Descendant Of The Red Moon

Chapter 8

“If you don’t want anything to do with me, reject me right now Victoria and I will let you go. Because if you don’t turn away right now, I won’t be able to let you go” he stares at me in all seriousness.

Amélie told me about the whole ‘reject’ thing, told me it’s the most painful thing that could possibly happen to a werewolf. She imagines it as if your soul would split into two, meaning that you don’t just lose the love of your life but a part of yourself as well.

God dammit, how did we end up here?

When I focus back on his eyes, I see nothing but defeat.

“You have to say it sweetheart, I’ll be okay”, he tries to sound calmly but I see the tear trickling down his cheek. I still don’t move though and just look down. Should I reject him? I just don’t really know what to think anymore after what he just said. I want to understand but I can’t help but feel hurt.

“Just say it Victoria”, he grits trough his teeth, clenching his fists as if preparing for the impact.

I lift my eyes to meet his and let out a sigh. I don’t know if I’m going to regret this, but here goes nothing…

“I…”

10 hours ealier

“Wake up, sleepy head”, is what I wake up with, followed by two bodies landing right on top of me.

“What business do you two have being this energetic and happy in the morning”, I groan trying to push the weight of me so I can go back to sleep.

“We have a long day ahead of us. Get ready for a spa day, girly ”, Veronica chirps as she starts pulling the blankets of me. So far for me getting some more sleep…

“You didn’t have permission to go shopping so I made sure we have the right options for tonight”, Amélie added and I slowly sit up, rubbing the sleepiness of my face.

“Options for what?”, I ask, looking at the two overhyped girls in front of me.

“Your date with my brother, silly?” s**t, I forgot about that. How do you even forget something like that… Jeez, these two tweeties are probably going to make a huge deal out of this, as if the date alone isn’t going to be stressful enough…

“Anyway, he told me to get you ready by four”, Amélie grabs my attention again.

“But it’s only nine?” I complain and plop back down on the bed but got immediately pulled up again.

“No, you are going to take a shower and join us for breakfast after that”, Veronica said, Amélie pointing to the bathroom.

“Fine, fine”, I groan, my hand dramatically up in surrender as I slowly make my way to the bathroom.

So after my shower and a quick breakfast, the two of them dragged me upstairs again but we didn’t go to my room, well our room.

“Can you two slow down, you’re gonna rip my arms out if you keep pulling me around like that”, I pleaded.

“Come on, aren’t you excited for your date?”, Veronica asked, raising a brow at me.

“I don’t know how I feel about it honestly”, I say as we arrive in a room, which I assume is Veronica’s since I’ve been in Amélie’s.

“If you think you’re stressed, you should have seen Alexander”, Amélie said as she walked to some shopping bags that were sitting on the floor. Veronica calmly pulls me to the bed and I sit down next to her.

“He’s been planning everything since the moment you agreed on the date”, she adds, turning around to give me a smile while going through the bags.

“So you know where he’s taking me?”, I ask them.

“Yeah, you’re gonna love it”, Veronica says as she starts raking her hand through my still wet hair.

“Tell me”, I give them a pleading look.

“No, we gotta fix the hair first”, Veronica answers and stands up to go her bathroom.

“Don’t worry, it’ll be great, he really outdid himself in my opinion”, Amélie sits next to me, some clothes draped over her shoulder.

“So let’s show him how pretty you actually are. Shall we?”, Veronica smirks at Amélie as she steps out of the bathroom, a blow-dryer in one hand and big bag of makeup in the other. I’m not gonna like this…

“How much longer?” I ask them for the hundredth time, they made me sit still for what feels like hours. 

“I’m pretty confident about the hair and makeup. What do you think?”, Veronica turns to Amélie. Ow yeah, they’re constantly talking about what they want to put on or what they want to do but ignore all my requests. Assholes…

“It looks perfect. Let’s put her in the dress and see”, she answers and pulls me to my feet, also ignoring my question.

