Her secret mate

Little sparks of hope

We left my parent's pack two days later.

The latter two days were uneventful, and I guess that is a good thing, I guess. Darcy managed to get though the last meetings and social functions without killing my father and I count that to his great self-control. Sure, each night he returned to me more and more frustrated, but he managed to keep himself from unnecessary violence.

I on the other hand, spent my last days swept away in Luna preparation activities. Social functions like afternoon teas, charity meetings and generally interacting with the pack. Which I truly hated and if it was not for Darcy, I probably would not have participated in half of it... but he was trying so hard and so I could not fail him.

To my surprise, our relationship stayed the same on most levels. Sure, there were no more butterflies in my stomach and I no longer felt like I wanted to climb him every time I saw him. We kissed when it was appropriate, but the heat behind those kisses was not the same... but other than that, it was good.

I guess it helped that we generally enjoyed each other's company. He was one of the few... hell am I kidding, he is the only person that I enjoy spending time with for longer periods of times. Even after siting and talking to him for hours, I did not feel murderous.

I could not help, but smile at the thought and that was when I put his hand on my thing.

"Why are you smiling like that?"

Slowly, I lifted my eyes and met his gaze. The calmness in his eyes made me feel safe.

"Hmm... this is not your evil smile, so I am sure that you did not do something bad..."

He said with a little smirk and playful sparks in his eyes and I could no longer hold my self from laughing at his adorability.

"Well, I am always planning something deviuos, but yes, this time it's not evil."

His face softened, and I could not help myself, but smile.

Shit, all this smiling is making my cheeks hurt.

"Well? Then what is it?"

I lifted my hand and cupped his cheek softly. To no surprise he leaned into my palm and I felt complete and utter softness towards him.

"I'm happy..."

His eyes opened, and he looked at me with one eyebrow lifted, and I could not help, but chuckle.

"Okay, okay... I'm happy that I'm with you. I just realized that you are the only person that I really like."

There were a lot of different emotions in his eyes for a moment, but the same softness mixed with determination became the most prominent.

Softly, he pulled my hand from his cheek and gently kissed my palm.

"Val... know that all this did not go as planned."

He took a deep breath and pulled both of my palms between his and, while looking me in the eyes, he continued.

"I feel like I failed you in all this... that I could not be your true-destined mate..."

"Darcy, no... neither of us could have suspected this... hell, everyone expected us to be true mates..."

I tried to stop him as I felt tears gathering in my eyes, but he just shook his head.

"It's okay, I know that it's not really logical to feel like that, but I guess emotions are really logical."

A tinny smirk appeared on his face as I saw little lights of hope appear in his eyes.

"But still I want to promise you that I will do my best to be a good mate to you. Even if the moon goddess did not mean you to be my mate, I would still do my best to honor you."

Tears started to gather in my eyes and I leaned in to give him a light kiss. I could not find the words to answer what he promised me, so I put all the emotions I felt into that kiss.

He returned that kiss with the same passion and softness that I saw shine in his eyes. Slowly our lips moved against one another, but there was no real passion in that kiss, so it was no surprise when it dwindled down, and he just pulled me to his side.

His hand wrapped around my shoulder and I relaxed into the familiar warmth of his arms. At that exact moment, I felt calm and maybe even hopeful for our future, something I had not felt since... well probably, since his birthday. For the last few months I have been feeling little traces of uneasiness lingering at the back of my mind. Back then I ignored it, but I knew that it was there... I knew that something was wrong.

But now... now I felt that maybe there was light in the end of the tunnel. Sure, it was not how I first imagined it, but it was there and it was way better than nothing.

Thinking about about future, my thoughts could not not linger in the direction of Colin.

I couldn't stop myself from thinking how would my life would look with him. I could not stop myself from longing for him, from wanting to be with him... hell everything in me still screamed to go after him, to... to take him in all and every way possible... to be with him...

But I kept that part of me under control.

The car slowing down, pulled me out of my lingering thoughts. I blinked away the remaining thoughts in my mind.

Darcy stirred next to me as I slowly lifted my head from his shoulder.

"We are home, baby. Ready to see our new house?"

I blinked at him confused as I saw a wave of excitement linger in his eyes.

"What?"

"Well, I was thinking about what to get you for your birthday. That would be special enough to count as an engagement present..."

"So you decided to get me a house?"

Blush shined on his cheeks as he chuckled.

"Well, yeah... I wanted something that would symbolize the new beginning of our life... and I thought that a house of your own would be a good start."