The Lunar Destiny Series

Chapter 12

After we got fresh and clean again, we got into bed. I’d promised Lio that I would sleep naked with him so, here I was being spooned by a werewolf. My life was definitely not normal. Lio was kissing the back of my neck gently and it sent shivers through me each time his lips touched my skin. How was he doing this to me?

“Astraia, I’ve never known anyone who reacts to me as strongly as you do.” He said nuzzling his nose in my hair.

“It scares me.” I said almost whispering.

I felt him sit up a little and I could see him looking down at me out of the corner of my eye.

“Why does it scare you? Is it because of what I am?” He asked in a somewhat melancholy tone of voice.

I shook my head no but there was a small part of me that felt that way.

“Then why? Tell me.” He said rubbing my arm.

“It’s because I feel vulnerable. I’m so drawn to you I don’t seem to have control over myself sometimes. This whole soulmate thing is in the back of my mind all of the time…” I said turning onto my back and looking up at him.

“You’re starting to believe it now, that’s why you’re afraid.”

I bit my lower lip slightly. “There’s no real proof yet.”

I heard him sigh.

“You asked me to prove it to you when the proof has been all around you. I think...You don’t want to see it.” He said, reaching his hand up to my cheek and gently caressing it. I closed my eyes and sighed. Just his touch alone felt like ecstasy to me.

“When I touch you, I can feel your body shiver. Even your scent changes…” He said.

I felt his hand slide away from my cheek and down the front of my body slowly. His fingertips stopped on my birthmark.

“This...Is no ordinary birthmark Astraia. When I first touched it, I felt a powerful allure. A call…” His hand moved lower, and then he slid two fingers inside of me.

I opened my mouth to cry out but his mouth was closed over mine before I could. He thrusted his fingers in and out of me quickly but smoothly. It wasn’t long before he brought me to orgasm for the fourth time. I moaned into his mouth as he kissed me and once I quieted, he broke the kiss. He looked down at me with half closed, lust filled eyes as he pulled his fingers out. I watched as he put those same two fingers in front of his face covered with c*m into his mouth. He sucked them clean before taking them out of his mouth.

“You are mine, Astraia Ilithyia, whether you accept it or not. You’re my Teman Sejiwa, the mark confirms it. The shape of the mark you bear is the crest of my clan.”

I wanted to argue him down but I knew I wouldn’t win. If I really am his Teman Sejiwa I was in a lot of danger, more than I already was.

“Fine, say I do believe all of this. What does it all mean?”

I sounded incredibly stubborn and skeptical but I didn’t care.

“It means that when you’re ready, we will perform the mating ritual in front of my pack. It will create a metaphysical bond that will bind us closer than any traditional human wedding could. What usually happens is the mating ceremony takes place during the honeymoon. The traditional wedding is really for the sake of the humans in our lives.” He said, starting to smile again.

“What happens during this ritual Lio?”

He looked away from me for a second before he spoke.

“I can only tell you when you agree to become my mate, otherwise I cannot. Pack law states that no human is to be given any knowledge of our sacred rituals unless he or she is brought in as pack; meaning that they must’ve become afflicted and will soon become one of us.”

I noticed that during this explanation there was no mention of a human being granted such knowledge. Then I thought back to Lisette’s concern over him choosing me.

“Lio, is it taboo to choose a human mate or something?”

I felt his hand move around my waist, his thumb slightly caressing my hip. He seemed to be thinking deeply about something.

“Having a human mate isn’t just taboo, it’s punishable by death. Those of us with human wives have to eventually turn them.”

My eyes widened with shock.

“Why would you risk it? If dying isn’t a good enough reason to put the idea of me out of your mind I don’t know what is.” I said, frowning at him.

He shook his head.

“If my kind wasn’t meant to mix with humans, none of us would be here. We have no choice but to impregnate human women to continue our existence. The only way we’ve escaped persecution is by purposely infecting our human spouses with the werewolf disease after they’ve bred as much as they could. The elders believe that we should only take mates who are of our own kind. The womb of human women has only one use, nothing more.”

I stared up at him, blinking a few times. That nagging fear threatened to creep back into my heart again.

“Are you trying to tell me that at some point I would have no other choice than to become one of you? If I don’t change you’ll have to die?” He gave me a single nod.

“Yes. That isn’t the worst part.”

I narrowed my eyes at him.

“What could possibly be worse than that?”

I almost didn’t ask but my curiosity would have compelled me to ask eventually.

“Any children that do not inherit the werewolf gene will be killed, despite being born to a werewolf. Unless of course the child is female and can breed more wolves. It won’t matter if the father is of high ranking. I’m sorry, but this is just the way things are in my world.”

His world; I wasn’t sure what to say to this new revelation. What could I say? I already had major doubts and fears before, now I found myself wishing I could go back in time and never agree to give him a chance.

I turned over onto my side with my back facing him again. He laid back down and spooned me, holding me against him. I was thinking about everything he’d said, but I didn’t want to accept things for what they were. It’s not like I didn’t have feelings for Lio, I did and I wanted to be with him. There were just so many things going against us rather than for us. I must have been silent for too long because Lio nudged my shoulder with his chin to get my attention.

“Astraia, are you awake?” He asked.

“Yeah, I’m awake. I’m just thinking.”

He was quiet for a moment before he broke the silence again.

“I know what I’ve told you is a lot to take in. Being with me won’t be easy but if it’s any consolation, I don’t want you to change for me.”

I felt a little better hearing him say that but the truth was heavy.

“I’m curious, what will you tell your friend when she asks if we’re together?” He asked.

I thought about it for a moment because I put the possibility of being with him in the farthest reaches of my mind. The longer I lay in his arms like this, my heart swayed in the direction that my mind didn’t want to go. I finally smiled even though he couldn’t see it.

“I’ll tell her the truth; that we’re together.”

Lio squeezed me a little and then kissed my shoulder.

“Good. Now I can do the same.”

I was pretty sure he’d already told his people we were together before this little chat, but now it was true.