“Here put this one, we’ll go get some drinks. We deserve it”, Amélie hands me the clothes as she and Veronica leave the room. If you would have told me right now they’re both younger than me, I wouldn’t have believed you. They both really have this stern and protective big sister vibe but right now, I’m sort of grateful for it. Okay they pissed me off by not letting me choose anything and making me sit still for hours but at least I wasn’t thinking to much about the date that way.

I look down at the clothes and immediately start shaking my head. Red lingerie… So they really think that that’s where this date is ending. I have had s*x, sure but with Alexander the thought alone makes me overly nervous. I mean I only kissed him once and he probably doesn’t even want a stupid human girl. There are way better girls in his pack anyway…

Damn, didn’t think lingerie would make me sad.

Putting the clothes on, I make my way over to the mirror. I gotta give it to those two, I do look pretty. I wore a lovely white sundress with flowers on them that almost came past my ankles, my red hair softly waiving till my waist. For the makeup I was expecting my face to be heavily caked by al sorts of s**t but even though they worked on it for hours, it really had a natural look to it. I was pretty happy about it.

“Look at her” I hear behind me and I see the tweeties standing in the doorway.

“You look amazing girly”, Veronica said and came to me to give me big hug.

“Mind if I join?”, Amélie laughed and joined our little hug.

“Thank you guys, really”, I say and I feel them tighten the hug even more. I really am thankful, they really remind me of my friends back at home. I really miss them though. After a minute, we hear someone clear their throat. We all turn to the door and I see a woman, probably around her forties.

“Maman? Qu'est ce qui passe?”, Amélie asks her and that’s when I see it. The piercing green eyes I’ve come quite accustomed with. She didn’t look much different from the family portrait in Alexanders office either.

“Hey girls, I just wanted to talk to Victoria for a second”, she said, making her way in the room.

“Of course, mom. I’ll come pick you up in a bit, Tori”, Amélie smiled at me and left the room with Veronica.

“Victoria, honey? Is something wrong”, their mom asks and comes over to me, taking my hands reassuringly in hers.

“I’m okay, just a little nervous I guess” I was actually really nervous, plus this is the first time I’m meeting one of his parents. I just hope she doesn’t think bad of me but she does sound really nice…

“You shouldn’t be, he’s completely whipped”, she smiles, softly shaking her head.

“I’m Isabelle by the way. I wanted to meet you earlier but that stubborn son of mine was set on taking it slow. Didn’t want to overwhelm you”, she added, the smile not leaving her face. She really reminds me of Amélie. Not just her looks but the way she talks as well, it’s quite funny.

“It’s really nice to finally meet you, Isabelle”, I say and return her a smile.

“Pleasure is all mine honey. But I was actually here because I wanted to give you something”, she says and grabs something from her pocket, holding it up for me. It was a necklace, a beautiful golden necklace with a crescent moon hanging on it.

“Oh no, I shouldn-“, I started.

“It’s okay honey. It would mean a great deal to me if you wore it for your date, I want you to have it”, she insisted and immediately walked behind me to put it one. She turned me to the mirror and we both looked at it.

“Thank you”, I looked at her and she patted my shoulder.

“I should probably go, Amélie will be here shortly”, she said after a while and walked to the door but stopped.

“And Victoria, you can give him a hard time, damn right to make him work for it but do give him your time. You mean the world to him, which makes you just as important to the rest of us”, she smiled at me before walking out the door, leaving me alone for the first time since this morning.

Letting out a sigh, I plop down on the bed again. A few weeks ago, I never would have admitted it but I really enjoy my time here. There is literally nothing that makes me feel bad or scared whatsoever. Sure, Alexander gives me stress but not really in a bad way… He makes me feel safe and almost makes me forget the shitty situation with my family where I still don’t know much about.

I stood there for a few more minutes, mostly overthinking, when Amélie peeked her head through the door again.

“You ready?”, she asks and puts a sweater around my shoulders

“No”, I say and I turn to her with big eyes. She holds her arms out and again takes me in for a hug.

