Luna sat cross-legged on her bed, still in her wine-stained uniform, trying to make sense of the panic attack building in her chest. The servant's quarters felt suffocating – the walls too close, the ceiling too low, the air too thick. Her hands wouldn't stop shaking, no matter how tightly she clasped them together.
"I brought cookies," Maya announced, slipping through the door with a paper napkin bundle. "Mrs. Chen was stress-baking in the kitchen. Apparently, having an Omega queen is giving everyone anxiety." She paused, taking in Luna's face. "Oh, honey."
Luna tried to smile, but her lips trembled. "I threw up twice already."
"Scoot over." Maya settled beside her, unwrapping slightly squashed chocolate chip cookies. "Remember when I first started here and dropped that entire tray of desserts at the Ambassador's dinner? I threw up three times."
"That's different." Luna picked at a cookie, not eating it. "You didn't accidentally end up mated to the king."
"No, but I did have to explain to the Ambassador's wife why her designer dress was covered in tiramisu." Maya bumped Luna's shoulder. "Talk to me. What's really going on in that head of yours?"
Luna's laugh came out more like a sob. "Everything hurts. My head, my chest, my stomach. I can't stop thinking about my dad's face when he finds out. Or Alexander's mother – oh god, the Queen Mother is going to hate me." She pressed her palms against her eyes. "I don't know how to be a queen, Maya. I can barely look people in the eye. This morning I was worried about getting my uniform pressed properly, and now..."
"Now you're going to live in the East Wing and wear fancy dresses and make all those stuck-up nobles bow to you." Maya's voice softened. "But you're still you. That hasn't changed."
"Hasn't it?" Luna pulled her hands away, staring at them. "I feel different. Like my skin doesn't fit right anymore. And the mate bond – it's like having a second heartbeat, but it's not mine. I can feel him, Maya. All the time. Even now, I know he's frustrated about something, and it's making my teeth itch."
A knock interrupted them, and Luna's whole body tensed at Alexander's scent. Maya squeezed her hand before leaving, shooting the king a look that was probably more protective than properly respectful.
Alexander stood awkwardly in the doorway, looking as out of place in the servant's quarters as a wolf in a china shop. He'd changed into a black sweater that had probably cost more than Luna made in a year, but there was a coffee stain on the sleeve that he hadn't noticed. That tiny imperfection made something in Luna's chest ease.
"The Council meeting was..." he trailed off, running a hand through his hair until it stuck up at odd angles.
"A disaster?" Luna supplied.
"A circus." He looked at the cramped room, his eyes catching on her few possessions. The worn quilt from home. A small stack of paperback books. A chipped mug with faded flowers. His jaw tightened. "You deserve better than this."
"Better things don't make better people." Luna surprised herself with the sharp edge in her voice. "And I'm tired of people deciding what I deserve."
She expected anger. Instead, Alexander sank onto her bed with a groan that sounded almost human. The frame creaked alarmingly under his weight.
"I broke my desk," he admitted.
Luna blinked. "What?"
"After the Council meeting. I lost my temper and broke my desk. Split it right down the middle." He looked at his hands. "I haven't lost control like that since I was a teenager. But they kept talking about you like... like..."
"Like I'm nothing?"
"Like you're a problem to be solved." He turned to face her, and Luna was startled by the raw emotion in his eyes. "They wanted to send you away. Said they'd find a 'suitable position' in another pack, far enough away that the bond wouldn't..." He swallowed hard. "I wanted to rip their throats out."
"That might have made the transition of power a bit awkward."
A startled laugh escaped him. "Was that a joke? Are you making jokes right now?"
"I cope with humor. And stress-eating." Luna offered him a cookie. To her surprise, he took it. "I'm scared too, you know."
The admission hung between them. Alexander stared at the cookie like it held answers.
"I don't know how to be anything other than what I am," he said finally. "I was raised to believe that weakness was unforgivable, that power was everything. I've spent years building walls to keep people out. And then you..." He gestured helplessly. "You spilled wine on my shirt and suddenly there are cracks in everything."
"I'm sorry about the shirt."
"I'm not." He turned the cookie over in his hands. "Luna, I... I'm not good at this. At feelings. At letting people in. The last person I really trusted was my sister, and she..." Pain flashed across his face. "She died three years ago. Car accident."
Luna's hand moved before she could think better of it, covering his. His fingers were trembling slightly.
"I haven't been in this room since Sarah died," he said quietly. "She used to sneak down here to visit her friend in the kitchen. Used to tell me I needed to pay more attention to the staff, that they were people too. I couldn't... after she died, I couldn't face it."
Understanding hit Luna like a punch. "That's why you never did staff inspections. The other servants used to think you were too important to bother with us, but..."
"It hurt too much." He turned his hand over, lacing his fingers with hers. "The Moon Goddess has a sick sense of humor, doesn't she? Giving me a mate who forces me to face everything I've been running from."
Luna looked at their joined hands. "Maybe that's the point."
"Maybe." He squeezed her fingers. "I can't promise I'll be good at this. I'll probably say the wrong things, do the wrong things. I'm still angry about having choices taken away from both of us. But..." He met her eyes. "I want to try. Really try, not just because we have to."
"I might cry at state dinners."
"I might break more furniture."
"I definitely won't bow to your mother."
That startled another laugh out of him. "Now that I'd pay to see." His thumb brushed over her knuckles. "We should go. You need rest before tomorrow's circus begins."
But he didn't let go of her hand as they walked through the palace halls, and when Luna stumbled, exhausted and overwhelmed, he caught her without hesitation.
"I've got you," he murmured, and for the first time all day, Luna believed things might actually be okay.
Not perfect. Not a fairy tale. But okay. Sometimes that was enough.