Their First Morning
1965 Words
Luna woke up slowly.
No shouting.
No Book flipping its own pages.
No ancient creature whispering through the walls.
Just sunlight.
Warm, soft sunlight spilled through the curtains and stretched across the bed.
For a few seconds, Luna just lay there.
Then she noticed the arm around her waist.
Darius was behind her, his chest pressed to her back. His breathing was deep and steady, his face tucked near her neck.
Her husband.
The word still felt new.
Weird.
Beautiful.
Luna smiled into the pillow.
“You’re awake,” Darius said.
His voice was rough with sleep.
“You’re not.”
“I was.”
“When?”
“Before you started thinking too loudly.”
She turned carefully in his arms.
His dark hair was a mess, his eyes still half closed.
Luna touched his cheek.
“You look different.”
Darius frowned.
“How?”
“Less terrifying.”
“That’s disappointing.”
“You look almost harmless.”
“I am never harmless.”
She smiled.
“Not even before breakfast?”
“Especially before breakfast.”
He pulled her closer.
Luna’s hand rested against his chest.
The silver pocket watch Gabriel had given him sat on the table beside the bed, next to Luna’s ring and a small bunch of wildflowers from the ceremony.
Yesterday had been real.
They’d said their vows by the lake.
They’d kissed while Blackwood’s bells rang.
They’d danced in the courtyard until Mason climbed onto a table and Evelyn threatened to throw him into the lake.
Now there were no guests.
No ceremony.
No one watching.
Just them.
Darius’s thumb moved slowly along her waist.
“What are you thinking?”
“That we’re married.”
“You sound surprised.”
“I am.”
His expression shifted.
“Regret?”
“No.”
The answer came right away.
Darius relaxed a little.
Luna noticed.
“You were worried.”
“I asked because I wanted the answer.”
“You also held your breath.”
“I did not.”
“You did.”
“That seems unlikely.”
“The bond disagrees.”
Darius looked mildly offended by his own emotions.
Luna laughed softly.
“I don’t regret it.”
He studied her face.
“Not even Mason’s speech?”
“That was forty-seven seconds.”
“He broke the agreement.”
“By two seconds.”
“An agreement is an agreement.”
“He spent fifteen of those seconds crying.”
“He claims it was lake mist.”
“The lake was behind him.”
“I know.”
Darius pulled the blanket higher around them.
Luna rested her forehead against his.
“So how do you feel?”
“Married.”
“That’s not really a feeling.”
“It is this morning.”
She waited.
Darius exhaled.
“Happy.”
The word looked like it didn’t come easily.
Not because it wasn’t true.
But because happiness still felt like something he should say quietly, in case the world tried to take it away.
Luna kissed him gently.
“You can say it louder.”
“I’m happy.”
“Again.”
His eyes warmed.
“I’m happy.”
She smiled.
“Better.”
“And terrified.”
“That too.”
“I keep thinking I’ll wake up and yesterday won’t have happened.”
Luna took his hand and placed it over her ring.
The black band with its silver line was warm from her skin.
“I’m here.”
“I know.”
“You asked.”
“I remember.”
“I said yes.”
“I remember that too.”
“And today?”
Darius looked at her.
The question was familiar now.
Not a test.
Not an obligation.
Just an opening.
“Today, I choose you.”
Warmth settled between them.
Luna kissed him again.
This time, he gently rolled her beneath him.
His hand rested beside her head, holding his weight so she never felt trapped.
“May I?” he whispered.
Her heart softened at that.
Even after vows.
Even after marriage.
Still asking.
“Yes.”
He kissed her slowly.
The morning melted into warmth, quiet laughter, and the kind of closeness that didn’t need anything ancient to prove it was real.
When someone knocked on the door, neither of them moved.
The knocking came again.
Darius lifted his head.
“No.”
Luna laughed under him.
“You don’t even know who it is.”
“I don’t care.”
A voice came through the wood.
“Breakfast!”
Mason.
Darius closed his eyes.
“I’m ending the marriage.”
“That feels a bit dramatic.”
“I was promised normal problems.”
“This is a normal problem.”
“Mason is not normal.”
From the hallway, Evelyn said, “Leave them alone.”
“I’m just delivering information.”
“You knocked six times.”
“They might’ve been asleep.”
“That’s why you don’t knock six times.”
Mason lowered his voice badly.
“Do you think they heard us?”
Darius looked toward the door.
“Yes.”
Silence.
Then Mason said, “Congratulations again.”
His footsteps retreated quickly.
Luna buried her face against Darius’s chest, laughing.
He looked down at her.
“You encouraged him.”
“How?”
“You laughed.”
“I’m allowed to laugh.”
“Not at Mason.”
“That’s when it’s easiest.”
Darius sighed and lay back down beside her.
“Are we supposed to go to breakfast?”
“It would be polite.”
“We got married yesterday. That should earn us at least one morning.”
Luna thought about it.
“Yeah.”
His expression brightened.
“But I’m hungry.”
The brightness faded.