“You’re going to have an amazing time with him, don’t worry”, she reassures me and pulls back.

“Come on”, she holds her hand out and I hesitantly take it. She calmly leads me through the hallway, not letting go of my hand. As we neared the front door I could feel my heart booming out of my chest and it was almost like I felt him the closer we came.

We walked around the corner and I was immediately met with his captivating gaze. I stood still and for a while we just stood there, not saying anything and just looking at each other. I slowly felt the stress leave my body seeing the big smile on his face as Amélie started pulling me towards him.

He was looking amazing. He wore a white button up shirt with a jeans jacket draped over his shoulders, his hair looking perfectly messy, just how I liked it.

When I finally stood in front of him, I swallowed hard as his eyes started scanning me up and down.

“Beautiful”, he whispered when his eyes met mine again and him saying that, did make me feel a hundred times more beautiful.

“You ready to go, sweetheart?”, he holds out his hand and I immediately take it. A big smile is covering my face, I probably look like a little kid. All nervousness, well most of it, replaced by excitement.

“Where are we going?”, I ask as we arrive at the car, him opening the door like a real gentleman.

“Not telling yet”, he tells me and shuts the door before I could open my mouth. Gentleman my ass…

He walks around the car, my eyes following him closely. Even his walk is perfectly handsome…

“Pretty please?”, I ask with a big pout as he sits down in the drivers seat.

“I’ll give you a hint”, he says and I nod at him, waiting for him to continue.

“We’re going to the human town. Thought you might like a change of scenery”, he smiles at me and starts the car.

The ride itself was long but we ended up listening to some music and I just looked at everything we passed outside. Alexander parked the car at the side of a road and I continued to look around. We got out the car and the smell immediately hit me, we’re near a beach.

He locks the car and I quickly stand next to him, waiting to see what he’s planned. As we turn the corner of the street, my eyes go wide.

“We’re going to the fair?”, I half yell as I see the fair with the beautiful sight of the sea behind it.

“Was that a bad idea?”, I turn to him to see a mild panic as he scratches the back of his neck.

“It’s perfect”, I say and take his hand to drag him with me. God, last time I went to a fair I was like 7, it was an amazing day with my family.

We started walking around, eating some snacks, playing some games, talking. I really enjoyed to be around people, to feel completely ordinary even if it was just for a moment.

“Are you happy?” Alexander smiled down at me as I was finishing a cotton candy.

“Very much, just don’t make me go on the ferris wheel. Last time they made me, I threw up”, I turned to him as we neared the entrance of the attraction, the memory alone giving me chills.

“Thank god for that, I hate heights anyway”, he says releasing a big sigh.

“So the big bad alpha’s afraid of heights?” I mock him.

“Yeah yeah, whatever”, he says and continues to stare at me.

“What?”, I ask him, my face turning slightly red.

“You might not realise it, but you already own my heart Victoria” he mutters as his thumb starts slowly drawing circles on my hand. My mouth just hangs open like a little fish. Why does he have this effect on me?

“I’m hungry”, I blurt out, taking the focus of what he just said.

“Well, I can feed you anytime, baby”, he smirked and I again lost my ability to speak for a while. When he made these sorts of comments a few weeks ago, it would annoy me but right now I felt it reach all the way down.

I quickly regain posture and shake my head at him.

“The cocky i***t has returned, I see”, I say kind of liking it. It’s quite the turn on all of a sudden.

“Only for you, my love”, he casually states and starts walking again, my hand still in his.

“Let’s go get you some food”, he added, looking at me again while we walked.

He slowly led me to a big pier with multiple big boats.

“I thought we we’re going to eat?”

“We are”, he just said and we approached a few men that were standing by one of the boats.

“Bonjour, monsieur Richard. Comment cava?” one of the man said, not that I understand a single word he said.

“Tout est bien. Dit le capitaine nous pouvons partir”, Alexander answered to which the man nodded. God, French never sounded so hot…

“This ship is yours?” I ask him as he starts pulling me on board of the ship.

