Rise of the Luna (completed)

24-Gamble

- Jake’s POV -

I smiled as I saw my beautiful mate at breakfast. It has been two days since she had woken up and Alpha Logan has invited me to be their honored guest for having saved the life of Kayla and has allowed me to stay with their pack until Kayla has decided whether to leave with me. It was a Saturday and the Luna invited Kayla to join us for breakfast at the pack house, since she doesn’t have to go to school today. It was a strange thought that my mate was still going to school when I’m already going to turn 30 soon.

We haven’t spent very much time together as Kayla was still recovering and her brother had insisted for her to rest at home and to begin distance learning so that she could catch up with school and still fulfill her dream of going to medical school. In the little time that we’ve spent together, I noticed that Kayla is very shy. She blushes when she catches me staring at her and when I shower her with compliments. Sometimes she’d hesitate to touch my hand when she wants to tell me something and just types her message on her phone. My wolf didn’t like that but I didn’t want to scare her and made sure to hold myself back from reaching for her hand, to respect her space.

I sat down next to Kayla and our hands brushed against each other. Sparks of pleasure coarse through my arm, and I wanted to kiss her good morning. Unsure of whether I should do that in front of her brother and Luna, I was about to discard that thought when I felt the softest lips touch my cheeks. An image of me kissing her popped into my head and I looked down to see that our hands were still touching. Pleasantly surprised, I looked to see that she was blushing and grinned as I leaned in to give her a peck on her lips. Just as my wolf was savoring the taste, I heard a growl and turned around to see Finn standing at the bottom of the stairs.

I ignored him but I could see that Kayla felt uneasy and she was trying to keep her eyes down, only looking at her food. Finn took his seat opposite Kayla and glared at me. I raised my eyebrows and started on my breakfast in amusement as I heard a scoff from Leyton, who was sitting on the other side of Kayla. The Luna broke the awkward silence and asked me about my plans for today. I smiled and said it’d depend on what plans Kayla had today, making the poor girl turn even redder. Seeing her response made my wolf dance in joy. If I could affect her like this, she must feel something for me. If only she had a wolf, with the mate bond, everything would be so much easier. The Luna smiled at us approvingly and I wondered what’s up with her. Was she glad that I was making progress with the girl that her son regrets rejecting? Or did she think that she’s not good enough for her son?

Wow! I widen my eyes at that thought. I guess that must be it, if not, why would they allow the Alpha and a witch healer of another pack to stay on their pack land for such a long period of time. We won’t even allied packs, we weren’t enemies but this was still strange. Well whatever it is, that’s good news for me. I need to bring my mate home with me, the sooner the better. An Alpha shouldn’t leave his pack for too long. The sound of a chair scrapping against the floor loudly snapped me out of my thoughts. I looked up and saw Finn leave the table, his eyes filled with hurt and frustration. I looked at Kayla, hoping that she was unaffected but to my dismay, I saw some sadness in her eyes.

I held her hand and said in my mind, "No one has the right to make you sad. Not Finn, not me, not even your brother! You're an amazing girl and no one can make you feel sad without your permission.”

- Kayla’s POV -

The past two days felt like a dream. I couldn’t believe that the Moon Goddess would give me a second chance mate as wonderful as Jake. He refuses to let me address him as Alpha and always had words of encouragement for me. After so many years of silently enduring the bullying from other kids, it was sometimes difficult to reassure myself that I’m enough and that I don’t deserve to be treated badly. It felt good to know that Jake adored me, even though his stares make me self conscious and embarrassed. I was also grateful that he always respected my personal space and never overstepped my boundaries despite me never having shared my past with him. Most importantly, I like to treated me like a normal person, not a fragile, broken girl.

He was honest with me that I wasn’t what he had in mind for a Luna but he trusts the Moon Goddess and he wants me as his mate. It hurt a little to know that even my second chance mate had some misgivings about me but I guess it’s a little childish to expect love at first sight just because we’re mates. After all, love is made stronger with understanding and time, and as I spend more time with Jake, I’m more convinced that I should give myself a chance, take a gamble and put my heart out there.

After the awkward moment with the Luna and Finn at breakfast, I quickly finished my food, eager to leave the table. Despite the amount of validation that I’ve received from Mum, the forest and everyone else in the past months, I still felt inadequate sometimes and preferred not to be the center of attention. As I excused myself, Jake caught up with me and I told him to meet me at the entrance of the forest at noon, as I wanted to finish some work for school before that. He smiled and gave me a kiss on the cheek before heading back to the guest house.

I couldn’t help but blush as I headed back towards my house. Leyton had work to do today as they had to prepare for the Initiation ceremony again. I heard that they had to postpone it because of me and Leyton wasn’t even sure if he wanted to be Beta anymore. It horrified me to know that I had almost destroyed the future leadership of our pack and luckily, Leyton promised me that now that I’m well again, he will do his best to fulfill his duty to the pack. I beamed from ear to ear as I felt like everything was finally falling into place. As I reached out to open the door to my bedroom, it flew opened and I looked up to see Finn gazing into my eyes.