Luna and her Alpha mate

09 - Home

Luna doesn’t answer.

She has no idea what to tell him anyway and truth be told, doubts have already started to assail her as soon as she sees the river, because even if she were able to find her way past this, how is she going to go home? She has nothing on her, merely a stick to defend herself with and she’s not even sure it’s sturdy enough.

Hitchhike? The way her luck is running and this being in the middle of nowhere, she will probably just end up in a car with a psychopath.

Take another bus? Just the thought makes her feel ill as she remembers what happened the last time she did. She’ll have to get a bike or learn how to drive, if and when she returns to her old life. She probably wouldn’t be taking the bus again for as long as she lives.

Cain waits for a few seconds before sighing and signalling for her to follow him to the path to the right, towards the hanging bridge. He walks ahead and doesn’t look back to see if she is following so Luna has no choice but to run after him.

She finally catches up to him and they walk in silence, each one lost in their own thoughts, until they finally reach the hanging bridge he told her about.

“I can go no further, we have training in a few hours and I need to rest. I will tell my patrollers not to bother you. You won’t see them but they see you and they will keep predators away from your path so you’ll be safe within our sanctuary. From the other side of the bridge, it’s another couple or more hours of hiking before you reach the public road, but from then on, you’ll be on your own. ” He tells her in a bland voice, nodding politely before turning away. “Best of luck.”

Panic sets in as she watches him walk away, the terror visceral and breathtaking. It takes her exactly three seconds before calling out to him again.

“Wait!”

He stops and turns to look at her. “Yes?” He asks politely.

“I’m scared.” She admits, biting her lower lip.

He frowns. “Of the forest or of being on your own afterwards? I’m sorry but I can only protect you if you are in my territory—”

She shakes her head. “I’m scared of you.”

Cain looks stunned, clearly not expecting her answer. “Of me? Have I done anything that suggests I will hurt you?”

Luna hesitates a bit before taking a deep breath. “No, I… actually, what I said…is not accurate. I don’t know how to explain this properly but… I’m scared of my reaction to you… I should be afraid of you… not…” She swallows. “Not feeling this attraction that will probably lead me nowhere.”

Cain walks back to her, slowly. “We’ll never know for sure that it will lead to nowhere…until we give it a try.” He tells her quietly. “You know I feel it as well.”

Luna raises her eyes to meet his. “What if it doesn’t work out?”

“What if it did?”

“Can you assure me that I won’t… lose myself?”

He shakes his head. “I can’t. Only you can do that.”

She sighs. “Fair enough.”

“For the record…being lost is not always a bad thing. Sometimes, it’s how we find ourselves.”

Luna narrows her eyes suspiciously at him. “You’re grinning.”

He laughs. “Maybe because I’m happy that you’re… considering… coming home with me.”

She snorts. “I won’t make it that easy for you to get lucky, you know.”

He shrugs. “Didn’t expect you to. You’re being quite difficult even now, and we haven’t even begun to explore what we have. I mean, I followed you in the middle of the forest at two in the morning and I have training at four.” He tells her pointedly. “I think I deserve a reward.”

She rolls her eyes. “Of course you’d think so.”

He smiles and she can’t help smiling back. He casually walks closer, stopping right in front of her. Tentatively, he presses his forehead on hers and she closes her eyes as his familiar and unique scent envelopes her.

He then brushes his lips against hers, very softly, almost feathery, but Luna feels it in her soul.

Home.

It feels like… she’s exactly where she belongs.

“So… home?” he whispers.

Funny how he seems to read her mind and yet she knows he’s asking a completely different question. He’s asking about going back with him.

She sighs and answers. “Yes. Home.”

With that, they start walking back to the packhouse, both relieved and looking forward to what tomorrow will bring.

They are also both oblivious to the presence of another man at the border of Cain’s territory, sitting in his car, watching furiously in silence when the light of Luna’s tracking device begins to blink as she moves again, this time, walking further away from where he was waiting for her.

“Damn it.” He curses as he restarts the car and drives away so as to avoid suspicion. He knows there are patrollers around the place. He is not going to risk his neck without a proper backup.

She was so close… almost within reach. But now her little blinking light seems to move back to the packhouse. Out of reach again, back into the den of the wolves.

