Losing The Light Of The Moon

The Love Of A Future Luna

Chapter 19: The Love Of A Future Luna

ALASTOR

I don’t usually get nervous—I’m always confident—but as I sat with her on a blanket at the edge of my father's private pond, I realized—only my Vivvy could make me feel this way because of the love she brought to my heart...

“This was a lovely surprise,” Vivian contentedly sighed out, leaning her head back against my shoulder, “I’m rather glad we decided to end our lazy day here. The full moon is beautiful tonight.”

“My mate, as always, is quite fetching herself this evening,” I lovingly told her, admiring the silky dark blue dress she chose for our evening, a favorite of mine as the slit on her side revealed her perfect shapely legs, “I hope you don’t mind me asking you to dress up only to bring you here.”

“I was a bit surprised we ended up at the pond,” Vivian endearingly replied, “But with everything that’s happened as of late, I can’t help but appreciate this moment—sitting here under the moonlight—with you—wearing one of your favorite dresses.”

“The best moment of my life happened under the moonlight,” I tenderly breathed out, tightening my hold around her waist, “The night I was drawn to come to the hospital at Crescent Moon with no idea why—until I found you. My whole world changed that night, Vivvy.”

A shy smile crossed her face as she peered up at me, faintly whispering, “Mine too. I didn’t want to leave your side that night.”

“Yes, that ended up being a sleepless night for me,” I chuckled, “and the reason I rushed to the main house the next morning. I knew from the moment I laid eyes on you—I want you by my side, Vivvy, always.”

“Seems the full moon is making you romantically reminisce this evening,” Vivian lightly chastised, “Keep going—I’m eating it up.”

Taking in a deep breath, I set my chin on top of her head, slowly exhaling out wholeheartedly, “What the Moon Goddess gifts all of us is our once in a lifetime, Vivvy. And if we are truly lucky, a burning fire will ignite from a passion and love that is not satisfied until that chosen soul becomes one with our own.”

My voice thick with rare fully exposed raw emotion as I declared my love for her, I ardently continued, “I know how lucky I am Vivian—to be alive, to have found you, my stunning mate, and to have this moment with you now—I knew the instant I saw you that you were my once in a lifetime, creating a fire inside me that will burn with the deepest passion and boundless love for you forever. You are everything to me and I will spend the rest of my life loving you and doing everything I can to make you happy.”

Pulling my great-grandmother’s ring out of my pocket, I slowly brought my arm around to hold it out in front of us, enthusiastically breathing out, “Marry me, Vivvy. There is nothing I want more than for you to be my mate, my Luna, and my wife.  To stand by my side—living our lives together in our forever.”

Immediately, a loud gasp escaped from her lips before Vivian’s hand flew up to her mouth as her beautiful green eyes went wide. Sitting straight up, she turned to excitedly gaze at me, her smile so wide that it curved up on either side of her hand as she breathlessly drawled out, “Oh, Alastor!” 

Her hand falling heavily from her face, Vivian threw her arms around my neck, her face directly in front of mine as she exclaimed loudly, “YES! YES, I will marry you!”

Beaming down at her, I reached up and gently pulled her left arm from my neck, sliding my fingers down to her hand, which I held up between us, placing the diamond and sapphire ring on her finger. Before I could admire it, however, Vivian thrust herself hard into my body, sending me flat onto the ground as her lips crashed down upon mine in a passionate kiss. 

My arms were instantly around her waist as I lost myself completely in Vivian’s embrace, relishing every touch, feel, and taste she so freely gifted me. 

“I love you more than anything in this world, Alastor,” Vivian panted out, “This moment—your beautiful words—they will live in my heart forever!”

“I will cherish this moment forever as well, my little beauty!” I huskily breathed out against her lips, “I will always cherish you, Vivvy.”

Our kiss deepened passionately once more, the fire that burned within Vivian and I intensifying as our hearts and souls blissfully connected as one, the perfection of her body so beautifully accentuated as we made love beneath the light of the full moon.

************

I am always a bit wicked, which is why I couldn’t stop the thought that instantly struck me as I wrapped Vivvy’s naked body up in our blanket...

Her slender frame leaned against my chest, I friskily thought out loud, “You know, as I’m thinking about it—we should make sure we do this right and add a little balance.”

Tilting her head up, Vivian peered up at me, cautiously repeating, “Balance?” Her eyes narrowing slightly, she added, “And why don’t I like your tone right now? Alastor! What are you up to?”

“Well,” I grinned, bringing her left hand up to admire her ring finger, “This officially seals it—you are mine in every way. I think it’s time we discuss—our bet.”

Vivian immediately took in a loud sharp breath as she looked out over the pond before snapping her head back towards me, guffawing, “You want me to skinny dip?  In your father’s pond? I’m afraid not, Casanova! Lorenzo would already have a heart attack if he found out what happened here! That is as risqué as we are getting tonight!”

