Lunar Temptations

Ch 21

I stared at Winnie, wide-eyed and shocked. I didn't know how to react for a moment. She was my youngest sister, and even though she was 18 and would soon have a mate of her own, it felt weird and awkward to hear this from her. From my point of view, she was still my little sister, five years younger than me and too innocent to be involved in such stuff. On the other hand, another thing that surprised me was the fact that she was right.

Maybe Esme told her that, or I don't know, but it was obvious, though, that I hadn't mated yet.

"How does this have anything to do with my healing powers?" Confused and dumbfounded, I asked.

She shook her head as if shaking the question off.

"Your wolf's too weak right now, and in your case, it's because you haven't mated yet," she said as if it was normal to talk about mating with me. Well, sometimes both of my sisters surprised me with the way they were turning out to be. I left for five years, and now they were both of age and extremely intelligent too. If our places were exchanged, I couldn't have guessed that my wolf was weak, let alone that it couldn't heal faster because of it.

"Therefore, your healing process is slowed," she paused to glance at the wound on my neck. "Extremely." She sighed as if already tensed to think about it. "And how did you figure this out?" I raised a brow suspiciously.

Last time I checked, I was up to pretty rebellious things at the age of 18, which involved having an affair with a rogue and risking it all for him. Winnie, on the other hand, was way quieter than me and even more observant. A part of me was surprised to see her like this because when I left, she was only 13, and I had a lot on my plate to interact enough with my sisters. Unlike both of them, I would always have to go spend some time alongside Dad and Paul, the beta, so I learned how to lead a pack from actual leaders. Other than that, I would also have to spend some time with Mom to learn her role. It was exhausting most of the time and it took away some of the most precious years of my life, the years I should have spent with my sisters and learning to make friends because I barely had any except Jasper and a few more.

Yet even in those times, I had spent with Mom and Dad, learning about how to lead, I never got to truly know how fast a werewolf should heal or how not mating for long affected a werewolf and their abilities.

"I read about it, and it was pretty easy to guess," she rolled her eyes, "You have amazing abilities, Ray, and seeing you weak wasn't one of them. So I figured it may have something to do with mating." Nudging closer to me, she had an evil smile on. "I thought I should let you know, maybe it would convince you to do the deed." She said and laughed when I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, Mom, sure," I said, punching her shoulder lightly.

"Hey! I hate to see you like this," she whined, earning a glare from me. We talked and joked for a while. They were about to leave to go back to the mansion, so I made sure to make the most of it for now.

"You know, it's pretty amazing how important a mate can be," she spoke in a daze after she explained to me how they found out I was missing yesterday. Miranda, our maid, discovered that I was missing when she was bringing me the bouquet of the day from Zayden. It was pretty chaotic from what Winnie told me, and I couldn't help but regret going out for a run.

"You could be the most powerful wolf to exist, but without your mate—" she paused dramatically, and I stared at her like she had grown horns. "You'd be weaker than an average wolf."

I blinked several times to register what she was saying. I certainly wasn't a powerful wolf, let alone the most powerful. "Not everything is about having a mate, Winnie. Besides, I am definitely not that powerful with or without my mate," I scoffed.

Her eyes narrowed, and her brows furrowed. "Why would you say that?" she began, but Mom's voice boomed. "Are you two done? We are ready to leave."

Before I could ask Winnie what she was saying, she hugged me and got up. "Take care, I'll tell you more next time," she whispered to me, as if not wanting Mom to hear us. I nodded and bid them both farewell with a promise to come visit soon. Mom would have cried again if it were not for the fact that I had moved in with Zayden. They left, and I watched as they sped off, a strange feeling overtaking me.

I was at a new place, inside a new pack, and that too with Zayden. Even though I hadn't seen him since he had vanished into my room—I declared it mine when I decided to move in with him. The least he could do was give me a room of my choice, and I found that one very likeable. He might have gotten out at some point, which I didn't notice since when I went to look for him there, he was already gone.

It was late at night now, and my body was slowly giving up. Even though I was well-rested, the tiredness was there from last night's events. Yawning, I made my way back into the house, and for a moment, I paused to take a look around. Despite everything, I couldn't wait to explore more of the house. It was designed in a modern way, and while I had spent most of my life inside a mansion with antique furniture mostly, I was excited to spend my time there. It was like a change, and somehow, finally, at this point, it felt a little positive. The thought of a truce with Zayden crossed my mind, and for a moment, I couldn't believe that I had done that. I had agreed to every one of the terms, and maybe I wouldn't have, but something had changed. I didn't exactly know what.

I walked back to my room, accompanied by a maid. Turned out, I had taken several wrong turns and had ended up in a completely different area of the house. Thankfully, I found her, and she led me back to my room.

"I have laid out some clothes and the ointment on the bed, Miss Dawson," she told me before bowing and taking off in the other direction.

Right, I have to apply the ointment before bed, I thought and huffed out. Suddenly, I wanted nothing more than to change since Zayden's scent was long gone from them, replaced by the smell of my blood and sweat. I quickly took a shower and wrapped a towel around myself. I couldn't change before dressing the wound, so I took a peek into the room to find it empty. I tiptoed to the bed and picked a pair of pyjamas to put on.

I was halfway applying the ointment on the wound when I heard the door creak open.

Fuck, I cursed internally. I turned around and launched myself at whoever was there. My claws instinctively came out, and I was about to scratch the person's face when my hands were pinned down.

"It's me, Red," his voice came.