Luna's Point of View
The arena faded behind us, but the stench of it clung to my skin.
The blood, the fear, the silence of cowards too stunned to speak.
It should have been satisfying.
And yet—I was angry.
Not at Hiccup.
Never at him.
But at the girl trailing behind us. The one who dared to breathe the same air. The one whose eyes followed my mate like he was hers to watch.
Astrid.
Her name tasted like rust on my tongue.
She walked too close. She stared too long. She said nothing, but her silence was loud enough to make me bare my fangs.
Why was she here?
Why was I allowing her to be here?
I should have torn her throat out when she reached for him. I should have ended it before the words left her mouth. But I hadn't.
Because he told me not to.
Because he asked.
Because he needed answers.
But gods help her if those answers aren't enough.
Hiccup walked just ahead, steps quiet, eyes sharp. Every breath he took made the heat in my chest swell higher.
He belonged to no one.
But he had chosen me.
And I had chosen him—not the weak-willed boy Berk thought they knew, but the fury behind the silence. The creature no one saw until it was too late. The dragon in human skin reborn as he should be.
That's who I chose.
The monster they feared.
The one who ripped a man apart with bare hands and didn't flinch.
The one who smiled when blood touched his boots.
The one who sings with death in his lungs and holds our daughter like she's the last pure thing in this cursed world.
That's my Hiccup.
Not the soft-hearted fool they tried to tame.
Not the broken thing they tried to bury.
He had faked being that version himself.
So why, why, was this girl still near him?
What right did she have?
I clenched my fists as I walked behind them, letting the shadows of the forest bend and curl around my body. The trees whispered like old friends trying to soothe me.
But I didn't want calm.
I wanted possession.
I wanted blood.
And most of all—I wanted to remind her exactly where she stood.
Because I had seen the way she looked at him.
Like she remembered something that was never hers.
Like she wanted something that was.
And if she ever reached for it again...
There would be no warning.
Only claws.
Only flame.
Because Hiccup was mine.
My Alpha.
My mate.
My love.
And if this was to be a test of loyalty... then fine.
Let her try.
Let her prove herself.
But if she failed—if her tongue slipped, if her thoughts strayed, if she ever dared to dream of replacing me—
Then I would carve her name into the trees, and let the forest devour her bones.
Hiccup's Point of View
The forest here was thick enough to silence the world, but not so deep that we'd reached the cove. Not yet. The air still carried the distant scent of ash and fear from the arena, but here—between these trees—we had a moment to breathe.
Or at least, they did.
I stopped walking. The hush of the forest filled the silence left behind by screams.
Behind me, I could hear the soft padding of Luna's steps, and the lighter scuffle of Freya's. One set was calm. The other, restless. Astrid's—trailingi us in silence—sounded like tension pressed into the dirt.
But this wasn't about her. Not yet.
I turned toward Luna, brushing a knuckle against her clawed hand. She met my gaze instantly, no need for words—just understanding, and an ever-burning jealousy beneath it.
"Take Freya and go home," I said through the mental link.
Her mind surged with protest, but I steadied the connection before she could bite back. "I'll keep our link strong. You'll hear everything. Every word. Nothing will be hidden from you."
She didn't move for a heartbeat. Then, finally, she exhaled.
A kiss followed—slow, heated, and full of warning. Not for me. For the girl behind us.
"I'll be listening," Luna murmured.
I nodded. "I know."
She turned slightly, ready to leave—
"Papa!"
I didn't need to brace myself. I caught her easily, arms folding around her small frame as Freya flung herself at me.
"Can you make more pancakes?"
The unexpectedness of it drew a soft laugh from my chest.
Behind me, Astrid blinked in confusion. As she tilted her head. "Pancakes?"
Freya turned to her with absolute offense.
"They're amazing! Papa made them this morning. They're soft and warm and sweet and perfect. He even adds berries and syrup and they smell so good I didn't even mind waking up early!"
Astrid's brows furrowed like she was being told the sky had flipped upside down.
I glanced down at Freya. "Pancakes are for mornings," I said with a small smirk. "But after your training with your mother..."