“A bet is a bet, Vivvy,” I playfully countered, “Plus, it provides the balance in our relationship—overwhelming love and emotion and banter and debate.” 

Letting out a loud sarcastic laugh, Vivian protested, “It’s not happening, Alastor. There—balance reached—you bantered, and I debated. Let’s get back to overwhelming love and emotion, shall we?”

“How about a compromise?” I cunningly shot back, murmuring in her ear, “I’ll go in with you.”

Her jaw dropping in disbelief, Vivvy laughed out, “So your plan is for us both to skinny dip in your father’s pond?”

“Added bonus, it’s my father’s favorite place and will be a fun secret between us,” I mischievously replied, dipping my head down to gently nip at her neck, “But yes, that is my plan. As you are aware, we are completely alone out here. No prying eyes anywhere and no one would dare disturb us.  What do you say, Vivvy?”

“I say you go in first, so I know you aren’t tricking me,” Vivian seductively grinned, “and then I’ll join you.”

My laugh was so deep, my chest vibrated heavily in response, “Afraid I know you too well, love. As we will do for the rest of our lives, we will go into this together!”

***********

 JILLIAN

I felt disgusting inside, like I always did, but I forced myself not to outwardly show it. Instead, I continued my quest to make Arturo think I was finally giving myself completely to him...

I was glad I was facing away from him right now. Arturo had his arm around my naked body, pressed tightly against his solid muscular frame. Taking in an uncomfortable breath, I nervously whispered out, “You were different tonight. The way you touched me...and called me Jillian.”

After a long pause, Arturo reluctantly replied, “You were different tonight. The way you came up to me and your tone when you spoke—I guess for the first time, it felt like you were appreciative of me. I’d like it to be more like this, you know.”

While I still needed to tread carefully, it appeared my first attempt made quite an impact on Arturo—but I knew it could still develop into a deadly downward slope quickly...

“So, what happens now?” I innocently replied, “Trust is an issue for us both.”

“Stay by my side, Jillian,” Arturo quickly assured me, “We can build that trust. I may need your help with an upcoming guest we plan to bring here. But, if things go wrong, know that I have every intention of taking you with me.  I won’t go into details just yet, but I promise I have a plan to make us disappear together for good!”

Fear once again consumed me as I realized I was about to face several huge problems—Mattias was undoubtedly our unexpected guest, which meant not only would I have to face him, but hope that somehow, I could hide the fact—and get him to hide it as well—that he was my mate—especially from Arturo. And secondly, while attempting to get closer to Arturo to help Mattias escape, I also had to worry that if things went wrong...I had to have an escape plan of my own to disappear or I would be trapped in this nightmare forever...or worse—dead.

************

MADELINE

I walked into Nicholas’ office to find him standing with Zayden and Remi in front of a towering stack of boxes in the corner of the room—all their eyes wide as they turned around...

“How many witches did Roman work with?” I incredulously asked from the doorway.

“More than any of us realized,” Zayden exhaustively sighed out, an intense expression weighing heavily on his normally jovial face, “This isn’t even all of it. I left all the really old stuff in the archives.”

I was still getting used to the dramatic change in Zayden’s physical appearance after Remi healed him. He looked like his twin brother Zayn now, only bigger, with a well-defined broad muscular frame, not to mention his deeper voice. There were some things that hadn’t changed, however—his dedication, high intelligence, people-skills, and heart—not to mention he was an expert at multi-tasking. Zayden was balancing two jobs now, remaining Nicholas’ Council Liaison while also training to be a warrior.

“Even if we all work on this, it’s going to be a long process, Nicholas,” I despairingly stated, placing my hand gently on his back as I came to stand beside him.

Looking back at the mountain of boxed information, Nicholas reluctantly admitted, “Zayden and I both agree that it’s a long shot but are at least going to take a look at the most recent information we have.”

Suddenly, Remi wrapped her hands around Zayden’s large bicep, her soft brown eyes filled with excitement as she bounced up and down before turning back towards us, quickly apologizing, “Please excuse me! Auntie asked if I could come to her room for a moment!”

Watching as she raced out of the room, Nicholas and I softly laughed as Zayden, who was shaking his head side to side, let out a long, humored sigh, “Looks like I won’t be working out with my Remi tomorrow after all.”

A broad grin crossed Nicholas’ face as he chuckled out, “Not surprised. Soren said Auntie is quite masterful and cunning when planning an attack. But if you want, I’ll take her place. It will give me a chance to see how well you have progressed. Jace says you’ve been excelling quicker than any of us anticipated.”

“I’d like that,” Zayden smiled appreciatively, “And in the meantime, I’ll try to find out if we are right about Auntie choosing a certain Moon Stone warrior as well. I still can’t believe she’s managed to get Tink, Beast, Horacio, and Umar to work together. And now she is adding my little powerhouse. I kinda feel sorry for the Howling Wind army.”

