The Nameless Luna – Book Three: For Her, He Falls

The Night King said love and greed are both forms of desire. But loving someone means wanting them so much that desire extends beyond yourself. You want happiness for them the same way you want food or sleep for yourself. You want their well-being with the same intensity, that same natural fierceness that makes you want to survive, like a sense of selfless-preservation. You don’t just want them, you want for them.
There was a time when I wanted nothing more than the sky. I lived locked in a basement, deprived of daylight and stars. But now, Tristan is my sun, shining even in a castle full of shadow.
‘If you can handle the fight, then your training and your powers will be enough,’ he adds softly. ‘If you can’t, then I don’t have the slightest doubt you will find another way to help us, and that will be enough as well. You are enough, flower. You are everything.’
‘And you are my stars,’ I whisper, tilting my face up to him like a sunflower so his cheek brushes against mine.
‘Can you hear it now?’ Tristan asks gently, and I’m in such a daze from the feel of his skin against mine, his hands curving over my hips, that it takes me a moment to process his question.
‘What?’
‘My heartbeat,’ he clarifies with a devilish little smile. ‘You were distracted before. Can you hear it now?’
I close my eyes and search for the familiar sound, echoing Tristan’s smile when I can quickly and easily make out the pounding of his heart.
‘Yes.’
‘Good girl… just listen. Find your focus. Your senses are stronger now, but you are stronger too. Focus on one at a time, right here, right now. What do you hear?’
I do as he says, letting my other senses quiet. I block out the sights, the smells, and the noise inside my head until all I can feel are the sounds outside of me.
‘I hear you…’ I breathe with a curl of my lips. ‘I hear my father and Helena down the corridor with some nightwalker soldiers. They walk so quietly, it’s strange, but I can still make them out.’
‘What else?’
‘I hear the wolves downstairs. Their hearts are faster, and they’re anxious for the fight. I can hear…’ I giggle slightly in amazement. ‘I can hear Amara and Mark on the bridge.’
‘Go on,’ he whispers, and I shut my eyes even tighter, my brow furrowing from the concentration. ‘Don’t just drown in the sounds. Search for them. Focus.’
‘I hear the wind blowing, the leaves rustling in the woods beyond the bridge. There’s a bird singing on one of the nearby branches. I can hear…’ My voice catches in my throat, and I realize I’m holding on to Tristan so tightly my nails are about to dig into his skin.
‘What is it?’
My eyes shoot open and meet his, my breath quickening. ‘Footsteps. I hear Nico’s footsteps. He’s running toward the bridge.’
My mate frowns, pulling away, but I don’t have time to feel the cold where his body used to be pressed against mine. ‘Are you sure?’
I nod. ‘I’m sure. I knew he was quick on his feet, but by the sound of it, he’s never run faster.’
Tristan turns away, glancing back through the arrowslit at the first hints of sunlight creeping up on the horizon.
‘Nico, is that you out there?’ he asks. The mindlink has basically become an open channel for the Rovers, and I’m supposed to pass messages on to my father and the nightwalkers.
‘Nico? Are you nearby?’ he tries again. ‘Can you hear me?’
There’s a moment of silence, and then, ‘I read you, boss. I’ve got some good news and bad news.’
The boy sounds out of breath, even in his mind, and I immediately alert my father. I can feel the rest of the Rovers standing at attention.
‘The good news is that the sky is pretty cloudy, and the morning is thick with mist, so the nightwalkers should have an easier time staying out of direct sunlight. Also, the entire Bane army definitely won’t get across the bridge. When they breach the gate, they’ll have to break formation. ‘
We knew that already.
‘Nico, what’s the bad news?’
‘The bad news is they won’t fit across the gate because there’s that bloody many of them. Viktor must have recruited forces from at least five packs.’
Five packs guided by fear and hate against a bunch of rogue wolves and a clan of nightwalkers, trying to survive long enough to see a better world.
‘And the worse news,’ Nico adds, his thoughts coming in ragged and muffled. ‘The worse news is that they’re right behind me.’
‘Get to the bridge. Amara and Mark will meet you there. Keep your eyes open and your head low.’
His brow furrows in concentration for a moment as he passes on orders to specific members of the pack to get everyone prepared for the battle, and I pass on the message to my father.
‘It’s okay to be afraid,’ Marco replies, and I know the words are just for me. ‘Just don’t let them see it. If you get hurt, Lucy will get you out, and if you need help, Helena or I will be at your side in seconds. No goodbyes, princess.’
I love you, Dad.
The phrase creeps up in my head, but I bite the thought back before it can get out. He already knows.
‘No goodbyes,’ I echo.
Tristan takes my hand in his, drawing my attention back.
‘Amara, Mark, and Helena will hold the bridge as long as possible, and we will thin them out as much as we can. But sooner or later, they will breach the gate. I have to be there.’
Our archers are ready along the wall with silver-tipped arrows. They will take as many of them down as they can, and when Nico gives the signal, Mark and Amara will retreat through the gate and join my father’s forces on the other side. From there, I expect all hell will break loose, and we’ll use the layout of the fortress to scatter the enemy’s army as they trickle in through the gates.
And Tristan will be right in the middle of it.
‘I know,’ I answer with a sad smile. ‘I know you are not the king of Alpha that stays in a tower while his pack fights. I know you, my king.’
I slip my hand out of his, turning away from his so he cannot see the fear in my eyes.
‘Please don’t tell me to go join Sophie in the square. Don’t send Lucy to drag me out. I know I’m not a soldier, but I can’t stay on the sidelines.’
I will not hide at the back while the man I love dies at the front. I can’t.
‘I’ll stay out of your way. I’ll be careful. I’ll do as you command, just please don’t send me away. Please.’
He silences me suddenly, grabbing my wrist gently and tugging me toward him while his other hand rises to my face, his fingertips pressed against my lips.
‘Haven’t you been listening to a word I’ve said, little flower? I nearly lost my mind when I thought you’d been taken from my side. Viktor will be coming for you, and when he does, we will be waiting. Together, come what may.’
He presses a kiss to the back of his knuckles, but I know it’s not his hand separating our lips. I have never hated anything or anyone, not even Viktor. But I hate this curse.
I don’t know what will happen after the battle. I don’t even know if we’ll survive it, and even if we do, I’ll never have him, so I need this. I need him right now, just for a second, before the world goes up in flames around us.
He can hear them now. We all can. The thundering sound of footsteps and howling between the trees as the enemy draws nearer with every breath.
I wanted more time.
I pull his hand away from my own and stand on my toes, tilting my chin up to graze my lips along his.
‘Flower…’ he says so softly I’m not sure if I imagined it, the word like a broken plea on the wind.
‘Please, Tristan. It will only hurt for a moment,’ I whisper urgently, using his own words. His jaw clenches as the instinct to protect me wars against the longing aching within us both. ‘I don’t care. Fuck the curse. Please. Just one moment.’
His resolve shatters in an instant at the begging in my eyes as my fingers curl into fists around his shirt, pulling him toward me. His lips come crashing against mine, and for once, he holds nothing back.
Tristan kisses me hard and hungry. He tastes like strength and sunlight and smells like honey and smoke, and I unravel into his touch, letting the world melt away.
He pulls away too quickly, and I’m left breathless from a bittersweet mix of passion and pain as the mark on my chest glows. But he holds me until I steady myself, panting as the last of the curse’s agonizing sting courses through me.
He watches me wordlessly as the noise grows louder and louder around us, the battle crashing at our doorstep like a wave on the sand.
Then he turns around and starts making his way down the tower to the bloodbath that waits below, and I follow him into war.