The Luna’s Unwanted Mate

Stranger

He tenderly cupped her face and kissed her lovingly on the forehead, eyes, nose, cheeks. —lips His kisses lingered on her lips as he sincerely expressed his love for her. “How is it possible that I love you more today than yesterday? I’m sure tomorrow, I would adore you much more.”

Emerson rolled her eyes and chuckled at his sugary phrases that never fails to make her belly churn with butterflies.

He didn’t stop. “My precious Emerson, you are my everything. If I lose you…” He halted as his orbs darken with fright. He grabbed her firmly as though scared someone may steal her away from his arms.

His eyes immediately blazed ominously, ready to perpetrate a terrible c*****e. “If I lose you, I shall bring this whole universe to an endless termination.”

He meant his words; she saw it in his eyes. It was humorous to her. “Silly you, I am not going anywhere. I am yours and yours alone. And I’m so sorry but you’re stuck with me forever.”

He bent down, his lips against her cheek, brushing it lightly—and still that light touch sent shivers through her nerves, shivers that made her whole body tremble. "If you want me to stop, tell me now," he whispered. When she said nothing, he brushed his mouth against the hollow of her temple. "Or now." He traced the line of her cheekbone. "Or now." His lips were against hers.

"Or—"

But she had reached up and pulled him down to her, and the rest of his words were lost against her mouth. He kissed her gently, carefully, but it wasn’t gentleness she wanted, not now, not after all this time, and she knotted her fists in his shirt, pulling him harder against her. He groaned softly, low in his throat, and then his arms circled her, gathering her against him, and they rolled over on the grass, tangled together, still kissing.

“Emerson! Wake up already!”

She felt the searing ache in her arm as her body met the hardwood floor. She whispered a curse as she struggled to grasp what was occurring around her.

She had just realised it was all a dream when Kelly nonsensically intervened and caused her tumble off her bed.

She glanced up, massaging her aching arm and moaned. “Why are you in my room? How did you get in?”

“No one was home and your door was unlocked, so I let myself in.” She shook it off and lay on Emerson’s bed.

Emerson heaved a sigh as she flopped back on her bed, her head pounding and threatening to split in two. Thanks to her parents—her father, rather. She spent the entire night overthinking last night’s incident and God knows when she eventually managed to fall asleep after hours of mulling over Damon and his unwise suggestion.

“We heard the amazing news, congratulate the newest Luna of Umbris.”

Emerson jerked her head toward Kelly and stared at her. Her orbs quickly turning from their typical brown hue to blood crimson.

“Whoa… hey take it easy there. I… I simply thought you…”

“I don’t know how or who notified you people before but I am sure it’s the Alpha. But just so you know, I rejected him. I don’t need to be a Luna for another Pack.”

Kelly gazed at her closely as she sat up. Emerson looked her before she said, “I don’t need my father to find a spouse for me. I don’t need anybody to. I’m not a tiny child, Kelly. I deserve to select my happy ending and who I want to mate with not… him.”

Kelly was silence for a moment—it wasn’t because she was arguing. She was startled when Emerson rejected Damon. Everyone knew him and who he was. His pack is 10 times greater than theirs’ and he could feed them for a year without getting poverty-stricken.

“You are my closest friend and I adore you, but you are out of your mind for rejecting Alpha Damon. Do you realise how strong that guy is? Do you realise the pleasant things that’d fall in Umbris if you embrace him? Do you know what he may do if you keep on rejecting him?”

Emerson shrugged and got off her bed. “I don’t have all day for this.”

**

The river channels of the woods, the blues and white lace among the earthy colours, amid the dance of green, come together as a visual kind of poetry, one read by the naked soul.

She clutched her knees to chest as she peered down at the water lake from the moderate rock she was resting on. It felt tranquil to be out here while knowing her father would be unhappy if he knew she came out into the woods, near to the folks they’ve been warned about.

She has never interacted with one of them before, but from what she has heard, there were unpleasant news. They’ve slaughtered countless of her kind.

