Fighting For My Mate: Blood Moon

Chapter 15

Christa POV

     Slowly waking up, I notice a weight around my waist, and when I finally begin to come to, I realize I’m still cuddled against Eli from last night. I can’t help but smile, and I let out a sigh of relief that he’s still here. It feels like it’s been weeks since I’ve gotten to wake up with him next to me. Not wanting to wake him, I try to move his arm off me gently so I can get up to go to the bathroom. Instead, Eli ends up squeezing me even closer to him as he nuzzles his nose into my neck. I can’t help but start giggling at his morning stubble tickling my neck, officially waking him up. 

“Mmm, mate!” He lets out a deep rough groan as he nuzzles deeper into my neck. I can’t help but let out a squeal as he did.

“ELI… it tickles!” He starts to chuckle at my high-pitched voice. 

     I really miss mornings like this, but it seems they are few and far between. I hope one-day things will calm down, and we can live an everyday life together. Well… as normal as a werewolf life can get. You never know what can happen in a world of supernaturals. 

     After fooling around, we cuddle each other in bed, enjoying each other’s company. I love how Eli’s eyes light up when he looks at me. It never fails to give me butterflies, and it warms my entire being. If I want to bring up my meeting, the pack in my disguise, then now is the time. Being with him for this long, I figured out it’s best to bring things like this up when he’s relaxed and in a good mood. 

“Eli…”

“Hmm?” He asks as he makes little circles on my shoulder with his thumb. 

“I’ve been thinking...” I pause, thinking about how I want to put it into the right words. “Well… lately, I’ve been feeling the tension within the pack, and I think it’s time…” Without letting me finish, he immediately denies me.

“No! Absolutely not.”

“What? But we already talked about this, and you were fine with it!” He lets out a sigh.

“That was before my father escaped!” 

“At least let me finish. Please.”

“Fine.” 

“Like I was saying…” I glance at him warily to make sure he’s not going to interrupt me again. “I’ve been feeling the tension from the pack, and I want to start helping members of the pack that need it. So, I figured that maybe now would be a good time to introduce me as Zoey, and then once everything is settled down, we can tell everyone who I really am. Then they will be more comfortable with me being Luna because they’ll already know who I am as a person.” I pause, looking at him to gauge what he might be thinking. 

“So… what do you think?” Eli is quiet for what seems like a long time when finally, he breaks the silence between us. 

“Okay.”

“Okay?” 

“But there will be conditions if I allow this.”

“Sure. Anything. Name it, and it's done!” I say excitedly. 

“First, you will keep Amanda with you at all times.” I nod my head.

“Done.”

“Second, you will not leave the pack territory unless you are with me.”

“Done and done.”

“Third…” He says as he gets up and goes to grab something out of the closet. He comes back with a small black case in his hand. He climbs back into bed with me, and he opens the case to show a beautiful white gold bracelet. 

“You must always keep this bracelet on at all times.” He says as he takes my hand and gently puts the bracelet on.

“Eli… it’s beautiful!” I can’t help but stare at it in awe as the diamonds sparkle beautifully with all the colors of the rainbow. And it had a charm of the moon that seemed to shine just as bright as the diamonds. “How could I ever want to take something so beautiful off!” Eli sighs as he takes my hands into his.

“I had a feeling you would bring this up. It’s of the many things I love about you! So, I had a GPS tracker installed into the charm so that if anything happens, I’ll be able to locate you! I was nearly driven mad when not even my best trackers could find you when Lex took you from me. It kills me knowing that if you hadn’t found a way to escape, we may have never been able to find you. I will never let that happen again.” I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes as my lips began to quiver. I lunged into Eli, throwing my arms around his neck. His arms slowly went around my waist, squeezing me closer to him. 

“Thank you,” I whispered into his neck. I didn’t care that there was a tracker inside this beautiful bracelet. Just the idea that Eli thought of me being able to be out and about within the pack and took measures to keep me safe meant the world to me. 

