The Luna Trials by Marissa Gilbert

1. Northern Hospitality

Skin to skin, hot tongue tracing her every curve, creating burst after burst of tingles. Savannah arched

her back, giving her mate better access, and grasped his hair as he teased her sensitive spot over and

over. “You are mine, Savvy, only mine!” Zack growled as he entered her in one powerful thrust, locking

their eyes and growling from the pleasure.The car jumped on an uneven northern road, and Savannah

woke up, realising this was just a dream. She sighed in relief, looking around and seeing her best friend

Kyle and new assistant Zara by her side.Savannah yawned as she looked outside of her car window.

The views of the North did not impress her much. She sighed again, remembering that this would be

her home from now on. It was unlikely that her future husband, the Northern Lycan King, would let her

live in the West with her brother and his family. After all, he had been asking for her hand in marriage

for so many years. Kai was a known cold-hearted brute, and she was surprised he was interested in

her at all. Not to mention that she was still a minor the first time he dared to suggest the marriage. Fast

forward to her being twenty now, and he still did not leave this idea.She, however, did not care about

his motivation. She did not care about her future husband at all. This was a sacrifice that she was

willing to make for her people. Because after her mate’s betrayal, she couldn’t feel anything anymore

anyway.Just a few months ago, she was the happiest girl alive when, during a terrible war, she met the

perfect man among her brother’s allies. Zack Morgan was an Alpha who earned his reputation as a

great warrior and ruler. And everything in her life made sense the moment they laid their eyes on each

other, and he called her his.He took her back to his pack and announced her his Luna before his

packmates, proving the seriousness of his intentions. And then they had a night of passionate

lovemaking. It was pure bliss, heaven on Earth, all her dreams came true… Up until the moment she

woke up and accidentally heard about his plans to kill her brother and make her nothing more than a

breeding machine for him. “Savannah will be busy the next few years mourning her brother and friends

as well as giving birth to my pups… ” His cruel words would be imprinted in her memory forever. A scar

that would never heal.Her heart broke into a million little pieces, and she ran away from him. Zack tried

to get her back, but she made it very hard for him. And when they were finally able to face each other

again, she rejected him. Only that he did not accept her rejection… which complicated everything for

her.The car stopped, and she blinked a few times, trying to get out of her daze. She promised herself

not to go into that darkness anymore. None of that mattered. She would never see him again.She was

here, she was alive, and she was about to fulfil her princess duties and marry the man she did not love,

need or even know. All for an alliance that her brother, the Western Lycan King needed, for she knew

that if the two kingdoms were not working together now, they might both got destroyed by their enemies

very soon. Her brother knew that, but King Kai did not. And they were lucky he agreed to all that in the

first place.The driver opened the window and handed the papers to one of the northern

guards.“Princess Savannah Stormhold,” he announced. “The bride of King Kai Fionnlagh.”The guard

took his time to check the papers that were handed to him, and another one joined him, looking over

his shoulder.“Is everything okay?” he asked.“Yeah, just one of the king’s brides arriving for the Trials,”

the first one replied and handed the papers back.“What did he just say?” Kyle brushed his hand over

his red hair. He had this little habit since their childhood.“There must be some kind of mistake,” Zara

said reassuringly, checking her iPad. She always kept herself busy.“Of course,” Savannah chuckled.

“Relax, Kyle. What else could it be?”They drove into the territory, and she was finally able to see what

the high stone walls were hiding.It was a castle. A real castle! Huge, dark, ancient, and gloomy. Just

like in history books.Savannah couldn’t believe her own eyes. She was a princess, yes, but she used to

live in modern-style mansions. This was… so not what she expected. Even though her brother told her

not to expect much from the North.And she didn’t. But she didn’t expect to get into the Middle Ages

either.“Not important,” she breathed out. None of this was important. She just had to find Kai. Get

married to him fast and be done with it. Then maybe they could work on some kind of agreement as to

how their life together would be. Surely, they could agree on monthly visits. Hopefully, yearly, after she

produced him an heir. Then maybe she could find her mate, kill him and just concentrate on her child.

