The Moon Queen

07 - My mate, My Luna, My Queen (1)

07 – My mate, My Luna, My Queen (1)

Aiden’s POV:

I can’t recall the last time I shed a tear. But the things Hailey said. She believed that Hazel and I had slept together. She had a dream where she rejected me, AND I accepted it. Hearing everything was overwhelming.

For the past few weeks, I’ve been worried that I wouldn’t have the opportunity to make it up to her. My hope was renewed when she woke up early this morning and allowed me to offer comfort by lying next to her. ‘The s*x in the bathroom may not have been the most thoughtful decision. But having s*x multiple times a day, every day for a month straight, only to have no contact for three weeks, can leave a man feeling desperate. That, combined with that filthy mouth of hers, was my undone, even before I was actually buried deep inside her. Who am I to deny my mate, my Luna, my queen, her wish?’

And now we’re sitting here, both crying. I have no idea if we’re okay, if she wants me to comfort her, or if we’ll get out of this. Her mind is full of everything that has happened, whether in her coma or reality. The past three weeks, or in her mind, six months, have been a lot.

Crying leads to sobbing, and she eventually tires out and falls asleep.

I wash off the whiny look from my face when I’m sure she’s asleep. I walk back into the room, take off my shirt, and remove my pants. Wearing just my boxers, I get into bed with her. The moment I get into this single bed next to her, it’s like a magnet that pulls her towards me, snuggling against me. Her stomach pressed against my side—one of those delicious thighs draped over mine. I can feel her cheek against my chest. I wrap my right arm around her and pull her even closer. My left-hand guides her right hand to my chest so she can feel my heartbeat. With Hailey clinging to me, I doze off, too.

The sound of someone crying wakes me up. It takes a while for me to understand my surroundings and what has happened. Instead of being in bed, Hailey’s now seated in a chair. Arlene and Jared flank her. Hazel and Seth sit on chairs on opposite sides of the bed.

Despite Hazel’s sniffling, Hailey is the one who’s genuinely crying.

Judging by the individuals in the room and our previous conversation, it’s safe to say that the report on her lap is the one I mentioned - Arlene’s investigation.

Arlene, the Luna, who played a vital role in keeping my Beta loyal to me, restoring her sister-in-law’s reputation, and resolving the matter at hand. Helped to ensure that Hailey and I could also move on.

If she still wants me.

I immediately sit up and hop off the bed to go to her. My voice is still hoarse from sleeping as I try to get her attention. “Baby.”

I sink to my knees in front of her, ¨placing my hands on her hips. She doesn’t push me away, which is a bit surprising, but I take it. “Baby, look at me.”

Her eyelids are half closed due to all the crying, eyes bloodshot and hazy. Her eyes seem to have lost their light. “I was awful,” she says.

I shake my head. “No, you didn’t know any better.” I lift her from the chair and then sit with Hailey on my lap. “Your response made perfect sense,” I reassure her as I hold her tightly. The mate bond and sparks work their magic as she snuggles up to me.

A new wave of hope emerges. While I let her cry on my lap, I stroke her head. The softness of her hair and its gentle movement have a calming effect on both of us.

“We’ll let you two be,” Arlene says as she stands up. As a true Luna, she caresses Hailey’s upper arm as she passes. Jared moves to make a similar gesture, stopping halfway, instead opting for the words, “Link me. For anything,” he offers her instate. Before summoning Hazel to join him, as well.

Seth lingers for a moment. Arlene’s help has ensured his loyalty to me as his Alpha, which means he won’t leave unless I say so. “It’s okay, Seth, just go.”

Upon hearing his name, Hailey’s head quickly turns. “I’m so sorry, Seth.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for, Luna.” Seth gives her a sincere response.

Her nose wrinkles when she hears her title, but she doesn’t resent him for it. “I do. I stole a moment from you that you will never get back.”

“We have the rest of our lives to make up for that first moment. Besides, between you and me, Hazel likes to make up for it, to express her regret, if you know what I mean.”

“That’s enough, Seth. Thank you!” I wave him away.

There’s a soft smile on Hailey’s lips. Seth laughs softly and then walks out the door.

“I’m sorry,” Hailey says as soon as we hear the door close.

“For what?” I ask her. She doesn’t have to apologize to me.

“Throwing away our bond like that.” Referring to our earlier conversation, in which she mentioned she rejected me. Thank Goddess, it was just a dream.

“Hailey, nothing was thrown away. Everything was a dream,”

“I know that now, but it felt real, and I’m sorry. I thought rejecting the bond was the only solution.” She says again.

“There was no damage, so you don’t have to apologize.”

