The Luna: Braver Than We Are

Chapter 8

The budget preliminary was so boring, but Adam forced himself to finish it today. He rescheduled his meetings, so he could go straight to meet Viola. It wasn’t like him to fall for a nice voice, but the urge to meet her was surprisingly strong.

He closed a folder and was about to call his secretary that he was leaving when the door to his cabinet opened without knocking. He sighed quietly, knowing who was about to enter.

The woman was gorgeous, with her blonde hair fashionably cut to her jawline, a slender but feminine figure, wrapped in a royal blue dress that brought out all the curves and the aura of a seductive princess. Adam could almost feel his wolf frowning. This was one of the very few points they agreed with each other. Alina Coldmoor wasn’t the woman they would like to be with. Yet everyone pushed them to end up together.

Not that it wasn’t unreasonable, he was rich and lost his mate. She was rich and lost her mate, although he always thought the story about how she met and lost her mate was a little bit vague. But most importantly, they were modern werewolves, trying to set themselves free from all this werewolf stuff.

“Hi handsome,” she chirripped, approaching him. She put her hand on his shoulder and kissed him on the cheek. “Chris told me you would be free earlier today, so I thought we could have dinner together.”

Adam wanted to decline, but he couldn’t. The Coldmoors shipped his company with reliable workers. Besides, he and Alina had a history. For Adam, it was just a drunken one-night stand, but she assumed that they were dating. He was disgusted with himself, but he upheld this fiction, mostly by avoiding any conversation about this topic and agreeing to go out with Alina from time to time. Preferably not today. The wolf-mutt stirred, obviously wanting him to say a firm no.

“With pleasure,” he said finally, and the wolf growled, almost getting to the surface, and Adam had difficulties suppressing him. “We will go there tomorrow” he snapped.

“My wolf isn’t pleased with our relationship either,” Alina muttered. She had to notice his struggle. “But we must not submit to them.” He nodded absentmindedly, still trying to reason with the stupid wolf. “Anyway, there is a new restaurant at the Grand Hotel, I was there with the girls and I thought you would fancy it.”

She led him out of the office, to her car and drove to the hotel. It was one of those glamorous fin de siecle hotels, with golden ornaments and draperies on the walls, enormously big chandeliers, and the vibe of expensive luxury.

The restaurant was almost full, but Alina booked the table earlier. So this dinner wasn’t as spontaneous as she tried to put it.

Adam’s mind was still absent, struggling with the wolf, who decided not to remain in his usual grumpy but quiet mood and thinking about calling Jonathan later to inquire about Viola’s wellbeing. He just nodded when the waiter proposed the courses and didn’t really listen to what he and Alina were speaking about. So when the dishes arrived and he found out that they are the chef’s selection tasting menu with mini portions, he was about to comment on it. But Alina was quicker.

“I thought we should start preparations,” she said with a smile.

“What preparations?”

“We’re not going to last like this forever. My parents started pushing me to move forward. Your grandfather also mentioned it once or twice.”

“I don’t understand.”

“We should get married, you fool,” she chirripped again and burst into a little laughter. It annoyed him. She probably thought she was charming, but he found this manner of her repulsing. “I know,” she said before he could open his mouth. “It should be you who proposes and I don’t have a ring for you, but it’s about time. We’ve been dating for some time and we fit together so well.”

Adam was speechless for a while. Yes, it was true, grandfather mentioned it was time to find a luna, but when did he speak about it with Alina?

“So this is…”

“Yes, I want to check the venue for our wedding. You will propose formally later.”

“This… I mean, do you think we need to rush things?” That wasn’t what he should have said. He wanted to say there would be no wedding in the foreseeable future.

Alina patted his hand and looked at him seriously.

“You must remember about the joint venture dad and your grandfather are planning. This is huge and you surely don’t want to blow it by disrespecting me.”

“I don’t mean to disrespect you, I’m only saying that the idea of getting married is fairly new to me. Getting out together and having fun is one thing but…”

“We didn't only have fun together. We slept together,” she snapped, but not too loud. “I was a virgin,” her long fingers dug into Adam’s flesh. “You have to and you will take the responsibility.” She smiled charmingly, taking her hand back. The back of Adam’s hand was left with four reddened fingernail marks that started to heal immediately. “I know I’m not your mate, but marrying me and joining the packs is the reasonable thing to do. The agreement is almost negotiated, it would be a shame if you blew it.”

“I will think about it,” Adam said, cursing his grandfather inside. He had to get out of this situation quickly.