Mated To My Mate's Worst Enemy Chapter 51

ARIA

"I'm fine—" Kael started to protest.

"You're not fine. You just shifted for the first time in three years, fought another Alpha, shifted back, and now you're standing here bleeding from at least seven different wounds that I can see. Treatment room. Now."

There was no arguing with Eliza when she used that tone. Kael sighed but allowed himself to be herded into an empty treatment room. Nina started to follow, but Eliza stopped her.

"You need rest too, Beta. You've been running on adrenaline and worry for hours. Let me treat your Alpha, then go get some sleep. Ivory's stable enough that she doesn't need you hovering over her all night."

"But—"

"That's an order from your head healer," Eliza said firmly. "Rest. Or I'll sedate you too."

Nina looked torn, clearly wanting to stay with Ivory, but eventually nodded reluctantly. "You'll call me if there's any change?"

"Immediately," Eliza promised. "Now go. Both of you."

She gestured at me as well, apparently deciding I needed rest as much as Nina did.

"Luna Aria, you've had a traumatic night. The ceremony, the attack, witnessing violence—you need to process all of that. Go back to your quarters. Try to sleep. Tomorrow is soon enough to deal with the fallout."

"What about Kael?" I asked. "Shouldn't I—"

"I'll send him to you when I'm finished treating him," Eliza said. "Which will be at least an hour. He needs stitches, potions, and probably a stern lecture about taking better care of himself. You don't need to sit here watching me work."

She was right, but it felt wrong to leave. To go to our shared quarters—because we were bonded now, we'd be expected to share space—and wait while Kael was being treated.

But Eliza was already shooing us out of the clinic, and Grandmother Rose was gently guiding me toward the exit, and I was too exhausted to argue anymore.

Nina and I walked in silence back toward the main pack house. The celebration that should have followed the ceremony had obviously been canceled, but there were still wolves lingering in the corridors, talking in hushed voices about what had happened. I caught fragments as we passed.

"—can't believe he attacked during the ceremony—"

"—poor Ivory, she didn't deserve that—"

"—makes you wonder if Luna Aria is worth all this trouble—"

That last comment made me flinch, but Nina's hand on my arm kept me moving forward.

"Ignore them," she said quietly. "They're in shock. Processing. It will settle down."

Would it, though? Or would this night mark me permanently as the Luna who brought chaos to Shadowmere? The outsider whose presence had cost them one of their most beloved members?

We reached the Luna's quarters—which were connected to the Alpha's, forming a suite that Kael and I would now share. Nina opened the door and guided me inside, her expression softening when she saw how lost I looked.

"I know tonight didn't go as planned," she said gently. "But Aria—you're bonded now. Marked. Sealed as Luna. Whatever happens next, you've earned your place here. Don't let guilt or doubt take that away from you."

"What if Ivory hates me when she wakes up?" I asked quietly. "What if she blames me for getting hurt?"

"Then we'll deal with that when it happens," Nina said practically. "But knowing Ivory—she'll probably just ask if the ceremony was completed successfully. If you and Kael are officially bonded. Because that's what she risked herself for. That's what mattered to her."

The words should have been comforting. Instead, they just made the guilt worse.

Nina left after making me promise to eat something and try to rest. Alone in the Luna's quarters, I looked around at what was now my space. My home.

It was beautiful—elegant but comfortable, with windows overlooking the forest and furniture that suggested years of careful selection. Someone had already moved my few belongings from the temporary quarters I'd been using, arranging them on shelves and in drawers like I belonged here.

But I didn't feel like I belonged. Didn't feel like Luna. Didn't feel like anything except an imposter who'd somehow stumbled into a position she wasn't qualified for and caused disaster in the process.

The mating mark on my throat throbbed—not painfully, but as a reminder. I was bonded now. Bound to Kael, to this pack, to this life. There was no going back, no changing my mind, no running away when things got difficult.

I just had to figure out how to live with the consequences of that choice.

How to be Luna when half the pack thought someone else deserved the position more.

How to be Kael's mate when the woman who'd sacrificed everything for him lay broken in the clinic.

How to build something real from a bond that had started as political necessity.

I was still trying to find answers when Kael finally returned hours later, his wounds bandaged and his expression exhausted but determined.

And looking at him—at my Alpha, my mate, my choice—I realized that Grandmother Rose had been right.

The ceremony was just the beginning.

The real work of building this bond, this partnership, this life together—that started now.