It did seem too good to be true. But of course, they wouldn’t just let her go.

He will wait no longer. It’s time for plan B.

*****

*****

When Luna wakes up that morning, it is already quite late.

She stretches and sees a tray of now cold breakfast on the vanity table. Together with it is a beautiful red rose, recently picked from the garden.

Smiling to herself, she slips off the bed and sits in front of the table to read the note under the rose.

Beautiful, just like you.

C

She chuckles, delighted. His seduction has begun and the start is very promising. The breakfast-in-bed is very thoughtful, given how late they came back from the forest last night. Luna wonders if he prepared the tray himself or just asked someone to do it. Either way, it still gets him extra points for being thoughtful. Red roses are her favourite flowers and she adores little personal notes like this one.

“Not too shabby, Alpha.” She whispers.

She doesn’t see him again until the next day when he brings her the breakfast tray himself.

She purses her lips, amused. “You know… if you continue to spoil me like this, I will expect you to still do this even after I’ve… surrendered the fort.”

He blinks before laughing out loud and pushing his way into her room. Luna watches with a small smile as he places the tray on the vanity table again, crosses his arms in front of his chest and then c0cks his head to the side, amused.

“Surrendering the fort, you say? I didn’t realise this was some sort of battle… I thought I was merely courting a girl I like.”

She bites her lips shyly. “Well… I’m still waiting to be conquered so…”

He growls under his breath, low enough that she almost missed it and he quickly strides over to her and closes the door firmly, pressing her back on it. Groaning as his control slips, he takes both her hands and pins them with one of his own over her head. His other hand begins to trace very naughty lines around her chest, slowly inching down towards her belly button.

“Do you want to be conquered, Luna?” He asks. “To be overcome… and for me to take control?”

Breathing heavily with excitement, she licks her lips as she stares into his eyes, the usual clear blue shade now darkening with the same need that she feels.

“I don’t know… I’m not yet sure…” She admits. “But it doesn’t sound so bad…”

“Hmmm… no, it is not. Not if we both want it…”

She gasps when his fingers trace the line of her underwear. She has slept only with a very large shirt that reaches mid-thigh and only her underwear and she is so distracted by his eyes she hadn’t noticed right away that he has lifted her shirt and is now in uncharted territories.

“Wh… What are you doing?” She asks, with a little panic in her voice.

“Breaching the walls…” He answers as he tries to pull her underwear down.

She suddenly feels uncertain. It’s going too fast…

“Please… I…”

“Yes?”

“I don’t think I’m ready…” She blurts out. “Please stop…”

He freezes instantly. After a few seconds, he closes his eyes as he tries to rein himself in. When he opens them again, they are clear again and he kisses her forehead as he slowly releases her hands, his hand slipping away from her underwear as well.

He takes a deep breath and slowly backs away.

Feeling bereft of something but also relieved, she clutches the hem of her shirt and looks at him apologetically.

“I’m—”

“Don’t.” He says firmly. “There is no need. I hear you and I understand it might be overwhelming you so I stopped. There is nothing wrong with you letting me know exactly what you feel and what you need. I hear you and I will always listen, I promise. I want you to be able to feel safe with me.”

She looks down. “I am. I do feel safe…it’s just… I wasn’t quite ready and I…I didn’t want to disappoint you.”

Cain walks to the window and sits on the window sill. “You need not worry about that. I’m quite smitten and unless you turn out to be a member of that syndicate that kidnapped the girls, I doubt there’s much you can do that will turn me off. If you still have any kind of doubt, I’m saying this now to set things straight. I like you. I’m very much attracted to you and I look forward to seeing how this thing between us will turn out.”

Swallowing the lump of emotion in her throat, she nods and says nothing, afraid her voice might give away how vulnerable she is feeling at the moment. She really hopes it is true that he’s not disappointed.

“Luna.”

“Hmm?”

“Come with me to the beach today?”

The beach. Her cheeks burn at the memory of her dream. “T-The beach?”

He smiles. “Yes. I have a little cabin built in a secluded area there, away from the builders. Nobody else is allowed there so we’ll have complete privacy. Maybe we can use the time alone to get to know each other better…”

Luna smiles, relieved and hopeful. “I’d like that.”