Chapter One: An Odd Feeling In Bliss
|• Three Days Before •|
Mercury's P. O. V
♤•♤•♤
My eyes shot open, my breath hitching in my throat, blocking the loud gasp that wanted to escape from my lips.
I instinctively brought my hand to my chest and as expected, my heartbeat was a wild rhythm. I closed my eyes again and tried to control my ragged breathing. I was nearly panting, so stabilizing my breathing took me a moment. My fingers grasped the silky sheet lightly as I reminded myself that none of my terror was real. I hated feeling like this, being so terrified, being woken from sleep by an inescapable horror.
There was one thing I hated more than the mental anguish brought by my trauma and that was having Bears exposed to it. I did not want him worrying about me when he already has so much to deal with and worry about because of his status.
I slowly opened my eyes, exhaling deeply as I rolled to my side to check if Bears was still asleep. I was hoping he had not witnessed me in such a horrified state, but much to my dismay, my eyes immediately met his as soon as I faced him.
I smiled as I gazed into his gorgeous gray eyes, but did not say anything. Usually, I would have taken my time to capture his beauty with my eyes and swoon, then thank the Goddess for blessing me with the love of my life, but I quickly noticed that something was wrong.
Bears had on a slight frown, which he normally wore when he is displeased by something or angry with me but he is not ready to communicate it yet. Then there was also that unexplainable flare of emotion in his eyes, which is incomprehensible because it clashes with the darkness gradually spreading over his eyes.
His eyes only took a darker shade when he is aroused and desires to f**k me senseless, or when Husk: his wolf, is provoked and wants him to hand over control of their mind and body. I was leaning more towards the latter, unfortunately. Bears did not look like he was building up his hunger for me so he can ravage me to his satisfaction.
"Were you having another nightmare?" He asked with a momentary look of concern, which I almost missed while I paid attention to the sexy rasp of his morning voice.
I nodded my head, hesitating to utter anything without thinking it through first. "Yes… but they are getting better…" I lied to him, to ease his mind and I could not tell if he was convinced or not, in the presence of his expressed mixed emotions towards me.
Displeasure was the more dominant emotion, despite him being concerned about me.
"You know they had stopped…" I continued after he went silent and just stared at me intensely, making me nervous, "I think seeing a picture of Hark triggered them again, they will go away like they did before." I weakly assured him. Now the focus was no longer my nightmares, my mind had shifted to the bigger issue; figuring out what I had done to make him mad.
Chewing on my bottom lip, I threw my bare leg over his and stroked his chest with my fingers. Bears loved it when I caressed him coyly and played with the curly, tiny hairs dusted on his firm chest, but this time, his eyes continued to burn into me. I could not breathe properly when he stared at me like that. I loved him too much, the thought of him being mad at me knocked all the air out of my lungs.
"Love, is anything wrong?" I whispered out the question, snuggling closer to him while he remained stiff. "You look a bit…. tense…."
Bears exhaled deeply, his jaw clenched and he flared his nostrils, taking a moment to calm himself down before he finally asked, "What is going on between you and Eston?"
I frowned upon receiving his question, knitting my brows in confusion. "Nothing, my love, we are just colleagues and friends."
"Tell me the truth, Mercury!" He suddenly raised his voice and I raised my head from his chest and sat up.
"That is the truth." I was firm in wording, but I quickly softened my approach again. "I have never lied to you about my relationship with him, you know that you are the only man I ever think about, I want you only, my love." I assured him sincerely.
I loved Bears with every bone in my body, he was my first love, my first kiss, my first everything.
I owed my life to Bears, it was because of him that I am the Luna I am today.
When I was thirteen, my mother and father were accused of conspiring to kill the Alpha of our then pack; Alpha Killan. My father was his beta, he had helped build the Fallen Crest pack into one of the most powerful packs in the south, but Alpha Killan did not hesitate to kill him right in front of me.
To this day, I still do not remember how my mother and I managed to escape, but we did and had to adapt to the life of being packless and live as rogues. Alpha Killan was hell bent on killing us, his men kept managing to track us down and discover our hideouts, so we had to live on the run for almost six years. Sometimes we moved with a group of other rogues, formed alliances with them and earned their protection, sometimes we hid amongst humans but would eventually have to return to werewolf lands because co- existing with humans was not easy, so was not sustaining a living in their huge cities.
Those were the worst five years of my life.
I lived in constant terror that Alpha Killan would find us and rip mom's head from her neck. I still have nightmares, harrowing thoughts attributed to my father's merciless, brutal murder and they have only gotten worse over the years.
At nineteen years old, I was a wolf criminal, a rogue infamous for attacking weaker packs and seizing their possessions. My mother and I were forced to work with a dangerous group of rogues for the sake of our safety. I had become accustomed to the life of a rogue, I absolutely hated it, but being a shameless thief kept me alive.
I had accepted that that is my life, that I would be a rogue forever, live on the run like some fugitive forever, sleep with one eye open forever, always be prepared for someone to stab me in the back forever; until our group grew too confident and messed with the wrong pack: the Dark Bloods of Silver Reign pack; the most powerful pack there is, who ruled the north and basically the packs occupying the east and the south. Long story cut short, the attack went terribly awry, mom and I, along with two other female rogues, were captured and thrown into dark, smelly cells and were going to be given to other elite packs as tributes or gifts to their Alphas. But the day I was meant to be shoved inside a vehicle in shackles, I met the feared alpha of the Dark Bloods: Alpha Bears Viking and he took one look at me, before his eyes went entirely pitch black and he growled out the last word I expected to leave his mouth; "mate." Being a rogue and a criminal, I was very sure that he was going to reject me and give me away to some random Alpha.
My wolf and I had prepared ourselves for rejection, but the Goddess favoured us that night. Our mate accepted us, took me and my mother into his pack and then he married me and made me his luna a month and a half later. And here we are, four years later. I'm the best doctor in all wolflands and I'm the feared Luna of the North.
Bears was the best husband to me, but he was very possessive sometimes and easily driven to jealousy and he always reacted fiercely when it came to Eston.
"Why is your "friend" buying you flowers?" Bears pointed to the table across the room, enlightening me to the beautiful bouquet on top of it.
"He… probably wanted to congratulate me for scooping up all those awards last night.." I explained, grabbing his hand, then planting both knees beside his thighs and straddling him. I nestled my head in his neck and whispered to him, "I love you."
I smiled as his soft lips pressed on my neck and his large hand groped my butt and gave it a needy squeeze. "I love you more. Listen, love," I stilled as he bore his eyes deeply into mine, his hand squeezing mine tightly, "I promise you that I will find Hark and spill his guts from his ass, even if it takes me to the very end of the world."
I nodded my head, suddenly overwhelmed by emotion, "I know…" My voice came out as barely a whisper. Bears had alway told me that I don't have to put on a strong front when I'm with him but I was the Luna of the North; I wanted to be a valiant warrior and strong enough to earn that name.
"I will always protect you," he declared sternly, "nothing will ever happen to you as long as I live, even if I die tomorrow, you will be the most protected woman to ever live."