This was a good enough plan.She and her entourage got out of their cars. And Savvy noticed a woman

in a dress too luxurious and open for the ugly and cold weather they had today, walking leisurely in

their direction with a much younger girl by her side. The latter had some kind of folder in her hands.But

it was the first one that bothered Savannah because she knew exactly who that was.“My name is

Elene,” the woman smiled, playing with her heavy golden locks. “I am the Northern Princess and the

sister of King Kai.”“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Savvy managed to curl her lips in a smile. “I am…” “I

know who you are,” Elene sneered, and Savannah swallowed. Of course, she did. Elene probably

knew everything about her family. After all, all this started with her. Years ago, Kai proposed her hand in

marriage to her brother. Gideon declined the generous offer. The first time Kai asked for Savvy as his

wife was probably just out of spite. It was no secret that Elene was in love with her brother. And now

that he found his mate and was happily married, all her dreams about becoming the Luna of the

Western Kingdom were gone.She probably hated her. Not that the situation was Savvy’s fault. But she

could see that in the woman’s eyes now.“Follow me,” Elene waved to her and started walking. Sighing,

Savannah did as she was told.“Your castle is magnificent,” she decided to start small talk just as

etiquette required of her.“Thank you,” the northerner smirked and turned to have a look at her. “The

other contenders said the same. You will be able to enjoy northern architecture more if you advance

in…”“Excuse me?” Savannah was never slow, and she stopped right there and then. She knew a

scheme when she saw one. “Other contenders? Maybe the princess will be so kind as to explain to me

what that means?”“Other contenders for the title of The Luna of the North, of course,” Elene gave her

the most innocent smile. “What else could it mean?”“But I am king Kai’s future wife,” Savvy lifted her

chin up to meet the woman’s delighted gaze.“Oh, no, dear. You got something wrong. You are a

contender for the position of his wife. Con-ten-der.” Elene spelt the word for her, enjoying the moment

to the core.“There must be some kind of a mistake,” Savannah insisted.“There is no mistake, dear,” the

princess of the North said, “You are a contender in The Luna Trials. Take it or leave it.”“The Luna

Trials?” Savannah clenched her fists, “You must be kidding! King Kai is of a very high opinion of himself

if he thinks that his future wife should humiliate herself by fighting with other women over the honour of

becoming his Luna!”“This is the North,” Elene suddenly became sharp, and all her smiles were gone.

“The Northerners will never take a Luna who is not worthy! If you want this place, you need to prove

that you are the best among all possible options. You need to be of excellent health and lineage, you

need to know how to behave, you have to be smart, but most importantly, you need to prove your

strength!”They were serious. Savannah realised that it was not a joke. They were absolutely serious.

This was happening. The Luna Trials or whatever they called it… It was real.“And by the way,” the

princess looked at her with some kind of superiority, “That was minus five points. You will be the only

contender to start with a negative point balance.”“There are points?!” now Savvy was pissed. How

dared they? She was a princess, for the Moon Goddess’s sake! The whole situation was an insult like

none other.“Of course,” Elene giggled as they entered a huge inner garden, “how else would we find

out who is the best?”Savannah wanted to say something. She actually wanted to say a lot of things but

shut her mouth before she lost more points. She needed to think first before doing anything else. And

preferably alone.“Now, wait here,” the princess told her, “Your maid will come for you when your room

is ready. But we didn’t expect you until Sunday, so they just started to prepare it. It will be a

while.”“That’s quite all right,” Savannah smiled charmingly, switching her fake politeness mode too. She

knew how this game was played. “The northerners are famous for their hospitality, are they not?”That

was a jab, and Elene’s smile faded. No one praised the northerners for, well, anything. And even if they

did, hospitality would be at the end of the list.The princess left without saying anything else, and Savvy

knew that it would be hours before she was able to relax in that room they ‘forgot’ to prepare.She

motioned for Kyle and everyone else to not come close to her. They were her friends, and she did not

want them to see the ugly side of her. She needed that ugly to come out of her somewhere else, so she

went deep into the garden to avoid any witnesses to her fury. She found the ugliest rose bush she had

ever seen, with strange metallic-looking flowers and growing out her claws, she shredded every single

one of them to pieces.It was not fair! It wasn’t supposed to be like that! All she wanted was to sacrifice

herself for the sake of her people, ensuring their safety. Because the alliance could give them that. That

thought was bringing her at least a little bit of peace.But she wasn’t prepared to fight for the man she

did not even want! What was that? Hell?And most importantly, was the alliance even still an option?

Considering that her so-called arranged marriage turned out to be a scam.She had to find this out. And

she had to do it as soon as possible.But even thinking of the Northern King made her blood boil. He

must have been atrocious if he did that. What can one expect from the man who called himself the

Northern Star? Ugh.“That lying, cheating, self-absorbed, manipulative, conniving, treacherous piece of

a b*stard!” she yelled as she destroyed the last flower. She was panting, and no, it did not help her to

feel better in any way. Not at all.It only became worse when she heard a chuckle behind her

back.“What did that bush ever do to you?” a husky voice inquired, and she turned to see the witness of

her despair..