She didn’t care…

She enjoyed being out here, all by herself. Especially on her worst days. She wanted to be alone and clear her head from the craziness it has been for the last twenty-four hours.

She had another confrontation with her father before escaping out here. She was having a pep-talk with her mother when he overheard her bad-mouthing about Damon and the thought of becoming his mate.

They exchanged words that they didn’t intend to, to each other. She loathed clashing with her father… yet he was sometimes a pain in the neck with his rules and overprotectiveness. It was one of the numerous reasons why she wanted to become the leader of herself.

She was bored of living under the tyranny of Alpha Jack, her father. She loved him so tenderly but most of the times she despised how he was overly bossy. It sometimes made her feel as if she wasn’t going to escape from his dungeon—as she called it.

She crossed her legs and worn-out book she brought along with her. It was handed to her by her grandma before she died. It was a chronicle chronicling their ancestors and how they developed throughout the ages.

Whenever she read it, she always wondered how they managed to survive every day, given they lived so near to the humans and they usually were attacked, hardly living after that.

She flipped to the final few pages, her favourite part—where her grandma met her granddad, the elderly Alpha of their pack, before her father was even born. Her grandmother’s pack were attacked and murdered, leaving just her. her grandpa protected her and brought her into his pack. He made her his Luna and together they grew mighty and undefeatable.

She would love to have someone as her like her granddad. He was nice and compassionate. He was the epitome of an ideal spouse. He loved her grandma so much before he fled to a war while she was pregnant with her father, Alpha Jack. He never came back… he was slain by mankind.

“Hey there.”

She jerked her head up and held the book to her chest. Terror took the very air from her throat as she glanced back at the boy standing before her.

“I am very sorry for frightening you. I’ve been… standing for about a minute yet you appear to be distracted.”

Her eyes were still wide open and aware. She attempted to slow her breath and try to quiet the stress but it was to avail. Her pulse was beating in her ears, drowning any other sound.

She has been out here so many times before but she has never confronted with a person till today. A masculine human. He seemed familiar.

She remained in her post and alerted. Maybe if she didn’t move. Maybe if her eye colour didn’t change, he’d never suspect a thing.

He glanced at her quizzically for a time by how afraid she appeared. It was odd. “I’m Dylan. I just moved here with my parents and sister a week ago.” He extended out his hand to her but she never budged. She glanced at his hand—it seemed warm and welcome but she wasn’t going to but it.

What if she accepted it and he harmed her?

He cleared his voice as he slipped his hands inside his pocket. She was unusual, he could feel it.

“Do you reside around here?” He questioned, glancing around. He didn’t feel like giving up yet.

She still didn’t speak a word or move. She barely needed him to turn and she was gone. She barely needed five second to sprint away.

She peered behind him, looking to see whether he was with someone. Maybe they were waiting for her to make a move and they’d assault her. She didn’t expect to die this way. She hadn’t even said goodbye to her parents… her dearest friends, Kelly and Andrew. Their waterfall…

“Oh, don’t worry, I came out here alone. I mean… I’m not meant to be out here… we’re not… are you permitted out here?” He talked breathlessly. He was worried by how she has been looking at him without blinking and he could swear her orbs changed anytime he blinked. Or maybe it was him going mad at how lovely she was.

She had the look of soul fire blazing against the ice. In the dusk, her silver hair long and flowing, mirrored the sunshine as well as the bonny lake wave. It made him wonder whether she dyed it to that precise tint or her hair was naturally silver.

Either way, it suited her and he would do everything to touch it and feel how smooth and silky it was.

“Please leave,” she finally managed to utter. At first, she needn’t to say anything. But she was frightened if she went off, he may come after her and find where she lived, reviling her genuine self.

She wouldn’t want to jeopardise her life or her family’s’.

“You voice…” he blurted out. Her voice felt like water in the air, because it both quenched and cleaned the spirit. “Sorry, I mean… I’m really sorry for making you feel uncomfortable…”

“Dylan? Dylan…”

He closed his eyes and heaved a sigh out of irritation. It was his fourteen-year old sister. He knew she was going to finally come after him after he had advised her not to come wandering into the woods.