**Monika**

     It’s been two weeks since I left for Africa, searching for a permanent solution to make my mate bond with Pete permanent. The potion I have been giving him has been weakening, and I can’t seem to figure out why? After all these years, why now? I need to hurry with my plan before it is too late. Pete has no idea how powerful he is. Once I found a secret about his family, not even they know I knew I had to make him mine. No matter the cost.  

     So, I have come to meet with a powerful witch who can help me make our bond permanent. While I’m gone, I have a loyal guard to keep an eye on him for me and make sure no one can get close to him that will threaten the bond I have been working so hard to maintain. I will do anything to keep our bond, including killing his true mate!

**Christa**

     Today is the first day I get to meet the pack as Zoey. I’m excited and nervous all at once. Now that this is happening, I have doubt running through me. What if once I reveal who I am, they think I am just a liar? What if they never forgive me? Am I making the right decision? Eli walks up behind me and wraps his arms around my waist. 

“You’ll be ok. They will love you.”

“I’m worried that once I reveal who I am, they’ll see me as a liar. Am I really doing the right thing?” I ask as I turn around in his arms. He smiles as he looks me in my eyes and leans in and kisses my nose.

“No matter what, the pack will love you, and they will understand why you had to hide your true identity.” I nod slightly as Eli slowly lets me go, and I continue to get ready.” Eli begins to walk out the door when I call out to him, “Eli,” he stops at the door, “thank you for always supporting me!” He gives me the brightest smile that he only gives to me and nods his head before leaving the bedroom. I take a deep breath and say the words to change into Zoey. Amanda is waiting next to Rebecca, and Eli stands next to the door, ready to lead the way. I rub my clammy palms against my pants; I can feel my heart pounding in my chest, and I’m pretty sure everyone else can hear it as well. Eli opens the door to lead us outside. 

     It’s a beautiful day; the sun is out, and it's the beginning of springtime even though there is a slight chill in the air, the presence of the sun’s warmth lingers on the skin, and the scent of the beginning of the flowers beginning to bloom fills my nose. I can’t help but a deep breath! Rebecca begins to introduce me as her guest, who will be staying with her for a bit. It seems many pack members are curious about me and ask me a lot of questions. Eli notices me getting flustered, so he moves everyone along.

“Okay, everyone. Why don’t we take it easy on the questions for now? You will all have plenty of time to get to know her.” Everyone begins to disperse when I see the girl who had helped me with my physical therapy sitting on a bench along looking sad. For some reason, my heart went out to her and I felt the need to go and talk to her. 

“Hey, I’m gonna go talk to her for a sec,” I said as I started my way over. Amanda and Eli hung by close but still gave us space. 

“Hey. I haven’t had a chance to introduce myself to you yet. I’m Zoey.” She looked at me with a kind smile.

“Hi, Zoey; I’m Jenna.” She said as she held out her hand to shake mine. I took her hand into mine, and as we shook hands, her eyebrows furrowed.

“Do I… know you from somewhere?” She asked as I pulled my hands away from her. I shook my head as I answered, unable to stop feeling guilt from lying.

“No, I’m afraid not. I just got here, so the only person I really know here is Rebecca.” She nods her head as she accepts my answer. 

“But I have a feeling we will be fast friends!” Jenna smiles at that, and from there, we begin getting to know each other. 

     By the time we’re done chatting, I’ve invited her to come and hang out with me, Amanda, and Rebecca this weekend. I’m really excited for everyone to get to know her. I go to tell Rebecca and Amanda that Jenna will be joining us for lunch this weekend, and I’m a little bit disappointed in how they act.

“Are you that’s a good idea? I mean, you’ll have to keep up this Zoey act while she’s here!” Amanda says.

“And? What’s the big deal?” I say, frowning.

“I have to agree with Amanda. You’ll have to keep up the act at home. What if someone slips up?”

“Guys, it’ll be fine. I promise. You’re worrying over nothing! Jenna is really nice, and I feel like she needs us right now!” Both Amanda and Rebecca sigh and finally agree to Jenna joining us for lunch. 

“I can’t wait! It’s going to be great, you guys!” I say, clapping my hands in excitement.