“It’s ours”, I just smile back and continue the look around. He led me further to the deck of the ship and there I saw a beautiful, candle lit table with two chairs. Never thought I would like stuff like this but right now, I think it’s adorable. He noticed me staring and cleared his throat.

“Too much?” he asks nervously.

“Nope, exactly enough”, I say and this time I take his hand, leading him to the table where some nice food was waiting.

By the time the dessert came, I noticed that the sun had already set, the sky full off stars.

“It’s beautiful”, I randomly state, looking up at all the little lights.

“I know”, I turn to him again, seeing he was looking at me.

“Don’t get cheesy now”, I laugh and see some people approach our table.

“You like me cheesy”, he whispers as they cleaned the table, taking the plates with them.

“Either way, I can’t eat any more food for today. I’ll explode”

“Well that’s flattering”, he jokes. I give him the middle finger and stand up to go to the railing, my back to him.  

“You wish, baby”, he comments and I hear him stand up. After a bit, I feel him right behind me and his arms slowly go around my waist. Instead of tensing up or stressing, I relax. It makes me feel safe, happy. Most definitely with the scenery. It was a magnificent sight, the city skylights together with the fair in the distance with the sea in between us.

He nestles his face in my neck but slowly pulls back

“Who’s sweater is this?”

“Probably Veronica’s, why?”, I turn around in his arms and see him swallow. He quickly meets my gaze again and shakes his head.

“I don’t like others smells on you”, he said and before I could respond he grabbed the sweater and pulled it off.

“Better”, he steps closer, his hand resting on my cheek. I see him leaning into my neck again but he abruptly stops focussing on something. I look down and see he’s looking at the necklace his mother gave me. After a few seconds he starts trailing the skin beside the necklace and I look up, meeting his eyes again.

“You met my mother”, he states, an unsure expressing resting on his face.

“Yeah, she wanted me to wear it. She was really nice”, I say and I see him relax again.

“That’s the necklace my father gave my mother after she had told him she was pregnant with me”, I hear him say and I immediately feel my heart grow guilty.

“Oh god, I’m sorry. I’ll give it back to her”, I say, looking at my feet.

“She wouldn’t give it to you unless she wanted you to have it, Victoria”, he tells me and I slowly look up. His eyes shinning and his emotions are on full display. I can feel it, this is the very first time there’s no walls, no nothing standing in between us. My focus immediately turns as I see him licking his lips, making me release a whimper. I look back at his eyes seeing them closed, deeply in thoughts before I see them open again.

“Victoria, I’m going to kiss you now”, he waits for a few seconds to see if I would turn away but noticing I don’t, he softly presses his lips against mine. Pulling me closer by my waist as his lips passionately continue to move against my own. He pushes me against the railing with his body, making me squeal while his hands slowly run up and down my body shooting sparks all over. To soon to my liking, I feel him pull away and rest his forehead against mine.

“You intoxicate me”, he whispers as he looks deeply in my eyes.

“But we’re still on a boat with more than ten people downstairs”, he adds reminding me we’re indeed not alone.

“Okay”, I say and put my arms on the railing, resting my head on them.

“You know, you kind of remind me of my father like that. He was pretty interested in the stars too, could look at them for hours”, he tells me, standing next to me.

“I would love to meet him one day”, I say and I see his expression turn sour.

“He died 9 years ago”, he tells me, just staring ahead. I softly take his hand in mine, entangling our fingers. I didn’t know that. They never told me about their dad but when I come to think of it, they didn’t mention him much either except for in older stories.

“It’s okay, he was an amazing dad. I’m grateful for all the time my family had together”, he sighed and looked at me again. It made me think of how different things would have been if I had known my family. I don’t want to believe that it would have been bad and it still kind of stings that it got taken away from me.

“What are you thinking about?”, Alexander asked me and I turn back to him.

“It’s just that I wonder what the rest of my family is like. Sure the could be dangerous but that can’t be all there is about them. Did you ever meet one of them?”, I ask curiously.

