Reclaiming the Luna's Throne

Beautiful as the Moon

[Rowan]

She blinked, looking confused, and started to cautiously look around behind her before taking a step back.

Something was wrong.

As she slowly backed further away from me, I realised.

Shit

I watched as the woman I’d been waiting for my entire life spun on her heels and sprinted as fast as she could, away from me, and a feeling of anguish like I'd never experienced tore through my chest. I could feel my wolf's muffled, distant frustration.

I followed, my long and determined strides gradually eating up the distance but then realised she would soon break out of the tree cover to the open path and we'd be exposed to any watching eyes. I broke out into a sprint after her, quickly catching up and grabbing her by the wrist.

She struggled, attempting to pull free, and it felt like a child.

"Weak."

I heard myself mutter, feeling somewhat disappointed but still, what could I expect? She’d been here her whole life, raised like a… human, never getting the chance to meet her wolf… I briefly saw a look of shock flash through her eyes.

"Don't scream."

I attempt to cover her mouth, and her eyes widened further, looking almost a little manic as she did exactly that, taking a deep breath in and screaming as loudly as she could. My heartbeat increased in panic.

"STOP SCREAMING!"

Using more force than I would have liked, I grab her by the shoulders and held her so she couldn’t escape, horrified by how scared she looked. My beautiful mate is finally before me, and she's terrified of me, her whole body shaking in my grasp.

"You're scared."

I hesitated, feeling tormented. How was I going to do this?

All these years we’d trained, watched from a distance, been prepared for the mission, and somehow, I’d never thought about this, that she was for all intents and purposes fully human.

"You don't ... feel it?"

She didn’t feel the mate bond.

Of course she didn’t feel the mate bond.

How had I not anticipated this??

How was I going to work around this?

Her fear was agitating me so I released my grip on her a little bit, noticing that her heart beat was starting to calm slightly.

"Sorry, I don't know what you're talking about, I was just passing through..."

She was trying to put on a brave face. Her voice was just as beautiful as she was, like a melody created just for me.

So this was the mate bond. At last.

A dark thought suddenly crossed my mind.

What if she NEVER feels it? What if we’re too late?

"If I let go, will you promise not to run or scream?"

I finally broke the silence, examining her expression for clues. She seemed shocked.

"I won't hurt you. I promise."

Her brief nod of confirmation was all that I needed. I let go with a sigh, and simply stare at her, wondering how to proceed.

"This is going to sound crazy, but please hear me out."

Those beautiful stormy eyes blinked once, in what seemed like slow motion "..ok?"

"If I tell you something about yourself that's correct, will you try to believe the rest of what I have to say?"

She raised one perfect eyebrow and looked at me sceptically.

"uh.. I guess so... sure."

"You're 29 years old, and you were an orphan."

How could she be so beautiful even when she looked so shocked? Her eyes narrowed slightly, darting from side to side, again assessing, wondering, before she levelled at me critically.

"Have you been...stalking me?"

Stalking her? HAH.

"No, I promise. It's just... you're not the only one."

I sighed, and looked at the moon again. The night was almost over. How could I begin this impossible task? More importantly, we had just two more nights to achieve our objective and bring the girls home. A shiver ran down my spine imagining the alternative.

Let’s try a different angle.

"What's your name? Mine is Rowan."

"It's... uh, it's Natalie."

Even her name sounded beautiful rolling off her tongue with her impossibly melodious voice. This mate bond really was doing crazy things to my mind, and this was without my wolf. I didn’t dare think how intense it would be otherwise, no wonder the wolves who found their mates almost immediately jumped straight to… no, those kind of thoughts weren't going to be helpful now.

"Natalie... this is going to sound crazy. But you're not from here. And... you're, ah, you're a werewolf."

She blinked at me, once, twice, and then my impossibly perfect mate, the one I had been waiting for so many years to finally set eyes on, seemed to completely lose her grip and started to laugh. I felt despair fill my chest as she laughed like a crazy person.

I could tell her nerves were frayed, she was on edge. She didn’t know it, but it was probably because some part of her recognised me… at least I hoped so.

I look up at the moon, praying to the moon goddess… I MUST succeed on this mission, we all did, otherwise… there wouldn’t be a second chance, or if there was, it would be too late.

“Please… Natalie.”

Something in my voice must have resonated because she slowly stopped laughing and attempted to regain her breath and calm down.

“I understand that everything I say is going to sound completely crazy to you, but we need to talk… somewhere private.”

She swallowed, still uneasy despite her nerves apparently calming down. And she looked exhausted. I felt a wave of guilt wash over me. I’d seen that look before, when I’d been hunting. The look of the prey who had used all their energy and resigned themselves to their fate.

Spontaneously, I reached out for her hand, and though she flinched initially she didn’t pull it back.

“I know you have no reason to believe me, but I promise you, I meant what I said earlier. I’m not going to hurt you. I just need to talk to you.”

I was mesmerised by the storm swirling within her eyes as she stares back at me, considering. Eventually, she nodded, and without a word she turned and started walking slowly away.

Was that to say that I should follow?

I followed.