“That’s my…” He paused when he discovered that she was gone. “F*ck…” he swore beneath his breath. Just as he was about to acquire her name was the moment his sister managed to walk up and wreck everything.

“What, Lily? I thought I’ve instructed you not to follow me out here? It’s too dangerous…”

“Well, you shouldn’t be out here too,” she cuts in, giving him a judgmental look.

“I am old enough and I can defend myself. But you are still terrified of creatures beneath your bed.”

She gripped his torso as she groaned. “They existed,” she asserted.

“Ouch… that’s not good. And you frightened my new friend away.”

“Who? You spotted a dog? A cat? Oh, oh, a bunny?”” Lily talked joyfully, expecting for a response but never received one.

He observed her book sprawled on the fallen leaves, alongside the rock she was sitting on. He grabbed it and inspected it.

“What’s that?” Lily asked but he still never gave her an answer.

“Let’s get home, Lily.” He grabbed their hands together and headed toward their farm home.

Emerson saw them from afar. They appeared unharmful to her. Possibly because she looked precisely like them and they had no idea she wasn’t human.

She watched as they went out of the trees with Dylan holding her book and checking it out.

She hopes he doesn’t notice anything odd about her and have the notion that it was merely a fantasy novel. She groaned quietly and also went home.

That night, Dylan spent the night reading the book Emerson had left. He read how wolves were the biggest members of the canine family. Adaptable grey is by far the most prevalent and were originally found all throughout the Northern Hemisphere. Wolves very seldom attack people without a cause yet they are usually regarded one of the animal world’s most dangerous natural villains.

What he read was so much different from what he was taught and learnt about them. They look harmless until you invade their domain or attempt to hurt them.

He spent part of his night reading and pouncing on the reports of the werewolf pack were rampant someplace in the woods and while he felt it was nonsense, he kept a modified cricket bat next to his bed always.

The following evening, Dylan went back to the same area, hoping to see if she’d show up so he’d return her diary and attempt to get to know her better.

He had met so many females, chatted with many. But never in his 19 years of existence has he ever encountered a female like her. There something about her, something fascinating and mysterious. She seemed afraid yet robust. He knew she was afraid presumably as of the legends of the werewolves lurking somewhere in the woods.

He jumped up the rock and settled down on the area she sat yesterday. He gently breathed, looked around the gorgeous but spine-chilling environment that was before him. He felt as if someone was watching him from afar—as if they were constructing a death trap for him to fall into.

**

“Is he tall? Is he handsome? Does he look like us? He talks like us? Did you touch him…”

“Shh, Kelly!” Emerson silenced her as she peered around. “Keep it down. You may never know who’s watching and listening to us.”

Kelly rolled her eyes as she folded her arms to her chest. “You’re over reacting, Emerson. It’s just the two of us here.”

“Yes, I know that. And yeah, he’s tall, gorgeous, he is a human thus, sure, he looks and talks like us. Did I mention that he’s handsome? I mean incredibly attractive.”

Kelly shrieked as she stumped her feet out of joy. “This is so terrible yet it feels so wonderful. You must go visit him again. I mean, we have to go visit him.”

“No, Kelly. We are not doing that. I’m not going out there ever again again, since we don’t know what those individuals are capable of. And do not under any circumstances tell anybody about this—not even Andrew.”

“But,”

“No, Kelly. You should realise that I trust you enough to tell you one of the most dangerous and darkest secrets, and I expect you to respect that and keep to yourself.”

Kelly nodded as she pursed her lips.

“Whenever I’m ready to tell Andrew, you’ll be the one to break it to him, I promise.” She gave her a side embrace as they began heading towards home.

If Andrew would find out that she had gone out into the woods and met a real human person, and they even chatted, he’d flip. He may not inform the Alpha but he’d chastise her and keep an eye on her from wandering back into the woods.

She would.

She would go back out there again—she was terrified but that wasn’t going to stop her from taking back her diary again… and she feasibly wanted to see him again.

He appeared nothing like what the diary her grandma written. He appeared gentle, smooth and controlled.