“I encountered a few of them”, he answers looking forward again.

“Really? Tell me about it”

“We’re not really on a friendly basis”, he added, a certain hostility in his voice.

“Explain it to me, I want to know”, I push. I don’t care what he tells me, I just want to learn more about them.

“Later, sweetheart. It’s not a happy story”, he says, the frustration clear on his face.

“Just tell me. I don’t care what happened I just need to know”, I say frustrated by now as well.

“Not now, Victoria”, he growls and I see his knuckles turn white from holding the railing.

“That’s not fair, I have the right to know. Just te-“

“I killed your grandmother”

“What?”, I whisper out.

He pushes away from the railing pacing back and forth, running his hand through his hair.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to just blurt it out like that”, I just look at him with wide eyes. I see him take a step closer to me but I immediately hold my arms up.

“No, I don’t want you near me right now”, I say and cross my arms over my chest.

“f**k”, he mutters underneath his breath but I heard. He looks back at me and I feel all the walls between us build up again.

“How could you?”, I croaks out as a few tears escape my eyes.

“I don’t want anything to do with this. How can I live with a soulmate when he killed a part of my family?”, I yell and just like that I see him straighten up.

“If you don’t want anything to do with me, reject me right now Victoria and I will let you go. Because if you don’t turn away right now, I won’t be able to let you go” he stares at me in all seriousness.

“You have to say it Victoria, I’ll be okay”, he tries to sound calmly but I see the single tear that trickles down his cheek. I still don’t move though and just look down. Should I reject him? I just don’t really know what to think anymore after what he just said. I want to understand but I can’t help but feel hurt.

“Just say it Victoria”, he grits trough his teeth, clenching his fists as if preparing for the impact.

I lift my eyes to meet his and let out a sigh. I don’t know if I’m going to regret this, but here goes nothing…

“I won’t reject you”, I say calmly and he charges at me, taking me in his arms.

“Why though?”, I ask him as the tears start streaming down my face.

“I can’t tell you the exact details but she attacked our pack and killed a lot of us. When we fought back I ended up fatally hurting her and she died a little while later. I’m not sorry about protecting my people, Victoria but I am sorry for taking away a part of your family”, he softly explained stroking my hair.

I was full on sobbing right now. He killed my grandmother, reason or not, he did. But I can’t put my feelings aside either. f*****g hell, I predicted this was gonna mess with my heart…

After a while I felt him pick me up and start walking. I didn’t pay much attention, I just kept crying.

I woke up as I felt the car take a turn. I look beside me and see his tired and stressed expression. Why am I always conflicted when it comes to feelings.

“We’ll be home in a few minutes”, he quietly says since he probably felt I was awake. I nod even though he is looking to the road and slowly reach for his hand which he immediately took.

I let out a big yawn as we ride up to the mansion. Let’s just for now halfly ignore what he told me earlier until I talk to dad. I don’t want to drop it but I don’t want to ruin this day completely either because in the end I know that he cares a lot about me and for the moment, that’s enough for me.

We slowly walk in the house and up to the fourth floor, stopping at the bedroom.

“Good night, sweetheart”, he says, not meeting my eyes.

“Wait, you can’t keep sleeping in your office, I’ll just stay in another room”, I say tiredly.

“No, I don’t want you sleeping anywhere else. I’ll be okay”, he reassures me but I’m not having this. We’re both tired and really need to go to bed.

“Then just stay in the room with me. I guess the bed is big enough, but don’t go trying anything funny”, I warn him and I see his eyes light up.

“Are you sure?” he asks and I just nod making my way to the bathroom, closing the door behind me.

I’m not sure why I asked him to stay. I guess partly because I feel guilty for driving him out of his bedroom but I think a part of me want him close as well. No matter what, his presence comforts me and right now that’s the only thing I’m thinking about.

I quietly make my way back to the room to see him sleeping soundlessly on the bed.

This all would have been so much easier if you just would have been an actual asshole. At least that way I would have been able to turn away…