I gave Luna a sideways glance.
"...we'll make bear steak. With garlic. And whatever else you want."
Freya grinned. "Promise?"
"Promise."
She nodded firmly, then dropped from my arms and returned to Luna's side. Luna gave me one last glance look over her shoulder, possessive and heated, before the trees swallowed them both.
And then it was just me and her.
Astrid.
Still standing there.
Still watching me like I was something out of a dream she'd long since lost.
She didn't speak.
I didn't break the silence for her.
But I watched.
And she stared.
Like she didn't know whether to step closer or kneel.
There was longing in her eyes—and not the kind I welcomed.
Not the hunger Luna looked at me with. Not the reverence Freya carried in her footsteps.
This was regret. Deep, weathered. Unspoken.
She stood there like she'd just begun to realize the gravity of her choices. Like she was trying to reach back through time with nothing but her eyes.
Too late.
Too slow.
Too far gone.
"You're quiet," I said finally, voice cool and level.
She tensed.
"I figured you'd be full of questions."
She looked down. Then back up. Swallowed once.
"I... I don't know where to start," she admitted.
"You're not here to ask," I said. "You're here to answer."
Astrid stiffened further.
I tilted my head slightly. "So start explaining."
Her breath caught. "Explaining what?"
I gestured to all of her. "This."
She blinked. "What?"
"The sudden loyalty," I said, circling her slowly, not unlike a dragon testing the edges of its prey. "The silence. The obedience. The tears. The defiance. The way you looked at me in the arena like I was yours."
I stopped in front of her, eyes narrowing. "What changed?"
"I—" she started, but I cut her off with a single raised hand.
"Don't waste my time. You've followed me. You've stayed close. You've stared. And yet you haven't said anything of value."
She swallowed again.
"I'm giving you a chance," I said flatly. "Not because I owe you one. But because I'm curious."
Her breath trembled in her chest.
"You have my attention now, Astrid," I murmured. "But when Luna returns..."
My voice dropped low.
"You'd better have something worth hearing."
I crossed my arms and waited.
——————————————————————
A short time passed.
The kind that stretches out slow, not from impatience—but from the weight of what's coming.
Then Luna returned.
She moved through the trees like a blade sliding into a sheath—silent, smooth, and dangerous. I didn't need to look. I felt her the moment she stepped near.
"She's fine," Luna said, strolling into the clearing like it belonged to her. "I've left her with your pets."
I raised an eyebrow. "Erza?"
"And the wolves," she added with a smirk. "Fen, Onyx, and Sira. Your little pack seems quite taken with her. Especially the females. Freya's furious, by the way. She said if she'd known they existed, she never would've stopped playing."
A laugh slipped out before I could stop it—low, rough, but genuine.
"She'll hold that over me for days."
Luna rolled her eyes. "She already started. I had to promise she'd get the wolves and the bear again after training or she wouldn't calm down."
Without another word, she flicked something toward me.
I caught it in the air—my claws, cool metal biting gently into my palms.
I slid them on one by one. They felt... right.
By the time I looked up again, Luna had already claimed her seat.
Not beside me.
On me.
She slid into my lap like it had been carved for her, draping herself across me without hesitation. One hand rested at my shoulder, the other lazily along my thigh.
Possessive. Unbothered. Proud.
And she had every right to be.
I settled my arm around her waist and turned my attention to Astrid.
She was still standing in the same place.
Still watching us.
Her lips parted—like she had something to say. But no words came.
And her eyes?
They were on us.
Not just me.
Us.
She was seeing what the world should have seen years ago.
Not the runt of Berk.
Not the boy she mocked.
But the one who rose from blood and shadow.
And beside him—his Queen. His storm.
We weren't two people.
We were a force.
Royalty, born not from crown, but from claw and fire and fury.
And it shook her.
Her silence said more than words could.
I leaned forward slightly, claws glinting as I rested my hand over Luna's.
"Speak," I said.
She flinched.
"You've gotten my attention," I said quietly. "Don't waste it."