making sure Jozlyn followed the line of his tongue. You're gonna keep that promise, Demir whispered in her mind before throwing himself back into his chair and lounging carelessly.

Tabiti materialized her battle plan, decorating the entire room in strategies. Demir, Jozlyn, Matt, Kayla, Victoria, and Ivory worked long into the night on different strategies, teams, and materials they would need for the battle. At the end of the long night they had a concrete plan. Everyone decided to start on the next day to put their plan into action, this night might possibly be their last night of semi-relaxing sleep.

Veronica and Ivory were the first to leave, Ivory rubbing the back of his neck and Veronica trying to stifle the yawns that flowed easily from her mouth. Tabiti and Raven left next, simply popping out of existence, likely going to Tabiti's forests.

Matt and Demir were talking strategies and weapons, when Jozlyn grabbed Kayla and pulled her aside. Kayla went willingly to look out the windows at one of the many fountains littering the castle grounds.

The women stared out at the waters for a minute, before Jozlyn spoke. "Are you really prepared to mate with Matt and become a first beta?" Jozlyn kept her voice at a whisper, continuing to stare out the window and beyond at the night.

Kayla let her lips lift a little. Lately Jozlyn had changed, and she saw less and less of the young girl who had stomped on a prince's foot before running away, and more and more of the woman who had sat on the throne of a future king and address her audience with the words of a born leader. Kayla was so proud of Jozlyn, but she did feel bad for her friend, who was thrust into a world she couldn't hope to pretend and then told to lead. "I understand what the position entails. Even if I wasn't going to mate with Matt I would always protect you. Now I can do it with claws," Kayla replied, only half joking.

Jozlyn turned to face her friend, growing tired of the space she had to place between herself and the world. "It's going to be dangerous, Kay. You might die!" Jozlyn said urgently, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears.

Kayla turned to fully face her friend. "I could say the same to you."

Jozlyn grabbed Kayla in a bear hug, before her friend tapped her shoulder, letting her know she was squeezing too tightly. Since she had become a wolf, Jozlyn had forgotten how strong she was, even in her human form, she could easily bend a fork just trying to eat or break a cupboard trying to reach a cup.

The women hugged fiercely. Jozlyn turned her head, sniffing deeply at Kayla, she smelled like- but at the same moment Kayla pushed herself away from Jozlyn her eyes going round with fear. Jozlyn looked at her friend, her suspicion confirmed by the look in Kayla's eyes.

"Your-" but Kayla covered Jozlyn's mouth before she could finish, her eyes pleading with Jozlyn not to say anymore.

"Jozlyn!" Demir called, startling both women. Kayla quickly removed her hand and turned to face both men as they strode over to them. Jozlyn turned with her slightly pale, but her lips sealed nonetheless.

"Ready?" Matt asked, as he snaked an arm around Kayla and nuzzled her neck. She smiled before kissing him hotly on the lips. "Yeah, let's go."

The couple waved goodnight to Jozlyn and Demir as they made their way to their own quarters. "Something wrong?" Demir asked as he stared intently at her face.

Jozlyn smiled, and shook her head. "I shouldn't be shocked anymore, but I am." Jozlyn shook her head and laughed mirthlessly, a fear she didn't think she would have to worry about creeping into her mind. Demir watched as Jozlyn's expression shuttered and became a mask of polite nothingness. He tried probing at her mind, but she immediately put up a wall. Demir gritted his teeth, before reaching out and grabbing her wrist, feeling the pulse beating wildly.

Jozlyn's brow arched before she tugged, feeling no give in his muscles. "It's nothing," Jozlyn said gently, her tone soothing.

Demir knew he wouldn't get anymore from her now. "Let's go to bed."

Jozlyn's eyes jumped and clashed with Demir's, they vibrant emerald, turning a sultry dark forest green. Unconsciously Jozlyn licked her lips nervously. Demir smiled internally, happy that he could still turn his mate on with four simple words.

Swinging Jozlyn into his arms, her small yelp of surprise was music to his ears. "Demir! Put me down!" She batted at his chest furtively as he carried her from the room and towards their suites. Thankfully it was so late that no one was out of bed, and the hall was clear of anyone seeing their alpha carry his protesting mate through the halls.

They reached their rooms, and Demir juggled her, while opening the heavy doors. Striding through the sitting rooms, and into their bedrooms with purpose, Demir carelessly through his mate on the bed.

Jozlyn squealed with anticipation and a little trepidation as she landed on their bed, her skirts flying into disarray around her. Jozlyn tried crawling to the other side of the bed away from Demir, but he pinned her, grabbing both her wrists in one hand, and pinning her to the bed.

Demir looked down at his heart and soul, spread out on the bed panting slightly, with wet lips and hair in total disarray. With all his pent up passion he kissed her. Licking along the seam of her lips before parting them and surging his tongue in to duel with her own. The kiss spun out and inflamed their passion, calling the beasts inside of them to come to the forefront.

Jozlyn shifted, moving her right leg up and twisting, flipping Demir onto his back, Jozlyn took control of the kiss. Pulling back, Jozlyn balanced on Demir's lap, reaching for the hem of her dress, and slowly pulling it up, revealing inch by creamy inch of her thighs.