“Does it make any difference if I say that I did it with the thought that we could be together without a bond?”

“What do you mean?” I ask for clarification.

“In my dream,” she says. She looks up for a moment but quickly looks down at her hands on her lap. “I thought that maybe by rejecting you, I could save Theo. That Theo could also find his mate, and you loved me enough; we didn’t need the bond to be happy together.”

“Really? Tell me what you’ve been dreaming about since those vampires attacked you?” I ask her. It may not have actually happened, but it has a significant impact on her, and maybe it will help her to talk about it.

“I remember trying to get away, but it felt like they were coming from all sides. Theo linked me. He couldn’t get away, and his back legs were broken. A fire, Kelvin, pulling me out. I also remember Boaz somewhere; after that, it’s all a blur. I remember feeling like a pack member died several times and waking up in the hospital to Killian shouting at someone. The beeping of monitors and a forest.”

“What was in that forest?”

“It was dark. A path led me to a well. It felt like I was being watched from behind the bushes. I could hear sounds like whining, people groaning in pain, and so on. At the well, I met The Moon Goddess. She looked different from the other times I’ve seen her on the beach.”

“Then what did she say to you?”

“My memory is a bit hazy. I remember being put in some kind of glass box. I wasn’t hungry or thirsty but could see you and Killian, like some out-of-body experience. You were so angry. Killian finally left the hospital to pick Oliver up from Mara and Vince.”

“And I?”

“You were so angry at my rejection that you ran away. You let Tank take over and lived in his form for days.”

“And then?” I ask further. I was angry, but never at her.

“One day, weeks after everything had happened, I woke up, this time in bed. No nurse or doctor came by, but I knew I could leave. No one came by, and then I went to Vince and Mara. Mara was nearing the end of her pregnancy, and I helped them.”

She looks doubtful again. “It’s like the more I talk about it now, the fuzzier all the details become.” She confesses.

“That’s okay. Just tell me what you know.”

“Mara had a difficult birth, and I helped her bring their son into the world. They called him Liam. No one knew where I was, except Vince and Mara.”

When the name Kayla suddenly comes to mind. “This morning, you mentioned a hospital in relation to Jules’ daughter’s birth. Can you tell me more about it?”

“Yeah, Kelvin and Killian came for a maternity visit, and I hid. I had agreed with Vince not to leave the pack territory until I got a call from Julie. She was having contractions and couldn’t handle it all. Aurum took over, and we ran to the hospital in wolf form.”

“But that’s over four hours away by car,”

“I never said everything I dreamed made sense,”

“No, it is. And then?” I urge her to continue telling.

“I arrived. I went into Julie’s room. We talked a lot, about her daughter, about her parents, about her first mate, Blaine. I told her about Bella’s pregnancy, and that’s how we got through the first hours of contractions. She shared she had picked out the name Kayla but didn’t feel capable of raising her. She gave Kayla up for adoption because she didn’t want a constant reminder of Blaine. When Kayla was born, she put her words into action. She didn’t want her to latch on for breastfeeding or even want to see or hear her. I finally left her room with Kayla and walked to a waiting room where everyone was waiting. You, Seth, Mara, Vince, Kelvin, Killian, Chris, Feline and Richard.”

“Why was Kelvin there?” I’m surprised her ex still appears in all of this.

“No idea, I think, because they were visiting Mara and Vince?”

“And then?”

“There was a bit of an argument. You left, and when I went to follow you, you were already in the elevator, about to go down. All you said was that you accepted my rejection.”

“Did it feel real? The rejection?”

“Yes, I fell to my knees. The next moment, I woke up to Kayla crying. We were in Mountain Valley Pack, and Killian gave me a necklace with a small heart. He introduced me to his aunt, his mother’s sister, who had raised him. Then Kayla and Oliver stayed with her, and we ran through his pack in wolf form. We arrived at a house on the water, where we...” When she stops talking, I know what she means. That’s where she thought they marked each other.

“You can say it; it was just a dream.”

“It didn’t feel that way. Everything felt real, no matter how stupid it sounds now. No matter how illogical it feels now when I think about it. It felt real at that moment.”

“Do you want that?”

“What?” She looks up at me for the first time. I can hear her heartbeat beating faster.

“Being with Killian?”

“I’m unsure of how you envision it. How can I be with you and Killian? The packs are hundreds of kilometers apart.”

“Where there’s a will, there’s a way. The question is, what do you want?”

“Before all this, ever since I came back, and you were there when I went into heat, I’ve had this fantasy; it was you and me. It felt like I was being punished for having that dream. I like Killian. I’m attracted to him. We definitely bonded together when I was in his pack, but I don’t know if I can call it love.”