His Scarred Luna

Chapter 2

Jake sank onto one of the couches in his office, raking his fingers through his messy brown hair. Callan sat across from him, saying nothing, just arching one thin, dark brow.

“Why are they insisting on this?” Jake finally muttered.

“Because it’s tradition,” Callan said, his flat tone only adding fuel to Jake’s frustration.

“f**k tradition,” Jake snapped, throwing his hands in the air. “They’re acting like I can’t be a good alpha without a mate. I’ve been running this pack for four years, and we’re thriving. I’m only twenty-five. Who the hell needs a mate at twenty-five?”

Callan cleared his throat.

Jake scoffed, gesturing broadly. “Yeah, yeah. Obviously there’s you... and Russ…”

“And most wolves,” Callan replied with a quiet sigh.

They’d been best friends since childhood - sons of the alpha and beta, growing up side by side and taking over the pack together at twenty-one. Jake relied on Callan more than anyone, but they were opposites in every way. Jake was brash and impulsive, all broad shoulders and restless energy, while Callan was calm, composed, and lean with close-cropped black hair and an air of quiet authority.

And unlike Jake, Callan had a mate, something that hadn’t been an issue until two months ago. Now both Callan and Russ had mates. Callan was even expecting a child.

Jake, on the other hand, had never felt rushed. He enjoyed his freedom, the attention of plenty of beautiful she-wolves. The idea of settling down with one person for life had never appealed to him. Until now, no one had forced the issue.

But the elders had changed that.

They’d given him a deadline: find and claim his fated mate within a month, or accept a chosen one. And worse, they’d already picked the candidate, someone Jake would never have chosen himself.

Kylie.

Callan’s younger sister.

Jake groaned internally. Kylie had always felt more like a sister than anything else. Sure, he’d noticed how beautiful she’d become, but she was still Callan’s little sister. Even he had lines he wouldn’t cross.

Yet the elders insisted she was the perfect choice. Daughter of the former beta, fierce in battle, smart as hell. And, most importantly to them, no longer bonded to a fated mate. Hers had died young - just nineteen - in a freak accident at the academy. She’d come back shattered. Two years later, the elders believed she was ready to be Luna.

Jake wasn’t.

“Of all people,” he muttered, looking at Callan, “why her?”

Callan sighed, rubbing a hand down his face. “She offered.”

Jake opened his mouth, then closed it again. He didn’t know how to respond.

“She keeps talking about wanting to find her place,” Callan said. “She’s told my dad over and over that she feels called to lead. He thought this made sense.”

Jake looked away, shaking his head. “I can’t mate with Kylie. She’s like my sister.”

“I don’t think you’re going to have much of a choice,” Callan said, his voice edged with resignation.

“And you’re okay with this?”

Callan shrugged. “It’s not like I have a say.”

Jake sighed. He should’ve known better than to expect a reaction. Callan didn’t operate that way.

“Take some time to get to know her,” Callan suggested. “She wants to be Luna. She’d be good at it.”

Jake didn’t disagree. Kylie would make a damn good Luna. Probably a good mate, too. But that wasn’t the issue. He didn’t know if he could be a good mate to her. But he wasn’t about to say that to her brother.

“I’m heading out to check on Megan,” Callan said, standing. “She’s at the Hart house.”

Jake’s brow furrowed. “The Harts’? Why?”

“Lyra’s back. Megan went to pick her up earlier. Car trouble or something. I told her not to go, but you know how she is.”

“Lyra Hart is back?” Just when Jake thought the day couldn’t get any worse.

“So I’m told.” Callan moved to the door.

“She’s been gone... what, seven, eight years?”

“Something like that,” Callan said as he opened it. “I didn’t think she’d ever come back, but what do I know?”

The door shut behind him, leaving Jake alone.

He stared at it, trying to conjure a clear image of Lyra. Nothing solid came to mind, just impressions. He’d never paid her much attention. The only thing he remembered vividly was that scar curling down the left side of her face.

The Harts had been his father’s obsession. Jake had hated it as a kid. His dad was constantly checking on them, dragging Jake and his brother James along for visits. James would go inside and play with Lyra and Donovan. Jake stayed in the car.

Being seen with Lyra back then had been social suicide. She was the weird half-human with the weak wolf, the scar, and the completely human brother. People had been cruel to her, to both of them. Jake hadn’t joined in, but he hadn’t stood up for them either. He’d ignored them. Ignored her pain.

Back then, he hadn’t understood why his father cared so much. Now, he saw it differently. As an adult, he recognized it as the mark of a true alpha, protecting the vulnerable, even when no one else would. And he was ashamed of how he’d acted.

When he returned from the academy at twenty-one and found Lyra gone, he’d felt relieved. No need to face her. No need to reckon with the past.

But that luck had run out.

Lyra Hart was back.

And sooner or later, he was going to have to face her.