The Wolf God's Unwanted Luna

Vivian’s POV

I glanced across the open training field where Zaliver and Venom were standing a few feet away. Well, Zaliver was talking rapidly, his jaw tight, his expression a volatile mixture of rising irritation and forced control. Venom, on the other hand, stood stone-faced, completely unbothered, almost bored. Whatever conversation they were having over there clearly wasn’t a friendly chat.

I watched as Zaliver pointed a sharp finger at Venom, then shook his head in absolute frustration. Venom leaned in slightly and muttered something I couldn’t quite catch. Zaliver stilled. Then slowly far too slowly for my liking he turned his head to look straight at me. His expression was completely unreadable, carved from cold stone, but the way he studied me made my chest tighten with anxiety.

What the hell was going on?

He turned back to Venom and gave a single, curt nod before walking over to stand right beside me. His arms crossed tightly over his broad chest, his heavy shoulders tense, muscles coiled tight like he was preparing for something big. Something dangerous.

I narrowed my eyes up at him. "What?" I asked warily.

He didn’t answer right away. He just tipped his head slightly in Venom’s direction.

I followed his gesture and saw Venom setting up heavy mats across the stone floor. Once he finished, he strode over to the weapons wall and grabbed something I couldn’t quite make out from this distance. The air shifted around us, growing thick and heavy with mounting tension. I looked between Venom, the mats, and Zaliver each quick glance stacking more confusion and dread deep in my gut.

"You’re not fighting him, are you?" I asked slowly, trying to keep my voice calm, even though my instincts were screaming at me. "Is that why you brought him here?"

Zaliver’s icy pale blue eyes dropped to meet mine. He gave a small, slow shake of his head. My wolf perked up instantly, sensing something dark just beneath the surface something dangerous, something thrilling.

"Not me," he said, his voice deep. "You."

My whole body locked up in place. "Me?" I repeated, my voice rising shrill with utter disbelief. "Me?! Against him?!"

I took a dramatic step back, clutching my hand over my chest. "Are you insane? I’ve never even thrown a proper punch in my life! He’ll break me like a twig. I’ll be wolf-chow! He’ll toss me around like a dog’s chew toy! Hell, I’ll be paralyzed before the match is even over! Hope you enjoy being on top for the rest of our mated lives, ’cause I’m about to be a pancake!"

Zaliver didn’t flinch at my outburst. His face remained unreadable, calm annoyingly calm. Like this whole crazy idea was totally normal.

"He won’t hurt you," he said firmly. "Venom has better control than anyone I know "

I gasped out loud as Venom stepped closer, and my eyes landed squarely on what he was carrying in his hand.

"Not hurt me?!" I shrieked. "What the hell is in his hand?! Is that a knife?! No, hell no! I’m out of here. This is literal suicide wrapped in leather handles!"

I glared at the long, dagger-like weapons clamped tightly in his grip. Venom didn’t say a word, just stepped closer and offered the gleaming blades to me, handle first. I didn’t hesitate for a second. I snatched them from him, muttering aggressively under my breath. Better to have them in my hands than in his.

There were two of them. Identical. Simple, perfectly balanced, and deadly-looking.

"I have a theory I’d like to test, Luna Vivian," Venom said calmly, as if we were discussing the simple morning weather. "You might remember yesterday I mentioned "

"If your theory ends with me flat on my face with a broken tailbone, we can skip the whole damn thing," I interrupted sharply.

I didn’t even try to lower my voice. The nearby warriors weren’t trying to hide their immense interest either. A broad half-circle of onlookers had already formed around us, settling in like they were watching a show.

Venom gave a small shake of his head, his tone still maddeningly polite. "Not at all, Luna. I won’t even strike you "

"Oh, really?" I scoffed, throwing my free hand up into the air. "And how do you plan on fighting without actually hitting?"

His golden eyes didn’t even flicker. "Control."

Control, my ass.

If I had to do this, I’d go down swinging. Or flailing wildly. Either way, it definitely wouldn’t be graceful.

I stared down at the sharp daggers in my hands and then out at the gathering crowd of wolves. This was it my public humiliation as Luna. They’d whisper about this across the pack for months. Maybe even years. Did you hear about the new Luna who got tossed by Venom in under five seconds flat?

Nope. I wasn’t doing this. I shook my head firmly, preparing to walk off.

Then Venom glanced over at Zaliver and said something that made the blood freeze solid in my veins.

"Alpha has already consented to this."

I turned slowly, narrowing my eyes right at Alpha Zaliver.

"You traitor."

"Oh really? Well, Alpha is sleeping on the couch tonight." I narrowed my eyes just a bit more, just enough for him to know I meant every single word.

"Please, just trust us, Luna Vivian. There’s a very valid reason " Venom didn’t even get to finish his thought.

The crowd surrounding us had already erupted into a low, angry growl, their expressions turning fierce and protective.

"This is outrageous!"

"Not the Luna!"

"She’ll take her place, that backstabber!"

"Can’t believe he’d even think of putting her in danger "

A savage snarl suddenly tore through the entire building, silencing the chaos like a sharp thunderclap. Zaliver. His sheer presence alone instantly shut everyone up. Heads bowed rapidly in submission, but the heavy atmosphere stayed thick with tension and unease. Not everyone was convinced this was right and oddly enough, that touched something deep in my chest. They didn’t even fully know me yet, yet their natural wolf instincts flared to protect their Luna.

"Vivian..." Zaliver’s voice came out hoarse, deeply strained.

I turned back to him, my brows knitting together with confusion. "What’s going on with you?" I asked, but my words died out as I caught a better, closer look at his face.

His eyes... They weren’t just worried. They were frantic. Wild. Like he was barely holding himself together by a thread. He didn’t want me to fight Venom. But if that was true... why on earth was he allowing it to happen?

"Please," he said gently, his voice low but overwhelmingly earnest. "Just trust us. Please."