Vladimir's Marked Luna

Chapter 98: Prey And Mate

𓆩𝐕𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐫𓆪

"The bond is strong, very strong," Zeta Erwin sounded stumped. "And it’s not even completed yet. This is quite unprecedented. Bonds between interspecies are not this volatile."

The fraying thread of my hard-won control would soon snap, and all I was hearing was more bad news.

"Maybe the scribes have more information on my situation," I said, forcing the words out evenly. "There has to be something about this in the archives."

There had to be. Maybe there was a tincture or concoction that could be prepared to muzzle this beast that tormented me. Obviously modern medicine did not help. This had become the worst rut I’d ever been through.

I had been put through the ringer, and I had a horrible sinking feeling that there was still more to come.

"I’ve been checking since your last phone call," Erwin replied. "I had a hunch you would call again concerning this issue. Though I wished I had been wrong."

I gritted my teeth, trying to keep the hunger that had slowly begun to morph into madness at bay.

"And?" I demanded. "What did you find?"

A pause. Too long.

"Erwin."

"There are... records," he said carefully. "Very old ones. Most deteriorated beyond legibility. But what I could piece together suggests that interspecies bonds—particularly between wolves and hybrids—tend to be... exponentially more intense than traditional bonds."

"Why?"

"The working theory is that the wolf instinct recognizes the hybrid as both mate and prey. It creates a contradictory biological imperative—claim and protect, but also hunt and dominate. The rut becomes confused, amplified."

My hand clenched around the phone. "There has to be a way to suppress it."

"The suppressants you’ve been using are already the strongest available," Erwin said. "And they’re clearly not working. In fact, forcing suppression might be making it worse. The rut is... adapting. Fighting back against the chemical intervention."

"Then what do you suggest?" My voice came out harsher than intended. "That I just give in to it?"

"High Alpha, I’m not suggesting anything inappropriate," Erwin said quickly. "But the bond wants completion. Every moment you deny it, the pressure builds. Eventually—"

"Eventually what?"

Another pause.

"Eventually, your control won’t matter. The rut will take over completely, and you’ll have no choice in what happens next."

The words hung in the air, a death sentence dressed as clinical observation.

"How long do I have?"

"Based on the progression you’ve described?" Erwin’s voice was grim. "Days. Maybe a week. The incomplete bond is like a wound that won’t heal. The longer it stays open, the more damage it does to both of you."

Both of us.

I thought of Lilith this morning. The way she’d looked at me. The devastation in her eyes when I’d told her to stop speaking.

The bond screaming in my chest every second we were apart.

"There has to be another option," I said.

"There is one," Erwin said reluctantly.

"What?"

"Complete the bond."

I laughed, bitter and sharp. "Absolutely not. It is against the Luna Duel. I would be breaking the rules if I made her mine before one of them came out victorious." The last thing I needed was Kustav having weapons of my own scandal in his arsenal.

Zeta Erwin went quiet before he let out a resigned sigh. "Maybe is you made love to her without marking her? But—"

"If I lost control, I would definitely do just that." The admission tasted like ash. "I was so close to doing just that in public. I would not be able to hold myself back from knotting and marking her fully as mine."

The silence on the other end was heavy.

"Then we’re back to the original problem," Erwin said finally. "The rut will continue escalating. And when it reaches its peak—"

"I know." I cut him off, not wanting to hear it spoken aloud again.

"There is one other option," Erwin said carefully. "Though it’s... unconventional."

"Tell me."

"Isolation. Complete separation. Put enough physical distance between you that the bond can’t reach. It would be... extremely painful for both of you. The bond would fight it. But if you can maintain that distance for long enough—"

"How long?"

"Months. Maybe longer." He paused. "The bond might never fully sever. Incomplete bonds don’t just disappear. But the intensity could diminish enough that you’d both be functional. Eventually."

Eventually.

Months.

I thought of her dull eyes this morning during training. The way she’d moved like she was possessed but empty at the same time. The way she wouldn’t even look at me.

Three days of minimal contact had already done so much to me. I had began to hallucinate her voice because I was no longer allowed hear.

I thought it would make it better, I had thought it would make it easier to resist her if I no longer heard her jokes, rambling or allowed any banter but it had done the exact opposite and now—I was losing my mind,

Months would destroy me completely. What would have happen if there was danger, if the Oath of the Black moon returned for her.

My cybernetic arm had began to twitch.

"That’s not an option," I said flatly.

"Then your choices are limited, High Alpha." Erwin’s voice was grim. "Complete the bond and face the political consequences. Separate completely and face the physical consequences. Or—"

"Or lose control and take the choice away from both of us," I finished.

"Yes."

I closed my eyes, the rut snarling beneath my skin like a caged animal that had tasted freedom.

Days. Maybe a week.

"There’s nothing else?" I asked, though I already knew the answer. "No ritual? No ancient solution that doesn’t involve destroying her or breaking sacred law?"

"If there is, it’s not in any texts I’ve found," Erwin said. "I’m sorry, High Alpha. This is... unprecedented territory. Interspecies bonds are rare enough. One involving a hybrid, an incomplete marking, and a Luna Duel?" He exhaled slowly. "The archives have nothing on this exact situation."