“I’ll bring food.”
“You?”
“Yes.”
“You burned water.”
“The pan was defective.”
“Of course it was.”
Darius kissed her forehead and got out of bed.
Luna watched him cross the room.
There was something oddly intimate about seeing him do normal things.
Pulling on a shirt.
Looking for a missing boot.
Frowning at a chair like it had personally hidden it.
“It’s under the bed,” Luna said.
“I knew that.”
“You were checking the wardrobe.”
“I was confirming it wasn’t there.”
She smiled.
Her husband was terrible at finding boots.
Somehow, that made her love him more.
Darius came back twenty minutes later carrying an overloaded tray.
Luna was sitting against the headboard in one of his shirts.
He slowed when he saw her.
“What?” she asked.
“That’s mine.”
“The shirt?”
“Yes.”
“You can have it back.”
His eyes moved over her.
“Not right now.”
Heat rose in her face.
“That was smooth.”
“I practiced.”
“With Mason?”
“Never.”
He set the tray across their laps.
Bread.
Fruit.
Eggs.
Tea.
And a plate of pastries that definitely came from the kitchen and not Darius.
Luna picked one up.
“You stole these.”
“The kitchen staff gave them to me.”
“Because you’re the Alpha?”
“Because Amara told them I’d forget half the food.”
Luna looked at the tray.
“You forgot plates.”
Darius stared.
They were eating straight from the serving dishes.
“I made one mistake.”
“You also forgot a knife.”
“We have claws.”
She laughed again.
Darius watched her with quiet affection.
“What?”
“You laugh more now.”
“Is that a complaint?”
“No.”
“Then stop looking worried.”
“I’m not worried.”
“You are.”
He reached for her hand.
“I spent a long time listening for danger in every sound.”
Luna laced their fingers together.
“And now?”
“Now I hear you laugh, and part of me still waits for it to stop.”
Her smile softened.
She brought his hand to her lips.
“It will stop sometimes.”
“I know.”
“I’ll be sad sometimes.”
“I know.”
“Angry too.”
“Frequently.”
She narrowed her eyes.
He smiled.
Luna continued, “There’ll be days I don’t feel like laughing at all.”
Darius nodded.
“But that doesn’t mean happiness is gone.”
“No.”
“It just means something else needs space.”
He looked at their hands.
“I’m learning that.”
“You don’t have to learn everything today.”
“Good.”
“Why?”
“I have other plans.”
His gaze warmed again.
Luna took another bite of pastry.
“Breakfast first.”
“I wasn’t arguing.”
They ate slowly.
Talked about nothing important.
Curtains that needed replacing.
Whether the lake platform should stay.
Why Blackwood had moved three chairs during the night.
Whether Mason could legally be banned from planning anniversaries.
Normal things.
Exactly what Amara had told Luna she was allowed to want.
After breakfast, Darius set the tray aside.
Luna leaned into him.
His arm came around her shoulders.
“What now?” he asked.
“We get dressed.”
“That seems unnecessary.”
“Eventually we have to leave this room.”
“Why?”
“We live with twenty people who don’t understand privacy.”
“Then we move.”
“Blackwood would follow us.”
The floor creaked faintly in agreement.
Darius looked down.
“That’s concerning.”
Luna smiled.
“We don’t need a big plan today.”
“No council?”
“No.”
“No enemies?”
“Hopefully not.”
“No rebuilding schedules?”
“Mason can handle those.”
“That feels reckless.”
“Very.”
Darius kissed her temple.
“So what do you want?”
Luna thought for a moment.
“A walk.”
“Where?”
“The lake.”
“We were there yesterday.”
“I know.”
“And the night before.”
“I know.”
Darius looked suspicious.
“You really like that lake.”
“I like what keeps happening there.”
His mouth curved.
“So do I.”
They reached the lake near noon.
The ceremony platform was still under the trees.
Most of the flowers were still fresh. A few chairs had been left near the shore.
Luna slipped off her shoes and stepped onto the grass.
Darius watched her.
“It’s cold.”
“I know.”
“You’ll complain later.”
“Probably.”
He took off his boots too.
Luna looked at him.
“You don’t have to.”
“I know.”
They walked to the water together.
Their reflections showed side by side.
Not merged.
Not the same.
Just two people touching at the hands.
Luna looked at her ring.
Then at Darius.
“Yesterday everyone watched us choose.”
“Yes.”
“Today no one is watching.”
“The estate is.”
A branch shifted even though there was no wind.
Luna laughed.
“Almost no one.”
Darius turned toward her.
His expression grew serious.
“Luna.”
Her name first.
Always.
“Today I still choose you.”
It felt simple.
No audience.
No healer.
No ceremony.
Just a morning after the wedding.
The first of many, hopefully.
Luna stepped closer.
“Today I still choose you too.”
He kissed her beside the quiet lake.
Behind them, Blackwood’s bells stayed silent.
They didn’t need to ring.
This choice was just theirs.
And for their first morning as husband and wife, that was more than enough.
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