Chapter 62: Ray x Luna?
1064 Words
Elena's POV
The dining room looked like it belonged in a royal museum; everything was too polished and too quiet.
I sat at the table, surrounded by the royal family, minus Damien, who was still a no-show, not that I was surprised. The Alpha sat at the head, quiet power, almost an aura radiating off him like heat.
Across from me was the Queen, her eyes sharp despite her seemingly nice smile. Beside me, Luna looked like she was writing some kind of exam; I could see how she struggled with which spoon to use.
"Hope you all had a good night’s rest," the Alpha said, breaking the silence.
Ray leaned in from behind me, murmuring, "I think he means: hope you survived sharing one tiny room together in your prison cell."
I coughed lightly, covering a smile. "Very good, thank you. You've been quite hospitable."
I watched as Luna leaned closer to the table, examining the dozens of cutlery pieces like they were some sort of artifact. I reached over and subtly slid the right spoon into her hand. She gave me a small, grateful smile.
The Queen turned her eyes on Luna, tilting her head. "And what are you, dear?"
Luna blinked. "Huh?”
"Well, Elena's a princess, and Ray is her guard, I'm assuming. So what does that make you?”
"Oh… well, I’m a healer."
Every single person at the table, except us, paused. Even the Alpha raised an eyebrow.
"Healer?" he repeated, like the word tasted foreign in his mouth.
The Alpha cleared his throat. "We don’t really have those anymore. In this world, we have certified doctors."
Luna lit up with curiosity. "Where can I find one? I'd love to learn from them."
The Queen chuckled, amused by her nativity. "Well, I can give you our family doctor’s number, if you want to call him."
I nudged Luna gently. "No, that's alright. She doesn’t even have a phone."
The Queen looked genuinely shocked. "No phone?"
"She’s never really been outside the woods before," I explained.
The Queen gasped. "That settles it then! You two, in fact, you all need a serious city makeover."
The Alpha scoffed, though it was good-natured. "Not a bad idea. I don’t want the neighbors thinking my guests crawled out of some bush—even though that was technically true."
With a snap of her fingers, maids appeared and cleared the table silently. Then a tall man in black wheeled the Alpha away.
The Queen clapped her hands together. "Alright, everyone, we leave now!"
"What about the prince?" I asked.
She waved a hand dismissively. "He's with his training master. Don’t worry, dear. You’ll have plenty of time to meet my son later."
*********
The ride to the city was somewhat short; the car we rode in was black with tinted windows. When we arrived, the entire mall had been emptied out. No people. No noise. Just polished floors and shimmering lights.
"I rented the mall for the day," the Queen said like she was announcing the weather. "Go wild!"
Luna and I headed toward the women's section, our arms quickly filling with options—dresses, pants, boots, jackets—anything we could carry. Ray hovered behind me—doing his guard duty. I know—but when I reached the changing room, I turned and smiled.
"I think I can manage changing on my own, Ray. Why don’t you see if Luna needs any help?"
He hesitated, but nodded and walked toward Luna. “Uhm, okay."
*******
Luna's POV
The gown sparkled as I stepped out into the light, the fabric pooling at my feet. I turned to face the mirror, stunned. I barely recognized the girl in the reflection. My soft curls framed my face, and the color of the dress brought out a glow in my skin I didn't even know I had.
"You look beautiful," Ray said from behind me. "Like a princess."
I turned quickly, caught off guard. "Thank you. But... I can’t quite get the zipper. My hands can't reach it," I said as I struggled with it.
He stepped closer. "Let me help."
His fingers felt warm as he pulled the zipper up slowly, his breath soft against my neck.
“Thanks, Ray."
He chuckled a bit. “Reminds me of the time you couldn't reach the top shelf to grab a book and then asked me to help you."
I remembered that day so vividly in my head.
“Yeah, and you tried helping, but you couldn't reach as well, so I said why don't I just climb on top of you so we'd combine our heights? " I laughed as I recalled what had happened that day.
“Ha ha ha, we ended up falling and brought down three shelves with us. Mum was so mad, she didn't know what to do with us," he smiled.
I turned to him, now facing each other, "I'm really glad you are here, Ray. You've always somehow been there for me. It's like fate always gives us adventures together.”
“Yeah, you're right. I remember when I first started training at the palace, there wasn't a day that went by that I didn't think of running back to you at the elders home. You have no idea how excited I was when the Alpha said you could be the new healer." He said as he straightened my sleeve.
It now seemed like some kind of mood was setting into place. I wanted to avoid it, so I tried to take a step back but tripped on the hem of the gown.
Ray caught me before I hit the ground, his hands steadying me by the waist.
We were close—inches apart. Too close for comfort.
My heart is now beating faster.
His eyes searched mine like he had lost something and was looking for it. Then he brushed a strand of hair from my face, his fingers lingering longer than needed. For the next couple of seconds, the world felt quiet. Like we were suspended in time.
He pulled me closer in, and the gap between us began to slowly close up.
But then suddenly, the door creaked open.
Elena stood there, frozen. She didn’t say a word. Honestly, she didn't need to. Her facial expressions said more than enough.
“Uhm, am I interrupting something?"
- Writer