“Well, according to Soren, they have brought this on themselves,” Nicholas earnestly stated, “But, I have no doubt after Auntie is done, they will realize they have underestimated the benefit of having witches on the battlefield.”

“I’m a little jealous, honestly,” I admitted, folding my arms in front of me, “I’d love to be a part of Auntie’s demonstration. I wonder who else she has in mind?”

“Hopefully, I’ll have that information soon,” Zayden kindly returned, walking towards the door, “I’ll use my own magic on Remi when she gets back to our room. For now, I’m going to torture my brother, who will not only be incredibly jealous when he hears my Remi was chosen, but unhappy that he lost a bet with me. Mom wants to surprise Dad with some new pants for his birthday. Zayn gets to be the tailoring stand-in and human pincushion now! Man, she gets dangerous with those things!”

I giggled as Zayden shut the door behind him, “Those two and their bets!”

“Mmmmm,” Nicholas murmured, looking at the boxes again as he thought out loud, “Roman had a vast network, Madeline. Kristoff, Lucious, and Arturo may not trust witches, but they are desperate. While many of these witches fear The Council, I think we need to focus on workouts with Raven, Loa, and the Power of Three—a full integration—starting as soon as possible.”

Moving around to face him, I steadfastly replied, “I agree. The sooner, the better.” Reaching up and combing his beard comfortingly with my fingers, I softly said, “Last night affected all of us, Nicholas—and while you hid it very well, I know how close to home it hit you...especially when it comes to Lorenzo.”

“After father died, Lorenzo and Soren supported me in every way, Madeline,” Nicholas quietly said, “Lorenzo, especially. He has always been there—teaching me, guiding me, challenging me to be the best Alpha I could be...to be the leader I am today, even when he didn’t agree with me. And he’s finally building the relationship I always hoped for with Alastor.”

Moving my hands up to softly hold his face, I excitedly told him, “Speaking of Alastor, I have news—he just proposed to Vivian.”  

Laughing under my breath, I added, “Although in true Alastor fashion, he followed up by pushing Vivian’s buttons—they are both currently skinny dipping in Lorenzo’s pond at Spirit Walker. Seems he compromised a bit on their bet.”

The smile I was hoping to achieve widened across my Alpha’s face, followed by a loud roar of laughter, “I couldn’t be happier for them, but Alastor better hope Lorenzo never finds out about that! And as far as you and I are concerned, we know nothing!”

“Absolutely nothing!” I giggled, “But I am happy for them too. Vivian will be a wonderful Luna and will be a tremendous asset to Alastor. They balance one another so well, much like we do.”

His arms snaked around my waist as Nicholas mischievously asked, “Speaking of which, as so many of you are now engaged, any girl talk about who is going down the aisle first? I’m asking for selfish reasons, of course. I can’t wait for you to be the Alpha of Mystic Fire, Luna of Crescent Moon, and my wife.”

“Yes, I may need a few lessons from Zayden on multi-tasking,” I smirked, “But I will tell you, part of the reason Constance and I are so eager for the dress party is to talk about some ideas for wedding dresses. As a huge celebration is expected from you and I with all packs represented, however, I’m afraid she and Jace may be the first down the aisle. I’m a little jealous of that too—a small intimate ceremony.”

As he had since our first debate on the balcony of my old home, my Alpha was willing to make a compromise to ease my anxious mind, softly replying, “I know you prefer low-key, so if it’s too overwhelming—”

While I was touched at his willingness to forego what was expected of him, I also knew the importance of fulfilling our responsibilities, lovingly interrupting, “You are the Leader of The Council and Alpha of Crescent Moon.  Just as they respect you and your authority, we need to respect the other packs and their right to celebrate you on your wedding day.”

“Celebrate us on our wedding day, Madeline,” Nicholas lovingly corrected, leaning down to kiss me softly on the lips, “All that matters to me is you and seeing you walk down the aisle. I don’t care about anything or anyone else.”

“And I love you for that, my Alpha,” I affectionately returned, “which is why I will overcome my anxiety—I promise, no panic attacks.”

Nicholas humorously grinned, “Speaking of panic attacks, I’ll let you in on another secret...Mother gave Carson a ring for Charlotte today during our visit with her and Auntie. He’s so nervous, he might faint before he gets the proposal out. And the go-getter she is, Charlotte may have Carson going down the aisle before any of us!”

“Well, I guess it’s a good thing we aren’t doing the dress party until after the demonstration, then,” I laughed out, “Sounds like we are going to be keeping Auntie quite busy!”

Nicholas laughed for a moment before his tone turned serious again, “First things first, my Alpha, before the dresses, we need to get our integrated army in place, including the Power of Three, and find what’s left of the Blood Horizons and their witch.”